Home Is Where the Heart Is

You know how some things are better left alone? You know how some things are better in your head than in reality? That was the majority of my day today! I picked up my Mom and best friend from their hotel and headed down to Hollywood and Highland where the infamous Hollywood Walk of Fame, Kodak Theater, and Grauman's Chinese Theater are located. Seeing these things was something I had to do. I don't know why. Maybe it comes from reading too many smutty publications and feeling like I could be part of their world that made me want to visit. Or perhaps from watching movies that made me think that even prostitutes can find love with a millionaire real estate investor. I really can't say for sure. But as we arrived in this place which was just mobbed with people I literally wanted to run. I no longer had interest in seeing the star's hands and feet. Nor did I care that somehow, by the grace of GOD, Britney Spears earned a star on the Walk of Fame. We met some friends down on Hollywood Blvd. and began the trek to see all the "cool" stuff. I put my hands where Meryl Streep did, hoping a bit of her talent would rub off. We saw Shrek walking along with Elvis, Dora, and Batman. I was almost run over by some street vendor selling skates that attach to your shoes. It was just nuts! We were approached with the opportunity to see a live television show be taped. Be part of the "live studio audience". So we had lunch at Mel's Diner on the way then hiked the fricking mile to the studio. We got there and were informed the taping took four hours. Four HOURS! We of course could not commit that amount of time in the hellish Hollywood place so we left. Next came a curvy, swirvy trip up the famed Mullholland Drive. Very cool with lots of amazing views of the Hollywood sign and the valley below. Finally, we culminated the day with my very favorite part...SHOPPING! Not just any shopping though. Shopping on Rodeo Drive! You may wonder if the homemaker wife of an engineer can afford anything on Rodeo Drive and the answer is yes. I got a beautiful diamond bracelet from Tiffany's just to celebrate my new found success. Did you believe me? Hope not, because all I got was some perfume from a store called Oilily at which the only thing I could afford was the perfume! We did enter Tiffany's and dream a bit. We saw Bentleys, Jaguars, Rolls Royces. We saw people carrying bags and bags of expensive things I cannot even imagine from stores like BCBG, Stuart Weitzman, St. John, Hermes, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent - just to name a few. I actually picked out a pair of underwear that was $185 at La Perla. Really? Does anyone need $185 underwaer? NO. And they weren't even all that cute!

For the first time on this trip I missed Toledo. I missed people that said hello when you meet their face. I missed feeling like I could drive a car and talk at the same time. I missed knowing my way around. I missed feeling like I was home, and even though Toledo isn't my first choice, it's home for 3 reasons. Their absence makes this place far from comfortable and far from HOME.