Newport Beach 2008 Kid-Free Extravaganza!!!

Those of you who know Jake know that he always gets to go to cool places. Japan, China, Vegas, California, la la la, to meet with investors from time to time and I, as the muy excellente mom that I am, always stay home to continue nurturing and rearing the children into the contributing, well-adjusted adults that we hope they one day become. And I take that job seriously. I do.

That said, there is always that part of me that wishes I could go. I haven't done very much travelling, and there are a lot of places I've ne'r been. And so when I heard he had meetings in Newport Beach this weekend I pulled all the stops so that I could go with him. We got our AWESOME niece Alexa and her husband Jeremy to come stay with the kids while we took off for 3 DAYS!

We got upgraded when we got there to this super nice suite...Thanks American Express!

I had fun taking pictures of various So. Cal. stuff...

I love these trees! They were everywhere by the coast. I love how gnarled and twisted the branches are.

Here is some tree graffiti. I have to laugh when I look at this because as I was flipping through pictures I noticed there were some vulgarities that I hadn't noticed at the time. But when one see it on one's computer screen in all of it's contrast-ific glory, one wonders how one missed it.

Here's a G-rated trunk. (We are family friendly, after all.) I just like the texture.

We put "camera stores" into the GPS to see what we'd find, and imagine our surprise when we saw Canon Cameras as one of the results! An entire store! Dedicated to my camera!

Too bad it was just the corporate offices... That's the great thing about travelling without kids, one can make these kind of random excursions...just because. We discussed trying to find the loading dock to see if there were any 1DS's they would let us HOLD...or maybe even just look at...we promise we won't even breathe on it, just let us LOOK AT THE BOX! But we thought better of it. Who knows, if one bugs Canon too much one might get black-listed and not be able to purchase so much as a replacement lens cap.

To catch up anyone who is maybe lost at this point...Canon does not stock their top of the line cameras in any store...anywhere. So if you are interested in them, as far as I can tell, you have to just take the plunge and buy it (for not cheap). So as much as I love Canon (yes I do. I love you.) It frustrates me that I can't try out their cameras or even HOLD them first. Now that I've taken us this far off topic, I will just end by saying I'm not buying a new camera any time soon...even though mine my explode at ANY MOMENT. I think I'll just use it until it dies. Who knows...I may get lucky and have a couple more years with it if I really conserve my shutter.

OK, no one cares about any of this but Amy...so moving on!


Sunset in Jake's sunglasses.

And what better photo to end on than The beach at sunset It was such a relaxing trip. One night we sat in our room and ordered room service and movie (something I've never done) and that one thing would have made the whole trip worth it! We window shopped in stores that were so chic I felt unworthy, saw "What Happens in Vegas" in a real live movie theater (so funny), and utilized valet parking (also for the first time in my life.) I gave myself a manicure and pedicure (couldn't afford the spa, but had fun doing it myself during the in-room movie), and drove around Newport in Jake's Mustang soaking it all in.

Mostly, I just loved spending time with Jake. It's not very often we get 3 days devoted to just us. It was magical.

But I really, really, really missed my kiddos. By the end of the trip I was homesick for them and I couldn't get home fast enough. I felt guilty that there were so many kid-friendly things to do down there, so we resolved to take a Disneyland trip this year. We're thinking September...anyone want to come?

And in keeping with the random-workings of my brain, here is something completely unrelated...

This is my bros adorable, smart, funny daughter, Abby. I'n she cute? She looks exactly like Andy to me. (I suppose there is a little Melisa in there.) I took some pictures of her last night for my mom's wall...her shrine to her grandkids. There will be more pictures to come. Now I think we just need Mike and Barbara's kids and my mom's Mother's Day will finally be done:). Love you Mom!