24 HOURS IN L.A.
Burning Man was, yet again, absolutely incredible. In case you missed my recap earlier this month, head over here to take a look! You may have seen from my Instagram that Noam and I added an additional mini-vacation in LA onto the tail-end of the festival. We ended up driving from the campsite out to California to return our rented RV, and decided to make a little trip out of our short time in Los Angeles. As I briefly mentioned, the last time we were out in LA, I was super-pregnant with our first child, Yuli (think: middle of the third trimester, about to pop), and was in no mood for fun and touring, or even relaxing, for that matter. It's challenging to relax at the tail-end of a pregnancy, especially with your first baby. You mamas know what I'm talking about, don't you?!
Coming off of Burning Man, which, although an incomparable experience is not necessarily luxurious nor relaxing (or particularly clean!), Noam and I decided to spend two days in post-festival bliss before heading back to reality. Since my parents, who are practically the only people we'd trust to take care of our kids for such an extended period of time, gave us the OK that everything was going very well back in BK, we felt comfortable taking the extra bit of time for ourselves. In all honestly, we didn't make any concrete plans or feel the need to fill up our time during these two days - something very uncharacteristic of Noam and myself, as we both have that entrepreneurial work spirit and tend to be involved with work in some way or another around the clock. We were prepared to enjoy each other's company in the non-campsite environment. In fact, we felt that, with no commitments or activities pressing for our attention, we could practically lay in bed all day! This kind of break is unbelievably fulfilling for parents of three, all under the age of six, I must say! ;) BTW, no I unfortunately got extremely dehydrated on the drive between Reno and LA, and had to stop on the way to visit a doctor. I felt super sick, and relaxing in the pool and at the hotel was just what I needed. That being said, we cut what was supposed to be 48 hours in LA down to 24 to get back to New York and the comforts of home even sooner, while under the weather.
We stayed at the Freehand Hotel in Downtown LA - which has the dreamiest pool (and pool floats, in case you saw that photo!), ordered nightly drinks at Broken Shaker on the roof, and ate delicious meals at The Exchange restaurant in the lobby (don't forget to order a side of their cauliflower w lemon aioli!!). It was beyond easy to 'find our centers' of relaxation at the Freehand, seeing as the hotel boasts an incredibly chic and uniquely earthy vibe. Bright colors, lots of plants and cactuses, cozy eating and lobby areas with natural light - this was the perfect place to end our trip away from home; an intersection between festival and real life.
Speaking of home...After our 24 hours in LA and the Burning Man experience prior, we were finally ready to head back to the East Coast, to our babies! It felt so great to come back to our kids and my parents (who stayed an extra week upon our return!), and especially sweet to see how all three of them excitedly greeted us at the door upon our arrival. I know that I jokingly (perhaps? ;)) said that Burning Man can make you get pregnant again... although this title was created with a creative spirit and purely in jest, the sentiment does ring true to a large degree. My rekindled love with my husband, in combination with seeing my three babies again after a week away, makes me realize how very grateful I am for our Dekel Crew. There's no one else I'd rather be married to or share the partnership that is parenthood, and my three kids are and always will be my life.
The memories of Burning Man and our trip to LA will forever be with us, but the memories of seeing our kids and parents on our arrival back home- seeing their faces light up with the kind of love and joy you can only feel and rarely capture beyond that tangible feeling, will stick out more in every way.
Neshikot=XX
