Work Trip

Catherine and I planned a "work trip" to Los Angeles to look for outdoor furniture and get ideas for my office. Catherine warned me she usually packed a granola bar for breakfast and lunch because she stayed so busy the whole time. I told her not to worry, I was raised an Adair which meant going from sun-up to sun-down with no food in between was standard.

So many cool chairs everywhere!

Our plan was to go out early Wednesday morning and return late Friday night. One of the reasons I love Catherine so much is she arrived with a notebook and a list of every store we needed to see, including addresses or Design Center locations. She included an exhaustive list of items we still needed. (Even if we didn't intend to purchase them now, it would be good to get ideas while we were together!) She's so organized! (Say that again in the little girl from Despicable Me "It's so fluffy" voice!)

We got to work as soon as we sat on the plane. Then when we landed in LA, we were prepared. Also flexible as we noticed our fastest route was to stay on La Cienega which would take us past our first store on the list: Big Daddy's Antiques. It was so fun! A HUGE warehouse with a very vintage/industrial vibe. Just so much bigger and fresher than our shops here. More interesting things to look at for sure.


Next up the furniture shops near La Cienega and Wilshire. So many stores. So little time. Two different rug shops, more antique stores, outdoor furniture and specialty furniture.

These are ceramic!!

Day two was spent at the Design Center. So much fun to be surrounded by furniture and fabrics of all styles. I think we went into every space. We met some wonderful people who were so friendly, knowledgable and helpful. It felt like the epitome of customer service. A couple of places we collapsed on their couches and the sales guys were happy to chat. Another guy said "we had beautiful auras." (Which we do.) One place a guy called us the Bobsy Twins, which we took to be a compliment. Not sure he meant it that way.

Amongst all our furniture shopping, we didn't stop talking the whole time. Literally, from 7 am to late into the night. Wednesday we went to bed by 11. But Thursday night we sat in one bed next to each other pouring over furniture layouts, styles and pricing until 2:00 a.m!

We didn't do well choosing restaurants for dinner, unfortunately. The first night was fine and it was fun to be able to walk to it from our hotel. The 2nd night we kept striking out. Highlights were the bratty hostess from Ceccrio's (or something like that). "Details, Angela!" when I couldn't hear that she was asking me for my name for the reservation. And our second try, "The Stinking Rose" that looked like we'd been thrust into a carnival scene from "Something Wicked This Way Comes." It was haunting. We ate 2 rolls then left $5 on the table and fled. Our 3rd option we didn't even stop because they only had outdoor tables and when we drove by we saw they were literally on a dark, busy corner of Wilshire! Finally we drove all the way from West Hollywood into Brentwood and ate at a Hamburger Joint on San Vicente. We pulled out all our catalogs and worked away on a tiny bar table for two. But it was fun!

Even the bathroom had inspiration.

Afterward we drove around Santa Monica past our old neighborhood and through Brentwood. It was dark so hard to see anything, but I LOVE those areas! So beautiful! And even though we couldn't see, we could talk so we told each other our life stories which is one of my favorite things to do with a friend.

Friday morning I was awakened by a call from Dan that his dad had passed away. Too soon! So sudden! Catherine and I had meant to get started by 9:00 a.m., but instead we laid in bed talking about Dan's dad. Both our dad's. Our mom's. Our siblings. What made our families special. What we had learned from each of our families. I so appreciated being able to talk. It was cathartic and peaceful.

Dan had rebooked my flight to come to Phoenix instead of to SLC late that night, but I spent the morning rebooking so I could get to Phoenix sooner. We checked out of our hotel and still spent our remaining hour quick-tripping to sit in some furniture at Restoration Hardware (their showroom was much more extensive than we have here) and evaluate sizing. (SHORT!)

I set my phone alarm so I wouldn't accidentally get distracted and miss the time I needed to leave. Then I dropped her off at the Design Center where she was going to continue working until her later flight.

I mapped my way back to the airport and had a good cry all by myself.