Busy Vacation

Well, I finally succumbed to the cold that'd been threatening to overtake my ever lame immune system. It is Thursday, my 5th day of vacation in California, and I'm sick. It's not too bad, but I did cancel on a couple of good friends tonight. I was supposed to have dinner with my old friend my college, but I'll probably see her tomorrow.

The other thing I cancelled on was slightly more exciting, if only because it involved a free concert ticket, and I LOVE free concert tickets! My dear friend Jammie, whom I have not seen since August, works for a newspaper in downtown Long Beach, and they had all these free tickets to Peter Cincotti's show tonight at The Vault 350. Having never heard of this so-called musical vault, I was very curious to see what type of venue it was--and if it was at all the type of place that Mr. Cincotti, jazz pianist and crooner, can usually be found in.

According to the website, it's a rock club--not exactly the type of place he usually plays in, I'm betting. The last time I heard his jazz trio was at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall (and surrounded by numerous middle-aged and elderly couples), so I was very surprised. Even more interesting is the fact that an underground rock band named Agent Orange opened for them. As Nathan said, "Maybe Peter Cincotti likes to rock out, too." You rock on, Peter! ROCK!

Though I did not accompany my hip friend Jammie to a Vault to hear jazz piano for free, I must say that I've had quite the busy vacation up until today. Let's see...when I arrived on Sunday, I had a late lunch with my family, took a nap, and, later that night, saw The Chronicles of Narnia with Shels, Andy and Eudora. Monday I went to dim sum with my parents, followed by the longest trip to the mall that I've had in recent memory. First we watched King Kong, during which I squealed, squirmed and cried with a lot of pre-teenagers. Then my mom & dad wanted a coffee break, so I bought a gift card from Nordstrom's for my mom while they had coffee by a large and glittering Christmas tree, complete with a Santa's Village affixed to the front side of the massive trunk.

We then had dinner at the food court (my parent's have an undying affinity and loyalty to food courts of any type) and waited while my mom stood in an impressive line at Border's to buy more gift cards. I was all set to bring the van around when my mom announced that she'd forgotten she needed two more gift cards from Nordstrom's, so she ran back to that end of the mall while my dad and I headed to the parking structure. I was very tired when I got home.

Tuesday was Orange County day. We got our van fixed up at the dealership down in Anaheim, and then headed down to South Coast Plaza for a quick bite and a little walking. Ah, Christmastime in malls...so much glitter and fake reindeer leaping about...it's all very heartwarming to a native Southern Californian such as myself. The bright spot of Tuesday night was going to see The Boyfriend, an old musical directed by none other than Julie Andrews, whose debut was the starring role in the original Broadway production when she was 19.

I love Julie Andrews, as does my mom, so we were all excited about seeing the musical. My dad, never a big theatre buff, was just game enough to come along for the ride. Overall, it was a cute, colorful production with plenty of good Charleston dancing (it's set in the '20s), but I found the story to be lacking in depth; I also found the supporting company more interesting than than the lead actors, but at least I didn't fall asleep like my mom did.

Wednesday I drove out to Loma Linda to see a couple of friends. I feel like I still have a ton of friends/acquaintances out in the Inland Empire, but most of them weren't around yesterday. Nonetheless, I had a great time catching up with my friends Jeff (super-talented violinist masquerading as a dental student) and the ever-lovable Rae (has new boyfriend, so I peppered her with questions). I made a valiant attempt to see my old friend Helen (out X-mas shopping) and roommate Grace (didn't get any of my calls/messages until tonight, apparently). Still, I was pretty eager to get on the road, as traffic is a killer nowadays. I ended up dropping by Blockbuster on the way home, which I think was a brilliant idea given that I stayed at home all day today.

So, there you have it. If you've made it this far into the post, you have my hearty congratulations, and you know what I've been doing on My Vacation. I'll hopefully be feeling much better tomorrow, and that way I can go out and see Irene and do some very last-minute shopping. I also have a dessert/coffee party in the evening with church friends--yay for catching up with old friends!