Wowsa.

Wow so much has happened since my last post. I feel like more happened in the last 2 weekends than has happened to me all summer.

So last Thursday night KATIE CAME to LA! I was so fucking excited for her to come out here, I can't even explain. Mostly I was excited to finally have a buddy to explore with and boy, did we explore. Lets see...

Friday morning we woke up just in time for brunch/lunch. Since I didn't know where to go for lunch, I had my GPS lead us to a place that it had listed. Either the place didn't exist anymore or we were blind and couldn't find it. But we wound up at a little french-ish cafe where I had a delicious breakfast sandwich and Katie had a decent omelet. After that we went to The Getty Center, which is a museum and so much more up in the hills of LA. In order to get up to the Getty, you must take a Monorail up the hill - that is the only way to get there. The Getty is GORGEOUS beyond compare. It is a museum, yes, but in a way, the whole grounds are the real art. The architecture is beautiful, the view is delectable, the colors are fantastic. Also, it was soo hot and sunny that day (finally) so everyone was walking around with these big, beige umbrellas provided by the Getty. It was such a wonderful afternoon, lounging in the sun, looking at art, taking pictures and hanging out with my sister. Perfection. That night, we went to meet Katie's High School friend Adam, who is living in Hollywood, at Cha Cha Chicken, a place I believe I have mentioned before. It is a little whole in the wall Caribbean place, which I didn't realize Katie had never been to. After our delicious dinner, we decided to walk around 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, since it was right down the street. We got Pinkberry and shmyed, and it was lovely. Then, we went to get my car, and we had forgotten to write down where we parked it. It seemed like we walked the ENTIRE parking garage and still could not find the car. Then we took one flight of stairs up and ended up at the right place. It was like we kept missing that floor. It was bizarre and it took us like over 30 minutes. Anyways, we came home and hung out with our cousins and crashed.

The next day, Saturday, I decided to take Katie up to Venice Beach to shop around and eat and people watch. I have never been to Venice beach (well not for a LOOONG time anyways) so i thought it might be fun. Trashy, but fun. Also, I have been to First Fridays on Abbot Kinney Blvd, and in the dark it seemed like there would be a lot of stuff on that street to do. I was wrooooong. Unfortunately we could not find a place to eat because they were either too swanky or too trashy or not what we wanted. We ended up eating at a little coffee shop, which we though would be just plain. It was actually delicious, which I was not expected. So then we decided not to go down to the boardwalk, because it was just a little too sketchy/trashy, so we decided to drive to Hollywood & Highland and go shopping and see the tourists. That was a lot of fun, although I felt bad about our odd morning/my lack of planning. Anyways, we were planning on going to see Saturday Night Fever in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery that night. Katie didn't really like the movie (which I didn't learn until after), but I was mostly just bringing her for the atmosphere. I figured we would get inside, have a lovely, lovely picnic and then watch the movie. The picnic was what i was most excited for. Well we got there a little later than we had originally planned, and the line was totally outrageous - I was not expecting it. It seems as the summer progresses, the word gets out more and more so more and more people come. By the time we actually got in, it was just about dark and there were only seats on the cement left. Luckily, Katie's friend and his roommates (who live around the corner) got in early and were able to get seats up front. We ended up having good seats, but we barely got to picnic before the movie started so we were just sort of eating and watching the movie, which is not what I had in mind. I felt really bad about the whole thing, especially since Katie isn't a fan of the movie, but she assured me it was fine. Still, I wish we could have really picnicked together.

Sunday, I decided to take Katie to this Korean restaurant down the street from my house called Tofuya. It has suuucchhh good food, but we ended up getting a little too much - especially since this was our lunch! After, we got Boba (for the second time because I am addicted) and headed to the Watts Towers. It was such an odd thing to see, driving through this middle/lower class town, turning on to a residential street and then seeing these crazy, cement and wirey mosaiced sculpture. It was way cool, except in order to get in to the towers (the area was fenced off) you had to pay $7. WE were not going to do that, especially since you can see most of the towers and surrounding area through the fence. WE stayed there for like a half hour and then left. They were wild though. After that, we drove all the way to Hollywood to go to the La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum that accompanies them. Outside the museum is one BIG tar pit (along fake drowning elephants in it and gas bubbles galore), which my sister and I watched for probably 20+ minutes. Watching and waiting for the huge gas bubbles to erupt in the tar is way more exciting than it sounds, trust us. After, we went into the museum and went through the whole thing. It is an awesome museum and we had a great time going through it. The coolest part (sort of) is the fishbowl, where soundproof glass encases the archaeologists who are currently doing work on the things they find in the pits - we are supposed to watch them. It is really cool. After that, we went to the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) which we didn't realize was right next door. My sister and I have been there before in 2006 where we saw an AWESOME Magritte exhibit. Little did we know, the museum actually houses SO MUCH art it was astounding. There are 5 separate buildings of art within this museum, we only went to one. Actually, I think we only went to 2 floors of one. Well whether I'm right or not, we were only able to see a fraction of the art that is housed in this wonderful museum. After that, we were exhausted and decided to go home. We had a lot of Caribbean leftovers, as well as picnic leftovers so we decided to just sit in the play room and watch something on TV. It turns out that my cousin had taped an HBO documentary called Hear & Now (a film my sister had seen at Sundance). The film is about an older couple who have been deaf their whole lives and are now getting cochlear implants. It is such a cute story. After that, we decided to get some green tea Mochi (which I had been craving since I got here) and watch part of another documentary called Los Angeles Plays Itself. We sat in our bed, watched it on my computer and ate green tea Mochi and leftover (delicious) birthday cake. It was awesome.

On Monday, I had to go into work around 2 ish, so before that happened I decided to bring Katie to brunch at a restaurant in Hollywood. The place we went to is called Kitchen 24. They serve breakfast all day and their prices were pretty cheap so I figured that's where we would go. It was AMAZING (Katie can attest to that) like way better that I had expected. Mmmm I want to go back right now. Well after that, we walked around a bit, went to Borders to get Katie a book and then went into my work. I had to run a few errands (and took Katie with me), but after that there wasn't really much for us to do. Thankfully, they let us leave by 4ish. This way, we were able to go home, eat the leftover Korean food (which is better the second day, I think), watch the remainder of Los Angeles Plays Itself, get ready and go to THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS concert. We got there right as the New Pornographers were supposed to come on but when the curtain opened, we realized it was one of the opening bands. I don't remember their name, but they were weird and I didn't like them. After them, we assumed that we had missed the other opening band (which was the Dodos). Actually, the Dodos came on after, which was a pleasant surprise since Katie wanted to see them. They were great and luckily they played the only song I knew by them so I could dance along. By the time the New Pornographers got onstage, it was like 10:45 (since set up between the acts took FOREVER). But it was worth the wait because they were AWESOME. The most amusing part of the show was actually Dan Bejar, who is like the mastermind behind the group. When he was singing he was drinking a beer and when he was playing guitar he was facing away from the audience and then other times he wasn't on at all. I read something and It seems that this is sort of his fashion - it wasn't just this show. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay for the whole thing (we left around 11:40) since we had to be up at 4:30 the next morning, but it was still awesome nonetheless.

The next morning I brought Katie to the airport (at 5:30am) and it was saaaaad. That weekend was probably by far the BEST BEST BEST weekend I have had in LA all summer. By a mile.

TOMORROW

MY SISTER COMES TOMORROW! I am so excited to finally have an exploration buddy (no offense D or Jacquie)!! I haven't quite figured out everything we are going to do, but I'll be with Katie so it doesn't really matter.

I'm at casting right now and there hasn't been much for me to do today. I went out to lunch with Sara and Erin Monday and today, which was much nicer than eating by myself. However sometimes I don't really know what to say around them, which is a frustrating problem that I neeeeed to get over. But it was nice nonetheless.

It is wondrously warm here - and its about goddamn time! It is not humid but just low-mid 80s and perfect heat. It is so delicious.

So what have I done since I last wrote? Hmm.... well on Saturday I went to the movie in a cemetery again. I met up with Jacquie and her friend Katie from home and we saw Arsenic & Old Lace, a wonderful Cary Grant movie. I love him. And that Movie. But mostly him. However, there were no parking spots on the street I was planning on parking on, so I drove around and found a spot on a street. I figured it was like equidistant to the cemetery, just on the other side but I was WRONG. Not only did I park very far away and very far down that street, but I was carrying 3 beach chairs, 2 heavy bags with blankets. It was a sight. By the time I met up with them, I was a disheveled mess with a sore back. But the actual movie was worth it and luckily, Jacquie drove me back to my car.

Sunday was Peyton's 5th birthday party which was actually very fun. It was a beach party theme and they had a slip and slide, so it was really cute. However, I ate SO MUCH CAKE it is not even funny. I had a normal piece, but later I was cutting it up and putting it into the fridge/freezer, so I was eating the extra frosting/cake that was left on the board. It was so so so good, but I felt terrible after. So needless to say, for the rest of that day I recuperated, as did the rest of the family.

Monday my father was out here on business so he came to take me out to dinner (in a rental car that looked like a hearse). We went to this little hole in the wall Korean place down the street called Tofuya and it was delicious! You had the option to BBQ in front of you on the table, but we decided not too. The food was very yummy and VERY authentic. And now I have tons of leftovers. Mmmm I love Korean food.

And I guess we are all up to date now. I can't believe it is already the 14th of July (Happy Bastille day, btw). Where has the time gone? And its JUST starting to feel like summer! Oh well. As much as I am really starting to enjoy and get used to being out here, I want to spend some summer in my Andover house with my Andover friends as well. And for all those wondering, I will be home August 7th. Keep that date OPEN.

HOLY SHIT

I JUST WAS IN AN EARTHQUAKE. Oh. My. God. I freaked out. Not because it was happening, oh no, I've been through a mini earthquake before in Andover (weird I know), but because of the way my boss (who has lived in CA for a looooong time) reacted. She started freaking out, screaming "i don't like this!!" and then told us all to get out and that they were evacuating the building. Fact is, it wasn't even that big, at least not here. It was very rolly. I didn't even realize it until she started shouting. Then I went into freakout mode. Ran to the door frame (since thats the only thing I know to do). As I ran down the 8 flights of stairs (remember, I am on the eighth floor of a very old, historic building) my legs felt liek they were about to give out. I was shaaaakiiiinnggg oh my goodness. I'm still a little rattled and it happened less than an hour ago. We were only out for a second before it was safe to go back in, though I was a little reluctant... Apparently the epicenter was in San Diego and it was a 5.7. CRAZY.

But for those of you worrying, I'm fine. Shaken, but fine (no pun intendid).

What a weekend.

Actually, what a week! Wow, I feel like sooo much has happened and its only been like 5 days. Let me start with Wednesday.

Wednesday was a very odd yet great day. So I am driving into work at casting when one of the girls that I work for gives me a call. She basically told me that there is absolutely nothing going on there, and only a few people are in the office. She told me to take the morning off (it was like 10:35am) and come back at 2, after lunch. Not knowing what I should do with my morning, and not wanting to turn around and go all the way back home, I decided to park right near work where I normally do and then take a nice long walk all the way down Hollywood Blvd to the tourist areas. I ended up at Hollywood and Highland, which for those of you that that doesn't sound familliar, it is where Grauman's Chinese theatre is and the main section of the walk of fame. I became a tourist for the morning, walking around the hotspots and taking some pictures, although I felt very odd taking pictures of things by myself. It was really funny seeing all the obvious tourists around there, like taking pictures of EVERYTHING and going into the Wax museum and things like that. Although I do have to say that I almost went into Madam Tussaud's, but figured I could not do that seriously on my own. I would have to be with someone, because I didn't really have any desire to see wax celebrities by myself. So anyways I walked around, giggled at the tourists, shopped, ate, and returned to work around 2. They then had me run an errand out near Studio City, which was actually nice because it was beautiful out and I had my windows rolled down listening to my music. When I got back, I got to sit at the big desks (since there were only like 4 people in the office) and just answer phones and mail some things etc. I finally felt like I was really getting the hang of working there. It was also nice that I was mostly busy once I got back because the time just flew by.

After I got out of work, I met up with my new friend Jacquie (that makes, what 2, 3 friends?) and we went to the Pantages Theatre (which is right around the corner from my work) and saw In The Heights for $25! We had pretty good seats too, row J, right side, Mezz, but the mezzanine was nice and steep so you could see pretty much wherever you were sitting. It was such a great show and, for those of you who care, the lead guy was the original one from Broadway, Lin Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the show. So being able to see him for $25 was pretty cool.

Thursday was nothing special. Moving on.

Friday I don't work, so I woke up, and I can't remember what I did after that... Later that day though, I decided to go to one of the Asian grocery stores I had found online in hopes of finding Boba, so I can make my own, healthier version of Boba tea. I went to this market that both my cousin Stacey and my neighbor Carol suggested to me called Mitsuwa. It was so cool. You walk in and there was a video store section, a book store section, and food court and then the actual supermarket area. I didn't have any luck finding Boba (although I did find milk tea mix) but I did get some real Japanese green tea. They also had fresh sashimi, which got my mouth watering. Instead of getting that, though, I found a spicy tuna rice bowl, although not necessarily as good as the ones I get at school. After I came home I went to the gym and swam some laps (which was lovely) and then had dinner. Later that night I went to Ross and Target with my cousin to get some presents for my little cousin's birthday the next day. It was a much needed outing, to say the least. I had been harboring so many issues with my cousin for the past couple weeks and so we finally talked about it all and worked everything out.

Saturday I met D and The Grove. We ate at the farmer's market (I had beef Shawarma, yumm) and I brought D cupcakes as an early birthday surprise. Then we went to go see Eclipse, because we had to haha. After, I went to Loehman's en route to try and find a Borders. I went to go try on some clothes and got really, REALLY confused by the dressing room. When you walk in it is like this communal dressing room with a couple women walking around in their bras and underwear. I was so confused (and so tired at that point) that I was thinking "I do not want a communal dressing room" then I found the real ones. After, I went home and fell asleep. At 5pm. I woke up ate dinner, watched tv, met my cousin's drunk party friends and went to sleep.

Sunday, I went to a party at my cousin's friend's BEAUTIFUL house. It felt like an upscale cape house, pool and all. It was very chill and relaxing and the food was delicious (they had deviled eggs with caviar on top. I felt so classy!). The only really exciting part of the evening was the guy there that looked like Jay Gatsby. His shoes, his suspenders, his shirt, his hair, his glasses, everything. If only the lighting had been better so I could have gotten a picture of him. He was pretty cool too, shy and kinda awkward but cool. Too bad he was only 17...

Anyways the fireworks were okay, not great. Not like the crazy ones from Spring weekend! We ended up going home around 10, which was kinda a let down, and I stayed up talking to my drunk cousin for 2 hours. I mean, pretty solid 4th of July, but not much to write home about.

Monday was relaxing. I cleaned, I painted my cousins nails, and I took a nice bikeride to the store. I made the most delicious pasta-salady thing for dinner which was great until the tupperware holding it all fell out of the fridge and spilled. That was a bummer to say the least.

And voila! My week/weekend. Sorry it took so long to post. I thought I was on top of this but I guess I'm not... More soon I promise.