Grateful on Sunset Blvd.

I just recently returned home from an amazing week in Southern California. My oldest daughter Stephanie is a singer songwriter and she and my youngest daughter Lacey, were performing at the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard. Nokia had sponsored the event and we were put up in a beautiful Best Western Hotel on Sunset. It looked like a French Villa on the inside. The pool area was covered with fragrant Bougainvilleas. We even had our own veranda that was covered with the aromatic flowers. It was just incredible.

My daughter Heather and I drove out at the beginning of the week with Stephanie and were the nannies to my darling little granddaughter Autumn. She is only 4 1/2 months old and already has so much personality. She has truly captured our heart.

Stephanie attended some workshops and we simply played with the baby, did a little shopping, and just enjoyed our time together. On Tuesday morning my Mother flew in from Hawaii to join in the party. My sister Lindy recently started working for an airline so my Mom has a new found freedom of free flights. I love seeing her assert some independence. I hope I can talk one of my kids into working for an airline so that I can do the same!

My youngest daughter Lacey and Stephanie's friend Debra flew in Wednesday morning. Now we had 7 of us using the hotel room as the hub for our activities for the day. It was wonderful being surrounded by my favorite people! That said the room was a little crowded and a little messy and as Stephanie returned from her final workshop she brought back with her our dear friend and Nokia exec. Steven Stewart. When I first went to the door and saw him there, I thought, "Um, can I show you how nice the pool deck is?"
But then realizing he had to have past it to get to my room that would have made no sense, so we just invited him in, and said,
"Welcome!"
I am hoping that he doesn't come from an immaculate home, or that his opinion of others isn't solely based on how tidy their hotel room is kept because, let's just say the beds were not made and there were several items of clothing (nothing personal thank heavens) on display. Let me first say that he is an amazing person to begin with and that he has already done so much to support my daughter's music. That in and of itself makes him one of my favorite people of all time, but then once I got to know him, well, to know him, is to literally love him! He is amazing! And then to top it off, he gave Stephanie and I one of the most amazing phones on the face of the planet! I will be using this phone often to update this blog! He listened to some of Stephanie's new music and discussed with Stephanie and Debra how the show was going to go. Debra played a couple of songs for him as well. It was cool to watch him video tape their performances. He says he is a major fan. I am even more impressed after hearing some of the songs he has written, as well as the songs he has written and performed himself. He too is an amazing talent. Then we did what any level headed person would do at 7:30 in Hollywood. We went to PINKBERRY and had a yogurt with fresh fruit. The girls stayed back at the hotel to get ready for the show, but Steven, Heather, my mom and I took off for the Pink pleasure place on Sunset Blvd. Pinkberry is my latest addiction! mmmm. What I would give for one right now. This was Steven's first time, he too was very impressed.

Finally the time for the big performance had arrived. It seems we had waited for months for this night. Everyone was calm. I had charge of the baby and I hadn't yet figured out how I was going to see the performance and take care of her needs, but it all worked out perfectly. Everyone went to the club early and I arrived just before the show. I went through the back stairs and between showcases I just took the baby who was fast asleep in her car seat into the side patio where the instruments were stored. It was a beautiful night and we were right next to the action, but clear enough from it where I felt she was safe. She actually stayed asleep during the entire performance. The performance was amazing. I loved when Stephanie let the crowd know that her cellist was only 15. Debra was flawless on percussion like usual. Oh, to have such talent! It was neat to look out and see the pleasure on everyone's faces as they played. Occasionally, you would see one of them look over their shoulder in disgust to the people at the back of the room that were being a little loud as they enjoyed their vast array of alcoholic beverages.

I was really surprised to see our good friend Rick Clark in the audience. My mom and Dad were both there. My Dad had driven down from Northern California that afternoon to catch the show. Several Myspace friends were there. Our good friends Secily and Amanda, and all of the sudden it seemed like a room filled with familiar faces. I was able to go out and enjoy the last few songs and Lacey took over the Baby duties after her cello playing was finished for the night. Then just as quickly as the show began the big event was all at once over.

We met up with a few friends at a little pizza parlor where we talked until 2:00 am. Heather and Lacey took the baby back to the room. I felt my eyelids begin to melt together as I listened to Rick talk about the changes in his life. Not because I was in any way disinterested, but all of the sudden the early mornings of getting up to pick people up from the airport started to catch up with me. I realized that between Monday and Tuesday night collectively I had only gotten about 9 hours of sleep. We got an unexpected phone call with a strange announcement that the baby had weird spots on her feet after having her toenails painted. After considering all of the viable causes I realized they were probably just from having her feet held firmly while her microscopic sized toe nails were being painted. She was happy and we were all sure she would be fine. We encouraged them to call us if anything changed, but all was well. Shortly after we said our good nights and arranged to meet for Lunch on Thursday. Rick always has amazing taste in restaurants and eating out with him has always been a grand experience. Something to look forward to.

We returned to the room where we faced only 1 challenge. There were 5 adults, and only 2 beds. I opted to take the floor on account that I was tired enough to sleep anywhere. I put on my PJs, grabbed my headphones and new cell phone, and headed to the floor where I could begin to get acquainted with my new Nokia N82. I thought to myself as I turned on the first song and began to sink into my pillow, "This, my dear phone, is going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship." With that I began to think of everything that transpired that day and all that I had to be grateful for. Not just an incredible new phone, but even greater, new friends, old friends, family, my mom and dad that had sacrificed so much to be there, my wonderful daughters that did so much to support each other, a beautiful granddaughter with carefully painted toenails and beautifully spotless feet (yes all spots had faded). The long awaited performance was a success, everyone traveled there safely, Lacey performed so beautifully and so professionally, especially for being so young. It didn't even matter that it was now almost 3 in the morning and I was on the floor of the hotel. I literally felt like I was on the top of the world! So blessed, and so grateful.