California Dreamin'

It's been so long since I've posted that I am trying to catch up on everything that's been going on since April. On May 1st Sunny started her new job and had to go to Los Angeles for training so Mom and decided we would travel with her and enjoy the city will she worked. We were in Los Angeles for 4 days and we did as much as we could possibly fit into every single day. We we arrived on Monday we rented a car and drove to Laguna Beach for lunch. The beach there is beautiful!!! We picked Sunny up that evening and took her back to see Laguna and have dinner there.

On Tuesday we met a tour bus and spent the entire day on a "Hollywood Tour." We saw everything from the Hollywood sign to Muscle Beach.

The Hollywood sign is in the back ground

Grauman's Chinese Theater

 There were actors dressed up all over Hollywood Blvd...these two found Mother.

The Chanel store on Rodeo Drive

The Beverly Hill's Hotel

Yup, that's the talking rock outside the Playboy Mansion

The gate to the Playboy Mansion

The Santa Monica Pier

Muscle Beach at Venice Beach

Are you picturing Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes Playing Basketball?

 And the Kush Doctor of course. NOOOOO, we didn't go visit him.

On Wednesday Mom and I struck out on an adventure like no other we've ever been on together. We drove ourselves through LA traffic to downtown looking for "The Fashion District." I read about this place online and it looked like great shopping and lots of interesting places. When we got there our thoughts were correct. I didn't take any pictures while we were there, we were too busy shopping. I can't describe this place, but here is a link to images from "the district"

After shopping we continued our adventure to Malibu just to see the beach there and have lunch. 

There were surfers out enjoying the waves in Malibu as well as people on yolo boards. It was a beautiful sight. 

As you can see below, the houses are built right on the cliffs next to the water and just off Hwy 1 ( Santa Monica BLVD). Seeing these beaches made me miss the huge WHITE beaches we have in Alabama and the blue water.

We left Malibu and had a 60 mile drive back to our hotel. Would you believe that it took over 2 hours to get back. The traffic there is unbelievable!!! 

On Thursday we had tickets to see the Jay Leno show. We got up early and drove ourselves through LA traffic again to Burbank, CA for the show. We were told we needed to be in line earlier to insure our seats so we got there really early and decided to tour NBC studios first. We saw behind the scenes area of Days of Our Lives as well as the props the show, the studio where Johnny Carson filmed his Tonight Show and of course Jay Leno's studio. We made it into the filming of the Jay Leno show and his guest that night (4:30 in the afternoon) were Ralph Macchio and Wanda Sykes.

This vacation was unbelievable. I never dreamed that I would ever go to California and get to visit all these sites. Being there and spending the days with my mother was wonderful. We have so many memories that we will never forget. 

Marsh and Jessie went to the Chapel

Many of you have heard me talk about my cousin Marshall, who is more like a brother to me than a cousin. He and I are 7 months apart in age and have lived together for 7 years on and off depending on what wonderful adventure he was partaking in at the time. In April, exactly one year to the day they got engaged he and Jessie, as I call her, got married. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and the the bride and groom as well as the ceremony were gorgeous. 

On the Friday before, Mom, Sunny and I attended and helped host Jessica's Bridesmaids Luncheon.

That's Jessie in the front center (in light blue).

Here is Jessica's mother (in the polka dot dress), her grandmother on the right, and her aunts.

On Friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at the Country Club in Monroeville.

 Sunny and Tom

 Daniel and I. Can you tell I got a little emotional and cried??

 Mother, Aunt Becky (Marshall's Mom) and Uncle Andy

Sunny, Stephanie and I

Here's a picture of our whole family, well, minus Miller and Mae, Miller was sick and had to stay home :-(