So, 5 years ago we started a tradition. Mom and sisters weekend for our 40th birthday's. We started with cami back then, then Nicole and this year, ME!
Yes, it's been 6 weeks since my actual birthday, but it was the soonest weekend we could all 6 make it work. (Cami, Nicole, mom, me, Brandi and Kelsey).
I have a dear friend who manages the Huntington Beach Hyatt, so brandi contacted him and planned the weekend there. Little did I realize what that really meant!
Cami and I drove together, mom, Kelsey and brandi caravaned and nic drove down herself. Mom, Brandi and kels arrived first and we arrived soon after. Actually, too soon after. ... They sent us on an errand to buy themselves time.I kinda figured they were decorating the "room". Finally we were called up to the room and we were excited! Excited for what? We didn't entirely know, but for me, the unknown was exciting!
As we walked down the hall, we could see feet under the door. ... They were watching for us out the peep hole. I started hootin and hollering as we approached the double doors.
Now, I have been in a nice suite or 2 in my lifetime, but what I was about to enter was an entirely different deal. The double doors opened and my mouth dropped! Eyes popped out of my head and by the time I could put my face back together sounds were uncontrollably coming from my mouth! "Oh my goshhhhhhhhhh" had to have been said repeatedly about a million times. ... Other sounds were to the effect of, "what? !?", "Are you kidding me", "no way", "shut up", "ahhhhhhhhhhhh", etc.
What I saw was this; directly in front of me was a formal living room. On the coffee table was a balloon bouquet the towered up to the ceiling. Glancing to the right, on the other side of a fireplace, was a dining room with a table for 10. A gorgeous bouquet of spring flowers with a pink theme was in the center, with a delightful fruit bowl accompanying it. To my far right was the bar and there, an antipasto platter full of cheese, olives, meats, vegetables, etc sat and next to that, 6 bottles of fine wines (Stag's Leap, Roth, Robert Mondovi, etc). Then, behind the bar was a kitchen with a fridge and cupboard stocked full of generous choices of items such as, more wine (white), beers, mixers, sodas, water selection, etc. ..
As if this wasn't enough, it continued. ...
There was an adjoining room so we had enough beds. ... afterall, the idea of some of us sleeping on the couches didn't sit right with eron. It must be 2 to a bed for our comfort and best experience! ;) the room was of the bar area and it was amazing itself!
Then we headed to the left wing! Brandi speed me and pointed to the ceiling, "listen. .." my favorite, Bon Jovi was playing on the sound system throughout the approximately 2000 sq ft Presidential suite!
To the left of the living room was a "family room/tv room" and off of that was a closet and half bath (large). Then, down and to the left, through more double doors was a huge office area with a desk stocked full of office supplies.
Heading to the left of that was a huge hallway with a vanity on the left and 2 closets on the right! Sitting atop the vanity was a gift bag full of products from the hotel Spa! The Hall led to the grandioso master bath that was the size of one of the bedrooms in my house! Heading back out of the bathroom and Hall, back through the office was the last room, the master bedroom. An octagon shaped room with beautiful vaulted ceiling and on the bed was an adorable straw sun hat, a delightful lavender bathing suit cover up and an envelope addressed to "Charity Prestifilippo". Inside the card read, "C, what an exciting weekend. I'm happy you choose my hotel to spend it. My staff and I are here to ensure you have the best possible experience. If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. You're the best, E".
Honestly, in that final moment, I felt like I was the Bachelorette getting a date card and the most incredible date (with my mom and sisters... hee hee) of my life! :) I threw myself on the bed and rolled around like a little kid kicking and screaming! This was the best thing EVER!
Nicole was still on her way, but brandi had her on speaker phone the entire tour of the place! She arrived about 30 minutes later and we went through the entire deal again with her! It was just as fun the second time! ;) Oh! I forgot to mention the view! We had the entire front side of the building that overlooked the beach, with a balcony that wrapped around from the master bath, which faced the pool, to the entire other side that faced a grass area where there were 3 different weddings throughout our stay.
Eron, who had made all of these arrangements with brandi, had planned to personally escort us when we arrived, but unfortunately, one of his employees had a medical issue and was rushed to the emergency room, eron accompanied him. I knew this, so I texted him photos and a thousand Thank you's.... I'm sure I blew his phone up!
It was time to get ready for dinner. We had dinner reservations at 6pm. 6 girls had MORE then enough space to get ready, it was ridiculous! We actually lost each other in the a few times!
Brandi, kelsey and mom, who had added "40th" decorations to the already accessorized room, snuck out before the rest of us.... When we arrived down to the restaurant in the hotel courtyard, our reserved table was decorated also!
I had asked eron of he would join us for dinner. He said he'd so for a drink, but he couldn't stay long.
We ordered our drinks and the servers began delivering, "compliments of the chef" bite size appetizers. ... There was 4 rounds! Eron!!!! That was so sweet! We were pretty full after that, so we decided to share plates for dinner. After we ordered, eron showed up. Needless to say, we all went crazy for him! thanking him up and down and excited to share with him the entire arrival experience! He is a humble man of little words, but his smile, short giggle and simple, "I'm glad you like it" showed that he understood our gratitude!
We had his drink waiting for him and once he sat, we toasted him and our birthdays! He turned 40 just a couple days before me.
We ate dinner, he shared with mom and I (he grew up with us! ) and we were stuffed after a great meal!
It seems we all held our bellies as we sat back in our chairs and shared conversation about the old days, eron's life and his family. How he and Cindy met, his career, etc. Just when we thought we had a moment to relax from all the excitement, a line of servers walked up with a bowl of gelato for everyone! The girls and mom got strawberry and I got the most decadent salted caramel on top of a fudge covered brownie with a plate that read "happy birthday"! I don't really like dessert (I do love cheesecake), especially ice cream, but this was not ice cream, or dessert. .. It was literally a piece of heaven on a plate! I devoured the gelato (left the chocolate fudge brownie. ... I hate chocolate. ... I know, I'm not normal! ) and felt extremely satisfied when I was done!
Dinner was finally complete! What an afternoon! Nothin could top this! We all were ready to go, eron was going home and he asked where we were going for the night? We all shouted, "the room"! Why would we go anywhere else? We wanted to feel like celebrities as long and add much as we could! He laughed, like he does, enjoying our pleasure, and said good night.
We couldn't stop taking about the day/night! As we headed to our humble home for the weekend we felt so light, so happy!
We walked into the suite and on the table was the most beautiful cheesecake I'd ever seen. It looked like a wedding cake! On the plate around the cake it read, "happy 40th birthday charity" and there was a new bottle of fine wine! REALLY!?!?!??!??!??!
This was beyond special, beyond thoughtful, beyond everthing! I was speechless! I'm sure this feeling is the same feeling that a celebrity gets when they first get to enjoy the rewards of their success! In most lifetimes, the average Joe, like myself, never gets the taste of that feeling. ... But if you know me, you know my fantasy of becoming a celebrity, and that feeling I was able to feel, was a dream in and of itself! Never mind on the level of being a "regular person" and being spoiled like I was the "Queen of England!"
The rest of the weekend we had a blast! Talking and laughing, going on walks on the beach, hanging Poolside with drink and food service, taking photos (thousands) and sleeping like Angels!
... Saturday night we had my cousins 40th birthday party that was so much fun for us as well! Gina is a favorite fun and crazy cuz who we grew up very close to. We are close to her whole family! At the party were more photos, fun and laughs! She's very special to us and we wouldn't have missed the chance to celebrate her!
Sunday was the end of the fun. ... time to pack up and head back to our humble realities. Our lives are all wonderful and you could say that we are all pretty spoiled in our every day lives... well, I'll just speak for myself. ... I am very, but gratefully, spoiled. The thing about dreaming to be a celebrity is that you don't actually have to be one. Part of the fun about dreaming is the ability to do so. I always think about what my life would be like if I actually was one and I wouldn't want my life to be any different then it is now. But there definitely isn't anything wrong with getting a taste of it now and then! And this weekend was definitely a giant taste of it!
"Thank you" doesn't feel enough when I think about this weekend. I felt that way after my party and my girls weekend too, which is why I had a Thank you dinner for the girls who surprised me with my SD getaway. But this time I'm stumped. If I could put into words how Appreciative I am, it might sound like a foreign language, because there are no words in the English language expressive enough.
For now, all I can say is, thank you from the bottom of my heart".
Yes, it's been 6 weeks since my actual birthday, but it was the soonest weekend we could all 6 make it work. (Cami, Nicole, mom, me, Brandi and Kelsey).
I have a dear friend who manages the Huntington Beach Hyatt, so brandi contacted him and planned the weekend there. Little did I realize what that really meant!
Cami and I drove together, mom, Kelsey and brandi caravaned and nic drove down herself. Mom, Brandi and kels arrived first and we arrived soon after. Actually, too soon after. ... They sent us on an errand to buy themselves time.I kinda figured they were decorating the "room". Finally we were called up to the room and we were excited! Excited for what? We didn't entirely know, but for me, the unknown was exciting!
As we walked down the hall, we could see feet under the door. ... They were watching for us out the peep hole. I started hootin and hollering as we approached the double doors.
Now, I have been in a nice suite or 2 in my lifetime, but what I was about to enter was an entirely different deal. The double doors opened and my mouth dropped! Eyes popped out of my head and by the time I could put my face back together sounds were uncontrollably coming from my mouth! "Oh my goshhhhhhhhhh" had to have been said repeatedly about a million times. ... Other sounds were to the effect of, "what? !?", "Are you kidding me", "no way", "shut up", "ahhhhhhhhhhhh", etc.
What I saw was this; directly in front of me was a formal living room. On the coffee table was a balloon bouquet the towered up to the ceiling. Glancing to the right, on the other side of a fireplace, was a dining room with a table for 10. A gorgeous bouquet of spring flowers with a pink theme was in the center, with a delightful fruit bowl accompanying it. To my far right was the bar and there, an antipasto platter full of cheese, olives, meats, vegetables, etc sat and next to that, 6 bottles of fine wines (Stag's Leap, Roth, Robert Mondovi, etc). Then, behind the bar was a kitchen with a fridge and cupboard stocked full of generous choices of items such as, more wine (white), beers, mixers, sodas, water selection, etc. ..
As if this wasn't enough, it continued. ...
There was an adjoining room so we had enough beds. ... afterall, the idea of some of us sleeping on the couches didn't sit right with eron. It must be 2 to a bed for our comfort and best experience! ;) the room was of the bar area and it was amazing itself!
Then we headed to the left wing! Brandi speed me and pointed to the ceiling, "listen. .." my favorite, Bon Jovi was playing on the sound system throughout the approximately 2000 sq ft Presidential suite!
To the left of the living room was a "family room/tv room" and off of that was a closet and half bath (large). Then, down and to the left, through more double doors was a huge office area with a desk stocked full of office supplies.
Heading to the left of that was a huge hallway with a vanity on the left and 2 closets on the right! Sitting atop the vanity was a gift bag full of products from the hotel Spa! The Hall led to the grandioso master bath that was the size of one of the bedrooms in my house! Heading back out of the bathroom and Hall, back through the office was the last room, the master bedroom. An octagon shaped room with beautiful vaulted ceiling and on the bed was an adorable straw sun hat, a delightful lavender bathing suit cover up and an envelope addressed to "Charity Prestifilippo". Inside the card read, "C, what an exciting weekend. I'm happy you choose my hotel to spend it. My staff and I are here to ensure you have the best possible experience. If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. You're the best, E".
Honestly, in that final moment, I felt like I was the Bachelorette getting a date card and the most incredible date (with my mom and sisters... hee hee) of my life! :) I threw myself on the bed and rolled around like a little kid kicking and screaming! This was the best thing EVER!
Nicole was still on her way, but brandi had her on speaker phone the entire tour of the place! She arrived about 30 minutes later and we went through the entire deal again with her! It was just as fun the second time! ;) Oh! I forgot to mention the view! We had the entire front side of the building that overlooked the beach, with a balcony that wrapped around from the master bath, which faced the pool, to the entire other side that faced a grass area where there were 3 different weddings throughout our stay.
Eron, who had made all of these arrangements with brandi, had planned to personally escort us when we arrived, but unfortunately, one of his employees had a medical issue and was rushed to the emergency room, eron accompanied him. I knew this, so I texted him photos and a thousand Thank you's.... I'm sure I blew his phone up!
It was time to get ready for dinner. We had dinner reservations at 6pm. 6 girls had MORE then enough space to get ready, it was ridiculous! We actually lost each other in the a few times!
Brandi, kelsey and mom, who had added "40th" decorations to the already accessorized room, snuck out before the rest of us.... When we arrived down to the restaurant in the hotel courtyard, our reserved table was decorated also!
I had asked eron of he would join us for dinner. He said he'd so for a drink, but he couldn't stay long.
We ordered our drinks and the servers began delivering, "compliments of the chef" bite size appetizers. ... There was 4 rounds! Eron!!!! That was so sweet! We were pretty full after that, so we decided to share plates for dinner. After we ordered, eron showed up. Needless to say, we all went crazy for him! thanking him up and down and excited to share with him the entire arrival experience! He is a humble man of little words, but his smile, short giggle and simple, "I'm glad you like it" showed that he understood our gratitude!
We had his drink waiting for him and once he sat, we toasted him and our birthdays! He turned 40 just a couple days before me.
We ate dinner, he shared with mom and I (he grew up with us! ) and we were stuffed after a great meal!
It seems we all held our bellies as we sat back in our chairs and shared conversation about the old days, eron's life and his family. How he and Cindy met, his career, etc. Just when we thought we had a moment to relax from all the excitement, a line of servers walked up with a bowl of gelato for everyone! The girls and mom got strawberry and I got the most decadent salted caramel on top of a fudge covered brownie with a plate that read "happy birthday"! I don't really like dessert (I do love cheesecake), especially ice cream, but this was not ice cream, or dessert. .. It was literally a piece of heaven on a plate! I devoured the gelato (left the chocolate fudge brownie. ... I hate chocolate. ... I know, I'm not normal! ) and felt extremely satisfied when I was done!
Dinner was finally complete! What an afternoon! Nothin could top this! We all were ready to go, eron was going home and he asked where we were going for the night? We all shouted, "the room"! Why would we go anywhere else? We wanted to feel like celebrities as long and add much as we could! He laughed, like he does, enjoying our pleasure, and said good night.
We couldn't stop taking about the day/night! As we headed to our humble home for the weekend we felt so light, so happy!
We walked into the suite and on the table was the most beautiful cheesecake I'd ever seen. It looked like a wedding cake! On the plate around the cake it read, "happy 40th birthday charity" and there was a new bottle of fine wine! REALLY!?!?!??!??!??!
This was beyond special, beyond thoughtful, beyond everthing! I was speechless! I'm sure this feeling is the same feeling that a celebrity gets when they first get to enjoy the rewards of their success! In most lifetimes, the average Joe, like myself, never gets the taste of that feeling. ... But if you know me, you know my fantasy of becoming a celebrity, and that feeling I was able to feel, was a dream in and of itself! Never mind on the level of being a "regular person" and being spoiled like I was the "Queen of England!"
The rest of the weekend we had a blast! Talking and laughing, going on walks on the beach, hanging Poolside with drink and food service, taking photos (thousands) and sleeping like Angels!
... Saturday night we had my cousins 40th birthday party that was so much fun for us as well! Gina is a favorite fun and crazy cuz who we grew up very close to. We are close to her whole family! At the party were more photos, fun and laughs! She's very special to us and we wouldn't have missed the chance to celebrate her!
Sunday was the end of the fun. ... time to pack up and head back to our humble realities. Our lives are all wonderful and you could say that we are all pretty spoiled in our every day lives... well, I'll just speak for myself. ... I am very, but gratefully, spoiled. The thing about dreaming to be a celebrity is that you don't actually have to be one. Part of the fun about dreaming is the ability to do so. I always think about what my life would be like if I actually was one and I wouldn't want my life to be any different then it is now. But there definitely isn't anything wrong with getting a taste of it now and then! And this weekend was definitely a giant taste of it!
"Thank you" doesn't feel enough when I think about this weekend. I felt that way after my party and my girls weekend too, which is why I had a Thank you dinner for the girls who surprised me with my SD getaway. But this time I'm stumped. If I could put into words how Appreciative I am, it might sound like a foreign language, because there are no words in the English language expressive enough.
For now, all I can say is, thank you from the bottom of my heart".
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| We had that entire top balcony and floor!!! |
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| Nic and I resting our eyes! |
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| Sad to have to leave.... |
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