My weekend--a little late
So, I had to go to Los Angeles and San Diego for work.
I grew up in LA and I really never liked it. It's so big and dirty and harsh and barren and honestly, hot. The weather is not enough for me to want to live there (although Jim would LOVE to move there).
I don't even like visiting it, but since I really have never explored it properly as an adult, I really should give it another shot.
So, I went for work and Jim (and our friend Carol) decided to tag along.
I flew in on Friday morning and had to do some store visits and competitive shopping (yes, this is work).
I hit this neighborhood near Venice called Abbott Kinney that was so insanely cute and hip for shopping. I swear, Seattle has NOTHING like it. It was really incredible if you like little shops with pretty gore-juss things. And I do.
That night we had an amazing dinner at a "whole beast" restaurant called The Lazy Ox and had my first taste of rabbit liver which was actually really amazing.
The next day was our day on the town. The reason why Jim and Carol came down was to see Pacific Standard Time. This is really amazing, but basically, the Getty Museum worked with all the major museums, galleries and art spaces from Los Angeles down to San Diego to do a totally comprehensive survey of art/design/perfomance work made by S.Cal artists from the 50's-70's. I saw some of the most amazing art and according to Jim/Carol, there was even better stuff that I missed. We went to the Getty and the Hammer. They did LACMA, MOCA and Geffen the next day.
Seriously, if you're anywhere near southern california for the next 5 months, you MUST go.
Monday, I have a BEAUTIFUL drive from LA down to SD and was reminded what makes Califormia so beautiful. The soft rolling hills near SD and the ocean were amazing.
I met up with a coworker and we did more store visits and comp shopping.
BUT BUT BUT BUT
One of the highlights of my trip was I finally met the famous Mike D!
No, not the rapper. I've met him before. This is the real Mike D. Mike D'arnaud.
Mike is a friend of a million other friends but specifically my BFF, Thomas (thomas requires that I write BFF in conjunction with his name at all times.)
I hadn't planned on actually trying to hook up with Mike because I was actually pretty nervous to meet him.
No real reason to be nervous other than I'm a dork. But I just said "whatever" and made arrangements.
Mike was awesome. Picked me up at my hotel, was forced to meet my coworker (who didn't understand how I could know someone without having actually met them) and I had to pretend that I was just "ok' with going to Pecs for a drink when in actuality that was really what I wanted to do most. LOL
Again, I reiterate, I'm a dork.
Anyways, we went to Pecs. I got to meet Brian (who I've met before) and JP, Mike's boyfriend. They are two of the four 619 Bearcasters. I've been listening to the podcast since the first episode and it was actually kind of neat to meet and chat with JP since I look crazy when I join their conversations when I'm just listening to the podcast.
So, had a great time, the bar was fun, the conversation was fun and bouncy and my two dates were, as the kids say, totes adorbz.
All in all, a very good weekend.
P.S. I'd tag all the various people listed in here, but I'm too lazy to learn how to do that.