LA bound

Well, I’m at the Palm Springs airport waiting for my flight. I changed to an earlier flight for a few reasons. My checkout was at twelve anyway so it just kind of made sense. That and I had a stalker that wouldn’t leave me alone in the place I was staying.

Onward and upwards to new locations.

I’m really ready to be home to tell the truth. As it looks now I will be back in DC on the 7th but…..

The LA office might not be ready then, they’re having a few issues with the phones and network. I will be able to set up the computers but we need to make sure the internet works and the VPN is up and running. I might be in LA a few more days then I wanted. UGH!

I use UGH a lot lately.

I want my bed and my boyfriend in my bed.

When I get back we already have a very full weekend. I forget what happens Friday night but I know it’s something. We have a good friend’s 60th birthday on Saturday and on Sunday we’re having a dinner party for David and Anton. Anton is from Cape Town SA visiting L’David. I was going to ask for Monday off but I don’t think I’ll be able to do that after being away for so long. I’ll just have to behave myself on Sunday night.

Last night, Tuesday the 30th was nice. I took Simon and Jeremy (visiting Palm Springs from the UK) to my Corporate Secretary’s house out in the dessert. It’s an amazingly huge house that they just had build right outside Palm Springs. It was perfect.

The boys always wanted to see a huge USA house out in the dessert and we showed it to them. Lloyd pulled out the stops with Filet and shrimp. We ate outside by the pool and looked at the stars (the ones in heaven, not the ones walking the streets). It was just perfect. I behaved myself because I was driving so I have three drinks over a four hour period.

I think the boys were just gob smacked. (British term here)

When I got back to the room I just went to bed, it’s been a long two weeks.

Got up this morning and just took it easy. I was going to work out but just decided to chill instead. I packed, called the airlines to change to an earlier flight and then said goodbye to the boys. I have to say I was quite sad saying goodbye. They are the kinds of friends that you only see once a year or so but you pickup exactly where you left off.

Now for the LA experience. We’re going to have dinner with Mike and Gary tomorrow, Thursday NOV the 1st in their Hollywood hills home.

I might be working the weekend, we’ll see.

Until next post, take care.

What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas!

Ok, so now let’s just talk about Vegas.

What a pit.

Maybe it was because it was work, but I don’t think so.

It’s everything I don’t like about America rolled up into one hideous place.
It’s expansive and expensive, it’s tacky, it has the whole of Middle America visiting it. They are taking pictures of the fake Paris with no one wanting to see the real one.

The native girl sitting next to me at the info desk (actually more like old hag but that’s another story) keep going on about how great this city is. Did you see the piazzita san marko? She asks me, it’s just amazing. I then realize that she talking about the fake one in the Venetian, the one with the fake outside sky. I did say yes I had seen it but the real one was much more impressive. Ugh, that’s the way everything is here.

I did have a spa day on Saturday. Started at one and didn’t finish until six thirty. That was ok actuall. But yes again very expensive. A message and facial and manicure and pedicure cost around $600. The Same treatment in DC would be half that price. The message ended up with a happy ending, at the VENETIAN!!!!

Friday I did the strip with some work friends. We went to the Bellagio (sp?) to see the fountains. That was cool. We then went to some of the other casinos around. All I have to say is that if it’s not one of the newer nicer hotels, the casinos are just tragic. Scary Middle America with Middle America middles. Smoking and drinking. I ended up gambling some at Harrad’s on the $10 table. I put in twenty.

I won $120!

I lost $100!

I left with my original $20 and three free drinks, so not really that bad.

I then went back to my room and crashed, my work colleagues stayed up until 8am on Saturday and when I saw them in line for a cab to the airport they said they didn’t sleep at all the night before. That was at 10:30am. I’m so happy I went to bed.

The rest of the week we pretty much stayed at the hotel and worked the show. 6am until 7:30pm every day except Friday when I got to leave work at 1. I did go to the young leaders event on Thursday night. It was at Tao in the Venetain and was pretty cool. Because we were staff and they didn’t think that they had enough drink tickets I had to pay for my first drink. I got a martini; I was immediately $18 poorer.

Holy Jesus batman!

Luckily, or not, my boss came through before I needed another one and handed out the tickets to staff. The event was from 7 until 9. At around 15 to 9 we decided it was time to use the rest of the tickets, and we now had lots. I think I had three martinis before this. So we go up to the bar and order shots, we don’t do shots here but I can make you a martini sized lemon drop shot.

We bit.

I don’t remember about an hour of stuff. When I saw the girl I was working with the next morning I asked here where she was the night before I missed her. She was like “you said hi and we talked for a long time” I was like, Shit. One of my other friends walked be back to my hotel room. I came too during that walk.

But I wasn’t the worst.

This other girl that works for my company tried to and succeeded on grabbing a bottle of gray goose vodka from behind the bar. She had it for about five minutes when they discovered she had done it. She got thrown out of the bar and was marked with a black sharpie X on her wrist.

Didn’t make me feel so bad the next morning about my predicament.

I guess what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

I’m not coming back though.

OMG! Las Vegas on a Sunday!

This was amazing. I decided to go to the airport early because I was over the whole Las Vegas thing after a week of working a conference.

Boy am I glad I did. It was just a zoo. I’ve traveled all over the world and I’ve never seen an airport so crowded. The line started all the way on the other side of the airport. I made it to a point where I thought I was getting close only to have to turn the corner for another line that bended back around again. That happened three times!

I’m never coming back to Vegas, that’s all I have to say.

Travel, travel, travel.

Here is my schedule for the next two plus weeks. Ugh..

Leave for Dulles at 6am on Sunday the 21st for a 8:30am flight to Las Vegas. Staying there until the 28th.

Catch plane from LAS to Palm Springs to sort out our corporate secretary’s internet access. 28th throught 31st. Paid for by work think you very much.

Leave Palm Springs for LAX on the 31st to set up new LA office. Work Thursday, Friday and Monday and come back on the 6th.

Weekend with Dave in LA.

I was supposed to be back on the 28th, 29th and 30th but they decided to send me to Palm Springs.

I will have 50089 points after this. Just making gold by the skin of my teeth.

I'm tired!

I’ve gotten a few messages about not updating my blog, so here we go.

Friday night we took L’Alex out for his birthday at Monsire. It was a nice little dinner and everyone left with a full belly. We didn’t go out because we had to get up early the next morning to drive to a birthday party in North Carolina.

It was a five hour drive down there on Saturday and 5 hours back on Sunday. The surprise was that the party ended at 8. I suppose this was going to happen considering that Ivy just had an emergency c-section two Wednesdays ago and the baby was still in the neonatal care unit. That and the fact she had to “pump” her breast for the new baby at 8. (I wasn’t sticking around for that one) I was surprised that they still had the party to tell the truth. We ended up going back to the hotel room and watching the Simpson’s move on pay per view afterwards and got home kind of early on Sunday.

The weird thing is seeing all these people that I spent my twenties with turning 40ish. We starting tell stories from college and our younger years. It was just bizarre. I still think of myself at 20 something, and I’m not. It’s better than the alternative I suppose.

On our way home, L’Dave asked us to come pick him up in Alexandria. He had spent the night there with a friend after going dancing all night. We ended up going back to our house and drinking wine on the roof until it was close to time to go to dinner at Derek’s house that evening.

So to put everything in perspective, we had a birthday dinner with L’Alex on Friday night. Got up on Saturday and drove 300 miles to Durham for a BBQ\Birthday from 3:30 until 8, watched a movie, got 8 hours sleep, drove 300 miles back to DC, picked our friend up and went back to our house for wine on the roof followed by dinner at a friend’s house.

All in a typical weekend at Crave’s

This week I’m getting ready for the Fall meeting at work. I’m trying to get some computers set up and shipped to LA for the setup of the office there. I’ll be in Las Vegas from the 21st of October to the 28th for the fall meeting. I’m back in town for two days and then I’m off to Los Angeles to set up the new office out there. I’ll finally be home on November the 6th. It’s all such a whorl wind. While I’m in LA I’m going to have dinner with some friends who live out there and Dave should come over for that.

Once we get back we have a 60th birthday bash to go to on the 10th of November and on the 11th we’ll be having a dinner party in honor of L’Dave’s love interest from South Africa who is in town for three weeks. Oh, and we’re going to London for Thanksgiving.

Luckily we staying home for Christmas, I might get some rest then but probably not. The family is supposed to come visit then.