Life in West Palm Beach

West Palm Beach is full of strange looking people! I have only been here for two days and already I have seen enough plastic surgery to make me never want to see another botoxed lip, chin lift, or... anything else. Other than that, it seems like a very nice place. I woke up and went for a swim in the hotel pool, which was so pleasant and invigorating. The West Palm Beachers think this is terribly cold weather, but to me it is downright balmy. This morning the wind was tossing the palm trees all around and blowing the cushions off the pool chairs, and I was the only one brave enough to dip my toes in the water, but the pool was heated, and once I got in and started swimming around, it was wonderful.

But soon it was time to head to work. The show was so busy today! I almost didn't get a chance to eat breakfast before going to the convention center, but I'm sure glad I did, because from eleven to seven I didn't get a bite of food, or a moment to even sit down. But that's a good thing! We were so busy! Hopefully the whole show will go this way. Three more days to go... Also, I saw Rudy Giuliani walking the show, looking at antiques. I don't recognize a lot of celebrities, but he is very distinctive looking, despite his casual attire and lack of entourage.

As soon as we were done for the day, my bosses and I headed over to the Valentine's Day Eve party being held by some friends and clients. Their swanky West Palm Beach penthouse condominium was decked out! In fact, as soon as we exited the elevator, a trail of rose petals and red curtains led the way to the party, which was soon in full swing. My dinner was a delicious mixture of shrimp and chicken on skewers, vegetables with hummus dip, sushi, crabcakes, mini spanakopita, and so many other amazing appetizers. A few wineglasses of diet coke later, I was quite recovered from my long busy day, and meeting some very interesting people. In fact, I still can't really believe it. So a few days ago, one of the party hosts told me that the Twilight actor Taylor Lautner was going to be at his party helping serve food as a joke. But I'm starting to think the joke was on me! At the party tonight there was definitely a young guy who looked a LOT like Lautner, and he was helping out the caterers, but dressed in a tux. I went up to my host and asked him if he was serious--was that really Lautner? Yes, he swore up and down, but he was also a little tipsy... and when he introduced me to the Twilight star/Twilight lookalike, the kid said "Hi, my name is Nick." But, according to my host, that was the name they agreed he'd go by during the party so as not to attract too much attention. It was a crowd of older people, no Twilight fans among them, but, according to my host, Taylor was an old friend and owed him a favor. He didn't seem to be lying, but I'm a bad judge, especially when I've only known this guy for a few days. So... maybe I will never know if it was really Taylor Lautner or just a lookalike who served me crabcakes.

Meanwhile, at the party I also met the up and coming author of a book about what kind of women divorced and widowed men are really looking for, the guy who told Tropicana not to change the look of their packaging, an old man actor whose name I forget but who was just in a big movie, and his girlfriend "Googy" (a very scary plastic surgery collection!), and many more very unusual characters. What a day, and what a night. I'm ready for some sleep before doing it all again tomorrow.