Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Penni Hits the West Coast

This year for my birthday, instead of getting a present from my mom, I decided to give her one. I treated her to a weekend in LA to help me celebrate. The original plan was to surprise her. I was going to tell her to pack a bag and then take her to the airport. That plan was nixed when she started making excuses for not being able to go. The thought of not knowing what to expect was stressing her out. So, about a month ago, I told her my idea and she was still stressed, but at least she had a month to prep herself.

I've been soo stressed out with work and family stuff for the past 2 months that I was craving this time away like an addict craves a fix. As soon as I got to the airport I began to feel the muscles in my body relax.

When we got to the hotel, the very attentive hotel manager welcomed us with a bottle of champagne and some chocolate covered strawberries. What a great way to welcome us to LA! Of course we were soo tired from the journey that it only took 1 glass of champagne to send me sinking into the thick down comforter and off to sleep. The next morning, we were still on east coast time. We were up before sunrise ordering breakfast. We spent our short stay visiting Hollywood and Highland (including Mann's Chinese Theater), The Grove and The Beverly Center. It was an exhausting weekend but oh so much fun.

The fact that I had my mom on the metro and the bus travelling around LA was so funny to me. She was super nervous and commented several times that she didn't want to end up in the middle of some crossfire on Crenshaw (yes - she watches too much TV). I assured her that we were in no danger.

All in all, this had to be the best birthday so far. Every year I'm amazed at how I think I just can't top the previous year and somehow I manage to do just that.

Holla

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