By the time most of my readers read this post I will most likely be on my way to the airport. My planes leaves at 1:10 PM Friday afternoon (EST), however I am leaving early (9:30 AM) to allow myself plenty of time to get to the airport and to get through security. I haven’t flown in 9 years so things are certainly A LOT different these days.
My first challenge will be the weather. We’re suppose to get hit with another 3″ – 6″ of snow during the overnight hours and into the morning. I’m hoping they (the weater people) are wrong. The thought of having to deal with a delay or worst yet, a cancellation, would be devastating. I’m already freaking out. I don’t need to add anything else into the mix.
I have to admit that I am SCARED to fly out on my own. I have only flown once before by myself, back in 1990. My sister literally put me on the plane here in NY (this was back before all the security stuff) and my Mom was waiting for me when I stepped off the plane in LAX. This time around it’s all me. Just me, myself and I. I am very nervous too. I’m afraid I’m going to miss my flight or goof up when going through security by packing something wrong.
I’m only taking my carry on bag and a tote for my laptop, purse & camera. My carry on is around 20 pounds and the right measurements. As per my carrier it can’t exceed 40 pounds so I’m good to go on that one.
I have my toiletries in a clear ziploc bag (correct measurements) but it’s busting at the seams. I have my make up in another clear zip loc bag (make up, bobby pins, hair clips…) and my jewelry in another clear ziploc bag. I hope that is acceptable.
My flight is due to arrive at LAX around 4:15 PM (PST). It’s about an hour drive to the hotel, however I’m hearing now that LA traffic on a Friday is a NIGHTMARE at that time (rush hour). So it could take up to 2 hours to get to the hotel. If that is the case I’ll miss the shuttle to the movie which is leaving the hotel lobby at 6 PM. Unless I skip check in all together and go straight to the movie theater where everyone else will be.
Disney has our weekend booked up non-stop from the time we land until the time we leave. As soon as we arrive at the hotel we’ll be whisked away to go and view the movie Gnomeo & Juliet and I am Number Four.
Saturday we have a jammed pack day.
On Saturday we’ll be doing a press junket at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. That is where we will interview Elton John, Emily Blunt, James McAvoy and director Kelly Asbury. We’ll get our picture taken with the “talent”, but a group photo rather then an individual photo. Bummer. But still, to meet Elton John is going to be SO AWESOME!
After the interviews we’ll get to have lunch at the Four Seasons. I can only imagine what kind of gourmet treats they will have in store for us.
After lunch we are going to head on over to Burbank to take a tour of the Walt Disney Studio Lot. We are going to see footage from the NEW Winnie the Pooh movie that will be released later on this week. Afterwards we’ll get to have a coffee break at the Caffeine Patch located inside Walt Disney Animation Studios.
After our coffee break we’ll spend the new two and a half hours watching select footage from the 2011 movie line up including…
– Mars Needs Moms
– African Cats
– Prom
– Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
– Cars 2
– The Muppets
I am so excited! I can’t wait to see some clips from these films. I’m very excited about Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Cars 2 and the Muppets.
After we leave the studio we’ll head on back to Hollywood to have dinner. Then we will return to the hotel for the night, or for some of us, it will just be the start to the evening as I’m sure many of the other ladies going will want to go and hit the town for a few hours before calling it a night.
Sunday morning is equally jam packed. Disney is taking us on a “special surprise” Sunday morning. We have no clue what they have planned for us. We are not allowed to take our cameras with us (BUMMER!). I can’t imagine what it can be.
After we return from our surprise we need to pack and get dressed for the red carpet event.
Sunday afternoon we’ll be at the red carpet event for Gnomeo and Juliet. Afterwards we’ll see the movie again.
Following the movie is an after party for the movie’s talent, other celebrities and us, the bloggers. COOL! I don’t know who is going to be there. I hope I can get a few photos of some famous people to share with you. Food and beverages will also be served.
Some of the bloggers have to leave straight from the after party. Others, like myself, will have a few hours to kill. Disney is going to give us dinner at the hotel before we leave for the airport.
My plane departs LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) at 10:05. I arrive back on the East Coast at 6:05 (its a “Red Eye” flight). I’m hoping to get home before my husband leaves for work. I might miss my daughter, who leaves for school at 7:35, but I might be home in time to catch my husband and son. My son’s bus comes around 8:10 and my husband was going to leave for work as soon as he gets on the bus.
Speaking of my husband, I was debating on whether or not I should even go because of my husband. He went to have his yearly check up with the Urologist earlier this past week. They found blood in his urine. It’s not visible to the naked eye. They originally thought it was a fluke but another test came back with the same results. So now my husband has to go for a CAT Scan (with dye that they will inject into him) and a scope test where they will insert a scope into his urinary tract to see what is going on. He’s scheduled for the CAT Scan today (Friday). He has to wait until next week for the scope test because I need to be with him. They are going to knock him out so he can’t drive home.
I know my husband fears the worst. I know he’s thinking he has cancer or something just as bad. I keep looking up signs and symptoms and I don’t think he has anything like that. I’m leaning more towards an infection or stones (kidney or gall stones). All three of his brothers suffer from stones. However his brother had cancer, his sister had a cancerous tumor removed from her breast and his mom died from Pancreatic cancer. So I can totally understand his worries.
I feel like a rotten person leaving my husband when he clearly needs me to be with him. Almost everyone I talk to (as well as my husband) says I should go. My husband said what is the point sitting around all weekend, cleaning, and blogging when I could be in California having an experience of a life time. I’ll also only be gone 72 hours, almost on the dot. I leave here at 9:30 AM Friday and I should be home around 8:00 AM on Monday. If you factor in times when people are sleeping I’m “technically” only going to be gone two days. But still, I feel really awful leaving him. He is telling me to go, but I have a feeling deep inside he would rather I be with him. As for my kids, well, I’m sure they won’t even notice that I’m gone. LOL!
I’m anxious, scared and excited to go to California. I’m also sad and worried about my husband. Toss in nervous about the impending snow and what that could do to my flight. Ugh! I’m a mess! I’ll probably ball my eyes out when I am FINALLY in the hotel room for the night after a very stressful day.
I’m brining my lap top. I won’t be able to post anything (updates, photos) until late at night (probably after 11 PM) but I’ll do my best. If not I’ll be sure to write a detailed account of the weekend in multiple posts next week.
Even if I can’t post I will be uploading photos to my Facebook account each night. If you don’t already follow please do. My Facebook page is www.Facebook.com/SheScribes. I’ll also tweet about it as much as I can. Look for the hashtag #GnomeoandJuliet. Other bloggers on the trip will use that hashtag too. My Twitter account is www.Twitter.com/She_Scribes.
Since I will have limited access to the computer all weekend long I won’t be able to reply to e-mails as promptly as I normally would. If you MUST get a reply from me before Monday please use my Yahoo e-mail since I won’t have access to my regular e-mail. My Yahoo is SheScribes2 “at” Yahoo “dot” com.
Wish me luck! I hope I have a lot of great, exciting things to share with all of you when I get back.
Kimberly