LA: Day 1

We arrived in Orange County at 930 local time after boarding a 630 flight in MCI and a 730 flight in Denver. Anne picked us up for the trek back to her house in LA complete with fresh Krispy Kreme donuts, our favorite drinks (mine being Pepsi, of course), and gift bags full of snacks for all the time we are going to spend in the car on this trip which, thanks to California traffic, is a LOT.

It took us a while to get back to Anne's apartment but I didn't mind - it was fun to see the palm trees and storefronts that lined the roads. We were going to take the Pacific Coast Highway, but we had to be at Leno at two and needed to freshen up a bit after our long flight.  Once we arrived at the apartment, cleaned up an ate a delicious lunch of croissant sandwiches, crackers, and fresh fruit (thanks Anne!), we headed to the studio. We had reservations but when we got there we were told ( by an NBC page - yes, an actual NBC page, like Kevin from 30 Rock...ah!) that 1) no cameras were allowed, even outside (which is why I have no picture to post) and 2) there was no guarantee we would get in. The studio housed 384 seats...and it looked like there were at least that many in line. After waiting for about an hour and a half, it turned out there were EXACTLY that many people in line...in front of us. We were literally numbers 385, 386, and 387. Guess we weren't supposed to see Betty White, Jeremy Renner, and Joss Stone after all.  We, and the 30 or so people behind us (including a couple who drove four hours from Vegas) were turned away, though as compensation the did offer us guaranteed seating at our choice of three tapings in August. :(

But no matter! We were heading to IKEA next! I. Love. Ikea. I've only been to the one in Dallas, but it was amazing! This one was considerably smaller, but it's such a fun store to just mosy through. I found this dresser that I would absolutely love to have in Lucy's room:

 But it's expensive, even for Ikea.  I just live the color and that it has so much storage!


By this time, it was 430.  We decided to head up to the famous Hollywood sign and get some pics!

Look closely and you an see the Hollywood sign!

Then we drove up to the Griffith Observatory, which I wasn't all that excited about until I got there and realized how awesome it was! It's a beautiful building perched on the side of a mountain that overlooks the entire city...and it's a BIG city!

The Griffith Observatory

One of the views from the observation deck!

It also houses two working telescopes and holds public observation hours. There's also an enormous pendulum in the center that stays on a steady swing somehow while the earth shifts around it. My husband would have liked that part!

By this time, Alicia and I were pretty beat, having traveled all morning and feeling like it was 800 instead of 600. We were also very hungry, so we decided to grab an In and Out burger (which we were told we had to do) and head back to Anne's to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. People back home were already facebooking about how awesome it was, so we thought it would make a relaxing end to our evening. It did, but it took us nearly an hour and a half to get to the restaurant and back to Anne's apartment, which would have been a mere 6 minute drive if it hadn't been for traffic. The restaurant was true to its name - we spent almost no time there - but by the time we did arrive back it was nearly 730. Just enough time to eat, change in to PJs, and fall asleep somewhere between Australia and Austria.

BUT THE MOST EXCITING EVENT OF THE DAY WAS THE ARRIVAL OF MY NIECE IN OKLAHOMA CITY!  It deserves it's own post and will get it once I get back to see her, but I will say that mommy and baby are doing well, thank the Lord!