Weekend in LA.....Part 1

OK....here goes!

Believe it or not...my flight from Harrisburg to Chicago ACTUALLY got to Chicago on time! Of course the minute I landed I saw that the next flight..the one to LAX was delayed. I called Michelle to warn her that Missie and I would be late...she was so shocked...and then went to meet Missie at her gate. Which was kind of exciting in itself for both of us. I have seen Missie since last July when I was in Peoria...and she thought it was cool to be met at the gate at the airport since you can't do that anymore. Anyways...we grabbed some grub and went to wait for our LAX flight.

We got to LAX around 11:30pm. Michelle had just landed too and we met her on the car shuttle to the rental car place. I remembered it was the same place Ann and I rented a car last summer...so when we got off the shuttle I darted inside to get in line...because it took FOREVER when Ann and I were there! My bladder was not too happy with the decision...but when the girls saw the line by the time THEY made it inside...their appreciation helped. A few short minutes and we were on our way.

Unfortunately we were staying down in Irvine because the hotel for the wedding had such a great rate...we didn't want to miss out on it....so it was about 12:45am before we arrived at the Crown Plaza Irvine. We got inside and there was ONE person working the counter....and a lady was arguing with him because she didn't get the room type she wanted. Mind you...she HAD a room....and was already checked into it...with her stuff in it....but was arguing about her room...and the rooms of her family who had not yet arrived. 30 minutes later the guy finally was ready to help us....fortunately I had listened closely to their discussions. When the guy pulls up my reservations he tells me he only has rooms with 2 doubles available. I said, "That's fine because that's what my reservation was for" (and was thinking...hello do you see three of us here??). He looked perplexed and said "Oh no...I only have kings available". When I asked him where he thought we would all be sleeping he again looked perplexed and said he'd get us a rollaway....and move us to another room in the morning. I told him that was not acceptable...and did he not see I was a Priority Club member and my room should not have been given away in the first place. When he continued to argue with me I told him he needed to find us a room with two double beds or lower the rate on our room if someone had to sleep on a rollaway. I also asked for the customer service phone number.... And wouldn't you know...he found us a room!!!!

Saturday we were up early....well early CA time...not so much east coast time....we had lots of stuff to see and limited time before being at the wedding. We headed to Beverly Hills...for breakfast at Nate and Al's on Beverly Dr. We'd read that if you wanted to see celebs...breakfast at Nate and Al's was the place. It was this super cute...old style New York deli. Within 2 minutes of sitting down we saw celeb #1....Leslie Ann Warren...who came in with a gentleman and young girl. I was the only one smart enough to sit facing the door...so Missie and Michelle had to wait til she was seated to get a peak...but definitely her. Then a few minutes later...Larry King walks right passed me. I was startled...and Missie looked over and said "Oh yeah...I've been looking at him trying to figure out if it was him...guess it was!" A few minutes later we're talking and Missie refers to "jack"...Michelle and I are like "who???" Turns out she thought Larry King was Jack Nicholson. It became the joke of the rest of the trip. As we were nearing the end of our breakfast Chad the Nanny from Jerry Maquire walked in. Looking the SAME as he did all those years ago when that movie came out.

After breakfast we did some shopping...well mostly browsing....along Beverly Dr, Rodeo Dr, and Wilshire Blvd. Then we headed back to the OC to make sure we were there in plenty of time for the wedding. Because it was still early we decided to hit South Coast Plaza so Michelle and I could look for Havianas that would match our outfits for the wedding (for when our heels got to be too much). We had a light meal (who knows what the wedding food would be like) and then headed back to our hotel. Now...silly me decided...rather than getting back on the 405..that I knew how to take local roads...and in my defense I did....but I forgot about the stupid roads that go at angles.... I knew we needed MacArthar and Main....but I forgot that there were two separte intersections of MacArther and MAIN!!!! When we finally arrived at the hotel we had 45 minutes to get ready and leave....well....then I looked at the directions...and we did not have to go to where I thought to get the yacht for the wedding...so then I decided we had 30 minutes. Slight obstacle though...housekeeping was JUST cleaning our room....and did not understand a WORD of english....but did not let on....so she was nodding when we kept telling her to come back...but not leaving. Eventually Missie pushed her out of the room while grabbing a stack of towels. A short 25 minutes later we were on the way to the wedding....

More to come....