(Originally posted January/February 2014 on my previous blog, Quid for Quill.)

I suppose it is about time I get around to posting the long-promised account of my epic December adventure. . .

Picture-heavy post ahead, but hopefully you will enjoy! I’ve split this into 3 parts because this is simply too long for a single post.

Let me preface this with saying sleep is a good thing. Sleep is a great thing even. And 30 minutes of it the night before a big trip is… probably a poor idea. Then again sometimes I make really dumb decisions. By the time I was getting on the plane to leave Tulsa at nearly 6 AM I had only had 30 minutes of sleep since roughly 7 AM the previous day.

Honestly at this point I figured I already had enough adrenaline going and would probably acquire plenty more along the way to keep me awake for the day. The first step of all of this though? Getting TO California. Snow was moving in, and while it wouldn’t be in Tulsa until the next day, it was already starting in Denver. Denver, of course, was my layover. For awhile I was starting to get concerned I’d get out of Denver at ALL. Only 3 minutes passed from the time my plane pulled into the gate to the time it was covered in snow. This was not a great sign. But the universe was on my side for this adventure, and got us out of there only running a little over an hour late.

I admit I was a little bit like the kid with her face shoved against the window when we started to descend into San Diego. I’ve never seen California. I’ve only been properly ‘West’ once and that was to Phoenix, Arizona, and the Grand Canyon. Not at all the same thing. California all by itself would be a new adventure for me.

Thankfully it was easy to find Tameri in the airport (this was only my third time to fly ANYWHERE and my first time by myself), and it was instant hugs and happy chatter. I felt like it took only a moment for us to click as if we’d hung out dozens of times before. 

We easily filled the time in the car on the way to Los Angeles with all sorts of gossip and life stories, and by the time I was oohing and aahing on the Sunset Strip she was just about to drop my next big surprise. Up until now I knew our hotel was ON the Sunset Strip, but I had no idea where. It was her big secret. So imagine my jaw dropping when we pulled up here:

That’s right. THE Beverly Hills Hotel. Classic Old Hollywood. The most high-society, guest-pampering hotel I’ve ever been to. Every person who worked there made me feel like someone important and even though I know it’s their job, they did a great one at making it feel very genuine.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s hidden behind the hotel away from prying civilian eyes… it’s a miniature Eden.

So much green!

I felt vaguely like I had stepped into a tropical rain forest of some sort, not that I’m complaining. I simply never would have guessed THIS was hiding just behind such a busy thoroughfare.

There were all sorts of little bungalows tucked in behind and between the greenery and Tameri and I had a bit of fun trying to speculate just who might be staying there. Was it some big star? A big director? Or maybe ‘just’ a fancy agent, taking a break from handling their high-profile, high-maintenance clients. We’ll never know…

After wandering the gardens, we stopped at the Polo Lounge for our late lunch/early dinner while waiting for our room to be ready. It was such a beautiful day we chose to sit outside instead of staying cooped up indoors. (Though honestly, indoors would have been far from a hardship. Everywhere I turned my head, this little Okie girl was awed by her swanky surroundings.)

Part of our hotel package gave us free cocktails, a perk which we wasted no time in taking them up on.

Honestly, I’m just now realizing from looking at the picture, but my watermelon cocktail matched my nails almost perfectly. Accessorizing!

(In fact, this was only the second time I’d ever had my nails professionally done. The first time was for my wedding, 3 years ago. Anything for Kaz, right?!)

I’ll also say I think I made it through two plane rides and pretty much no sleep not looking too bad…

Tameri and I both ordered the steak frites which were far from disappointing. I think she managed to embarrass our shy waiter a bit too, but he was quite cute and he had a fantastic voice. I still think he should be doing radio or something!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post on Thursday… going to see VAMPS!

All pictures in this post taken by Lissa Clouser or Tameri Etherton.