I'm back!

LA county is beautiful. LA the city is a whole different story.

We had a great time. The weather in LA was really warm though, upper 90s on Friday and Saturday.

When we arrived Thursday we headed to the Playboy studios. We were supposed to meet up with someone who'd give us a tour. The husband arranged this. According to the husband, the guy we were meeting had an appt. at 4, but if we missed him one of his other guys would be happy to show us around. So we get there at 4:30, plane landed at 2, got the rental car by 3, and sat on the expressways (I know they're freeways but I'm from Chicago and they're always expressways here.) for the other 1 1/2 hrs. Traffic there was pretty bad. The studios are in Glendale which is only about 25 miles from LAX but it still took forever to get there.

When we arrived we asked for the guy who was supposed to give us the tour and was told he'd left for the day, duh but someone else could give the tour. Not sure if I've shared with you the sometimes lack of a backbone my husband has. He took this news and we walked out the door. I didn't want to cause a scene so I followed him out. I couldn't believe that we'd just driven all that way only to turn around and leave. Needless to say, words were exchanged in the car and that's how we spent the next 35 mins in the car. Finally, we came to an agreement and started talking again. He can be such a spineless twit sometimes.

At this point we're pretty hungry because we haven't eaten since breakfast. I get really cranky when I'm hungry so we find an In and Out Burger because we knew we'd have to try "the best burger in the world." Husband and I will both freely admit it is a really damn good burger. Of course, being the computer world nerd he is he knew that the secret code was to ask for it animal style. This means that you get extra secret sauce (I think it's like a glorified Thousand Island) and grilled instead of raw onions. When I requested this at the register I was asked if I wanted my fries animal style too, and I said yes. This means that they put a couple slices of cheese, the grilled onions, and the secret sauce on the fries. This meal was insane but it was really damn good. I am a convert now and think that In and Out does have the best burgers in the world. I want them to open one in Chicago. Maybe we can exchange a White Castle for an In and Out.

The day ended with a drive down Hollywood, only to be smack dab in the middle of a premier for the new Adam Sandler movie The Longest Yard. It was cool to see the crowd. Didn't see anyone of discernable celebritydom. On the plane in, however, we saw Dylan Walsh, bka Shawn McNamara from Nip/Tuck. Didn't say anything to him because it looked like he was trying to lay low. He's shorter than I expected, but just as cute in person as he is on the show.

Friday, the husband went to the convention and I did the typical Rodeo drive thing. The sales people were really nice. I was expecting them to be snotty. I spent about 40 mins. in the Lladro store. They're so beautiful. Then I was in Cartier, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc. As I said in a previous post, I couldn't afford any of those things anyway. It was fun to browse though.

Saturday we started out the day with a tour of the Playboy mansion. It really is beautiful. We weren't allowed to tour the house but we did tour the grounds, the guest house, the game room, and of course the grotto. The grotto is much smaller than you see on TV. It's actually quite cozy. Of course I don't think I'd take a swim because of all the things that go on in there, but to see it was great. Heff's got an aviary and small zoo. He's got monkeys and bunnies. Tons of birds though. He gets them from various bird rescue organizations. The grounds are beautiful, it's no wonder he never leaves. Everything comes to him. We got to meet one of his girls, she was working out in the gym preparing for a shoot later that day.

After the mansion, we went to the Hollywood area so I could get some cheesy souveniers and I could see Mann's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We also stopped in the wax museum, it was pretty cool. Hollywood is pretty seedy and dirty outside of the theater area.

After the Hollywood experience, we went to Pasadena to troll around downtown. There was this store that was advertising on the hotel television station called Lather. They billed themselves as a modern apothecary, all natural ingredients, etc. I really wanted to check it out. They were cool, got to try everything before I bought it. I got this almond shave cream and used it that night. It is really nice and smells heavenly. We ate at a Mexican restaurant a few doors down and just window shopped the rest of the night. It was beautiful, I really like Pasadena. Just for fun, we searched to see how much homes were in the area and for a 600 sq. foot, 1 bedroom, 2 bath house on 2000 sq. feet of property it was 450K. I couldn't believe it.

Sunday our flight was at 10 am, so we got up and left for the airport.

We had an awesome time and I would totally do it again minus the Hollywood part. I think once you do it one time, you've done it for your lifetime.

On the baby front: I just finished my last provera pill yesterday. Hopefully my cycle will start in the next few days and then on to 100 mg Clomid.

I'm still trying to catch up on blogs, I hope everyone is doing well.