Some Nice Surprises, Some Disappointments, and Some Irony

I'm in LA!  My flight did not go down in flames.  Let me recap my trip thus far by dividing this post into three segments:

Some Nice Surprises
Nice Surprise #1 - A nun on our flight.  I'm not religious at all, but when I saw that nun, I thought, "Surely this plane won't go down.  Surely this nun has an in."  And I was right.  Not only was it an uneventful flight, but my husband and I ended up with a row to ourselves and I managed to sleep most of the way.

Our flight was a bit delayed, so we didn't end up in LA until 1:30am.  We were exhausted when we arrived at the W Westwood and learned about Nice Surprise #2 - we were upgraded to a suite!  I seem to be making a habit of this.  The room is great.  The bed is great.  The pool is great.

While we were lounging at the pool yesterday, I got a facebook message from an old friend of mine from Skadden.  She saw that I was in LA, and emailed to say that she lived here and would love to see me if I had time.  It was such a nice surprise (hence, Surprise #3). Her name is Joy, and the name is so fitting - she is one of those people that just glows with happiness and spreads it to everyone she interacts with.  How could I not see her if I was here?

No, she no longer works at Skadden.  And I-phone cameras suck.  

And then, for Nice Surprise #4 - Michaele Salahi has been found.  She has not been kidnapped, she has run off with Journey's guitarist, Neal Schon. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.  I know I have.


Some Disappointment

Remember that ex boyfriend I mentioned in that post about that Five for Fighting song?  Well, he still lives in LA, we still keep in touch, and we were supposed to see him yesterday.  I know what everyone's thinking - "How awkward!"  Well, not really.  We have a good friendship, and I even still keep in touch with his parents.  I think it's such a shame when people have bad relationships with their exes - you liked them at some point, right?  In any event, we have a lot of background and a lot of memories and a lot of mutual respect, and I was looking forward to seeing him for the first time in five years.  As it turned out, he had to cancel because of some big show coming up this weekend, I think it's called the Emmy's.  Something about preparation and pre-shows and events.  Nice excuse!  Who knows when we'll be in the same city again, so it makes me sad to have missed him.

And on to disappointment #2 - the lack of good celebrity sightings.  Last night my husband and I had dinner at Katsuya.  The meal was fabulous, but we had high hopes for at least one good celebrity sighting.  You know who we got?  Frank, from Real World Las Vegas.

My husband was hoping Trishelle would join him, but no such luck.  Here's hoping for some better celebrity sightings in Santa Barbara.  

Some Irony

I had been looking forward to this trip for SO long.  I would daydream about it during meal preparation and bath time and long days.  The idea of freedom, of a bit of luxury, of a bit of a break with just my husband, of the opportunity to sleep in or just lay in bed if I wanted to ... it seemed too incredible to be real.  

It IS nice, and I am so grateful for this mini-vacation.  But you know what?  

God, I miss my kids.  

As we hung out at the pool yesterday sipping our Bloody Mary's, I stared longingly at a three year old boy frolicking in the water and ached for my little ones.  My husband and I poured through pictures of the boys on our I-phones.  We told funny stories about them and laughed out loud.  

I miss preparing them meals.  I miss bath time.  I miss the long days.  I miss these boys.  

And you know what?  Despite the Westin heavenly bed and no one to wake me up at the crack of dawn, I 

still can't sleep past 6:30 am.  I suppose this is the curse of motherhood.  

In any event, it's time for me to rouse myself, head to In and Out Burger, and then we'll make our way to Santa Barbara.  I'll give a recap of this sure to be amazing wedding next week, but as a preview - let me just say that it is going to involve some really good cupcakes.  

Have a great weekend, everyone.