a sunny day in california

i'm sitting here on the restaurant patio of the hotel i'll be calling home for the next three days here in los angeles, california. it is a lovely, bright sunny day. nary a cloud in the sky and temps in the 70's (for me this is perfect. i suspect the locals are praying for this "cold snap" to pass). as i type i'm devouring a bread basket, sipping on a glass of my signature soft drink (ginger ale), awaiting my meal of baja fish tacos to arrive (and they just have. yum). my (albeit brief) vacation has officially begun.

i was online chatting with a friend last night and shared that i was packing for this trip. he indicated that he was jealous of my going on this jaunt. my response? "you should be." and at this moment, i'm recognizing how prescient that statement was. this is pure bliss, and the event i'm here for (the annual fashion doll collectors convention that i've attended for the last four years) doesn't get started until tomorrow. even so, this is a wonderful moment that i'm just soaking in.

still, i am aquiver with anticipation for all of the fun the convention hosts have in store for us. this is one of the big events of the fashion doll collecting universe and the company that puts it on never disappoints (as i've often described it, perhaps even in this blog, take your best birthday and your best christmas and put them together and you would have a sense of the kind of experience we have at this convention). i look forward to seeing friends from the collecting community and quite frankly all the great swag we're going to receive. i'll do my best to blog at least once during the event to share how it's going.

but now, with my meal finished, i suspect that i'll be heading back to my room to take a nice little nap and then maybe do a little exploring around the hotel. by the way, the fish tacos were just perfect.