On My Way To Hollywood! – Day One

If you’ve read my previous posts about being invited by Disney to attend the Red Carpet Premiere of Gnomeo and Juliet, then you’ll want to stay for a bit to read my recap, starting with day one.

January 21, 2011

Today’s the day! I’m on my way to Hollywood!

My day started at 4 am – not an easy task when sleep is a top priority.  I woke up really happy and excited until I saw the dreadful white stuff we call snow. I could not believe my eyes.  I truly thought my weekend was ruined because of the weather.  So my husband suggested I check Delta’s site to see if they had any flight delays and to my surprise, they were on-time.  My husband was confused and said maybe you should call the airlines because it looks really bad outside — I don’t think it would be safe to travel to the airport under these conditions.

I was crushed. On the outside I was optimistic and said I’ll take a shower, get ready and we’ll go. The roads can’t be that bad.  But inside, I was disappointed and sad.  My first chance at visiting California (expenses paid for nonetheless) for the very first time was almost ruined because of Mother Nature.

But I decided to go with it. We got ready and woke the kids up to say my goodbyes and proceeded to hit the road.  Once we hit the main road off of our street, I was crushed once again.  The roads were really bad.  The plows did not come through and everyone was going really slow.  Thankfully, we have an SUV with 4X4 and my husband was the driver.  There was no way I was about to drive in those conditions.  Even though I was terrified, I felt safe knowing that my husband was driving and is a very careful driver but then again we have to be careful with other drivers too.

In order to get to Stewart Airport, we had to take the Taconic.  Driving on the Taconic State Parkway is no easy task, if you live in New York you know exactly what I’m talking about.  People are in a rush to go 90 mph to get to their destination or as my husband puts it “People are in a rush to go nowhere” but on Friday morning, the average was 35 mph.

I was hoping and praying I would get to Stewart International Airport on-time and safely because I did not want to miss my 7:15 flight.  It took us about 45 minutes to get to the airport but it felt like forever.  We finally arrived to Stewart at 6:30am.  Good thing my friend Katja Presnal mentioned to me the day before that Stewart airport is a breeze to go thru and if I arrived 30 minutes before, I’ll be fine.  She was right. Stewart International Airport is awesome.  The people are very helpful, polite and very nice. Nothing like JFk or Laguardia. 😉

Saying goodbye to my husband was bittersweet. This was my first time flying alone and my third time flying — period.  The other times were to fly out to Puerto Rico and back in 2004.  This time I felt extremely anxious but glad that I was able to do something new and exciting.

So off I went.

We boarded the teeny-tiny plane at 7 am but didn’t actually take off until about 8 am because the plane needed deicing.  What a surprise to find out that we actually made it to Atlanta, Georgia just in time for my connecting flight to Los Angeles.  The flight to LAX was PACKED! Every seat was taken and I was the lucky one who sat in the middle seat.  It wasn’t too bad.  I sat between the City Manager of Beverly Hills (who was a really nice man) and a college student heading to Hawaii to meet her friend who’s stationed over there (yes, when I’m nervous, I talk to strangers).  It was a smooth flight and I was happy to hear that The Social Network was the featured movie. But guess what? I fell asleep during the movie – we all did (the 3 of us).  So I guess I’ll have to rent/buy the DVD.

We arrived to LAX at approximately 1 pm.  The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful — at 70 degrees. Not bad when I just left weather in the single digits. I was so psyched and ready for my adventure. I could not wait to meet the rest of the bloggers and the Disney team.

Thanks to Disney, I had a driver waiting for me with my name on a sign he was holding.  I instantly felt like a celebrity (lol). And can you believe it was a stretch limo? All for little ol’ me?  I thought we were going to wait for a few of the other bloggers but I was wrong.  It was just me.

The ride from LAX to The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel was about 45 minutes long. For an East Coaster like me, I was like a dog with my tongue out the window just enjoying the scenery.

Check-in was a breeze at the hotel.  I even received a cute Mickey bag full of surprises.  I could not wait to get into the room to call my husband and kids. I really missed them.  But before I got settled in, I took some pictures of the room (the room was FABULOUS!), called my family and rested til 5 pm.  We were instructed to meet in the lobby at 5:45 to see the private screening of Gnomeo and Juliet.

Once 5:40 hit, I took the elevator downstairs and met Dustin and Marshall (great guys) for the first time and met some of the bloggers. I noticed a few from their Twitter pictures so that was pretty cool.  We were each given sandwiches and drinks from Subway (Thanks guys – I was starving).  After the roll call, we headed to the van to head to the screening in Beverly Hills.

I can’t say much about the movie but I loved it. We all enjoyed it. There’s something in the movie for everyone of all ages. My five year old can’t wait to see it.  The film is set to hit theaters everywhere February 11th.

Disclosure:  I was invited by Disney to attend the Red Carpet Premiere of Gnomeo and Juliet in Hollywood.  All expenses (air, hotel and meals) were provided by the wonderful people at Disney. No other compensation was given.  All opinions stated are my own personal views and were not influenced by anyone.

Comments

  1. It was an absolute pleasure meeting you!
    Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy recently posted..I Finally Decided to Add Google Friend Connect

  2. How FUN!! I share your excitement about visiting LA – and I’ve been there dozens of times. It’s such a different lifestyle and experience than the Midwest or East Coast. Glad to hear you liked the movie!
    c2cmom recently posted..Ford C-MAX Hybrid Launch at the Detroit Auto Show

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