Drive All Night

Bruce Springsteen - Drive All Night (1977) Audio

I'm not a fan of Bruce Springsteen, which is a sin coming from an east coaster. Luckily I resided on the other side of the river (Hudson) where Billy Joel was the chosen one (not a fan either). Whatever, for some reason I have always loved this song, which is funny since I didn't even know how to drive when I lived in New York. I think of it often, probably because all I do is drive.

Today was no different. I received a call in the morning from K's agent asking if she had a valid passport (she does). I was told to keep my phone close, she might have a big casting today. OK. That's for the no information. About an hour later I get the email, the casting is for a beautiful little girl (check), fair skin (check) and long hair (check). Easy to work with (check) and cute smiles (check). The bonus? It shoots in Costa Rica for a week. OMG how amazing would that be? Wardrobe for this spot was a bathing suit. Score!! K loves nothing more than auditioning in special wardrobe. When I told her about it at pick up she jumped up and down, equally excited about wearing a bathing suit and the chance to film in such an exotic location.

We left early, just in case. Right before we took off I received another email for the same casting tomorrow. I guess they really wanted us to be there. The traffic to the freeway was awful. Worse than awful. I left with 90 minutes to get there (it takes 30) and I wasn't sure we would make it. I was exactly one mile away from the 405 and not moving at all. My GPS alerted me of my estimated arrival time every few minutes. At one point we moved about 10 feet in 20 minutes. It was freaking me out. I knew that I had the option to go tomorrow but who knows how bad that traffic would be. Besides K is shooting with a new photographer and I'd hate to cut that short.

Every time the GPS chick told us we were going to be late a round of "shut up!!" came from the passengers in my automobile. Finally we made it to the freeway. It took over 45 minutes to go less than one mile. For the first time in my life I was happy to be off the local streets and on the 405. Crazy!

We arrived with time to spare and even got great parking. She went in and did her thing while the casting person checked our passports. I guess they want to make sure they hire someone who can get on a plane in two weeks. I wonder how many moms are paying for expedited passports to make the casting tomorrow.

When K came out of the audition she was smiling and happy. She went back in and gave a huge goodbye and skipped towards the elevator. When we got outside the heat was oppressive, the thought of getting back into the car to sit in traffic did not sound appealing. We decided to have dinner first and let other people sit in the rush hour traffic. We stopped at Jerry Deli (a local chain). K ordered breakfast for dinner, her absolute favorite thing to do. As we waited I watched my little girl do the puzzles on the kids menu, bathing in the sunlight. She looked like an angel. She cuddled up close to me and thanked me for taking her out to dinner. She told me how much fun it would be if she booked the commercial because it would be an adventure. A girl-only trip that would involve flying and not driving.

She fell asleep on the (short) ride home and went to bed dreaming of Costa Rican beaches and pancakes.

I'd drive all night for my little girl.