Last week was a bit hectic, in part because I had 30+ finals to grade, and in part because I just completely and totally overextended myself. Which, to borrow a phrase from Jafta, was rather prediculous of me. I somehow managed to find myself in LA 5 out of 7 nights last week. And granted, LA is only about 45 miles from my home. But most people in Orange County have about a 15 mile circumference that they are willing to drive before regarding something as a road trip. Because the traffic. Dear Lord, the traffic. Anyway, here are some highlights of my week as an LA commuter. Last Sunday I read a piece in the Listen to Your Mother Show. The whole show was an emotional tribute to motherhood, and I was really proud to be a part of it. 
On Monday, I went to dinner with Karen and Maile. I love these gals, and if they called me and asked me to meet them at a tractor convention in Barstow, I would do it. So meeting them at an oceanfront restaurant in Santa Monica was kind of a no-brainer. 
On Thursday, I was invited to a party at SkyBar for the launch of the new Trop50 drinks (they are tasty and low-calorie and work very well as a mojito base, I must say). As I blogger, I get the occasional invite for events in LA, and I usually decline because of the distance. But Skybar is such a beautiful venue, so I convinced Sarah from Whoorl to go with me. I thought this was a blogging event, but when we got there, we quickly noted that all of the other party attendees were a bit more “Hollywood” than the usual blogging crowd. Sorry, blogging friends . . . but these people we way hipper than we are. Also, everyone looked vaguely familiar, and we spent the evening pointing to people and trying to figure out why. It appeared to be some kind of an industry party – and by industry, I mean people who are making much more effort than I am to be cool. Also, Sarah and I were the only ones talking while tweeting from our cell phones. CLEARLY this was not our usual social media crowd. I am still a bit confused as to this party and how I got there, but Giuliana Rancic was our host, and she was very lovely and also appeared to weigh about 56 pounds. 
Thursday night, I drove back to LA with Mark to watch the screening of a documentary about transracial adoption that featured our family. More on that later. 
That’s right, I wore the same outfit two nights in a row. It was a very busy week. DON’T JUDGE ME. Then last night, we had dinner with Jillian Lauren and her hubby Scott and saw the play God of Carnage. It was a great show and an insanely talented cast, though I had to laugh that on Mother’s Day, I was watching a play that included James Gandolfini screaming, “Children devour our lives and then they destroy them.” Even if, on certain days, I do feel that way just a little bit. 
I had a fun week trekking to LA, meeting with some of my favorite people, and taking part in some cultural activities. But this week, I am ready to spend some time in my yoga pants, and not in my car.
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