Denise Richards
Why on earth is Denise Richards a part of my blog? Well . . . I received a freelance job the weekend before our big California trip, a rush job that was due in just a couple of days, and it just so happened to be Denise Richards's memoir. For a freelancer, getting your first celebrity memoir is huge (or at least it is for me). It means the production editor trusts you with something that is going to, most likely, do well on the bestseller lists. Because, let's face it, there's a reason why so many celebrities write juicy memoirs: they sell. Especially if an ex-spouse is making headlines for something (or for being) crazy and ridiculous.
There was a lot of inner turmoil as I was offered this job. I had just finished a project (that was very long and tiresome) and I swore that was my last before the trip. And this new one might come in on Friday . . . but it may not come in until Monday. In which case I was looking at some editing on the plane and FedExing the job back once we landed in L.A. Not to mention, even if it did come in on Friday, I would have to work around the Texas A&M/UT Chili Cookoff. What to do, what to do? Socially and personally, my mind was saying, "Don't do it. Don't take it. Take a break. You have plenty of other things you can be, and need to be, doing." But professionally? My mind couldn't imagine saying no. I don't think Mike or my mom had any doubt, as I weighed the pros and cons out loud to them, as to whether I'd take the job. They know I like to stretch myself thin, and, I guess (reluctantly), I know this about myself, as well.
Thankfully, the job did come in very late Friday afternoon. I worked all night. I woke up the next morning, ate chili and drank some beer (only some though, since I knew I needed a clear mind), while hanging out with some friends on top of a building looking out at the Empire State Building (I know, tough gig, right?). I came home, worked some more. I woke up Sunday, worked some more, and did my laundry so I'd have clothes to pack, if I ever got to packing. I went to work on Monday, came home and packed (the night before and not the morning of my departure? I am becoming a grown-up!), met Asad and Nada at Shake Shack for dinner before they went on their month-long traveling adventure, and came home and worked some more.
The hours passed. The Dr Peppers flowed. The Tootsie Roll Pops were demolished. Before I knew it, it was 6:30 a.m. and I was finally finishing up the book. Which, by the way, was pretty good. There's some Charlie Sheen discussing, of course, but there are also some fun stories about Denise's upbringing and her career decisions, as well as some tough emotional chapters as she experienced and mourned her mother's passing (Mike was worried when he saw me crying at one point, but I just couldn't help it).
So, if you buy the book, don't tell me if you find a typo. I pray you don't because I sure as heck pored over it. Though, when you work in publishing, you know, inevitably, something will always slip through. And yes, as a perfectionist, this is very hard to come to terms with.
I'm glad I took the book. It was a good read, and definitely needed after the project I had before it, which went very slowly. It's great for my résumé. And since it was a rush job, I got a better rate. And the contact person was someone new who I haven't worked with yet. Here's hoping he likes my work and will use me again/pass my name along to other production editors.
Now it's time for the next freelance project (seriously, I got one today, so I definitely need to write this post before I get caught up in that job). . . .
California Dreamin'
Now for the big chunk of this blog! Mike and I just spent a week in California as a nice kickoff to the summer. My friend Brittany was getting married up near San Jose over Memorial Day weekend and we decided we could do one of two things: fly to California for only Memorial Day weekend and pay for the more expensive tickets . . . or, fly a few days before, stay a few days after, and see a bit of California for around the same price(ish). Since Mike's never been to California, and I haven't been in years, we decided to do the latter and make a vacation of the trip.
After my all-nighter, Mike and I headed to JFK, where we were delighted to have a flight leave on time, something that doesn't seem to happen for the two of us often. Since I hadn't slept yet, it was pretty easy for me to do so for most of the six-hour flight. Though the times I did wake up, I was annoyed by what was happening in the row in front of us (which would be nothing compared to the flight home). I can only imagine how parents worry about entertaining their children for a long flight like that, especially when they have three of them under the age of nine (a guess). But the way to keep them entertained is not to give two an iPad and the other a portable DVD player and allow them to watch movies and play games without headphones. Side rant over.
We arrived in L.A. and were immediately met by palm trees, the sun, and seventy-degree weather. Hello, California! We picked up the rental car, drove to Mike's friend Tad's apartment, and found a place to park. Since Tad and his wife were out looking for an apartment, Mike and I decided to just aimlessly wander around Hollywood. We walked down Sunset Boulevard, found a place to eat, and then found and walked down Hollywood Boulevard (Tad said our walking to all of these locations was very New Yorker of us . . . I guess you can take the couple out of New York, but you can't take the New York out of the couple). We saw Kodak Theatre, and were surprised to see it was really a galleria-like mall with an outdoor shopping center as well. It will be interesting to watch the Oscars next year to see how it's set up, now that we know what it looks like. We went past Grauman's Chinese Theatre and saw some of the handprints and footprints. I'm not really sure I understand what the big deal is about getting a star on the Walk of Fame, it seems like just about everyone has one. But that's just my opinion. We had dinner with Tad and his wife, Monica, and then we crashed.
The next day we drove to the Griffith Observatory to get a closer look of the Hollywood sign. There were a lot of hiking trails that we would have loved to explore, but we were doing California on speed . . . and there just wasn't enough time. Then lunch down in Santa Monica before heading to the pier. Even Mike, whose generally not a beach lover (okay, he's not a beach lover), loved Santa Monica. As one of his friends said, it's the fool's weather that wins people over, which I could totally see. I mean, even the bums have the right idea: If circumstances lead you to that sort of life, might as well do it in the sunshine. We hung out again that night with the newly married Tad and Monica (and when I say newly married, I mean they were just back from their honeymoon for like a week or two). And the next morning we were off. . . .
We drove about four and a half hours to the Hearst Castle, which is ri.dic.u.lous. Is it a castle? A museum? So many things, and we only saw bits of it (very smartly, California Parks breaks the tours up so you can't actually see everything without paying for multiple tours). The views were beautiful. I wanted to jump into the pool; I wanted to pick the fruit from the trees (an assortment of grapefruit, lemon, lime, and orange). We left and started driving the Pacific Coast Highway, even though the signs said it was closed in thirty miles. Assuming there would be a turnaround point, we decided to drive a bit anyway. There didn't seem to be one, and we eventually had to double back, but it was well worth it because we were able to see the elephant seal beach and drive up and around a winding mountain with only a barrier separating us and the Pacific Ocean. And very unlike my type-A style, we had no idea where we were staying that night. So we just stopped at a Marriott Courtyard along the way and hoped there was vacancy. There was, and we crashed once again.
On to Friday: We drove to San Francisco, which was supposed to be just a drive-by to pick up Stephanie on our way to Livermore for Brittany's wedding the next day. Only, we underestimated the power of David's persuasiveness. Within the first minutes, David had us convinced we needed to go to Napa. But more on that in a bit.
We drank Irish coffees at its U.S. origin, the Buena Vista Cafe. We walked up many hills to get to Lombard Street. I bought chocolate at Ghiradelli Square. And then we walked the Golden Gate Bridge, all 1.7 miles one way . . . and all 1.7 miles back. Therefore working off the Irish coffees, chocolate, and the pizza we would get later . . . right? Sure.
The next morning we decided to wake up at 6:45 and leave by 8:30 to arrive at Napa as the gates opened. We only got one winery in (but if you're only going to go to one out of hundreds, good to be at the one that Seth Meyers chooses to start his day . . . right? He was arriving as we were leaving.). Then we drove to Livermore to go to Brit and Rob's wedding. Which was beautiful. Their ceremony was in an old mission church, which was awesome. And as the first wedding Mike and I had been to since our own, I was emotional (in a good way, of course). The reception was a lot of fun, Mike made me dance a lot, shocker, I know. There was ice cream cake in both of our favorite flavors (mint chocolate chip for me, cookies and cream for him) and we got to spend time with Stephanie, Regina, and Lindsey.
Phew, holy moly. You're still with me? A few of you? Well, you're my favorites.
The day after the wedding, we got to see the lovely bride and groom at breakfast before heading out to lunch with Steph, Regina, and another bridesmaid. We dropped Steph off at the airport after that, walked around AT&T Park since the Giants were out of town, and then joined David, Kristin, and Duke at their local park. Generally I love being go-go-go on trips, but it was really nice to relax in the park . . . which just so happens to be the park in the opening of Full House (at the very end) with the Painted Ladies. We drove to Sausalito that night for a fantastic seafood dinner, which was soooo yummy. I love fresh seafood.
On Monday we went to a baseball game. But not just any baseball game. The Yankees were in town! We couldn't have planned that better (well, we thought about arriving the Friday before the wedding and staying a week later instead, driving down the coast so we could also see the Yankees in Anaheim, too, but that was pushing it). Colon threw a shutout and the game was over in less than two hours. We thought about doing the Alcatraz night tour since our night was now available, but the tour was all booked up. So we hung out at the park, went to an awesome German restaurant/bar, and watched a movie/drank wine. All in all, a great end to our vacation and we're very thankful to our friends who lent us their air mattresses. It was great seeing you guys! (And my ALOT girls, too.) :)
For our flight home, we were able to catch an earlier flight through Denver instead of Kansas City (since our flight to KC was delayed, we would have definitely missed our connection). It worked out because we actually got into New York an hour earlier than we would have on the original flight. The downside? The people on our flight screamed amateur hour. There was a row of people who were playing piss-poor music out loud on their phone (they were doing it in the terminal too, unaware to the people around them rolling their eyes, or saying things not so under their breath--such as myself). Thankfully the flight attendant came over and told them that only selfish, immature imbeciles think it's okay to blast house music on a phone, let alone on a plane. Well, maybe she said it nicer than that. The woman next to me was hammered. The people behind us felt it was necessary to scream at each other in a different language the whole time, not because they were mad, but just because that was apparently their normal level of conversation volume. But other than crazy people, our flights left on time and went without a hitch, so I guess we can't really complain. So the only downsides of traveling this go-around was finding a cab on the way to the airport, and waiting in line for one on the way home.
Spider-Man
And because our life is never boring . . . on Wednesday, our first day back to the real world, Andrea produced free tickets to Spider-Man. So Mike, Andrea, Brad, and I went. I wanted to like it, I really, really did. But it was bad. The visuals were great. But.that.was.about.it. I mean Bono and the Edge . . . how could the music not be fabulous? Because the lyrics were forced. The background music was too loud and overpowered the singers. There were a few songs that I liked, but eh, I'll buy them singularly on iTunes and forego the album. The dialogue was bad, as was the story. And this was after they redid a lot of it! There was more hype for the American Idol Top 3 in the audience. Of course, the show still sold out, and the crowd gave it a standing O, which, call me a snob, I don't think every show should get. I think it devalues the shows that really blow your mind and deserve that last bit of recognition for how awesome theater can be. But I have to admit I have been a very fortunate theatergoer, and I may have seen more than others in the audience. So maybe for them this was the type of musical that blew their mind. All I can say is, I am glad I saw it for free.
So that's that! Denise Richards, California Dreamin', and Spider-Man. There's also been some softball in there, The Hangover Part II, catching up on our DVR, eating at a Spanish restaurant with my Spanish side of the family, and a lot of walking to/from the office to work off the California trip and prepare to get into a bridesmaid's dress in one month. Not to mention 90-plus-degree weather which is setting our poor little window unit into overdrive . . . oh the days of central air.
Thanks for sticking with me. I promise the next entry will be shorter . . . I won't have to recap three weeks of my life. Promise.
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