Home again, home again...

We made it! The trip home was pretty uneventful and went faster than we expected.

It's GREAT to be home!!! Everything looked so GREEN and big on the drive back from the airport (we certainly don't live in the country - but it sure is a lot less dense than the LA area!). And our house seems so bright and cheerful... I knew I liked color but it seems especially nice after living in a beige apartment for six weeks.

It was like Christmas for Annie once we got home... and she hasn't even had a chance to go down to the playroom yet. She couldn't decide which toy she wanted to play with - running back and forth between balls, dolls and doggies. She settled on taking all of my tupperware out of the lower cabinets. I guess she noticed the lack of kitchen items in our apartment too! :)

I should report one fun cap off to our LA experience... we finally saw a 'real' celebrity! Funny it should happen in the final moments of the trip. We had just gone through the family security line at LAX and had finished having Annie's milk thoroughly screened when I noticed a familiar face behind us. It was Minnie Driver -an actress I've liked since her "Circle of Friends" movie. (For those who can't place her - she's the dark, curly haired and freckle faced British star probably most well-known for her role in Goodwill Hunting.) She was with a 'handler', another woman, and her baby. We all ended up riding the elevator together and Annie immediately started saying hello to the baby. Minnie (I think we're on a first-name basis now that we've ridden an elevator together) asked Annie's name and said how cute she was. I asked her son's name (Henry) and how old he was (9 months). Henry seemed enamored with Annie too and Minnie's friend commented that it was love at first sight.

We ended up running into Minnie again at Starbucks by our gate and she was equally pleasant then. She was definitely a great celebrity run-in and it was nice to find her as cheerful and pleasant as she's always seemed to be from afar.

All told, I don't think we could have asked for a better trip... and at the same time, it sure is great to be home!

Thanks to everyone who followed us on the blog and took the time to comment on our adventures (I'm sorry the comment feature on the blog didn't always work or was difficult to figure out... but I appreciate so many of you sending us emails instead!). Blogging has turned out to be so much fun that I just might keep it up.

Stay tuned!

:)

...and we're off!

We're flying home today!

This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago but it seemed especially appropriate to post now. Annie has developed quite an interest in planes since we've been here. We've driven by LAX frequently and spent a fair amount of time at the rental car places right under the flight path. Let's hope she continues to be as interested in planes once we're actually ON one!

:)

Pack, Park, Pub...

We've had a great last day in 'paradise'. It was an absolutely gorgeous one that made us agree that, hands down, the thing we'll miss most about California is the weather.

We got the chore of packing done first thing this morning so we'd have the rest of the day to play. That included shipping four boxes home. I'm not sure how our belongings seemed to multiply while we were here, but I do know that Annie's new stuffed animals took up one entire box all by themselves.

Annie joined in on the packing expedition... helping us squeeze our suitcases shut.


After we got all packed up, we headed out to enjoy one more outing to an oceanview park. Annie partook of her all time favorite activity (thank goodness there are plenty of swings to be found in Virginia too!).



This evening, we celebrated Patrick's work success by partaking in HIS favorite activity... a sampling of beers followed by dinner at the Redondo Beach Brewery.




It was a great day and a perfect way to wrap up a fantastic six weeks. As amazing as this experience has been, we think we really ARE ready to come home tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing our friends, spreading out in a little more space, and being surrounded by all the comforts of home.

Now if only I could figure out a way to pack up this weather and ship it back too!

What a view...

Annie and I spent some time in Palos Verdes today - the town just south of Redondo Beach. I've been looking at the peninsula Palos Verdes sits on for weeks now and decided I couldn't leave without checking it out. It turned out to be a really pretty community sitting high on cliffs overlooking the ocean.

We (and by "we" I mean that I enjoyed the view while Annie enjoyed finding rocks on the ground) especially enjoyed visiting the Point Vicente Lighthouse which stands on the most southwesterly point of the peninsula. I love the way the clouds seem so close to you when you're up at this level... and think this picture captures some of that drama. (That's Catalina Island in the background.)


Patrick wrapped up his project today... HURRAY!!! There had been some question about whether or not he'd be able to come home with us on Sunday and he worked his tail off these past two weeks (64 hours last week and 61 this... Patrick needs a vacation from our 'vacation'!) to make it happen. We're SO proud of him... and so happy that we'll all be coming home together.

Malibu Baby

We're down to three days left and trying to make the most of them (...while poor Patrick toils away at work - he's such a trooper!). Today I decided to take Annie back up to Malibu to spend some time on the beaches there. I also was happy to have an excuse to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway again - it's so pretty!


Annie was totally rocking the Malibu Beach Baby look when we left our apartment...


Unfortunately, as soon as we got on the sand and Annie got a good look at the size (and sound) of the big waves crashing in, she wanted nothing more to do with the beach. I guess she inherited my Florida Gulf of Mexico genes and prefers much calmer water. I can't say I blame her.


Luckily I was able to salvage the outing, and win Annie back over to my good graces, with a trip to the same cute little Malibu park we visited last week. No Daniel Baldwin this time. I hear he's joined the cast of (...and I swear I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried) "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here". :)

Rain in paradise? Say it ain't so!

Believe it or not, it's actually RAINING today in California. Clearly - that's a sign that it's time to come home! :)

Seriously - this is the first drop of rain we've had since we arrived six weeks ago. I was pretty surprised when I felt the first few drops... I'd become convinced that it just didn't DO that in these parts.

One thing that has made us laugh ever since we got here is the rather incessant talk of something called 'June Gloom'. Basically - that's a weather pattern along the coast that creates foggy or overcast skies in the mornings. Patrick could explain this better... something about a marine layer that eventually gets 'burned off' in the late morning or early afternoon.

Many of the locals we've talked to act as if this is the most depressing thing in the world and bemoan it frequently. I always laugh and somehow have a hard time feeling sorry for people who have to struggle with a few hours of overcast skies amidst their otherwise endless days of blue skies and 70 degree weather. Boo hoo. If anything, the morning cloudiness makes you appreciate the blue skies when they reappear like clockwork every afternoon.

Actually, I've become convinced that Californians purposely hype up things like earthquakes and give serious sounding names to pretty uneventful weather to keep as many people away from their state as possible. I guess they've got to do something to detract people from their great weather, low humidity, lack of bugs (all I've seen so far is a ladybug!), endless beaches, and beautiful mountains. In fact, I'm probably violating some code by even writing about such things.

And hey... look at that - looks like the sun is coming out again just as I finish this post. :)

Lunch with Rob... and a cupcake!

We've been hoping to get a chance to meet up with Rob Moore while we've been in town and today we finally made that happen. Who knew we'd be so busy with our travels? But it was GREAT to see Rob and I'm so glad he made some time for us out of his busy schedule.

Most of you know Rob... the youngest son of my Dad's wife, Suzanne... but you may not realize he's living in LA now. After pursuing his passion for music with his band for many years, Rob finally decided to give acting a shot and moved out here this winter. He's been busy ever since... taking acting classes, becoming the star salesperson for the LA Times, and working on what sounds to be a very promising script idea for a TV show. Rob is the BEST storyteller (which is why I am campaigning hard for him to start his own blog) and it was so fun to hear his tales of living in the city.

We had lunch, by the way, at a fun place called the Newsroom Cafe... on Robertson right across the street from the infamous 'see and be seen' restaurant, The Ivy. We walked by on our way out but there was no paparazzi out front and it looked to be filled with tourists.


After lunch, Annie and I swang by another LA hot spot... Sprinkles Cupcakes. Tracie has been taking me to or bringing me cupcakes from the east coast cupcake mecca, Magnolia Bakery in NYC, for years - so I was excited to try its cross-country competitor. (Let's face it - that was just an excuse to have a cupcake!)


Like Magnolia, Sprinkles was packed and churning out the cupcakes left and right (...kind of amusing to see the size 0, flip-flop, legging and huge sunglass wearing LA girls chow down on their cupcakes). Annie and I shared a red velvet cupcake and it was delicious!


I'll let Patrick cast his vote when he tries the dark chocolate cupcake I brought him home, but so far, I'm thinking Sprinkles is #1. (Please note, however, that I would not turn away any NYC friends bearing cupcakes from Magnolia!) :)