The next morning I got up early to get ready for my flight and any festivities that could possibly come my way once landing. Just before leaving for the airport I said goodbye to a great friend and thanked him for the time spent. as I look back now I learned a lot about by myself over those last couple of days, I then proceeded to pick up my luggage and head to my next destination. The infamous Land of the White Rabbit, for the Playboy Golf Finals- "where girls who aren't so nice appear to be nice, and where men are just looking for a good time at any price."
When I arrived at LAX I picked up my luggage and headed down to limo lane. While standing there, a girl bumped into me and asked if I was part of Playboy Golf and if she was in the right spot for the shuttle and before I could get out an answer the limo rolled up with Rachel in it. I was so ecstatic to see her, we loaded up the car and rolled into the Hills.
One of the first things we did after checking in was head straight to the mall. It was as if a tradition in our eyes, I'm not even sure why we packed so many things to wear because we always ended up buying new stuff out there. After shopping we headed down to the ballroom for our annual "rules and regulations" meeting, even sitting in the meeting we already new we were leaving after and heading to dinner with the Elite of Playboy Golf, it was almost as if it was a joke to sit there and listen to "rules" which were apparently to your discretion.
Not sure where we were headed for dinner, Rachel and I joined everyone outside the hotel lobby and climbed in the limo. Shortly we were dropped off on a side street "Canon" just around the corner from Rodeo drive. Where we were then lead to a small private elevator that took us to the top room of the building.
When the doors opened, I didn't know what to expect, but what I found were men in nice suits lounging & enjoying some of the finest cigars in town. Walking through the restaurant I felt like I was walking back through time as if I stepped into a popular speakeasy, where the men were amazed to see the beauty of woman in their secret spot, and when they looked at you, you could feel the flirtatious glance as they released the smoke from their lips in a smooth cloud with a slight grin in your direction so effortlessly.
The Grand Havanna Room a private members cigar bar was where we spent the remainder of our evening, in the heart of Beverly Hills, with a beautiful rooftop setting, sipping champagne and telling stories over exquisite Italian food. Carelessly into the night we dined, enjoyed everyone's company and developed new friendships.
It was a night that I will never forget. Once back to our hotel, Rachel and I headed back to our room. We were so high on life, so happy to be next to each other sharing these experiences. There was no one I would rather have had that night spent with than her. When we walked in our room we noticed that where we once were sharing a room with a stranger we somehow managed to be back to our dynamic duo. The night had ended perfectly, we toasted our last glass of champagne for the evening to "US" and then shut our eyes for good nights sleep.
The next morning was St. Patty's day and what better way to spend this national party holiday then at the Playboy Mansion.
I went down to the lobby to get us some breakfast, something a little healthy and a nice patio setting until I felt like primping myself for the days extravaganza. As I sat there enjoying my breakfast and the view from our balcony, I collected my thoughts of what the day may lead to.
This was my calm before the storm. I then started getting ready and we made our way down to the lobby to head over to the Tee Party.
While Rachel did her photo shoot I mingled with friends throughout the grounds of the mansion and enjoyed the beautiful spring day in the Hills. The flowers were blossoming and people were in their festive green attire, which I chose not to wear. Everyone was in the best spirits and enjoying themselves.
After her shoot we met back up and she had met a friend. She was one who we thought at the time was nice, but like I mentioned before people aren't what they seem here. Those details to come.
We all hung out and formed our own little Brunette Mafia as we frolicked through the festivities, laughed, caught up with friends from the previous year we were slowly approaching the days end. We loaded up on the buses and headed back to the hotel.
It was at this point where we thought we had gained a new friend. We headed to the room the get ready to go out that night and made the epic fail decision to go with her to her house so that she could stay with us. Little did we know how far we had to drive, and what we were getting ourselves into. That night we ended up awkwardly walking into one of the rookies for the Lakers apartment.
It was the most uncomfortable feeling to be there. As we sat at the kitchen bar we were offered a drink, I was not impressed by any means at the situation we were in and drinking just didn't seem like the smart thing to do not to mention there weren't any options that looked appealing. I took my drink as a courtesy, but chose to sit sober and observe my surroundings, as awkward as they were. We didn't stay very long. Since it was already so late and we had to be up early for the golf course the next morning,
we decided to leave. Which in my opinion was the best decision we had made all night. There are somethings you just have to learn the hard way, and trusting someone in LA is one of them. We made it safely to back to our hotel and vowed to never make that mistake again! I was so happy to find my bed and to fall asleep, after the crazy expedition we took across LA that night it was something of a comfort and familiarity that I most deeply didn't take for granted.
.:XOXO:. TMARIE
I made two incredible bonds for life with Michelle and Rachel. We had met at our original tournament a few years back and this was our 2nd trip to the finals. I only really cared to be around the two of them. Most everyone else, I didn't care to make the initiative to get to know. As we unloaded by the hundreds to the course, we walked around to find out what holes we would be playing on for the day, picked up our bag of essentials and ate breakfast. We then loaded up our golf carts and set out for two courses. 
We went out that night and had fun, I ran into a friend of mine from Nashville, randomly but it was great to see a familiar face in a town that's not common in. The next morning being as naive as we were, we come to find out that we were missing things, like jewelry, makeup, etc. This then became a matter of strangers in our room, who do you trust, etc. I had more things taken from me than anyone else in the room. I was so furious that I went straight to the directors of the event and they told me "We can't do anything about it" I couldn't believe that they could stick us in rooms with girls we didn't know and then have the audacity to say they can't do anything about our things being stolen.
I made 2 wonderful friends with whom I hold dearest to me, and I learned a lot about who I was as a person, who I wanted to be and the life through playboy or anything of the same was not where I wanted to be. It was time to celebrate and also to slowly phase out this part of my life. I never once regretted participating in Playboy Golf I am merely just thankful I was never the person to be consumed by it. It helped me develop some personal emotional strengths, and I came out a stronger person on the other side. Thanks Playboy Golf...Its been nice knowing ya... PEACE!
