Last night, using various excuses and the fact that several of our former European colleagues were in town for the annual NAB in Las Vegas, we had a little gathering in our new home, also known as housewarming…
After much debating and a late invite sent to most of the people (sorry, it seems I still managed to forget one or 2 persons on the list… I apologize profusely) most of our old and new friends made it to our new home and mainly to our patio.
Many made it and it was great to see some of the old friends on this side of the pond. 3 of the guests (Keith, John and J) were even at both our leaving do in London and our housewarming here in California. Amazing! It was good as well to meet with some new people (some parents from Sarah’s “Mummy and Me†group and some new Disney colleagues and their partners) and to finally have a drink out of the office with some not so new people.
Kudos to both Keith and Simon, who both have the commuting record to join us, coming respectively from London and Hong Kong.
Kudos as well to Arnaud who quickly replaced me at the BBQ position as Sarah and I were running like nutters, trying to see as many people as we could and delivering food, drinks, etc to our guests.
I must admit one thing: I never ever saw so many kids playing together in a garden at a given time. I think we might have reached 20 kids in our backyard, without having one explosion of tears or a crying youngster!
The party was great and did last, as you can expect, well into the night…
One slight issue though: I totally forgot to take any picture of the evening! So all you get is a shot of one of the table on the following morning, around 7:00AM…
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We have our new home address
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We have our new land line (officially since Tuesday)
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I got my mobile almost as soon as I arrived at the office
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My office number is printed on my office phone…
But now Sarah has her US mobile, also know as a cell on this side of the pond.
Watch you inbox for updated details as soon as we have 5 minutes.
Our first long weekend in the US. The weather is with us and Arnaud has offered to go with him (and the family) to Santa Monica for an early walk on the beach and lunch in front of the ocean…
Fabulous idea…
9:00am, we are all ready, wearing our summer clothes, covered with sun tan lotion (except Sarah) and all ready to go.
10:15am, after having tried to go the scenic route (Sunset and Santa Monica boulevard), we make it to the pier. Temperature already reaches the high 20s and Thia is happy running in the sand. Well, actually, she loves it!
Some nutters are in the water but we might not want to go there (considering the weather is as good as a Summer day in Brighton). Kids had to try the huge carrousel on the pier, but both girls seem to have had enough with one ride.
Lunch on the beach was fun and simply magic for us, coming from London and considering we were doing this mid February…
Sorry for the guys in the cold, but we had a fab day!
Now, let’s go and try this sushi place that Steve S has been recommending for months!See you later!
More pictures under the PrettyPix sectionÂ
Arnaud, Mike and Chris shown up with their respective families, and kids ran around with Thia for the most part of the evening, discovering hidden places in our new home, playing games and “watching the universe”
Excused were Philippe stuck on the east coast and James recovering from his Friday night (he might show up tonight, who knows!)…
MIA: Sylvain and family… shame! 
Mike respected the inherited Russian tradition and brought salt and bread and we managed to try various types of beers and wines from around the world, as if we were in Europe (actually, even more diverse… Shocking!!!)
Conclusion of the evening:
Wherever you have a party in the world, it’ll always end up in the kitchen (in our case, we didn’t even leave the bloody kitchen).
This is it! Last day in the London office!
And as it should be, we ended up with the usual “Drinks in the officeâ€Â session, including the de facto bag of goodies, card often followed by the nonetheless classical session at one of the local bar with various friends.
So drinks at the office, pretty emotional as expected. Goodies: A diner at Katana, my favorite Japanese restaurant in LA (if not in the world) only second to Zuma in London as well as an engraved English Beer Mug that shall be delivered at some point in the LA office.
The rest of the night went smoothly. First pit stop at the Fire Station for a couple, followed by the unavoidable “Quick one at Smolly’sâ€Â where all the usual suspects where drinking as expected, including the 2 grumpy old men, Grant and Antony!
Only issue: Wake up call tomorrow is at 6:30 as I am taking Thia there for the day, to have lunch with my parents.
