ALMOST THERE!

That's right! It's almost vacation time! Wooooohoooooo. These will be the longest three days EVER. Actually, the time has gone by fairly quickly the last couple of weeks. To help make the days go by more quickly, I went to visit Charlotte (and Monette & Jay) up in San Francisco last weekend. She is SO cute and she eats so much that she gets bigger on a daily basis. Mostly she eats and sleeps, so we were able to take her everywhere with no problem. On Saturday we went to my Auntie Lorna's house for lunch and she slept nearly the entire afternoon. Afterwards, we decided to go to the SF Center, where she slept the entire time, so we were able to sit and have coffee and dessert. Easy eh? Of course, I hear she was up and ready to party all night, so maybe not so easy, but Auntie Kristine didn't hear any crying from her room at all. On Sunday, we went to a pancake house for breakfast, where you go it, Charlotte slept the whole time. After a trip to Babies R Us, and new bear-earred footie pajamas, we went back to the house to wait for Uncle Doug, who was also going to be visiting. Charlotte and I passed the time by watching the 8th season of Friends. I think she enjoyed it... until she fell asleep. Again. While she slept against my shoulder, I realized she bore a bit of resemblance to Stewie (sp?) on Family Guy, so I started calling her Stewie (never mind I can't spell it). Monette pointed out that it's not wholly inappropriate as her last name is Stewart.

Anyway, I flew back Sunday evening, but felt like I caught something, because as soon as I landed, I was sneezing and my throat itch. Or maybe it was just the LA smog because I've been fine since. I guess my lungs were in a bit of shock. The week went by quickly since there have been so many things to do before my trip.

This weekend was spent running errands and such. It was Sean's birthday party yesterday, so before and after tennis, I had to run around picking up gifts, food and cake to bring down. I would have to say the most entertaining part of Sean's birthday party was when Linley decided to engage Hannah in a b*tch fight over the seesaw. They have an airplane seesaw, where a kid can ride on the end of each wing and a kid can ride in the center near the steering wheel. Well, poor Hannah happened to be sitting in the center seat when Linley decided it was her turn. Linley stated as such, "it's my turn!" No response from Hannah who is a very quiet little girl (unlike Linley). "IT'S MY TURN NOW!" Still no response or movement from Hannah. Big mistake. Now Linley is mad. I've always said this kid had a Napoleon complex. Always trying to prove her power though she is small. She grabs poor Hannah by the ears/checks/face and tries to pull her off the seesaw. Actually she succeeds. Hannah is now sitting on the grass crying and Linley gets in TROUBLE so she starts crying. What a little tyrant. One day she will be on UFC kicking butt. During Sean's party, I stoppoed by Val and Edzel's place for their get together. It was too bad I had already eaten because they had quite a spread out. I really wanted one of those cupcakes Val made. Too bad I'm on a quest to lose 5 lbs in 5 days. (I know, not gonna happen, especially after today...)

Today they started that promotional for the Share our Strength fund raiser. Lin and I checked out Frascati in Palos Verdes, and it was GOOD. YOu get a 3 course prix fixe meal from Sunday to Thursday of this week at the listed restaurants. Some do only lunch, some do both lunch and dinner. I had the heirloom tomates, the sea bass, and the panna cotta. YUM. Check it out: http://www.usadineout.com/Main.asp

WHEW!

I made it through the week. I had my doubts you know. Last week, I was an animal. I worked out 5 out of 6 days. And then I went to Vegas. Holy cow. Or just plain cow. That's me. Sunday night, Jing and I went to Mario Batali's B&B Ristorante in the Venetian. We had the 6 course traditional tasting menu. That's right, 6 courses. And I ate all 6 of them, plus the extra chocolates at the end. Let me tell you, that food (and service) was worth every darn dollar. He can do things with corn you would have never thought would be good. Basil sorbetto? Balsamico gelato? What? NO, really, it was so good. The ravioli I suppose looked plain, but it was beyond flavorful and the lamb... I'm not a lamb person, but I was ready to munch on it like it was bacon.

Since we ate so much, we decided we'd go to Zappos' party at Tao and do thirty minutes of cardio. We got totally lucky and got there when they were playing some awesome old school. It was a pleasant experience for the most part. There were these two guys getting nasty on the dance floor and it was a bit much. Had it been a guy and a girl, it still would have been too much, so definitely even more so since we had the boy on boy action going.

Monday night, we took clients out to dinner. Or customers I guess. Lawyers have clients. Shoe people have customers. Anyway, we took them to dinner at Japonais at the Mirage. I have to admit, I had relatively low expectations, but darn it, they were darn good. Not only the food, but our waitress was THE BOMB. She earned every bit of her tip (and not just because I was the only one she carded. :-)) Anyhow, if you're looking for good sushi, and want to try something other than Nobu or Social House, I suggest Japonais.

We stayed at the new Planet Hollywood Hotel. OMG, SUCH an improvement over the Aladdin. First, they updated everything, changed the floors and changed the toiletries. I don't bother bringing shampoo, etc on business trips because the hotel will usually have it. When we stayed at the Aladdin, the stuff was so stinky, I was hating myself for days. Luckily, as Planet Hollywood, they vastly improved the smell and quality of their toiletries, bathrooms, etc. Thank goodness. We also saw Mark Philippousis there. I knew him as a tennis player from Australia. I think everyone else now knows him from the show Age of Love. I think he is living at the hotel since they have the Extra Lounge there and have viewing parties on Mondays. I know, because I got one of those pre-recorded voice mails telling me so. =P

20 days til vacation, but who's counting?