#happilyeverhardin

13 to 18 April

13 April

Today we are taking our first 11 hour flight (together anyway). This could be heavenly or complete hell. We are heading the LA for Pat and Megan’s wedding! The only way we were able to make this work, with work, is because I get a bunch of time off around Easter, and this weekend just happened to be Easter.

We were up and out of the apartment around 8 headed to CDG in Uber because Jer had (insert eye roll here) to bring his golf clubs. As he put it, when you are around the Hardin’s you never know how many rounds of golf you will play.

We got checked in and through customs with no issues at all, which was shocking. Every other time we have flown back to the US, the customs lines have been so long. O well. I will take this as a win.

We paid for good seats upstairs and special meals on our flight which was on an A380 (means nothing to me besides it’s a huge plane but Jer seems to always care on the type of plane). 11 hours later, we landed back on US soil. We arrived at LAX around 1:30 local, since there is a 9 hour time difference from Paris.

After deplaning, it took over an hour until Jer’s clubs finally came out (I would have been in stitches laughing if his clubs were left in Paris) and we got into the Uber to head to Westlake Village.

Thanks to LA traffic, we had an hour and a half trip to Four Seasons Westlake Village. But we made it in one piece without any issues!

We checked in to our hotel and took much needed showers.

We then went and saw our friends for PA for the first time in 2017. Well me anyway since Jer had seen most of the guys last month at the bachelor party.

For dinner, we headed over to Pat & Megan’s to hang out for the night for pizza and beer (I miss micro brewed beer). However, since we never really slept on the plane, we were back at the hotel by 10 because we were dead tired.

14 April

Thanks to the 9 hour time difference, neither Jer or I could sleep past 4 or 5. So Jer agreed to go with Pat to work first thing in the morning before golf. He ended up being downstairs over 30 mins before Pat picked him up at 5:15 because he couldn’t sleep any longer.

After taking care of one of Pat’s clients we headed to pick up some of the other fellow golfers. When you are trying to get 2 foursomes together for 8:30 tee times (or so we thought) that can be kind of tough. We finally arrived around 8 at Tierra Rejada Golf Club thinking we could get a precious few swings in before we headed out on the course, but to our surprise when we arrived they were calling our groups as on the tee! As I got to the tee with the first group thinking, I hope I hit the ball since I hadn’t played since October in Dubai, I made a comment about one of the carts that was parked close to the front of the tee box. “I hope I don’t hit that cart” I jokingly said. Well that was obviously the kiss of death for me, and although I didn’t hit the cart my very thinned drive was precariously close to the roof as it flew past, but down the middle at least ha.

We had a really great time the rest of the day playing in back to back groups and making it feel just like the old days playing with everyone back at NCC.

After golf was over a few of us went back to Pat and Megan’s to help get some stuff together for the wedding and the house for pictures tomorrow.

Once I said bye to Jer in the lobby, I headed down to do a 45 minute peleton ride at the gym. For those of you who know me, I am not a morning person, let alone a morning workout person. But since it was technically 2pm to me, it was an afternoon workout. After I was done, I putzed around the hotel grounds.

After I showered, I hitched a ride with John, Kristie and Abby to Target to do some much needed Target shopping. God, I miss target so much.

Once we were back at the hotel, Ali and I decided to go get Mani/Pedis. Which was actually in the same shopping center as Target. So we naturally ended up back there again.

After all the errands, we ended up by the pool waiting for the golfers to get back.

That evening we were invited to the rehearsal dinner (more of a welcome dinner) at Megan’s neighbors house from when she was little. Not only was their house amazing with a wonderful backyard, but dinner was an amazing Mexican themed smorgasbord, including a tequila bar.

Again the jet lag was getting to us, so we were back around 10pm at the hotel. We relaxed with a couple of beers and some catching up with our PA friends, but it was quickly time for bed. I think at this point Abby was putting the big kids to sleep, instead of the other way around!

15 April

This morning, we slept a little bit later than 5am but headed down to the gym for another Peleton ride.

We then headed to In & Out for lunch with Gilberts, because, when in LA, right?

With our lunch in hand, we went back to Four Seasons to enjoy the pool for part of the afternoon.

After the pool, it was time to get ready for wedding!

The wedding took place at Westlake Yacht Club. The place looks like it came from a bridal magazine. It was absolutely beautiful. But not as beautiful as the bride! Also, our friend, Nick, officiated the wedding and killed it!

The reception was amazing and it was great to spend the night with friends we miss so much under the California stars.

After the wedding, we headed back to the Four Seasons and hung out at the outside bar to the wee morning hours and also had In & Out for the second time today!

16 April

Happy Easter! This morning we were up and ready to go to Easter Sunday service. I had found a Catholic Church not far from the hotel. But the church was so small they had an overflow section in the Church rec hall. So we watched mass on the big screen. However, the sound wasn’t working…. So we had a deacon come in and talk us through the mass, to a point, as we waited for the Eucharist. It was a little bit bizarre, but it worked!

After mass, we went back to Four Seasons to say good bye to East Coasters since we won’t see them again until the fall! We also needed to re-pack. More of a just throw it in, since we have to re-do this again in a day.

We then hitched a ride with Pat & Megan back to their place since our flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow early evening.

In normal Hardin fashion, the guys randomly decided to play second round of golf.

We went back to Tierra Rejada Golf Club again, but this time with a little smaller group. Still ended up with 2 groups eventually once everyone showed up. Felt much better playing this time not only because we had played 2 days earlier but we also got to hit balls before hand this time. Certainly did not have to worry about the cart on the first tee this time!

This round felt even more like old NCC times because we literally played the 18th having no idea where the ball ended up after we hit it with darkness setting in. Just like we used to do after working and trying to get as many holes as we could in.

While the guys were away, the girls watched some TV and just relaxed. We then realized dinner was up in the air, so I thought it would be nice to have a home cooked meal. Meg drove me to the store where I got the fixings for: Bacon wrapped Chicken, Talapia with zesty seasoning, balsamic green beans, brown sugar carrots, roasted potatoes and a side salad. It was delicious, if I do say so myself.

We then finished the night with some good French wine that we had brought with us.

17 April

We are still waking up bright and early. Which isn’t a bad thing. With only a few days in the US, it is best not to fully reset our internal clocks.

Jer was out with Pat around 8 to help take down stuff from wedding.

When the boys came back, I cooked breakfast which included some fresh fruit, scrambled eggs and brown sugar pepper bacon. Again, delicious.

We then did a very strategic packing job to get every back into the proper bags, including all the spoils from Target. Good thing they don’t have a weight limit when you bring a golf bag!!

We then headed to airport around 2pm in an Uber for our flight at 6. This time traffic was not bad at all and we sailed through customs.

We posted up at sushi bar for dinner and one last dirty martini before out flight.

We again paid for good seats and upgraded meals on our 10 hour flight back. This time, we passed out on the flight.

18 April

We landed back at CDG around 2pm local, and just like in LA, Jer thought his clubs were left behind again (and I was starting to think so too). But they actually made it!

We got an Uber and were home a little before 4pm.

We both felt like walking zombies because the struggle to stay awake is real.

We then headed down to Monoprix so we could eat because we had no food in the apartment. We somehow stayed awake until 10pm.

The best part about being back in Paris (except for the wine, cheese and bread) are the sunsets.