terranea

every year in june, the anesthesia program at harbor has a special lunch for the graduating residents.  and all non-graduating residents are expected to go and be happy for the ones who are moving on.  this graduation lunch is usually held at one place every year.  but this year, the planning person decided to have it at the brand new terranea resort and spa.  it was certainly a beautiful spot and the graduating residents sure lucked out!  though the other residents (phil included) were quickly informed that this wouldn’t be repeated next year.  turns out, it was nearly four times as expensive as it usually is!  so phil says it’ll probably be held at the china bowl next year and then sizzler’s the following year to make up the difference.  ha ha.

anyway, since this gathering was way over budget, they asked everyone to bring only one guest.  so phil brought me.  thanks, honey.  we left mikey and allie with our friends and smuggled lauren in with us.  hey, they don’t know that she can out-eat her two siblings, right?

the terranea is in a beautiful spot in rancho palos verdes, and phil said i could slip away to take a few pictures while he and lauren made the rounds doing the small-talk thing.  ugh, me and small-talk don’t get along.  awkward at best and i avoid it at all costs.

so here are a few shots of the hotel and grounds.

peekabo pool (one of three that i saw) and ocean beyond.

not a bad spot to exchange vows, no?

where i would’ve rather spent the day…

the second pool.

beautiful views surrounding the hotel…

the third pool.

seriously, i coulda stayed out here all day!

inside the hotel…

this fountain was located at the entrance to the hotel. phil and inoticed they parked the very nice cars up front, while the junkier carswere banished to the farther away lots. no matter, we self-parked ourhead-turning minivan anyway. ha ha.

the time to rejoin phil at the party came all too quickly.  while it would have been fun to explore more of the hotel, i didn’t want to be gone too long, either.  from the outside looking in…

phil’s fellow residents. these are the people who see more of phil than we do. not that i’m bitter or anything…

unlike her mommy, lauren enjoyed meeting everyone and was quite comfortable even being passed around.  here, she wanted a closer look at this colorful tie. no matter that it was still attached to taylor’s neck!

phil and his fellow resident crew. and lauren.

a rare shot of me and phil. and lauren. kinda nice to have just one baby with us at the time!

after the first hour of mingling outside was over, everyone headed inside for the graduation program followed by lunch.

they had an extremely dry guest speaker who lectured on and on and on.so lauren and i hung out in the back, near the food. here she issampling some baby corn.

“hey! wanna sneak out with me?”

finally, it was the chief resident’s turn to speak!

phil was asked not to do a roast this year, but it’s a tradition for the residents, so he slipped one in anyway.  turned out his speech got a lot of laughs and many were surprised at phil’s sense of humor and unsuspected sarcastic capabilities. he says it’s because he’s triedto look truculent and stay quiet in order to fly below the radar. andlook where that got him.

after lunch (which was deeelicious!), lauren and i hung out in a sideroom while phil finished gathering his stuff. lauren was an awesometrooper throughout the whole day both with being passed around andkeeping herself entertained in the down times. we just love that girl.

when all was said and done, i got a few more shots of lauren and her daddy.

great job delivering your speech, honey!  so proud of you!