L.A.

As most of you know, George and I have never really had much time just the two of us. We never really even got a Honeymoon. We were married on a weekend during George's first year of Medical School and spent a couple nights in the beautiful Ritz Carlton in Tyson's Corner (thanks, Uncle Rob and Aunt Linda!) before heading back to Charlottesville so George could attend class on Monday. We also started our life together with Lance, which means the time we got to spend together, just the two of us, was limited from the beginning.

So when the opportunity came for me to accompany George on a 3-day trip to L.A. while he attended a conference, I jumped at the chance! His airfare, hotel, rental car and food was all taken care of by the hospital, so all we had to pay out of pocket was the cost of my airfare and food. Worth it!

George has been working on a research project involving the effectiveness of CPR on a child for a while now. The study documents the amount of pressure the heart receives at various depths of compression and therefore the cardiac output achieved at each depth. Totally cool. He was invited to share his study and present his poster at the American Heart Association Conference that was held in L.A. and so we went!

Lance got to hang out with his dad for the three days while Jude and Cole spent their time between both grandparents' houses. I love that our families are so willing to help out.

Friday morning (November 2nd), bright and early, George's dad took us to the airport. It was a long flight (a little over 5 hours), but I can't tell you how wonderful it was to just sit back and relax. No coloring books, no crying, to making sure everyone is fed and entertained, no trying to minimize the seat-kicking or table-crashing that inevitably goes on with three little kids in tow.

Our first stop was to the rental car place where we ended up waiting for more than an hour to get a car. The guy almost talked us into a mustang convertible, but I couldn't bring myself to say yes, even if it was only an extra $75 for the weekend. Looking back, we should have just done it. Oh well. Live and learn.

For lunch, George introduced me to one of his favorite burger places from his mission: The Habit.

I have to admit, it was really, really good.

Our hotel, The Standard of L.A. was amazing. It was the one the convention picked for us and boy do they know how to pick hotels! It was pricey, since it was right in downtown LA, (thank goodness we weren't picking up this tab!) but awesome.

This picture really doesn't do it justice. The room was pretty big and very open. One whole wall was all windows, so it had great light during the day and it overlooked downtown L.A. at night. I think that king-sized bed converted me to a low-profile bed.

The hotel also had a roof-top bar and pool that was very popular at night, but we never went. (This is not my picture.)

That evening, we drove about 2 hours to Santa Barbara. George served his mission out here and Santa Barbara was his favorite place. It was fun to drive past all the areas in his mission and have him tell me a little about them.

Ventura! I used to live in California when I was a little girl and I remember visiting my cousins at their grandparents' house in Ventura. Good times. :)

I had forgotten how beautiful California is.

George also has a special place in his heart for the people in Newbury Park.

He's pointing out his old apartment.

The ocean! I have to admit, visiting California made me wish we lived there. Perfect weather, nice people, beautiful scenery... too bad it costs an arm and a leg.

We finally made it to the main street in Santa Barbara. We walked up and down until we settled on a place to eat.

George got a 24 oz. steak! He wasn't able to finish even half of it and ended up giving his leftovers to a lady on the street who was asking for food. I wonder if she was surprised when she opened the box and saw $30 worth of steak inside.

With the time change, we were pretty exhausted when we got back to the hotel around 11p.m. (That's about 2 p.m. Virginia time). That awesome bed was calling our names!

The next morning, we got up and headed over to the conference. It was within walking distance from the hotel.

They had these signs all over the city and at the airport. It was fun to know George was presenting at such a prestigious event.

Here is where they were hosting the event:

The Marriot/Ritz Carlton. It was soooo nice! George got me a guest past that allowed me access to all the lectures and best of all...

...the food! They had breakfast and lunch provided and all kinds of snacks in between. Gourmet popcorn, anyone?

It was intimidating to be here with all these well-educated men and women, many of whom are pioneers in their field. It was a little humbling to know that I was most likely the least-educated person in the room.

I'll be honest: much of what was discussed during the few lectures we attended went over my head. I'm a labor and delivery nurse, not a cardiac surgeon. 

That's okay. I had the fabulous food and warm drinks to keep me occupied.

George checking out some other posters on display.

After an hour or two of lectures, we walked over to where the vendors were setting up their tables.

They had it at the Staples Center. It was huge and beautiful. Once again, I felt a little out of place.

We called it quits for the day. It was lunch time and George didn't have to present until the following day and since he's an EM doctor, not a cardiac doctor, we felt okay ditching the conference for bigger and better things.

Like In-N-Out.

AND Six Flags!

Yes, we went to Magic Mountain Six Flags for the rest of the day. Of course we had to pick the day when all the middle schools were doing their field trips and the lines were literally hours long, but whatever. I was there with George and it was fabulous!

View from the top of one of the rides.

I know this is a little blasphemous, but I think I liked the rides at this Six Flags better than even Busch Gardens. They were some of the best roller coasters I've ever experienced. 

The next (and last day) we woke up an hour earlier than we had to because we forgot about daylight savings. Dang it! We made up for it by going out to eat at this famous Cafe:

Apparently it's been in several movies and many famous people have eaten here. It's so popular that there is a line most of the time outside the door. We waited about 20 minutes before being let in.

I can totally see why! It's inexpensive and you get so. much. good. food!

Mustache!

Fabulous way to start the day!

We made it to the convention in time to catch the morning lectures and check on George's poster.

Ta da!

George had to stand by the poster for about 1 and 1/2 hours and present to the moderators and anyone else who walked past and asked questions.

What did I do during that time?

Okay, I also pumped in the car. Even though our kiddos weren't with us, I still had to carry around my pump and pump every 4-5 hours. It was leash, but a price I was willing to pay. 

I also thought about taking a nap, but after a lady peed on the tree we were parked next to (yes, you read that right), I didn't feel all that safe to just hang out in the car in the middle of the city, so I walked back to the convention center to spy on George.

I've always admired his ability to talk to people and explain concepts in a way that is easy to understand. I couldn't help but feel proud to be married to such a smart, capable man. 

After he presented, we went over to the vendors again to see if they had any goodies they were handing out for free. You know, those pens and lanyards that you always get from places hoping for your business. You can't turn down free stuff!

We got a few pens, but the best thing we got was a free cholesterol reading. They drew our blood and then later mailed us a complete work-up. It was VERY interesting and you'll be happy to know that our levels are all in the healthy range. Whew!

Our plane didn't leave until around 10 p.m., so we had a few hours to kill after the conference. We decided to check out Hollywood Blvd and see if it lived up to the hype.

We paid $5 to take our pictures with these guys. We thought Lance might get a kick out of it.

Took this picture for Jude. :)

I have to admit, it wasn't as fabulous as I thought it would be. It was short, loud, and besides the stars on the sidewalk, it wasn't too unique. It looked like they were trying to be New York, but it was a feeble attempt. At least we can say we were there.

So, how can you tell you have three kids at home and zero adult alone time? You walk into a lingerie store with your husband and the only thing you walk out with is a pair of clearance jeans. Yes, jeans. Oh Fredricks of Hollywood, maybe next time.

We made it to the airport in enough time to catch a short nap before boarding the plane. We were flying the red-eye back to Virginia, landing at 6 a.m. It was a hard flight, but thankfully it wasn't too full and George and I both had complete rows to ourselves.

We made it back to George's parent's house to find both Cole and Jude awake for the day. Sorry, Mom! That's an early morning for you.

Scott dropped Lance off later that morning and Callie and Bryce came over to play for a bit.

Diesel. You're a smart, naughty dog.

Life was back to normal.

It was good to be home and wonderful to see the boys, but part of me was sad our little excursion was over. It was beyond wonderful to be with George and remember how fun it is to be together, just the two of us. I am so lucky to have such a great man to share my life with. I can't wait until we're able to do this again!