Circuit City to the Rescue!

The day started with mud baths in Corona, and ended on the side of Sunset Blvd with a flat tire.

Let me explain.

My friend, Christi, turned 30 yesterday, and had a spa-day celebration with a few close girlfriends. About 8 of us spent the morning/afternoon at Glen Ivy Spa in Corona, CA. The admission cost gave us access to ALL the pools (Roman bath, saline pool, mineral bath, indoor jacuzzi, and warm water shallows) AND the infamous mud bath. YES, I was apprehensive about the mud, but my skin is super soft today and I attribute that in part to the mud! It was pretty hilarious. It would have been very helpful had the weather been just a tad bit warmer (imagine how unpleasant stepping out of a jacuzzi can be in cold weather...) but I'm grateful for the opportunity nonetheless. I indulged in a massage as a spa service- the "stress reliever" focused on my back, neck and shoulders. Apparently my piano playing and constant typing has taken a toll on my shoulders, so much so that my masseuse exclaimed as I was leaving, "good luck with those shoulders!" Oy.


Following the evening service at Revolution, the girls and I continued our adventures by seeing a Burlesque Show in Hollywood.

(I'll pause while you read that sentence again.)

Yes, it's true, but let me clarify...Cheri's friend dances with this show, and it was a Christmas/Comedy routine that was really quite tactful and very entertaining. We enjoyed tapas before the show (an assortment of appetizers) and were impressed by some of the cirqe-de-soleil happenings all over the room. At one point, Christi was pulled up on stage- how's THAT for a 30th birthday memory?!



(Steph and Bridget enjoying the show...)


What I failed to mention is that once we hit the Hollywood freeway in Cheri's car, we seemed to run over something- were momentarily stunned and then quickly forgot about it. When we returned to the car post-burlesque, something was not right. We made it about 2 blocks before stopping the car and finding a flat tire. Assessing the situation was a bit disconcerting, being that we were 4 girls stranded on the roadside after midnight in Hollywood. However, God was on the task, and he sent two extraordinary gentlemen (who work at Circuit City) to fix our tire in a jiffy. Being that the flat tire was on the street side of the car, our job was to block the lane from traffic so our electronics-selling friends could live to see Christmas. We watched as once, twice, three times the Hollywood Sheriff's dept drove right by us, FINALLY stopping to see if we were okay. It was an interesting conversation; first they asked if we knew these guys, to which we responded that they were being very helpful. Since they weren't offering to help us block the lane or give us a flare, we asked if it would be okay if we stood in the road to deflect traffic. The "helpful" officers responded, "yeah, if you want to get hit!" We defended our position by pointing to the two men laying next to the car helping us out...to which the officers responded, "better them than you." Thank you, helpful Hollywood police. They were clearly enjoying this banter, but seeing as they were of no use to us, we excused them with a "Merry Christmas." We were very grateful for our helpers, who did a good job of fixing up the car for us. A little roadside humor to keep us warm.

Our traffic control was outstanding, though our methods were a bit unconventional.