Southern California, yo

I am home from a lovely mini-vacay in Southern California. 4 days to be exact. The main reason for going down there was to see the one, the only Eddie Izzard live at the Kodak Theater.

Flew in Thursday evening. Elissa and Mike picked me up. Friday they had to work and I had the whole day to myself. Ahhh....slept in, went shopping, read, went swimming and hung out by the pool. It was lovely and very relaxing. Elissa'a parents came to their house that night and we all made dinner and played Rock Band (my first time!)

On Saturday, Elissa's aunt came into town from the Midwest. She is also a big Eddie fan. Party! More swimming and lounging by the pool. We left around 5 to drive into Hollywood. We found this amazing Italian restuarant near the venue and then we walked around Hollywood Blvd. looking at the Walk of Fame and Mann's Chinese Theater. We saw Harry Potter! Well, a guy dressed up as him and taking pictures with people. We also saw Yoda, Elvis, Batgirl, Captain Jack Sparrow, Darth Vader, Barney, and many other costumed friends.

And then...finally we went inside the Kodak Theater. SWANK. I was a bit giddy. "This is where the Oscars are filmed!" We had great seats. Second section back on the left.

When Eddie came out, the crowd went flippin' NUTS! We were on our feet! I have to admit - it was very surreal. I have listened to his CDs, and watched his DVDs and clips on YouTube. In all of those, the audience is screaming, clapping, cheering. And now I was in the audience doing the screaming, clapping, and cheering. There he was...right in front of us. Doing his funny bows and smiling.

Something Eddie is famous for: his rambles. Here are some things he talked about: giraffes, Moses, monkeys, jam, Hitler, appendixes (at the back of books), Obama, Wikipedia, hashashins, Noah's Ark, languages, Lord of the Flies, dinosaurs, God, how mean it was for people to spell "dyslexia" the way it is (he is mildly dyslexic), Romans, the Stone Age, water, tigers, history, science, religion, philosophy, and much more. It was hilarious to hear him talk about one thing, go off on a random ramble about badgers for a few minutes, and then be able to find his way back to his original joke. He is very intelligent. How can he keep up with his own brain??

The show was about 2 hours. We didn't want it to end! He came back for an encore and then the lights came up. We got home late but it was so worth it.

The next morning we had a pleasant surprise. We were going to Disneyland AND we were going to stay overnight at the Grand California Hotel. It's a new one that is right inside Disney's California Adventure. Elissa's aunt had a bunch of "Disney Points" from different vacations she's taken and she was treating us all! Woot! So we packed up and drove to the park.

We checked our stuff in the hotel and then headed out into DCA. We spent the day on rides, watching musicians and characters, and of course eating lots of junk food. (mmmm...ice cream)

In the evening, we went back to the hotel and I got to see my room. Sweet! I had two big ol' queen beds, a huge bathroom, and a balcony that overlooked the park. The monorail went right under my room and I could see the Tower of Terror from my window. This is crazy!

I had to fly back Monday but not before having breakfast at a place downstairs in our hotel where Chip, Dale, Pinocchio, Terk from Tarzan, and other Disney characters come by and interact with you. The 6 of us were all adults, but we didn't care. We loved it. My fav was Pinocchio. You know how the characters can't talk but just make hand gestures? Well, Elissa was eating a Mikey Mouse waffle and Pinocchio was eyeing it and rubbing his stomach like he was hungry. And then someone at our table asked, "Hmmm...why don't they make Pinocchio pancakes?" Pinocchio motioned like that was a great idea, but then Mike said, "Because the pancake's nose would keep growing and growing..." We all groaned super loud and Pinocchio shook his head and then made a gagging gesture into his mouth. I DIED laughing! It was awesome.

So yes, a little Eddie time, a little D-land time, a little pool time, a little rest time, and a lot of friend time. All in all...good times! =)