Song Stars!

I just returned from a trip to LA which was a pretty satisfying short vacation. The trip started with me running through the airport sans shoes (flip flops are bad airport shoes) thanks to the untimely arrival of my car service, until a nice man in one of those golf-carts came to my rescue and got me to my gate with about a minute to spare. (Special thanks also to the super poorly designed JFK Airport--why are gates twenty minutes walk away from check-in? WTF?)

I took Delta Song to LA. I never thought an airline would be capable of levity, but Delta song is HI-larious. They have a sweet desperate quality that says "Look at me! I am hip! I am cool! I am not the poor cousin of Jet Blue!" The flight attendants were dressed in quirky green and black outfits and were clearly hired for their bubbly personalities and vivacious demeanors. One of them even had a mohawk (Clearly, punk rock haircuts=awesome airline. Good job, Delta!) Once on board they pipe in the newest Wallflowers album, and give you a chance to check out the plane decor which is green, orange, and purple. (Oh Delta, you are so wacky!) They had all sorts of baffling lingo: the attendants are called "Song Stars" and the flight was consistently referred to as the "Super Song Flight." And then possibly the most hilarious voiceover ever recorded began: Enya-esque music plays in the background while a soothing Sally Kellerman-esque voice asks the whole cabin to breathe in and breathe out together and to "let my voice wash over you like a bubbling brook". I was afraid that we were all going to have to submit to some sort of inflight yoga session, but it turned out this was the beginning of the safety announcement, which had cute asides like "smoking is bad for your chi, so we don't allow it on our Super Song flight." Really Delta Song? Because I thought that was a federal regulation, but whatevs.

Other highlights of my trip:

-Meeting my 7 day old niece and my best friend's 9-month old baby. Tres adorable!

-Staying with my old friend Michelle, her boyfriend Bill, and their adorable 3-year old daughter Josephine. The sweetest people in the world. I also got to experience the fabulous world of balloon animals, pony rides, face painting and other things that you will only do with a three-year old.

-Going to a UCB party and not knowing ANYBODY (except for about 10 people from NY). And as is par for the course with any UCB party, watching late night wrestling.

-Completely missing the blackout that LA was thrown into on Monday afternoon. My friend and I were driving around and completely missed it, even though all the lights on Venice Blvd. were flashing red. We took no notice.

-Crashing one night at the Regent Beverly Wilshire on Rodeo Drive, possibly the fanciest hotel in LA (the Pretty Woman hotel!). The bathroom was bigger than my apartment, and they left truffles in a martini glass on the night table. Is it possible to feel underdressed at a hotel? Answer: Yes, it is.

-I don't drive and I never got stuck for a ride, not once! Thank God for good friends with cars and a lot of free time. Also, satellite radio in cars is awesome: late night country radio can't be beat.

-Celebrity sightings were minimal, but we did see Jessica Simpson walk by the theater and I met the director of the House of Sand and Fog at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

-Having to actually utter the words "I will have a 'Goddess of Thought and Reason' salad" at a vegan eatery in Hollywood. Only in LA....