LAdventure

A lot of exciting things happened on my most recent venture to the West. Though honestly, all of them were eclipsed by one: the moment I heard the thumping synthesized drum beat of Miley Cyrus' gesamtkunstwerk See You Again. Everything else is a faint memory. The explosion of over-produced candy pop emanating from Juliette's Prius stereo is not something I will soon forget. DOWNLOAD HERE!!!

I will try to recount some other interesting tid bits so my readers don't get bored (luv u guys ur special!!). I flew Virgin American which was pretty neat. It's just like a funky disco inside, but like a planedisco. They have neon lights shining and trip hop playing when you walk in. You can order drinks on this little screen and don't have to talk to anyone!

Mike picked me up from the airport and we went to Griddle Cafe.

We got a thing with Chicago in the name just cuz! Then I had a super secret special meeting which I can't talk about on such a public forum. Just email me separately if you want to talk about it. Then Adam - god bless his unemployed self - agreed to entertain me for the remainder of the afternoon while my other friends took care of adult responsibilities. He played a game where he pretended to be mean and bored at first, but I know he was having fun. We walked around a bit, then went to Westwood and ate Red Mango.

Then we met up with Jeremy at the Hammer Museum to see the Kara Walker exhibit. It was pretty good! I hadn't seen much of her stuff aside from the cutouts, so it was nice to put those within a larger context.

After that the boys ate sushi. I drank beer and stole a piece here and there. Thanks guys! Then Jeremy bet Adam $2 that he wouldn't drink the remainder of our tempura sauce. AND HE DID CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?

This photo kinda sucks cause it looks like Coke in there, but I swear that's sauce.

After that I met up with Ariel who I hadn't seen in quite a long time. She was mad hungover and I was jet lagged, but we still had a great time catching up. We shared a vegan cupcake which was not so bad. Mike met us at AKbar which was mellow and dark red (almost burgundy) inside. Only as we were exiting did we see the insane dance party going on in the other room of the bar. We were probably too tired to partake anyway.

Friday I went to work with Mike and hung out there for a few hours. His work is very relaxing and equipped with tons of free snack foods. I'd get totally way fatter than I am if I worked there. It's all free and it's cookies and junk!! Ken picked me up and we embarked on a long day of cooking and eating. Due to some combination of overplanning and underthinking, we wound up with two very heavy meals nearly back to back. We made big burgers for lunch. I drank Pimps (loves it) and Ken made an extremely refreshing drink with Mezcal and spices. Then we went to the Museum of Jurassic Technology which is as great as everyone says. I like the fake science factoids and the room of Napoleon books. For want of anything else to do, we went to Target which is always fun, if depressing. Ken got a gardening knee pad for his mom.

For the second meal, against our better judgment, we made lamb chops. With a random assortment of baking products, we were only able to make one dessert item in all of Joy Of Cooking: pecan blondies. There were a few problems, but overall it was a successful meal that left me never wanting to eat again. I was really proud of the pecan blondies. They looked perfect and tasted very good.

After dinner I borrowed Ken's car and drove to Charlie O's, taking Olympic all the way (a fact that amused my friends greatly). Whatever it didn't take that long. When I walked in Jeffrey was there!! What a treat! He told me earlier, "Maaaaaybe I'll come if my abusive boyfriend Zach can give me a ride." And then there he was!

Rachel and Rob's awesome band He's My Brother She's My Sister were playing. Great job guys!!! Mike and I have a band called I'm His Sister I'm Her Brother because we were so inspired by you.

Saturday Mike and I went to Square One. We shared a baked egg dish with chorizo and a tortilla and some other stuff. We also had a fruit salad which was exquisite because produce in California is just amazing. After that we drove around a bit and then I remembered OH SHIT TREVOR LIVES HERE NOW!!!! I called him asap and went over to his apartment to chill. He ate some meatballs in front of me.


After that I FINALLY got to see my one true toe-headed love, Juliette Clair. She'd been working on a movie with a delinquent celeb's little sister. Guess which one!!! No, not Jamie Lynn. Guess again!! Oh I don't even want to tell you because it's more fun to have secrets! We went to Urban Outfitters because that's just what we do together. Juliette got a really sexual denim dress that will be pictured later in this post. DON'T SKIP AHEAD!!!

We met up with Mike at Mozza to gorge on Vanessa's mom's most awesome creations. Thanks for the reservation hook up V! I will give you some free magazines if you want! Jeremy was 15 minutes late which was very rude. We ordered the following:

Appetizers
Plate of Speck
Meatballs al forno
Mussels al forno with Calabrian sauce
Pizzas
Egg, guanciale, radicchio, escarole & bagna cauda
Bianca with fontina, mozzarella, sottocenere & sage
Clams, garlic, oregano, parmigiano & pecorino
And another one with something that sounds like sunchoke but isn't and came with a huge mountain of a fluffy white cheese. Guesses welcome.
Desserts
Butterscotch budino
Gelato: olive oil, mint chip, blood orange

SO GOOD!!!

After dinner we went to a wine/beer bar. It was totally empty and now my new favorite place to go for drinks in LA. Real relaxing. They also had an outdoor "courtyard" which was just a chain link fenced off area in an alley. Real relaxing. Juliette and I were tired, so after a quick stop at her friend's friend's birthday, we went home.

HUGE HUGE MISTAKE

After we left the birthday, her friend Rachel went to a part at Chateau Marmont with Sienna Miller and Justin Long and Jonah Hill and all those guys. And she's "in the bizz" so I could have actually had a conversation with one or more REAL LIFE CELEBS. Also Chateau Marmont!!! Anyway, never go home when you're tired because you might get to meet Sienna Miller and see how skinny she is in real life. My brother also ended up at tons of cool parties which would have been fun, but no I have to be a big pussy whose favorite activity is sleep. Gaaahhhhhhh.

Sunday I met up with Juliette and Rachel at Le Pain Quotidien in West Hollywood which is very nice and in a house that makes you feel fancy and famous. After that we met up with Mike and went to Griffith Park to play tennis. Mike's tennis buddy flaked, so we walked around and took some glamour shots in nature.

Griffith Park is cool, but it's not really a "park" y'know? It's just a mountain. I wanted to lie down and you really can't do that there. I guess it's good for hiking and starting fires.

After the park, we ate gelato in Los Feliz. Then Mike and I went back to his house to pack and just relax before dinner. Juliette mentioned a great Vietnamese restaurant she knew of called Lemongrass. We googled it and headed over there. It was in Glendale. Weird, but ok. Then we walked in and it was just like a normal not that nice Vietnamese restaurant. So I texted her and she said that she meant to say it was called Gingergrass. THANKS IDIOT. We'd already ordered so whatevs. It was fine.

Then I got on the airplane!!