Our California Holiday… |

Glen and I recently travelled to Los Angeles, California for vacation, because I am obsessed with the show Dancing with the Stars, and I was able to get tickets for a live show. This was something I have wanted to do for a long time, so I was so thrilled that he said yes!!!!

We began our week by the beach at a lovely hotel in Marina Del Rey. We relaxed and even took a 10 mile bike ride up the coast to Santa Monica, 5 up & 5 back!! The ride was so beautiful. Glen had never been to California, I have been there several times, so I really wanted him to get the full experience.

We had a great weekend and it was time to pack up & move to a hotel closer to the studios!! I am sure you have heard that California traffic is pretty bad!! We arrived at the Hotel Normadie- it was like going back in time to old Hollywood!!! WE LOVED IT!!

Then it was off to CBS studios where we waited to see Dancing with the Stars!!! The set was amazing, everyone was so friendly!! Luckily my friend Dean works backstage, so he was there to greet us & then take us backstage after the show. Backstage is where we got to meet several of the professional dancers & even a few of the stars. Kristy also sent me a photo of us in a shot on the show!

But my ABSOLUTE favorite part was meeting Maksim Chmerkovskiy!!! My favorite dancer on the show!! He is not currently dancing on the show, but I was speechless when I saw him & Dean introduced us!! It was such an incredible moment for me, Glen held my purse while I got to hug Maks—what an awesome husband!!!

The next day I was able to grab tickets to see the Ellen show! We had a great time, and taped one and a half shows!!! I think she is incredibly funny, so it was great to see how they do things for her show! Here is a photo of Glen & me in the audience.

Wednesday was spent taking in many of the Hollywood sights, lunch in Beverly Hills, then Thursday we took a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara—what a lovely town! And finally on Friday we went to the Griffith Observatory & then on the Petersen Automotive Museum. The Petersen Museum is an incredible place; we took the “vault” tour & got to see lots of cars with Hollywood history!!! A car that was once owned by Fred Astaire, Jane Mansfield, and many others! We really packed a lot in to our vacation, but had a really great time!!!