I have been away from home now for a week. I hate to even think what my garden looks like - or what my kitchen smells like! I should be home late tonight, which means I will try to have pics posted tomorrow. :) Yay! I have so much to tell - the past week has been EXTREMELY eventful - so I will try to just tell everything chronologically. As I think I mentioned - Frank and I were going to CA last Thurs. for me to be in a friend's wedding, while the kids stayed with Frank's parents. The trip out was fairly uneventful. We had to pay $10 for parking at the Tulsa airport! (tried not to think about that for the rest of the trip!). We about 1/2 hour late getting to San Diego, but once we got there, there was Grandad waiting for us as we came off the escalator. It is so nice to be met at the airport by someone you love! :) I don't think I'd handle business travel well. Either that, or my business associates would just have to learn to deal w/ getting hugs when I got off the plane. It just feels RIGHT to get off a plane, and run and hug the person who came to meet you there. ANYWAY... as soon as we walked outside, the air smells like the beach! It's 72 degrees, with a slight breeze that smells like the ocean, and I decided I want to move to San Diego. (or at least go visit more often) Since it was such beautiful weather, we put the windows down as soon as we got in the car. Just as Frank's backseat window was all the way down, Grandad said "Oh - please don't roll down that window back there." OOPS!!! Apparently there's an electical short, and the window doesn't like to go back up. Luckily, it went up when controlled by the front seat buttons. So - off to a good start, right?
Friday, we had to be in LA for the wedding rehearsal, which started at 2. Our goal was to be there at 1, and to leave a little early to have time to stop and get Frank some dress shoes. We found a very nice shopping center, and after checking several stores, Frank finally found a pair that he liked, and that wasn't over $40 - which seemed to be his limit for shoes he only planned to wear a couple times. All of a sudden, I realized I needed a new purse! Just something that would look nice w/ my dress, and big enough to carry my camera, extra batteries and lip gloss. So now, if another nice occassion arises, I have just the purse. :) The shopping took longer than expected, and we ran into stand-still traffic on the hwy about 20 min. outside of LA. Around that time, we called the club we were going to for detailed directions. We were headed north on HWY 5, and they told us "you need to be on 110 south". Well, we're coming FROM the south, so we have to go NORTH. Apparently that didn't matter, and the person giving directions only knew how to give directions heading south. She said "you can also get here from 405 south" - still no help. She actually asked us "is the 405 near you?" Are you kidding me? We had already told her we're from out of state, what hwy we're on, and which direction we're headed, and she's asking us if we know if the 405 is near us? Well, we didn't see it. :) We ended up overshooting the club, and turning around, finding 110 S, and following the rest of her directions from there. Thank goodness we finally got there - w/ 10 min. for me to get changed and get downstairs for the rehearsal. I made it!
The rehearsal dinner was great. We had fun getting to know the other members of the wedding party and grooms family. We also got to catch up w/ Patti and her family, and another high school friend who flew out from OHIO for the wedding. HI CRYSTAL!
When we got back to our room that night - the bed had been turned down for us. Yes, really. I have never had my bed turned down for me ever in my whole life! I didn't go to bed right away, though. I stayed up w/ Patti to have some stuff done to her hair for the next day. Angela, the stylist was so fun. The other bridesmaids and I stayed up and talked and laughed until she was done - then, finally, off to bed.
When you drive up, a valet takes your car, then someone takes your luggage, holds open the door, etc. Unfortunately, since we weren't dressed "appropriately", we were escorted the back way - not through the main lobby. Everywhere you go in the building is really nice. There are certain dress codes for different places you go in the building. Where the wedding and reception were held is nice dress - coat and ties for men, dresses for women. 
No flip flops or jeans anywhere in the club. Some areas are "business casual". Frank was a little frustrated that he actually had to go buy a suit to be able to walk around the building and go to the wedding. He looked awfully handsome, though, so I enjoyed it. I think what made such an impact is the attention to detail. The towels and robes in the room were embroidered w/ the JC logo. 
There were waters w/ the JC logo in the fridge, and in the afternoon - they delivered cookies to our room "on the house"! YES!!! My new fav. place hehe. :) As I mentioned in my prev. post, the bed was turned down for us each night, too. The food was amazing the whole weekend. Servers in white jackets and gloves served at each meal, or refilled buffets as needed. It was great. I thoroghly enjoyed experiencing that lifestyle for a weekend. :)
