LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY...BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

I'm back from my short, last minute trip. Before I even get into it, I'd like to send all my love to my very good girlfriend, Kay, for her recent loss. Her posts about her father brought me to tears. She has been extremely strong through all of this and I'm sure her father is watching her, along with her mother, feeling so proud that they raised such an amazing daughter.

I was one of the honored friends who received an e-mail the night it happened from Kay, sharing her father's tragedy with us. I was heart broken for her. As much as I wanted to reach out to her and give her a hug and say something to take away her pain, I didn't have any words. I wanted to post about her loss on my blog but I didn't find that I had the right to tell her story and I'm glad I didn't. She wrote a beautiful post in his memory. I only hope her wonderful memories with her father are able to carry her through this very difficult time.

As I mentioned in my last post, I found out on Monday that I needed to fly out on Tuesday to our distribution center in Kentucky. Now tell me, who in the world wants to go on a trip to Kentucky?!? I wasn't very excited at all but I knew I had no way out. The only good news about this trip is 1) it was going to be short - 2 days, 2) I wouldn't be going alone - in fact, 5 others from the company joined me and 3) since flying to KY is such an ordeal and there's no direct flight there, we were able to fly in a private plane owned by the CEO of the company.

So I went home on Monday night and packed for the trip. I worked until 1:30 the next day and then drove out to Burbank airport. Let me just say that going on a private plane is such an amazing experience! I felt like a celebrity. There was no check-in, no security, no rule of no liquids which means I was able to bring everything I packed onto the plane, no waiting to board, no parking issues...we simply drive up to the gate, they take your car, take your luggage and help you onto the plane. It was a small plane, but fit for a queen. Leather seats, crystal glasses, China, every toiletry you can imagine, catered lunch with dessert...just amazing. It was a comfortable 3 hour and 45 minute flight. When we landed and got off the plane, I was immediately sticky...it was HOT!

Once we checked into our hotel, we went to our rooms and met back up at the small bar inside the hotel. I had an appletini...it was delicious.

We called it a night after that. The next morning, we started early and had our first day at our distribution center, located in a very industrial part of Louisville. It's quite a state-of-the-art facility and I was impressed to be able to see how it all operated.

That night, our group joined the management team out to dinner at an Italian restaurant, Vincenzo's. The food was delicious! I had a great time that night and it was nice to be able to put faces with all the names I e-mail with every day.

The next day was a much busier one. I had a tour of the entire facility and had back-to-back meetings until it was time to leave at 3:30. The flight back was also very comfortable. The best part was landing and seeing our cars literally waiting for us. Talk about service!

Seeing as I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to fly on a private plane again, I asked the very nice pilot if I could have a picture taken in the cockpit seat. I looked like hell at this point and I've put on like 10 pounds recently but I didn't care. I wanted my picture...

Overall, the trip was a great one and I actually have nothing bad to say about it. Would I want to go again anytime soon? Heck no! But I'm so happy the trip is done. I won't have to go on another trip until late October, right after our 2nd anniversary trip.

I'm SO happy it's Friday. This weekend should be a good one. I hope it's a great one for everyone too!