One of the great things about my job is having a boss who is always encouraging us to go out and do fun things, find new inspiration. In the past I've taken time off to go with Chris to New York, San Diego to the Comic Con. And this past weekend I took a day off to go up to San Francisco. The trip was planned by my boss John, and his graphic design friends. It was to give a group of Norwegian design students a tour of some of the top graphic design agencies in SF. I took a 6 am flight from LAX (had to wake up at 4 am, ugh...but I saw the most beautiful sun rise from my seat.) It was my first time traveling alone, I was a little bit nervous, but I didn't have any trouble getting around.
I met John and his brother Jim at the hotel near 7th and Mission around 9 am. The weather was perfect for walking around the city. Our first stop was Pentagram, a design agency responsible for designing identities for Citibank, United Airline, to signage at the Toronto airport, and many more packaging, catalogs, and books. One of the partners, Kit Hinrichs, flew back from LA just to meet with us and give us the tour. We then had lunch together and got a chance to get to know the students better. I found out one of the student, Christian, knows a close Norwegian friend of ours from school! (Kevin, was in school with Chris and I, and was one of the groomsmen at our wedding.) Christian even has worked with Kevin back in Oslo! What a small world.
We went back to the hotel after lunch to take a short nap, I was so tired from being up so early. Then at 6, we headed out again. Kit, who is a collector of everything with the American flag on it (he has published a book called Long May She Wave) was very generous to invite us over to his beautifully designed home to check out his collection. And I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of the book, not only that, it was signed with John's favorite fountain pen.
The day ended with us riding in a cab driven by an old hippy lady to a mexican food restaurant decorated with Christmas decor all year long. Jim made small talk in Spanish with the people in the restaurant, and we all looked forward to getting some rest after a long day.
When I returned to my hotel room I discovered that one of the shirt I packed for the next day was missing! It was one of my favorite RubyLove longsleeve shirt. I looked everywhere for it and got very sad when I couldn't find it. I made a call to the front desk but housekeeping had already gone home. I went to bed feeling sad but thought maybe someone really liked it. I even had a dream about the shirt being returned to me. The next morning I called again and just when I was ready to leave, a heard a knock on the door. One of the manager was standing outside with my shirt in a little bag. Someone must have thought I left that behind because I checked in so early and my room was untouched except for that shirt draped over a chair. I was so happen when I got my shirt back. I dream came true!
Saturday was colder and more windy, we got some breakfast at a local diner and had a few hours before heading to the airport. John and Jim left it up to me where I wanted to go, and I ended up taking them to an arts and technology museum for kids called Zeum It was a wonderful place for kids to make their own stop motion movies, we even made a clay-mation movie we called "Mickey and Ann at the gym" It was fun to be like kids for a few hours.
The trip came to an end when we got on an earlier flight at 4pm. I had a great time doing something new on the weekend instead of watching tv or cleaning up the house. I felt good about traveling on my own and making new friends, but I am glad to be home in my pajamas again.
No comments:
Post a Comment