date in the park

"10"

Long before I officially began my search for the good ones here, bff R and I were counting the perfect 10 moments. While roommates for a year, we had quite a few adventures, rated 1-10. As much as we can worry and become "paralyzed by choice" I know we both appreciate the little things, and how we find laughter in and around them all. Those good little moments, for our purposes, the good ones, are more than enough to make an incredible day.

R caught a flight down to Los Angeles to spend a few days - an assortment of good, great, and amazing - she hardly recognized the town. Our past adventures were in the very beginning stages of search. Now in my new apartment in my new neighborhood, the good finds were already bookmarked.

Dinner at Masa. That famous chocolate chip cannoli. Cheap wine at El Prado, soundtrack on records. Bienvenidos. Brunch at Cliff's Edge, where the toast keeps coming. Art * Craft * Vintage. New friends. New dresses. Southern California weather. Nap with the air con going. Trader Joes and dark chocolate covered blueberries.

Next-door neighbor bar. Cheap drinks. Photo booth. Denny's trickery. Darkness in the cemetery. Bottle Rocket and almost-spooning. Planet Earth and mango salsa. Buddhist blessing. Purple sunrise. The most amazing 6am performance we've ever seen. Bon Iver love. "What might have been lost" sing-a-long. Zzz..tea. Magical parking spot. Abbot Kinney. Parson Red Heads. Marked5 food truck. Hey Alex. Fly!

Bon Iver's sunrise show was wonderfully surreal. It feels like a dream, but better. I can't listen to For Emma, Forever Ago without longing for that beautiful hazy morning. The performance was perfection, as much as one can be at such an early hour. And the moment itself, a top of the top 10 list moment.

not so undercover.

it's his birthday tomorrow so i've got to be discreet. i'm horrible at keeping secrets. actually, it's only my own secrets i'm bad at keeping. and i get all too excited about surprises. but so far, i've done pretty well. i've kept quiet and most things hidden away... tomorrow i get to reveal the gifts. sorry, it's gotta be a secret here too for now.. i can, however, give a full report on a perfect place for pda. we went to the park on saturday with just a blanket and our good looks. :-P it was pretty outside :: the weather was warm :: and i very much enjoyed the view. he told me the green grass made my eyes look greener. his seemed more blue... even though they are not. i love lying close to the ground, feeling so tiny, like a bug, and looking up through the trees at that beautiful, blue sky. (the kind of sky wilco sings about.. i'm sure of it.) there are tons of trees to fall in love with in griffith park. shout out to RT. ;) i love lazy weekends in los angeles. kiss kiss.

morning sighs.

it's a gloomy 61 degrees outside, and chances of rain are in the forecast. it's definitely one of those mornings in los angeles that i just want to stay in bed. i'd like to be snuggled under the covers, a soft blanket up to my sleeping eyes. i suppose i wouldn't deny some good ol' fashioned spooning either. imagine the kind of sleep that happens with smiles. mm...

alas, it is not saturday. on this t.g.i.f. morning, i found the motivation deep inside of me to crawl to the bottom of the bed, and find balance above my two feet. leaving a sleeping T and K, i found my way to my car for a peaceful, kcrw filled daydream of a drive to work.

now i'm sitting in a very quiet office. both bosses are out today, so in a way, my relaxation can continue. there's nothing to watch on tv, so i'm enjoying the silence for now. and luckily, i've got a blanket right here at my desk. the ac in this building is oh so aggressive.

i did happen to notice a kiddie carnival at the corner of riverside and los feliz on my way to work. maybe if the rain rain goes away, i can catch up on my snuggles on the ferris wheel tonight. no single riders here. ;)

je veux te voir

i've switched to green tea. two years ago, i was finishing up my english & philosophy classes, and i was still pushing myself to meet deadlines. that's when the ice-blended obsession started. coffee bean is far superior to starbucks, in my opinion, and they make a mean mint / mocha combo. so its safe to say i was completely hooked once finding this drink. especially after a late night of writing / not writing / deciding to go to sleep and wake up early to really wait until the last minute.

after i graduated, i didn't have much of a reason to wake myself up. for a couple [then, aimless] months, i was without job and forced to enjoy the sunshine; a coffee drink became my guilty pleasure. now... i've found my pleasures elsewhere. now i've switched to green tea. less calories and more refreshing, i find something satisfying about tasting the green.

i think that the acceptance of a switch like this probably comes with age. the fluffy / mocha drinks can become too luxurious, and leave you only craving more and more. hollywood does the same thing. it's fun and addicting at first, but it becomes empty and tiresome, a realization discovered usually not as quickly as you'd like.

at this point in los angeles, i think i've found my green tea: in genuine laughter and honest questions and answers. hikes and music with a heart on its sleeve. home cooked meals. cuddles under blankets. conversations that matter. smiles worth waiting for. ah. i can't wait for the boys to get back from south by. i had a very productive week, but i'm ready for the whirlwind to start again. the past 2 years has been a dizzy rush rush of searching... but this spin is my dance floor happiness brought to life.

mm. sipping my green tea, not wishing it would last longer. no addiction. just pure goodness. yes.

the gatekeeper wears feathers

"no pictures allowed, ladies. that's our only rule."

oh, hollywood.

we went to bardot last night because bret from flight of the conchords was dj-ing :: spinning. yes. i was spinning in circles, attempting to feel a buzz from my 2 (too) expensive drinks. actually in comparison to some places i've been before, this bar wasn't the most outrageous. i'd never been to this spot before, and i suppose i would go back just to see how i liked it the second time around. i didn't hate it. i didn't love it. something weird about the wanna-be-glam hollywood club mixed with the hipster scene. i mean, it was definitely a step above the 18+ moscow bunch, but i don't know.. maybe i'm just not impressed by the pink lighting anymore.

i do like the dancing, however, and the best moment of the night, by far was when "Shout" came on and everyone was jumping around, up, up, and then down, down, down, so low to the ground... "a little softer now"... everyone literally sitting on the dance floor, scrambling for each other's support to get back up. i love moments that bring strangers together.

to recap my valentine's day weekend... we cooked. there was wine. we walked in the cold. chocolates with funny phrases on them. i wore a heart on my shirt. home sewn. there were kisses. and that makes me smile.

today i'll wear flats.

i love living in l.a. because there really is so much to do and see here. and although the go go go can be tiring, it's completely worth it.

friday night was the night at the museum relived. A and i checked out first fridays at the natural history museum which is basically a night of music in a museum full of stuffed animals and vaquero costumes. we cruised through the history lessons first, and then watched the little ones for a bit.

last night little J and her friends wanted to go out so we went to foxtail, which used to be half restaurant and half club, but now, i suppose in it's decline of popularity, it is all club. there used to be an exclusive feeling about that place, as you'd walk through the restaurant, up the dark staircase, and into the disco-reminiscent dance floor. and they used to, with care, i think, serve drinks that could be found no where else. (i loved the poisoned rose -- a sweet martini with a rose petal in it -- but it is no more.) the girls enjoyed themselves at first, but by midnight had decided (realized) it wasn't their crowd. i can agree with them there. the foxtail bunch is probably the ones wanting to feel like they've made it in l.a. -- these girls weren't trying to be l.a. at all.. which is completely acceptable in my book.

i left there, not feeling at all tipsy from my rose petal substitute, and headed east on fountain to a small room of a bar called temp spaces. it's not at all beautiful inside like an sbe joint, but the less overwhelming appearance felt right. a slow-turning disco ball, and a vintage chandelier, i was totally into it. plus james friedman was dj-ing -- apparently he's a big deal -- and for reason. i was loving it all. thx to P & S for leading me there.

i heart los angeles

the love that my parents share is, as i wrote in their 27th anniversary card, an inspiring one that has taught me not only about what it is to have love between two people, but what it is to have a truly loving family. it's an example that has set my standards high -- probably too high for most los angeles prospects. i really haven't dated too much while living in and around hollywood, but from what i've seen and heard, it's rough. the comments i can agree with -- everyone is in their own world, focused on their own career(s). (most are pursuing multiple feats: acting, modeling, directing, etc.) it's a strange world to live in, especially being someone who did not arrive with a dream. i wanted to be a writer, "someday", but i never felt it as an almost selfish passion that would limit myself from other endeavors. there is nothing wrong with going after your dreams in such a way, but it does diminish the ability to develop strong relationships with people. everyone is very much looking for the right connections, rather than the connection. the love relationships they have with one another in between those "big break" moments are mostly physical, generally superficial, and usually left empty and unexplained. i'm so done with that pattern. from now on, i'm looking for the good ones. my heart deserves nothing less.