My attempts at finding more time to update this blog have been futile. If it's not because of exhaustion at the end of the work day, then it's because of a jam-packed weekend, or it's work travel, or it's because I forget about it or it's simply because I don't have the motivation. Well, the good thing about getting up early is that I have time to indulge in a little bit of blogging while I wait for my baby girl to wake up. She has about another 20 minutes before I shake her awake.
It's February! I enjoy this month because not only is it my birthday month (yes, Mark rolls his eyes that I somehow make my birthday celebrations last throughout this entire month), but there's Valentine's Day (much more fun now with Keira's excitement over exchanging cards and treats with her Kindergarten class) and it also means that winter is slowly, but surely going to come to an end. It doesn't necessarily feel like that. I just checked the temperature and it's -14 degrees right now and feels like -32 degrees with the windchill. That's ridiculous. However, I did notice that there was still a hint of sunlight at 5:41pm as I rounded the bend to pick Keira up from school last night. I was excited about that! Above the cold and snow, the lack of daylight is what really gives me a hard time during the winter. November and December are really tough months for me.
During one of the cold snaps we recently had, I was able to jet off on a work trip to L.A. Mark was such a trooper at home taking care of the household, Keira and dealing with the cold. (Good job Mark!) It was a tiring, but very fun trip. The gist of it is we were out in L.A. to do "studio swings" which I learned is just a fun twist on studio strategy meetings. Obviously I can't say much about what was discussed, but let's just say that we left the hotel between 7:00-7:30am and didn't return until late at night. Meetings went from 9:00-5:00pm, plus we had 1-2 hours of drive time and we also had fun time in the evenings.
For the first few days in L.A. it was sunny and oh, so warm. Unfortunately we spent most of our time indoors in these meetings. However, if I could get 5-10 minutes of sitting in the sun, I took full advantage of it. Anyway, the fun stuff...
The first night we grabbed dinner as a team with one of our studio partners. That was a great time to learn more about my colleagues on a personal level as well as get to know the reps we work with better. Remember, I've only been in this role for just over two months. Sometimes it's hard to lift up my head from the work and remember that these are human beings I work with - humans that have more to them than spreadsheets and powerpoint decks. Anyway, that was nice. The second night we were able to see a screening of a movie called About Time. It won't be in theaters until May. It was a wonderful movie and even though I don't know what the final cut will be (certainly different than what we saw) I'm sure it'll be fantastic, so go see it when it comes out. The third night we went to Lucky Strike bowling in Hollywood. That was fun, but tiring too - having to socialize and meet all kinds of people at the end of a long day is a little wearing, but truly, I'm not complaining. It was fun and I scored exactly 100. Go me! The last night was the BEST! We got to go to the premiere of Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters (it had fun action and some good humor throughout, but I'd say it's more of a matinee or DVD worthy title) at Graumann's Chinese Theater. While there was a red carpet for the stars of the movie we didn't get to walk it. But, I did see it. Anyway, I was hoping for a celebrity sighting or two and would've been thoroughly satisfied with that. What we got surpassed my wildest expectations. We were all seated for the premiere when the publicist for this particular studio told us to all go into the lobby. Once we were out there we were all gathered in front of the Hansel and Gretel cut-outs so I thought we were ushered out there for a photo of the group. While we stood there, the lobby doors opened from the red carpet and in walks...WILL FERRELL!!! Holy cow! We had no idea why we were meeting WILL FERRELL, but who cares?! It was so cool that I couldn't utter a word. Luckily the VP I work for is quite witty and engaged Will in some friendly and funny banter. Mr. Ferrell was so kind, funny and it became clear that he is quite the businessman too. He shook everyone's hand and we got a photo. He's really tall, by the way - 6'3 or 6'4 and much leaner than I would've expected. Later we figured out he was there because it's a Gary Sanchez production; i.e. Will Ferrell = Gary Sanchez.
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| Do you see me grinning from ear to ear? |
We not only got to attend the premiere, but also attended the after-party at the Roosevelt Hotel. I've always wanted to go inside it as it's such a well-known landmark. It was beautiful and I wish we had such a hotel here. Anyway, more surprises there as we got to meet Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton and Famke Janssen. Photos below. I must say I was a little disappointed at the after-party. I thought there'd be dancing or crazy behavior to observe, but it was very similar to some of the fancy parties I've been to here at home. People mostly congregated in their groups of familiar people, ate fun little finger foods and had a lot of adult beverages. Maybe we didn't stay late enough. We were back to the hotel just before 1:00am as we had to pack and be in the lobby to head to the airport at 5:45am.
Celeb fun facts...Jeremy Renner is about 5'8 or so. He's not as tall as I thought he'd be, but everyone's tall to me. In the picture below, he's crouching which is why he looks so small. He was nice, but perhaps a little inebriated by the time we met him. I hear he's going to be a dad (from reliable sources such as US Weekly) so maybe he's a little stressed. Famke Janseen is tall. I'm guessing 5'10 with big hands and feet, but still beautiful nonetheless. She was the most elegant and was very gracious when I asked to have a photo with her. Gemma Arterton was absolutely charming. Not only is she tall - about 5'7 or so, beautiful and sweet, but she had the most brilliant British accent. Some people just have it all.
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| Jeremy Renner is to the right of my head. He's photobombing us! |
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| Famke Janssen - you know here from XMen and Taken |
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| Gemma Arterton - Prince of Persia, Quantum of Solace |
As mentioned we got back late to get up early. I was in bed by about 2am and because I was paranoid about not waking up in time, I pretty much didn't sleep and was up and about by 4:45am. The kicker is that there was no hot water for a shower!! I called the front desk and someone called me back to inform me that there was a hotel-wide issue with the boiler. Total bummer, but nothing to really get mad about considering we nailed our studio swings and had a great time doing it.
That was my adventure in a nutshell!
