californication

Good evening friends! I apologize to most of you who must be freezing tonight. The universe has apparently decided to sink most of the country into a deep freeze, complete with feet and feet of snow.... except new mexico. we are snow free and are consistently hitting the mid 60's in the middle of the day. I'd like everyone to take a moment now to silently express their hatred toward me and my super awesome climate....... 

... and we're done. This evening the andie-brain has decided to finally write about my adventures to los angeles. To be completely honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to going to LA. I was actually pretty nervous about it, my anxiety stirring and revving its little anxious engine at just the thought of the metropolis. For all of autumn 2010, I have been marooned in my little desert existence, with miles and miles and miles of open space. For the past three months, I have been residing in a community that has fewer residents than my high school. Can we just take a moment and think about it? And New Mexico at large only has one million people inhabiting it, whereas LA and its surrounding areas comprise nearly 9 million people. You might bring up the point that I had previously lived on Long Island for 3 years, with its NYC overflow, comprising of traffic, more 24 hour convenience stores than I could ever hope for, and a sea of humanity. But since moving away from the island, I’ve grown accustomed to my tiny town, the quietness, the stillness, the familiarity of the people, the lackadaisical nature in which everyone conducts their business. As I was preparing to embark on this journey to California, I was worried about overstimulating my newly rurally adjusted senses.

As I snuggled my andie-butt into the much too small plane seat (or would it be a much too large andie-butt? Questions to ponder..), I heard the pilots fast-food-restuaruant-drive-thru-esqe voice rumble through the plane. I could make out no other words but “initial descent”, but that was all I needed to hear. I pressed the andie-face up to the window to see what I was getting myself into. My eyes took in a vast stretch of lights, houses and business and cars and streetlamps all proudly proclaiming their existence. After a brief moment of darkness, I witnessed another giant swatch of lights. Then another and another. Soon enough there were so many lights that I was not able to see where they ended. Uh oh. Toto we are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Once on the ground, I immediately made my way to a coffee dispensing station (hint number 1 that I was in LA: I encountered three Starbucks from my gate to the bathroom) and obtained a nice hot cup of chamomile tea. This is my initial defense against the anxiety monster. After fixing myself a cup of tea every time I become upset or stressed, the andie-mind has been conditioned to relax with the introduction of this fragrant drink. However, this proved to be a big mistake as it is exceedingly difficult to maneuver a giant suitcase, hot tea and talk on the phone to the person that is picking you up at the same time. Approximately 20% of my delicious beverage ended up on my hand, shirt, and the floor. That, friends, is how my California journey began.

But fear not, it got better. I was able to locate our gracious and generous hostess Jenna as she pulled up to the airports overcrowded and incredibly irritable pick up line (I almost forgot what horns sounded like). I credit Jenna’s unique style of layering, outer wear and super awesome brown driving gloves for making it possible for me to locate her amidst all the vehicular irritability. She spirited me away through the monstrosity that is LA, educating me about all of the different neighborhoods and providing me with interesting tidbits about some. For example, I had the opportunity to drive through the intersection where the notorious BIG was killed (rip biggie).

We arrived at her apartment before another east coast/west coast war could erupt, spotting evan and mike. They had been patiently waiting for us in Howie the Hyundai with their good friend, whiskey. We piled into Jenna’s lovely and cozy apartment, reuniting for a time before we had a slumber party. Jenna’s studio apartment, which before had been arranged to suit its sole occupant, underwent a transformation and became a bedroom for the four of us. Yep, we all slept in one room, with mike and I generously being given Jenna’s bed and ev and jenna sleeping on the couches. Sleeping in one room had its ups and downs. Being in the same room as two expert snore-ers was challenging. I had to alternate between kicking mike and throwing pillows at evan. At one point, I walked over and attempted to roll Evan over to halt the symphony coming from his face. This proved to be harder than it looked and I was defeated. I shuffled back to bed and scowled at him for a while. Less effective, but it made me feel a bit better.

On Thursday, the apartment was bustling with holiday activity with the preparations for our Friendsgiving feast. Each one of us had our task and we somehow completed it without tripping over or killing each other in Jenna’s kitchen. I made the best salad in the entire world (not that I’m biased), Mike regaled our taste buds with his stuffed mushrooms, Ev made a delicious concoction involving veggies and Jenna tackled the main event. She appeared to experience the full range of human emotion (fear, acceptance, happiness, disgust, etc) as she prepared the unlucky bird. The rest of the evening passed in a blur of delicious foods, wine, new people and of course, the conclusion to every Thanksgiving feast, the post-turkey coma.

Friday just happened to be my almost-husbands 28^th birthday. We referred to him as “birthday cagg” for the entire day and carried out his birthday requests all day.  We started by locating a pizzeria and I had the opportunity to watch mike inhale the slice in its entirety. I'm not sure he chewed once. It’s been quite some time since he has had quality pizza, and if you know Mike, you know about his love for pizza. Let’s put it this way, if it were legal to marry food objects, I highly doubt that I would have this ring on my finger. This lovely piece of jewelry would probably be nestled between a pepperoni chunk and some cheese. Mmmmm pepperoni….

Anyway ! we then made our way to Venice Beach where we spent the remainder of the day enjoying the sunshine, watching the skaters at an outdoor skate park, talking about purchasing beautiful houses on the beach and encountering some pretty interesting people. One man was selling his rap CD’s on the boardwalk and he remarked that I looked like “a young Jodie Foster.” Does anyone else see it? I don’t really. I’ve gotten Lisa Loeb before, but not Jodie.

Prior to embarking on my California journey, I had made the decision to add to my tattoo while there. Yes, readers, I know. It seems like everyone who comes to LA gets a tattoo. The climate and the experience of being vacation climbs into our heads and causes us to throw caution to the wind and pierce ourselves with needles. now thats what i call a relaxing vacation. But I had an alternate motive for making this decision. Lets revisit the point that I live in a rural community consisting of 1500 people. My options for quality tattoo artist in my hometown is incredibly limited, and unless I wanted a misshapen heart with “moom” in the middle, I didn’t think I would get what I was looking for. 

The original flowers that i had done in 2007

I made the appointment for 11am, so that it could be done and out of the way fairly early (I attempted to make the appointment for 10am, but the artist looked at me as if I had just suggested electing a unicorn for president, and I took that facial expression to mean that 10am was much too early). We arrived at the studio at 11:01 (I’m very punctual when I’m nervous) to find the studio unopened with the bars remaining down. Crap! Mike and I made our way to subway, where I projected my nerves onto him and snapped at him over pointless things like bottled water. I am continually grateful that this man is marrying me. At about 11:15am, we went back to the studio to find it ready and raring to go. After some sketching and placement and last minute conversation, I was placed on the table ready to go. And damn! I forgot how much that hurt! I’m not sure if the andie-brain blocked out the experience of my first tattoo but it felt like it hurt much worse this time around. And don’t get me wrong, my tattoo artist, Andreas (ironic, right?) was incredibly skilled, well matured and efficient, completing my tattoo in just under 45 minutes with beautiful results.

But ow! There were a few moments when I contemplated getting up off the table and walking away, half finished tattoo and all. Maybe I could have drawn the rest on with Sharpie, who knows. Once the outline was completed, the shading and coloring hurt much less. I was able to relax a bit, loosen the death grip I had on Mike’s hand and even permit him to go eat breakfast my art was finished. After 12 days, my lily is almost completely healed and I am very very happy with it. It seems as though I acquire a new flower after every major event in my life, and this lily is an ode to my years in grad school and on long island. welcome, new lily. 

new flower friend.

Saturday afternoon found us at a sushi restaurant, inhaling some of the most delicious fish that has ever swam in the sea. Sushi is yet another delicacy that new mexico apparently does not believe in, and we have been going through some serious aquatic cuisine withdrawal. Mike and I made the decision to leave LA on saturday evening as opposed to doing the entire drive in one day, which proved to be the right decision, as we encountered some serious snow in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. 

In closing, I had a fantastic time in Los Angeles. It is a place that I have always wanted to experience, but for vacation only. i think andie-pants is better to suited to reside in a different locale. maybe i've been immersed in rural USA for too long, maybe i'm reconnecting with my small(ish) town roots, maybe I just don't like guys in tight pants. even still, i'm thankful for my experience there, and especially for our wonderful friends who took the time to entertain us.

have a lovely evening and be thankful, 

andie.