California Love...

Mama Shelter, Los Angeles
Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles
The Parlor, Melrose District
Dockweiler State Beach, Marina Del Ray
Brewco, Manhattan Beach
Universal Studios, Universal City
Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles

     Since the moment that I landed back in New York I knew I would be here for some time (not nearly as long as its been but whatever). I wanted to plan things to keep me busy and that would be worth my while. Well on black Friday, Alaskan airlines had an incredible sale for flights to California. For the last 3 years my best friend Jordana has been living in LA and it has been so hard to find time to go there since Sam and I were long distance dating. Every time I was off from work I would go to England or Sam would be in New York visiting me. But now with all my free time I finally was able to make the trip! And really it could not have been better.

     The morning that I had left was absolute madness. I was on the phone with my solicitor from the minute that I woke up to the minute I arrived at JFK airport. I won’t get too into that part but I was not happy knowing that the paperwork was going to be submitted the upcoming Monday rather than that day, and my dad even tried to hand it in to the immigration center in the city and they wouldn’t except anything but a mail in (I get it but UGH GIVE ME A BREAK!) So that’s when it started to sink in that I wouldn’t be home in England for Christmas, which was the bad part. The good part was that I had the whole flipping row of seats on the plane to myself!!! Someone upstairs was looking out, or maybe the universe just had enough of poohing on me for one day. Knowing the reality of not having my visa as quickly as I had planned, I allowed myself to sulk on the plane by eating an entire family sized bag of Cheetos and let myself have a good cry while watching The Greatest Showman (excellent excuse to the reason of crying in front of strangers staring at me, also BEST MOVIE EVER!) And once I landed in LA I wanted to make sure I fully enjoyed my time and didn’t worry about everything else going on.

     I spent six glorious days in weather that had me in disbelief that it was actually December. Day one was spent mostly in travel because LA TRAFFIC IS THE DEVIL. But once Tommy (Jordana’s boyfriend) and I finally made it back to their place we were obviously famished and ready to hit the town while we waited for Jordana to finish up work for the weekend. Tommy and I had dinner at this restaurant called Mama Shelter that had a sick rooftop with a 360 view of LA. We perfectly planned to be there just as the sun was setting and it was magnificent! I really should have taken advantage of the view with more than the 1 picture I have that does not even remotely do it justice. The food hit the spot and I don’t think I have ever eaten that fast in my life. They also had some pretty great cocktails there. Literally still couldn’t believe I was at a rooftop bar in December wearing just a flannel. What I quickly noticed about the people in LA is that any weather under 70 degrees is taken advantage of by wearing winter coats, yes I said winter coats, it was bizarre. Most people around me were all bundled up as I was sitting there under a heat lamp that made me sweat like a roast pig, but the view was worth it. We finished the night off by smashing a bottle of red and hanging out with some dogs (so LA).

     On day two Jordana and I went for a midday hike up to Griffith observatory with Nyla Roo (Jordana’s dog) pulling us along the way. Again there were more breathtakingly beautiful views of the whole of LA and also every surrounding neighborhood within six miles. We then finished our day up with something even more LA than hiking with your dog, we got some Acai bowls! It was probably the best one I have ever had or will have in my life (challenge accepted London). That night we headed to a sports bar called The Parlor, for some drinks and to watch some UFC fights. That place had more tvs than I had seen in any one given area but it was great because you could watch all the fights at once and whatever other game was on at the same time. The Parlor was massive with loads of areas to hang out in, including a few fire pit sections that we opted for. We had our first celebrity siting of the trip, bumping into Jeremy Piven (plays Ari Gold in Entourage).

     Day three was probably the best day spent in Cali and the most relaxing Sunday activities I have ever done. We rented some cruiser bikes in Marina Del Ray and rode them a solid 4 to 5 miles to Manhattan Beach, where we stopped for lunch in the downtown area at bar called Brewco. A well-deserved beer and array of finger foods were devoured before heading back through Dockweiler State Beach. It was while riding that bike that I realized how much my balance had improved over the years, as I was seamlessly (only almost crashed a few times) taking pictures, videos, and even had a facetime session with Sam while riding. Of course we stopped for a few pictures off the bikes midway, when we were all in desperate need of a break. And to top it all off we got a free scoop of ice cream each from the rental shop for doing the max time on the bike! 

     Now the Mecca of my time in Cali was spent at Universal Studios on days four and five of my trip. Since Jordana and Tommy had to get back to work I had quite a bit of time to spend on my own to do what I like, I thought it over rationally. On the one side I could walk aimlessly through the streets of LA and do most things I had already done tourist wise the first time I had been to Cali with my dad back in 2011. BUT on the other side realistically I am horrible with directions and since I was on my own I was scared I would get lost. The next best thing and money savvy option was to buy a ticket to Universal Studios where I could run around aimlessly and not have to worry about being attacked by the street bums of LA (they might actually be scarier than NYC bums). Lucky enough the tickets were buy 1 day get the 2^nd free so that had me sorted for the rest of my time in LA. Plus I had the added bonus of it being only a few short miles from Jordana and Tommy’s apartment (Hello $4 Ubers!). I planned my time there wisely making sure day 1 in the park was spent going on all of the rides in the park. Day 2 at universal would be spent doing all the shows and studio tour. Since it was getting closer to Christmas everything from the buildings to the characters were dressed up in holiday spirit. It made me desperately wish I had an ugly sweater to wear.

 

     I have to say my biggest bit of advice I could give is to go and do things on your OWN. What a free feeling knowing I could go wherever I wanted without having to consult with anyone else or go back to things I wanted to spend more time in without hesitation. It’s just overall such a good experience to do things on your own really. You just get over all your insecurities of “What will people think of me on my own?” or “Do I look silly taking this selfie?” It literally does not matter because you’re doing you and you will also most likely never see these people ever again! So I was a shameless selfie taker at the park, I proudly asked strangers to take pictures of me, and I raised my hand sky high when the ride attendants asked if there were any single riders. I also found that people were a lot nicer to me? Lol maybe they felt bad that I was on my own but I was ok with it. Everyone was super friendly and made conversation with me. And all the characters that I stopped to take pictures with seemed to take the most time posing and just be silly with me. For example I was in a tug of war situation with Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick… I was the rope. I also had a good 10 minute chat with the Scooby Doo gang, where they asked me all about London and what the scariest ghost I’ve ever seen there was.  

     Although I had been to Universal Studios with my dad in 2011, most of the rides were new and with the addition of Harry Potter World, I had lots to explore. I mean maybe my worst decision at the park was that because I was on my own I felt too silly to ask questions to people about what was the Ollivander’s ride in HP World. Before going to Universal I wasn’t a HP fan, I recently was interested in starting the book series because I thought I would give it a whirl and see what everyone was raving about, but now you could say I’m a big fan! But walking through this section of the park made me realize that it is somewhat of a cult. People were dressed up in wizard robes and casting spells with their wands on things that would move or spark. Cute when it was kids, not so cute when it was a grown man or woman (I won’t discriminate the sexes). Ok so it was day 1 of being in the park and exploring HP World and this ride Ollivander’s Wand Shop, I’m thinking it was a cute interactive movie thing like the 4D movie I had just went on from Kung Fu Panda. NO NO NO. I wasted 50 minutes of my life waiting on a line that led me into a room full of wands that the people who worked there helped you pick out based on your wizard or witch aura (Excuse me? My what?). But it also wasn’t like these things were free, they were a solid 40 to 50 bucks! For a wand that was made of plastic that I could never use ever again besides for when I pretend I’m a witch and say a magic spell that will help me clean up the house, but really Sam does it instead. No thanks I’ll pass. Also I had never seen more than the first movie before that day, so I would be a complete fraud to pretend like I knew what I was doing. **side note: since this trip I have now completed the entire movie series and if I was back there… I probably still wouldn’t get a wand, really it is stupid expensive** But don’t get me wrong everything other than this part of HP World I was all about it. Dare I say I was obsessed with it because I must have went on those rides 10 times between the 2 days of being there. And OMG!! The butter beer is out of this world!!!!!

     By the second day at universal it was my mission to take as many pictures with different characters as possible and I think I did a pretty solid job. I also felt like I owned the place walking in knowing the ins and outs of it all, what time each ride would have the longest lines and what time each show was. I walked in that morning grabbed myself a gingerbread latte and breakfast sandwich from Starbucks and was on my way to the special effects show to watch some guy light himself on fire while I chewed away. Immediately after that I was on my way to the next show, Animal Actors, knowing exactly where I had to be at which time and taking the necessary water break. All the shows were really incredible and my sore legs from the day before thanked me for a day of mostly sitting. Literally the only thing that I refused to do at Universal was The Walking Dead haunted house, where you go through and actors dressed up as zombies scare the living day lights out of you. I despise when people pop out and scare me, it’s a one way ticket to being punched or kicked in the head. Not because it’s on purpose but it’s my first instinct and reflex to escape. I was almost even too scared to go on The Mummy ride even though I had been on it before! But I woman’d up and went on it. But I was still terrified and closed my eyes for 103% of it. I say 103 because I closed my eyes as soon as the car started moving and continued doing that until the attendant came over to help me out of my seat. Take a look at the front row of the picture to see my terrified face next to the innocent family that was sitting next to me.

     On the night before I left LA I had the pleasure of meeting my 3^rd cousin Billy, who is killing the Cali scene as a warm up act for America’s Funniest Home Video with Alfonso Riberio (Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Belair). We had dinner at a spot not far from Jordana’s place and the three of us shared life stories and drank lots of red wine, because that’s what you do when you meet family for the first time!

     On the last day of being in LA, Jordana and I took another hike. This time we ventured to Beachwood Canyon, and on the way drove past Busy Phillips (so LA). This is the place where they used to film the scenes from the old Batman show when he drives the Batmobile out of the Bat Cave. It was super creepy looking and there were rocks in a circle shape that looked like we had just missed some type of sacrifice ceremony, or perhaps it was the Harry Potter World cult members meeting. It did have a great view of the Hollywood sign though!

     So as you can tell from the 2500+ words of my trip to Cali was a fantastic and was much needed. I got to spend lots of time with my bestie, venture off on my own, meet a family member, and took my mind off of all the chaos that had been going on. Needless to say that will not be my last time to Cali, and also gave me the desire to go to Florida and check out the Harry Potter World there!