W Hollywood - The Scene

If you've ever read my blog, you know I have a bit of an obsession with W Hotels. Last year I learned that construction on a new W Hotel was underway in Hollywood and it would open in early 2010. Some W Hotel room rates, for whatever reason, are out of the Gap Inc. price range so I just waited patiently to find out what the going rate was for this new location.

Woo hoo! It fell within our price limit. I was very excited to check it out in late March. Most W's have a contemporary, modern decor and this one definitely fit the bill. I found my room a bit on the "too-white" side, a little sterile in my opinion, but comfortable nonetheless.



The funky music, hip employees, and time-of-day changing floor mats (Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening) near the elevators made me feel the usual W vibe. This hotel even had a little "bling" around the door peepholes. This must have been a nod to the glitter of Hollywood!


The night I spent at the W Hollywood was pleasant and great for people-watching. I could tell this was a growing "scene," if you know what I mean, and experienced it during a later visit. Let's just say Drai's Hollywood, the new "it" bar on the roof top of the hotel, was full of celebrity wanna-be's and look-how-important-I-am types. Ugh. As long as you don't take that too seriously, this is a fun place to stay. Oh, and I don't think I've ever seen such good looking valets. They must have had to submit head shots to get their jobs!

A Baby Shower in Denver

I spent the first weekend of March with my friend Angie and her family in Denver, CO. I've known Angie since our sophomore year at Cal Poly when we both pledged Alpha Chi Omega sorority. We clicked right away and have been friends ever since. After Angie finished dental school at Northwestern in Chicago, she moved to the Denver area (where her family had relocated) and began her career as Dr. Angela. She will always be Angie to me. ; )

Over the years, we've stayed in touch, even if only by phone. There was a period of time when I lived in Salt Lake City, Utah that Denver was part of my sales territory. Every 6 weeks or so I would travel to Denver to see clients and Ang would graciously offer that I stay at her house. It was great to see her so often! It wasn't long after I moved back to the Bay Area that Ang met Mike. They were married in Italy in 2007 and the next year embarked on building a new location from the ground up for Ang's dental practice. Quite an undertaking! Last year, with the building complete, they decided it was time to start a family. I was so excited for them when Angie called around Thanksgiving and told me they were expecting!

Unfortunately, Ang has been enduring bed rest for a significant amount of her pregnancy. Luckily, Mike, her parents, and siblings have been a huge support for her. When Ang told me about the baby shower her sister Erin and good friend Jacqueline were planning, I had to be there! The weekend was just lovely. I had forgotten how beautiful Colorado is, it was so nice to be back. As always, Angie's family was so welcoming, just wonderful people. I felt so lucky to be included in their weekend of Angie's shower and her Dad's birthday!

Ang and I enjoyed some quality girl time. It reminded me so much of when I used to visit her during my work trips. We would hang out in her room talking about work, family, and of course boys. We still talk about the same things, just on an increasing life-experience level. : ) Here are some photos from the weekend:

Me and Angie

Evergreen, CO

Shower goodies!

Mike and Angie

A Few Words From Morgan

My sister Meg purchased an iPhone over the weekend and was so excited! She admits to spending any free time getting her new phone set up and looking into cool apps. I've had an iPhone for about 1.5 years and my 2-year old niece Morgan likes to play with it when I visit. It does have a pink case after all! Apparently, Morgan saw Meg's new phone and said, "Phone... ä-lee." That's me, Ali. Isn't that cute? She remembers me (and my phone)!

The Latest ROM

My range of motion is getting better! When testing my "good" knee for comparison, the range of motion is now the same on both sides. This is when I bend my knee without any extra help. If I reach back and pull my ankle/foot towards me, I can further the bend of my right knee, but not the left. Currently, that is painful, so I try not to test it very often. ; )

On similar note, the other day I was sitting on the floor at home doing a PT exercise and I decided to try to sit Indian-style. It worked! Of course I haven't sat that way very often in recent years, but it's nice to know I can do so if needed. My favorite way to sit in a chair used to be to tuck my left foot under me and kind of sit on it while my right foot stayed on the floor. It wasn't very lady-like, but comfortable none-the-less. Sometimes I wonder if years of sitting this way led to my left knee problem.

Hey, due to this development maybe there's a little yoga and meditation in my future? Ohhmm... Or, more likely, I will be able to play Duck-Duck-Goose with my nieces! Yay!