Amazing Night
I had to share an amazing evening that I had recently—–a very unusual evening for me.
I recently came back to San Francisco, from Paris, on one of those nightmarish trips, common in air travel today. I flew from Paris to New York, and from there was heading back to San Francisco. It’s a 5 and a half to 6 hour flight, from NY to SF, and shouldn’t be a big deal….right??? Well, air travel doesn’t work that way these days. I got to the airport even though I have every imaginable Frequent Flyer card and membership, since I commute between Paris and SF many times a year, as I live in both cities and travel back and forth a lot, for work, and to see my kids. This time, I got to the airport in New York, checked in at the counter, and was summarily told by the ticket agent that I had been bumped off my flight. It had a mechanical problem and had been oversold. Bumped?? Bumped???? Are you kidding? Not because I’m so fabulously important, but I do have some kind of VIP status, and all the frequent flyer stuff. With those credentials, I’m not supposed to get bumped, but I was. (And I was not happy about it, to say the least). After making a huge fuss about it, they put me on the next flight, but at a lesser level, as they had no good seats left. It took forever to find me a seat on the later flight; my luggage was taken off the plane, and then put on the next one. It was a pretty chaotic scene, with other people who had been bumped, and were also trying to get on the next plane. The second flight was then delayed, and in the process of switching flights, two of my bags went astray. So I arrived in SF long after midnight, got home at nearly 2 am, (minus two bags, which showed up the following afternoon), and I had been in transit door to door for nearly 14 hours……I’m sure it’s happened to you too, but situations like that make travelling exhausting.
I got home and found a mountain of work on my desk, tried to deal with some of it that night, and unpack my suitcases, and I never left my desk that night. By the time I finished the most pressing things on my desk, I looked up and it was 7am. And my first meeting was at 8:30, so I never got to bed that night, and figured I’d catch up on my sleep with a nap in the afternoon (ha!!! that never happens), or just go to bed early that night. I had no plans to go out. And round about 4:30 that afternoon, I was amazed to find I wasn’t tired, but kept busy with my work. And then suddenly I got an email from my niece who lives in London, and she emailed me that she had organized a corporate event in SF, it was that night, and she invited me to come. At first, I was absolutely convinced that I would be dead on my feet by evening and it would be crazy to try and go out. I debated for a while, and then decided to do it anyway, even if I was tired. The evening my niece had organized sounded like a great party, and there were going to be 3 live bands there, all of whom are famous and very good. They were The Killers, Jane’s Addiction and Snoop Dog. I’m certainly not a heavy Rap fan, but it sounded like an exciting evening to me. The party was being given by one of the founders of Facebook, and I was sure it would be an interesting crowd (and I wasn’t wrong).
I bathed, washed my hair, and got all dressed up (in leather pants, t-shirt and leather jacket), put on make-up and high heels, and by the time I got to the location of the party, I had been up for nearly 2 days, with no sleep at all the night before (I never even went to bed, so I could deal with everything on my desk). And the weirdest thing of all was that I wasn’t even tired. I felt fine. I have no idea what gave me the energy for that night, but I had no sense of jet lag, having travelled, or being wiped out. So off I went to the party, and found myself at a fantastic party, with about 200 people in an enormous warehouse that had been fully decorated and perfectly set up like a series of very comfortable living rooms, with couches and furniture, and it all looked both comfortable and very chic. It was a spectacular setting, and the food on the seemingly endless buffet looked delicious and proved to be as good as it looked. Not to mention the food that was passed around the room, including absolutely fantastic little freshly made donuts, which I surrendered to immediately.
It was one of those evenings that are full of life, electricity and excitement, beyond anything you could imagine or expect. I mostly went to lend my support to my niece in her work project, and ended up enjoying myself sooooo much more than I had dreamed. The first two bands were good and I know they’re famous, but when Snoop Dog came on, he knocked my socks off. He had a power and presence and charisma that thrilled the crowd and his very theatrical performance was dazzling—even for someone like me who isn’t all that familiar with Rap. It was a knock out!! And I had a ball. I danced, I ate, I was bowled over by Snoop Dog’s performance—-I had a blast. I was so happy that I didn’t give in to travel fatigue, put my clothes on, went out, and experienced something new, different, and exciting. I had a terrific evening. And when it was all over, I came home, fell into bed with a big smile and fell asleep. I had such a great time!!!
Love, Danielle
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What a great blog post. I hope you finally got some sleep. I am delighted and somewhat tickled that you enjoyed Snoop Dog, although I know you won’t become a hip hop fan anytime soon, I think it’s fabulous that you were able to appreciate Snoop’s performance.
I think it’s great that you were able to go to that event and support your niece also. Bravo to you.
What an adventure!!!
The plane, the next day meeting, and if that was not enought you have to go to the party of your niece¡¡¡
Wow!
I had not endured awake in the meeting, much less could have stand at the party¡¡¡
You have extraordinary strength, I admire you!
I wish I had so much resistance.
Somehow I am not surprised by your energy! Anyone who can write over 100 novels!!! 🙂 I’m half way through your wonderful collection! 🙂 Glad you had FUN!!! 🙂
Dear Ms. Danielle Steel,
Thank you so much for your interesting, but tough and exciting stories you’ve experienced recently especially on flights concerned. The party your niece provided seemed to reset your everything on that day, isn’t it? This is the story we usually experience. I take it as a destiny when we encounter such problems. As for me, like you, something compensating for it will follow fortunately. Yesterday I went down to the relatively big book store to buy your book “His Bright Light”, as I was knocked down and deeply impressed after reading the Japanese version (not sure why I have the Japanese version, because other novels written by you 100% English versions I have). No “His Bright Light” there, but instead I met your book “Matters of the Heart”, your one-hundredth book dedicated to your wonderful children, Beatrix, Trevor, Todd, Nick(one year older than my first son), Sam, Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara) and now reading it. And I found the nice description “When he looked into her eyes, he saw something very deep and very peaceful, and beyond it, deeper than that, he saw two bottomless pools of pain. – – – Whatever it was, he could tell that she had been to hell and back, and yet she was incredibly balanced and peaceful, as she looked across the table at him with a gentle smile. – – – “. I could see YOU in her, as I just finished reading “His Bright Light”. On “His Bright Light” I have many things to tell you. But it’s really hard to find the way from where to where to express my feeling. So far keep it in my mind.
Thank you very much for your wisdom given to me through reading your books. I will continue to read your novels on and on. Thanks.
Your reader
Thackery
(Toshiaki Hida)
October 14, 2011
My dearest danielle I have wrote to you on several occations about my daughter Nadine her bi-polar and also I have wanted to write a book.Ihave mentioned about my husband and I being homeless for so many years going from shelters and staying with people.I am so glad you have prevailed from your airline problems.But a good piece of advice for you is dont sweat the small stuff.Some people have it far worse and you are very fortunate to be blessed with your life. I get by saying that to myself that other people have it worse then me. Just a friendly tidbit. Keep up the good work in your foundatins and your books. god bless All my love Cathryn Morash
Dear Mrs. Steel
My name is Evelyne Jucker and I’m studying at the University of St.Gall in Switzerland. Since I am enjoying reading your books for many years, I decided to write my bachelor thesis about your books and your success.
My plan is to compare some of your books with each other. Therefore, I would be most interested in information about the novels “The Kiss”, “Lone eagle”, “Mirror Image”, “Wings”, “Accident”, “Star”, “Fine things” and “Heartbeat”.
It would be of great help to me, if you or your manager could contact me and give me some hard facts and numbers, as for example the paid circulation of an edition of the novels in the U.S., about some of your books.
I’m looking forward hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Evelyne Jucker
P.S.: Please excuse my grammatical mistakes.
Love your books, have read most of them and will read the remaining ones when time permits, am a single mother of 3, grandmother to 2 and do not get the time to read like I did at one time. Glad you had a good time, we all need some “ME” time. Look forward to each book, you are the only author that I want to read each and every book that you write.
I’ts so nice to read that you are aS NORMAL as the rest of us,in this crazy world
good for you Danielle for attending the party. Im not a big fan of rap either, however my daughter listens to it, and I heard Snoop, and @ 60,I like it. Always stay open and be receptive to new things..I rode a bull 2 years ago while i Arizona.. The 60’s are great. The bull was a mechanical one, I’m not that adventurous Enjoy life, you only get one…