While my trip away from home this time is not nearly as dramatic, I thought it would fun to work up a similar travel journal for my California commentary. I have to work out of my company's L.A. and San Francisco offices this week, so my travel schedule was brutal in order to maximize the time I could spend with the kids. Flying out at 6:30 a.m. this morning enabled me to make Sunday night dinner with them, and returning at midnight Thursday allows me to be home for Friday breakfast (plus a Tuesday evening flight to get from LA to SF).
First, let me say there's no possible way I can be as witty today given the extreme state of sleep deprivation I am currently experiencing (I'm actually just going for coherent with today's musings). Second, one might think that there's just no difference between L.A. and Houston like there is with London and Houston, but one would be wrong. (Although there's less likelihood I'm going to get steamrolled crossing the street like I almost did in London, good grief.)
1. You might think, unlike New York and London as I reflected last year, that color would be all the fashion in Los Angeles. Oh. No. Does anyone wear color anymore? While my canary yellow has been retired since London, my absolute favorite jacket in the world is a kelly green swing coat that I WON from Neiman Marcus (where I couldn't afford to shop). So I thought to myself as I packed, this is the power jacket you wear for your first day back in the LA office.
I am like a pimple on your forehead. I stick out further than Pinocchio's nose. At one point, another female colleague and I had lost our two fast walking male colleagues at a red light (they'd sprinted on ahead while we judiciously waited), and they finally turned around and realized they were a full city block ahead of us. I commented, as I waved to them in my very loud green coat (and they IMMEDIATELY spotted me), that I felt like a tourist where now everywhere I go I wear these neon jackets so people can find me in a crowd. Remember when your youth group went to Disneyworld and everyone wore matching day glow orange tees? Well, I'm the equivalent in professional attire, apparently, when I travel.
2. How is it 50 degrees in LA while it was 74 when I flew out of Houston? A colleague from LA thought it odd that I posited this question, but I'm sorry, don't you all just have visuals that it's 80 degrees and sunny year round in LA? I realize that's probably San Diego instead, but I was still taken aback.
3. While not really that odd, given the geography, how cool is it that this is my view from my office today (there's no way I could give the mountain range the credit it deserved, it's much prettier in person)?
4. L.A. looks an awful lot like any city in America from the freeway (minus the palm trees, that's pretty LA). I passed Lowe's, Target, Starbucks, and all the usual suspects. However, I did notice a lot more "juice bars" in my passing observations of strip centers, but other than that, I could definitely find myself some hairspray or toothpaste in a pinch. One yummy difference though that I've already participated in (likely the result of my 4 a.m. wake up call), "minor" chain coffee shops. These coffee shops are apparently L.A. specific, and even pricier, but they still put coffee in ceramic mugs (if it's not to go), and my super delicious latte had quite extensive scroll heart art work in my foam topping. Now that would be the end of me if I had one of those down the street. I'd go broke. Serious perk of L.A.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's observations of the cocktail hour - if I stay awake. Until then, from 90210 (or thereabouts), I'm out.
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