Los Angeles - Day One, Two and Three - you ready?

Day One -getting there

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The morning of the trip, I get a surpsise request by the hospital. We need to do a follow up ultra sound to see how everything is bla bla bla...can you come in?

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Of course, I chug all the water I can possibly handle, kiss the kids goodbye, drop them off at the daycare for grandma to pick up later and off we go. At the hospital, after being poked and prodded some more, they release us just in time for us to get to the airport in time.

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And we're off! Once on the plane we have the pleasure of sitting directly in front of the parent who doesn't believe in any discipline and they have the crazy 18month old toddler who kicks and screams and runs all around the aisles. Yes, that was a fun 3 hours!

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We got to LA in one piece, and headed for the MARRIOTT hotel. When we get there, they inform us - to our surprise - that we are going to have to press PH on the elevator. (THAT'S RIGHT, Penthouse!!!!)

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We immediatly want to go out and check out our surroundings so we take JP's mega camera out, and try not to look like tourists and blend in, hehe.

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We headed straight to Hollywood boulevard, and saw the usual celebrities hanging out, you know, Jack Sparrow, Minnie and oh yeah Tina Turner accepting some suspicious cash from Charlie Chaplin. It was great fun.

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Day Two - name dropping

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For anyone who knows me well, fairly well or almost well, they'll tell you I LOVE LOVE LOVE fashion and anything to do with names in fashion.
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Rodeo Drive is only 3 blocks long, but those 3 short blocks constitute the most famous shopping district in America and probably the most expensive three blocks of shops in the world.

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Oh yeah, I did drag him there. He had no idea about Rodeo Drive (he kept calling it Rodeo, like the rodeo as in cowboy! Puleeeze!!) He looked at it once we got there and I'm sure he thought we wouldn't be there very long.
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But I wanted to visit my friends: Tiffany, Cartier, Valentino, Gianni Versace, Christian Dior, Dolce & Cabbana, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Armani and Hermes.

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I was in heaven. I tried on a $3000 pair of Versace shoes on. I fell in love with a beautiful $7,000 Hermes bag. And then, because my husband is the most wonderful man in the world, he took me into Tiffany's and actually bought me jewelry!! How cool is that?

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It was only a small lock pendant with my initial in it, but it cost way more than I can reveal here. I had a permagrin on for the next few hours!!

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We spent our evening in Santa Monica, walking around and having dinner and I just couldn't have asked for a better evening. It was awesome!

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Oh oh, did I mention we stopped at "Sprinkles" Cupcakes (which is only THE most famous cupcake store in all of LA - people line up for hours to buy them) and waited in line for some delicious to die for cupcakes.

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(this is the line up that we waited in to just get into the store)
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And Rosie O'Donnell and Julia Roberts have talked about them, so I had to try them (yup, I'm THAT shallow) Yum yum yum.

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Day three - all over

At last, sunday came. We awoke to the news that the California fires started about 20 minutes from the very spot we had walked and dined the night before. We actually are following the fires closely, only because for us it hit so close since we were just there, taking pictures of things that are now burned. Very odd feeling.

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By the way, I wanted to show you the picture of the plane that we boarded on the way back from LA to Vancouver. It's smaller than my freakin' living room!! Only 42 people in it. Have you ever seen anything like it? It was awful. I walked into the plane and almost started hyperventelating. (i hate flying as it is, and feeling like I'm in a shoebox does not help)

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JP exclaimed "oh, it's cute!" FYI... when I think of adjectives that I'd like to use while describing the plane that I'm in , "strong" "big" "safe" or even " massive" comes to mind, but not "Cute". Maybe that's just me.

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Just as we are about to taxi away from the gate the one lone flight attendant announces that the plane is experiencing a ' weight imbalance' and that they'd be looking for 2 volunteers to get off the plane and board a bigger plane 2 hours later.

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I almost hurt JP I shoved him in the side so hard. He waves his hand in the air, I jump out of my seat and start speed walking to the cabin door. And we're out!

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For our trouble we received 2 vouchers for $200 off each of our next ticket with the same airline, and got to fly home in a big comfortable plane that looked much friendlier. Take a look:

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I blinked and here I am.

Due to an abundance of cash, we took off to L.A. til monday. (actually we won a trip, but wouldn't it be nice if it were an abundance of cash?)

We'll be staying at a fancy-dancy hotel, and enjoying the lifestyle of the beautiful people. I can't wait to hit Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive baby!

(poor JP, i'm gonna so drag him along as we buy maps to the houses of the

rich and famous...teehee)

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So, the last real memory I have from my childhood is when my mom told me that my dad died at 11.

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Which is odd, because he is very much alive, but when I was 11, and living in Romania -communism and all- my dad decided to run across the border and see if he can escape it. He and my mom talked about it for years -I didn't know this then- and had decided that it was time.

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The problem is that in Romania, back then, people did 'dissapear' in the middle of the night, and whoever uttered a bad word about the dictator, did in fact 'vaporize' into thin air... it was not fun living there. A real live "big brother" type world (ever read 1984?)

Moving on.

When my dad ran, he knew that they'd question me and my mom to his whereabouts. My parents figured if I didn't know where he was, we'd both be safe. So, in my mother's infinite wisdom, once he left, she told me he died. Which I then believed for 3 years!! Yeah, that was fun.

Then one day, when I was 14, she tells me we're moving to Canada to reconnect with my dad. PARDON? (Oh yeah, she cost me years in therapy.) But anyway, back to the point.

I don't recall my childhood at all. I have this one memory and then the next thing I recall I am in highschool in Vancouver. All the big events I remember, my prom, my kids being born, but I have real trouble with the details. I am constantly getting in trouble from friends when they say "remember the time when?" and I always say "no".

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I sometimes wonder if this incident has anything to do with me "blocking" things out as my therapist liked to call it, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'm just kinda slow.

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Not sure what brought this thought on today. I was driving home, and thought "holy shit, my son's almost 8. When did THAT happen?"

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We love free shit!

I worked at the Vancouver Home show this weekend. The Vancouver 'home and garden' show I should say. It happens every year, may even be twice a year I think. Moms come from far and wide with strollers and carseats, in-laws and husbands dragged along.

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I used to be one of those women, but not this year. This year, I was one of the exhibitors. My company is one of western canada's distributor for hardwood flooring, so we had a booth there. ("booth' is a bit of an understatemtent. It was a $20,000 - 500sqft advertisement)

I couldn't believe the company paid as much for this as I did for my car!

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Anyway, once I was there, I had a chance to observe the kind of people who go to these things. They all look normal at first, but I think one gets dumber by the minute while inside a home show exhibition....

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Otherwise smart men and women seemed to gather around like caddle around the 'chef' who was chopping all the onions and green peppers. "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" all around as the amazing chopper cut your chopping time in half. They were practically throwing money at this guy to get their hands on the new 'best kept secret' in the kitchen.

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Then there was the gal who demonstrates the swiffer mop. Oh, how glad everyone was to see her! Oodles of old ladies gasped as the mop cleans even residue that has been stuck on since the last time she cleaned....which incidentally was just a few minutes ago, with a different crowd.

The mop was $19.99 but WAIT, you get a second one FREE!! I'm telling you they were buying those stupid yellow mops like they were going out of style.

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There was another booth there with a guy demonstrating how he was loosing weight by having this big black belt strapped on to him. It was emitting heat apparantly and he would be sweating off the pounds without lifting a finger. He recommended wearing this gadget everywhere, to work, shopping, on dates. The fact that he's plugged into a machine, while he was belted in, apparantly is no cause for alarm. Just adds to the charm I guess.

I've come to two conclusions: First that these homeshows seem to be nothing more than an expensive over-hyped infomercial. Second, that I really appreciate NOT being in the retail industry after this weekend. (Our company does not sell directly to Joe and Jane Homeowner, we're a distributor, meaning we sell to floor stores only, they then turn around and sell to the public)

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But it wasn't all bad. I did walk around after my shift and get a few free samples. I came home with 2 rolls of the new ROYALE 3 ply toilet paper and more free razors (the kind with the shaving cream build inside them already) to last a small european country for a year.

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Oh yeah, my weekend was THAT good!

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