Entries from Monday, June 9. 2008

We just returned from a trip to California.  We spent most of the week at my parent's home in La Quinta and ventured to Orange County for a couple nights in the Newport Beach Fairmont and a day at Disneyland.  Flights to Palm Springs and Ontario were pricey, but Virgin America was advertising some great specials to LAX so we decided to add an hour to our drive and try flying Virgin.

Due to 8 years of consulting and an irrational fear of flying, I really hate to fly.  But I am always thrilled to try something new and looked forward to trying the Virgin experience.  The planes were brand new A319s with an in flight entertainment system in every seat called 'Red'.  Red is similar to Jet Blue's television system and would have been really cool except the sound didn't work in our seats.  The flight attendant told us they were still working out the kinks.  Better luck next time!

What we did find really cool was Red's ordering system for beverages and food.  They did the initial round of cart service and from there, if you wanted another drink, you could order it right from your seat and they'd bring it to you.  It's much nicer than the dings that constantly go off as people confuse the flight attendant call button with the light button and the service is terrific.  I also liked that Virgin America is cashless.  I was a little bummed, however, that we couldn't order champagne to celebrate so we had to toast our engagement with gin and tonics.  (see previous post on engagement!)

It's been about a year since I last blogged.  I realized this about a month ago and was actually waiting for the year anniversary of my last entry to start blogging again.  I can't guarantee consistency, but look forward to writing some posts.  And I start with some really big news... Richard and I are engaged!

He proposed with a Pirates of the Caribbean 22 carat plastic ring since the real ring (see above) was in safe keeping since we were enjoying a weekend at Disneyland.  He had the ring, he had the place (overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Manhattan Beach) and he asked the question, in the form of a question.  And, I said... YES!

We're still searching for a date and location, but we're currently thinking September 2009 at a winery in Oregon.  If you have any suggestions, please send them our way!