Recovering from our Minimoon

Well, our fancy night away didn't exactly go as we had hoped. We were so excited to hear from Cameron's babysitters (Aunt Amy and crew) that not only were they coming to see us, but they were going to be picking up their very first family dog this weekend too! Amy, the vet, has been searching for a great family dog for a few years now and she is super picky since she has seen a million health problems and neurotic behaviors in dogs. She found a beautiful two year old golden retriever on Craig's List FOR FREE that had been returned to a breeder by a woman that had to go into a nursing home. Funny thing is that his name is Bo! They quickly decided to change it and have settled on naming him Becks. Apparently the dog likes to play soccer with you! He has a long beautiful coat that is a strawberry blonde sort of color. When they arrived at our house in the late afternoon, we were so excited that he and Joe Dog got along well and seemed to have fun chasing each other around. Becks is going to need to be brushed alot, and we have lots of golden hair balls decorating our yard as a reminder of him!

So we headed downtown around 5:30 to get checked into our hotel, the Hotel Valencia. It sits on the same street as the Majestic Theatre and some fabulous restaurants, so I was excited that everything was within walking distance. On the inside, I was a bit taken back that the interior of the hotel didn't match the pictures that I had seen online. They have a beautiful courtyard that is the style of a Mexican hacienda, but all the rest was very modern and even industrial-looking! Oh well, the room was nice and didn't have a playpen right next to the bed. What more could we want?

We grabbed a quick drink before dinner at a restaurant on the riverwalk. I had a fabulous pina colada that I had been dreaming about for months! Then we met our friends Chad and Kara for dinner at a great steakhouse, Bohanans. (We decided that "Bo" was the theme of the day!) We shared huge steaks, had a great Riesling, and had great conversation. The whole dinner took 3 HOURS because they have a very relaxed pace of things. Enjoy your wine, have some appetizers, dive into a slow-cooked steak, then some dessert.... We had a great time. We especially laughed at how casual and unformal our bunch was compared to some other patrons. (A waiter carried a tray of tiny sorbets by, and Kara commented that someone was going to "cleanse the palette" between courses, and Bo chimes in, "They got sherbert?"

But things at the hotel sort of went downhill after that. We were asleep by 11:30 even though Bo despised the down pillows/pancakes. For some unknown reason, our phone rang at 3:45 and woke us up, and of course no one was on the other end. And here's the kicker - I couldn't go back to sleep after that. Our neighbors arrived shortly after that, slamming their door a few times and banging their stuff around. And then the fun began. From 4:00 - 6:00 am, it sounded like they were filming an.... "adult movie" next door. I couldn't believe how awful it was. We called security twice but were informed that they couldn't do anything about it since there is no hotel policy against those type of noises. Seriously.

So at 6:00 I decided I might as well get up and get dressed. I went down to the lobby since they graciously offered to give us coupons for a free breakfast in their restaurant. Then I came back upstairs but couldn't go to sleep. I sat in the big leather chair by the windows and listened to the symphony of buses, garbage trucks, Bo snoring occasionally, and a train. About 8:00, I couldn't take it anymore and forced Bo to get up and go with me to breakfast. He had a horrible headache and could barely eat. A few Motrin did him a world of good, and we decided to just head home. I was so exhausted since I had been wide awake since 3:45!

I will say that I was totally impressed with the hotel staff. They were kind about the whole situation and comped $50 of our bill as well as our valet parking. So with everything, we saved $110 in exchange for a night of sleeplessness. (Honestly, if I had known, we would have just gone home after dinner and been totally happy!) Bo felt terrible that I was so upset and was even more worn out and stressed, but I guess that situation could have happened anywhere. Fortunately, he let me take a three hour nap this afternoon, and he is currently snoozing on the couch while Cameron is asleep.

Not exactly the relaxing night away that we were hoping for! As for that couple, I could just about kill you for ruining our first baby-free night, and I will always be more conscientious about the racket I make in hotel rooms after midnight. You never know when two new parents are desperate for some sleep next door!