The weather is nice here in Mississippi too. According to the Samples, the 70s and partly cloudy this week is nice respite from the 20s Jackson had last week. Looks like New York isn’t the only part of the country with unpredictable weather patterns. Just last week, New York saw a beautiful sunny day with highs in the 50s and then freezing rain and snow not two days later. (Global warming is real, people.)

I’m off to eat some more. Hopefully the next few days will bring me enough quiet to work on revising the novel.

Happy Holidays!

But with Reyna coming each week, all that has changed. I called my mother to tell her the news. And wouldn’t you know, while I was on the phone with her, my mother’s cleaning lady calls and says she’s moving to Florida. Of course mom is freaking out. “I’m screwed!” she laughed as she told me what had just happened. Doubt Reyna will go all the way to Long Island though.

I’m so proud of her!

I need a bumper sticker: My Mom was Teacher of the Year (like those “My Kid is an Honor Student” ones).

Our flight is early: 7:15 am on Virgin America. I like to fly early when going from LA to NY because of the time change. You lose five hours of the day flying and when you go from west to east, you lose even more time, three more hours to be exact. We’ll get in at 3:50 p.m., just in time to wash up and have dinner at Gino’s, a mom-and-pop Italian restaurant in my hometown. They have THE BEST food. What they lack in sophisticated service and atmosphere, they make up for ten-fold with their yummy pastas.

I can’t wait to get home. We’ve been here a year and a day. I’m ready to start a new chapter of our life. I’ll be directing a musical this year, working with Preston’s administration, finishing my book and securing an agent (fingers crossed on those), and probably starting back at Fordham. I have five classes of my second Master’s completed so I want to finish. Hopefully, all of those credits are still good. My first Master’s, also from Fordham, is in English. Now this one will be in Adolescent Education. I believe it’s an MST (Master’s of Science in Teaching). Didn’t think teaching was a science though. I’d say it’s more of an art form. But whatever.

It’s no coincidence that I titled this post “Escape from L.A.” Kurt Russell is one of my favorite actors. Overboard. Captain Ron. Backdraft. Big Trouble in Little China. He’s been in some classics. I know Kurt Russell would want us to escape from Los Angeles. He seems like a a good egg.

The car was picked up Wednesday morning for shipment. Probably one of the best things about shipping a car is that you can fill the trunk with clothing and linens. The contents of the trunk can’t look suspicious for check points. It can’t have anything breakable (for obvious reasons). And it can’t make the car look bottom heavy.

Just a note for anyone who needs to ship a car. They give you a rather broad schedule for when they will pick up your car. Of course, anyone who needs to ship his / her car is probably moving a long distance and therefore needs said car for a long as possible beforehand. Last summer when I shipped the Passat to LA, they gave me a week–we will pick it up any time between this Monday and next Monday. Then, the driver still called me four days prior to that first Monday and told me he needed the car the next day. This time, it worked out better.

The birdies are already in NY. The books are on their way. The DVDs are getting shipped. About twenty other boxes are following them. Tomorrow the Passat will make it way back home. And next Tuesday at 7:55 am, CK, Thatcher, and I will go back to the “right” coast.

Priscilla of Boston

I was asked to be in my friend Tara’s wedding yesterday. I’m honored to be a part of her and Jay’s big day next fall. Furthermore, when asked about plans for dresses, Tara replied that she thinks she wants everyone to wear black. Ahh, bridesmaids everywhere would be grateful. Black–simple, elegant, and reusable. I think her choice will look very nice–black gowns and tuxes offsetting what is sure to be a gorgeous white wedding gown. I can’t wait to see what she chooses.

Cute Cowgirl: This is not to say that in past weddings I’ve been forced to wear anything I didn’t like. As a kid, I was in two bridal parties: my Uncle D’s and my Aunt Lisa’s. For Uncle D’s wedding, I wore a lacey shirt with a prairie skirt and cowboy boots. Oh yeah, it was a cowboy-themed wedding. I know that sounds suspicious but the pictures are fantastic. Everyone in hats, boots, belt buckles. Very cool. As a little kid too, I was psyched to wear cowgirl boots. And I got to wear a pretty ring of baby roses in my hair.

Wonder Years: Then I was in my Aunt Lisa’s wedding. Ah, the awkward tween years. Sixth-grader angst. The need to be cool. I was promoted to “Junior Bridesmaid” for this one, a term created for all the tweens in bridal parties to sell more dresses. I wore a plum-colored dress for this one. Looking back, the dress was beautiful. But I’d be lying if I said I liked it at the time. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the dress. I just really wanted to wear what the bridesmaids were wearing. And I wanted to wear my hair like theirs–big curly updoos and French twists. And I wanted to wear make-up like them. Awesome early 90s eyeliner and dark lipstick. They had fake nails with French manicures too.

Big Wedding Party = Big Ball Gown: As an adult, I’ve been lucky to take part in two weddings. My friend Laura got married in August five years ago. She chose ball gowns with white corseted tops and canary-colored skirts. They were bright yet simple and combined nicely with her white gown. She has a large family and thus she had a large bridal party. I think if all the gowns were just yellow, they might have drowned out her dress. And who doesn’t like wearing a ball gown.

Great Minds Think Alike: Most recently, I was in my friend Kim’s wedding. She got married in October two years ago (I believe this Oct. will be her third anniversary). She picked celadon, a sage color, for her bridesmaids. The dresses were strapless with a gather at the side of the waist. Very flattering. Beautiful color. Even better were the mango-colored calla lillies in our bouquets. It was a nice contrast for the gowns. Incidentally, I picked the same color for my sister to wear as the maid of honor at my wedding. Great minds think alike.

Today, C.K. and Kevin went down to the Santa Monica Pier in the morning then we headed to the Getty Center for the afternoon.