"For the first time in my life I feel WICKED!"

(2/97)

I know some of you have seen "Wicked" and most who read this blog have probably already read Erin's recap of our "Totally Wicked" weekend in southern California, but I HAVE to add my two cents about how fab-u the whole experience was for me. Yes, the play was amazing . . . sooo great to finally understand the whole story and not just love the music. I've been listening to the CD for some time now, especially since almost all my other CDs were stolen last year. I enjoyed many things about the weekend, many guilty pleasures, many wicked things (if you will.) I just thought I'd list some of my wickedness from the weekend.

#1 Retail therapy. Once I knew our reservation was cancelled on Saturday night (thanks to the hospitality of Chez Montoya) I figured I could indulge in the most darling-est pair of shorts for baby #5, that weren't on the sale rack. That's right, I branched out from the Clearance rack to find these cute little plaid pair of shorts. I would show them to you, but I don't want to ruin the "AWE" factor when I get baby boy's pictures taken with his siblings. Because, HELLO, if I'm gonna indulge in cute shorts for one, then I HAVE to get coordinating outfits that are equally cute for the other kids. SO naughty. I know. Here's some pics of our haul. (Erin did really well with her bargain finds, which is why she looks so happy. . . more bang for your buck, and we all know how Erin appreciates more bang, right?) Oh, and after we hit Old Navy Outlet we went into the Gap next door. I asked the lady up front if there was a maternity section and she said, "oh, no, I'm sorry." I assured her it was okay, just askin', etc. when she asked me how far a long I was. I told her 6 months and then she said, "Is this your first?" "Nope, fifth." Okay, so the shock value is kind of hard to explain on the woman's face, but I suffice to say, she through her hands up in the air and turned around to lean against the table she was standing by. She was halfway through a "Oh My Lordie" when I said, "Yeah, just can't stop myself." I mean, what are you supposed to say when you about knock people off their feet with being a breeding beast.

#2. Once we got to downtown L.A. (6 miles from the theater) Erin and I partook in the sin of being slothful. Yeah, check us girls into a hotel and let us lounge around watching a little CNN and we were both on board. I guess we kind of underestimated Friday night traffic in L.A. because we ended up having to eat at Popeye Freakin' Chicken on Hollywood Blvd. NICE, huh?! I guess for every sin there IS a consequence. There was this couple of guys that were looking for some place to eat; Erin and I followed them down the street and past a couple of real dives to get to Popeye's. They came in, went out, went across the street, came back to Popeye's, stood around, but just couldn't bring themselves to do it. I think they committed to the Pizzeria across the street. We did enjoy some good people watching as many people were walking up and down Hollywood Blvd. BUT, having lazed around once, we didn't want to be late to the show and headed back to the Pantages Theater. Here's some pics of our culinary delights. OH, Darrington clan, Popeye's is a Pepsi-serving establishment. Hmmm. What does that tell us?

#3. Good old self-indulgement. Or, as the case may be Santa/Tyler-indulgement. Yes, totally forked over too much for the colored brochure AND a I {heart} Oz T-shirt AND two waters. I laughed and cried and tried to count how many times I got the chills, but seriously lost track. The actors were amazing and I even felt like we got a personal nod from Fiyero at the end of the show when he acknowledged his entertainment-lawyer-friend Colin that we had met before the show, who was sitting right behind us. We weren't above a little butt-kissing either with Colin in hopes we could get back stage. That didn't work out, but still the show was great. And the theater itself (with GREAT seats) was beautiful. I guess they had the Academy Awards there once and it was all gilded and perty and stuff. Anyway, the talent is unbelievable and WHAT A JOB that would be.

I said Friday night a billion times, "I am soo freakin' excited." And the fact that we got to sleep in on Saturday morning just added to the bonus-ness of the weekend. Despite the police sirens (since we were right next door to the L.A. police headquarters) we slept in uninterrupted until 9:30am. By noon we were off to The Grove for lunch and . . . whatever struck our fancy. So, #4's sin, NOT missing my kids that much. It's hard to feel bad when they have a rockin' dad who's doing fun things like picnics at the park and a soccer game, and then movie night with popcorn, etc. I loved being able to sit at the French Steakhouse for 2 hours enjoying the beautiful weather and people watching (*Note* a little more classy at The Grove than at Popeye's on Hollywood). Erin and I then went to see "Juno" since I've been really wanting to see it and I would like to see it again cuz it was FUN-NAY!

(That's the Hollywood sign from the parking garage at The Grove.)

(Moules. aka Mussels. Yum.)

#5 Cursing the traffic in California. I could not believe how long getting out of L.A. took! Erin asked, at one point, if I thought we had passed Anaheim and I all-confidently answered that surely we had by this point. Yeah, ten minutes later we saw the Disneyland exits. I got pretty frustrated many times and may have let an expletive fly here and there. We were headed to Costa Mesa to visit Moana and her baby Ocean (BYU BFF) when Erin reminded me we needed gas. We totally had driven the whole way from Vegas on one tank and through eeking traffic in LA to FINALLY notice the guage was below the "E" and who knows how long the get-gas light had been on. Yeah, I remember for sure I let a "Oh $h!*" out before praising the Lord for not letting us run out on the freeway. Anyway, after gas we got to see Moana's place (so great!) and visit for a while. She gave me some cute outfits for baby #5, but mostly it was great to see her. She always makes me laugh and maybe one day she'll really come visit me in Vegas. HINT HINT MO! Thanks to the lady's voice that works the navigtion system we were able to get to San Clemente to visit the best family ever.

So, #6, obviously is PRIDE. I can't say enough how much I love my family. Julie and Mark were so great to let us crash on their comfy couch AND keep them up until 4am-ish. Aunt Clo and Uncle Chuck drove down from Anaheim and visited with us until way late, as did Lisa from southern Encinitas. We totally ate a bag of Tootsie rolls (thought of you Jer) as an appetizer for Sonny's Pizza and I would have to add it to the must-eat-eries. Anyway, it was great to catch up and congratulate cousin Alexa on being THE best solo dancer in the regional competition. Plus, Devon from AZ is living in CA and Brandon, Anneka, and baby Cannon came over to go to dinner with us. It was just great and SANS kids makes any meal taste better. Who doesn't love not having to cut someone else's food before digging in. And the food was YUMMY AND a Pepsi establishment, too. What does that tell you?

Here's the cutest: great grandma Clo canoodling Cannon while grandma Julie holds him. Yeah, I know you can't believe that we're looking at three generations since they all look so amazingly young and beautiful? Again, can I say how great it is to be in my family???

And from dinner:

Brandon, Anneke, and Lisa

Morgan, Devon, and Chloe (yes, the cousin crush lives on with Chloe and Devon.)

My cute Aunt Clo and Uncle Chuck.

Julie and Mark. Uber cool. I've mental noted a ka-jillion parenting/attitude tips from the two of them over the years.

My sister and me. {Love ya girl!}

So, Sunday once we could drag ourselves off the couch we headed home. We ended up #7 breaking the Sabbath by meeting Daniel and David for lunch at Chilis in someplace. I don't know half the places we were most of the weekend because we just put in the address and the lady got us there. It was good to see Daniel since he's baled on us Vegas-ites for CA. In all fairness he's happy and productive and whatever, so we could enjoy hanging out and not being bitter about his move. Anyway, here's all of us nice and fed before we hit the road again.

Anyway, that's my list of 7 wickednesses. And it was totally worth it. I loved hangin with my sister. I imagine one day it won't be so easy, and I am greatful for Tyler being so willing to send me on my way. One day I'll get him to a Broadway show and away for our own wickedness, but for right now, this was just right. I highly recommend the weekend to any of you out there who made it through this blog. Til 3/97 :)