Our big splurge this year was the city of stars...We had such a great time. It's taken me 3 weeks to blog about it, but here's the scoop. We spent 8 days running around Southern Cali and we loved every moment of it (except for the last day actually, more later). Keith, Alex, me, Lizi and mom were all part of the entourage. We stayed right across from the USC campus which was very convenient no matter how I feel about the football team. We were usually out of the hotel by 10 am and trotting around until 9 p.m. at night (which is a late night with a 1.5 year old). Alex loved every minute of it! His first words every day at 7 a.m. were "shoes, outside." Ah, if only life were that simple...We visited Venice Beach, Santa Monica Beach, Huntington Beach, Beverly Hills (of course), Malibu, Hollywood and Universal Studios to name a few. We also got to spend time with some of my mom's side of the family, Lydia and her husband Eugenio who were very gracious hosts. At the last minute, we decided to drive to Bakersfield to see Fanny and Ruben and their kids. We had a great time (in spite of the heat) hanging out with them and swimming in their pool. It was a very nice detour indeed. On Monday, we headed to Hollywood again and got to see Andrew and Christina Irvin and their kids. The meal we shared at Pink's Hotdogs will forever live in our minds and we'll remember we first had it with you guys. :) On our way back to Hollywood that same day, we just happened on the "Inglorious Basterds" movie premiere and who else would be there but Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Hudson and so many other stars. We were like 50 feet away from the red carpet. It was fantabulous!!! Just another day in Hollywood. Later that week, we headed to Universal Studios which is a must-see for first-timers. And on Thursday we got to see the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (one of the initial reasons we chose LA). Robin Williams was the guest star! We were able to sit in the 2nd row. It was definitely one of the week's highlights. On our way out of town Friday, Alex got some kind of stomach bug and was throwing up everything so we kind of freaked. The airplane ride was horrendous, but thankfully we made it back okay on an earlier flight. Overall, I'd give it a 9/10 as far as vacations go. Great time, great memories!!!
Our big splurge this year was the city of stars...We had such a great time. It's taken me 3 weeks to blog about it, but here's the scoop. We spent 8 days running around Southern Cali and we loved every moment of it (except for the last day actually, more later). Keith, Alex, me, Lizi and mom were all part of the entourage. We stayed right across from the USC campus which was very convenient no matter how I feel about the football team. We were usually out of the hotel by 10 am and trotting around until 9 p.m. at night (which is a late night with a 1.5 year old). Alex loved every minute of it! His first words every day at 7 a.m. were "shoes, outside." Ah, if only life were that simple...We visited Venice Beach, Santa Monica Beach, Huntington Beach, Beverly Hills (of course), Malibu, Hollywood and Universal Studios to name a few. We also got to spend time with some of my mom's side of the family, Lydia and her husband Eugenio who were very gracious hosts. At the last minute, we decided to drive to Bakersfield to see Fanny and Ruben and their kids. We had a great time (in spite of the heat) hanging out with them and swimming in their pool. It was a very nice detour indeed. On Monday, we headed to Hollywood again and got to see Andrew and Christina Irvin and their kids. The meal we shared at Pink's Hotdogs will forever live in our minds and we'll remember we first had it with you guys. :) On our way back to Hollywood that same day, we just happened on the "Inglorious Basterds" movie premiere and who else would be there but Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Hudson and so many other stars. We were like 50 feet away from the red carpet. It was fantabulous!!! Just another day in Hollywood. Later that week, we headed to Universal Studios which is a must-see for first-timers. And on Thursday we got to see the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (one of the initial reasons we chose LA). Robin Williams was the guest star! We were able to sit in the 2nd row. It was definitely one of the week's highlights. On our way out of town Friday, Alex got some kind of stomach bug and was throwing up everything so we kind of freaked. The airplane ride was horrendous, but thankfully we made it back okay on an earlier flight. Overall, I'd give it a 9/10 as far as vacations go. Great time, great memories!!!
