The City of Angels

Posted by Stereo on September 21, 2011
24 Comments

So LA was:

Brilliant sunshine. Baking heat. Nacho cheese Doritos. Power showers. Inappropriate sun lotion. Faceplanting. Koi fish ponds. Blue skies. Snakeskin sandals. Law & Order: SVU marathons. CVS EVERYWHERE. Bus 720. Mrs. Fields cookies. The Beverly Center. Chiffon shirts & mini skirts. Hawaiian punch. Walking for miles. Carrying two cameras. Counting out change. Adult Swim. “you just keep fucking up! Shut up!” Mountain Dew. YSL Paris. Reluctant tanning. Sand in my toes. The Cheesecake Factory. Third Street Promenade. Tim Burton at LACMA. Garbled phone calls with the Parentals. Palm fronds. UCLA Bruins. Random jigs. Rib cracking laughter thanks to Mister. Searching for slacks for my Dad. Sephora. Room service disputes. Hoarders. ”I’m lachrymose.” Indulging laziness. 9/11. Red Velvet cheesecake. Lots of bare ass everywhere. 13 year olds looking like 25 year olds. Megamind. Cherry flavoured stomach medicine.

New pyjamas. Shopping. White fudge pretzels. Mister’s advancing beard. The disappointment of In ‘n’ Out Burger. Fashion’s Night Out. Art. Beautiful houses. Helpful sales assistants. Bath & Body Works. Frozen strawberry lemonade. American Eagle Outfitters. Air conditioning. Hollywood Boulevard. The boardwalk. Valium before flying. Being hit on in trifecta. Abusing free wifi. X-Men First Class. Wilshire Boulevard. Med students everywhere. Denny’s. Damnable sales tax that I kept forgetting wasn’t included on price tag. The hotel gym. The Los Angeles Times. Synagogues. Standing in the ocean. Macaw man. Steak. Hammer Museum.

Dollar bills. Woeful repacking. Singing taxi drivers. Beautiful people. Not so beautiful people. No alarm clocks. 99¢ Gatorade. California playlists. Beverly Hills. Family Guy. Soft pillows. Bathrobes. MAC. Being lost on Melrose. The robbery of Whole Foods. Braids. Waking up at 4am. Plants vs. Zombies. Old Navy. Bemoaning the absence of Walgreens. Philly Cheesesteaks. Swollen knees. Kindle reading. Drifting in and out of sleep. Forgotten sunglasses. Red, sparkly toenails. Disgruntled and douchey customs officials. Giant flying spider. Reckless drivers. Chubby cheeks. 32847595lb weight gain. Cool sheets. Forever 21. ♪♫ Fogo, Fogo de Chaooooo ♫♪ Constant smiling. Folded maps in my purse. Lingerie madness. Sheer happiness.

And this…

please don’t mind my chubby cheeks. this is what happens when you indulge your love for nacho cheese Doritos and cheesecake almost everyday when you are on vacation. Also, Mister took this photo. He was an absolute gent all night and carried all our shopping back to the hotel – he wouldn’t let me carry a single bag.

I finally got to meet Brooke, Brandee and her daughter Isabel, Alana and Shannon. We dined at Zengo in Santa Monica and laughed until we couldn’t breathe. They all seemed quite taken with Mister who in turn was absolutely taken with all of them. It was without a doubt the highlight of what was a phenomenal trip.

We’re planning to return to our US vacation city of choice next year – LAS VEGAS – and will hopefully be able to stop off in NY for a day or two meaning that all my west coast and east coast lovelies can attend the tweetups I shall be arranging while we’re out there.

There’s so many more photos I didn’t post and so much more that happened and even though jetlag seems to have taken up permanent residence in my life, I can say that LA 2011 was worth it. In every way.

24 Comments

  • M. A. Brotherton September 21, 2011 at 14:52

    I’m jealous. I wish I could go to LA… but alas, everyone flies over us here in the midwest for much cooler places. :D

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:00

    You CAN go to LA. Next time I’m there, I expect you and your beard to be there too ;)

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  • Jason September 21, 2011 at 16:37

    I too am jealous. I would have loved to spend time with some of my tweeps, oh what fun you must have had. Don’t forget, there are east coast beaches too, wink wink.

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:03

    Next year is East Coast time! Well, after we head back to Las Vegas that is :) We’ll be in NY sometime in 2012 and I for one, cannot wait.

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  • Sara Rose September 21, 2011 at 18:54

    I am very jealous. I miss my soul sister! See you on the island!

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:04

    The Island is a glorious place to which I retire in my brain when things get to tough around here. I miss you too. But between your lovely hubby and my gorgeous niecelet and nephewlet, you’re a busy woman ♥

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  • amanda September 21, 2011 at 23:44

    AHHHHHHH!!! I was waiting for this recap! It’s awesome. Looooove that last pic! So glad you ladies (and gent) had a great time.

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:06

    It was such a blast, Amanda and I really cannot wait to go back (although I don’t think that will be for a couple of years yet!)

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  • Riayn September 22, 2011 at 10:13

    Sounds like you had an incredible time. Love all the photos.

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:06

    Thanks, Meg. It was beyond awesome.

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  • Sarah September 22, 2011 at 13:37

    I’m glad you had a great time. I miss hearing from you a lot. I wish I could have been there. : /

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:09

    It was an absolutely brilliant trip; one I won’t forget in a long time. Only wish I was back there now with the sun shining and the beach just 20 minutes away *sigh*

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  • Assured Angel September 22, 2011 at 16:21

    Three words….epic and sooooooo jealous…. xxxx

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:10

    Epic is correct!

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  • Patti September 22, 2011 at 18:19

    I’m jealous AND hungry. Great photo montage.

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:11

    Seriously, Patti, the food was 70% of the reason we went out there and it was completely worth the havoc it played with my digestive system (hence the cherry flavoured stomach medicine).

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  • Tracy Mangold September 22, 2011 at 21:48

    Okay, so explain to me why you did not like In ‘n Out. One of the big reasons they are rated so high is that their meat is from ONE source – unlike McCrappy – where one burger is meat from like a thousand cows and where you would safer licking your toilet bowl than eating. They make their fries from fresh cut potatoes daily. None of that fake McDonald crap. Bottom of their cups has a Bible verse – which I think is cool. Bottom line, their food is a heck of a lot more pure than the fast food crap most people are eating. But that’s my opinion, I guess. :P I’m glad you had a blast though! LA is a fun place.

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:00

    Geez, Tracy, did they pay you to write this? :P

    I mean the actual meat of the burger was pretty nice but the bread, the GIANT onion, the tomato and the somewhat stale bun it came in was enough to turn me off the entire dining experience and being the french fry connoisseur that I am, I was woefully disappointed with theirs, which came to us hard as rocks and completely flavourless. The Bible verse is cool but then Forever 21 have one on all of their bags too so I got my fix of retail scripture during my trip.

    Now, I’ll never eat a “beef” burger from McDonalds because frankly, they make me feel like I’m going to die but when it comes to taste and quality, I’ve had finer burgers and sweet potato fries from street vendors than I did at In ‘n’ Out. Maybe it was the time of day we went, maybe it was that particular restaurant, maybe we just lucked out with what we got. I dunno. I don’t think I’ll be going back though lol.

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  • Kim September 23, 2011 at 10:07

    I am so glad you had such a smashing time. I’ve been lingering over the pictures and descriptions and smiling till my cheeks hurt. (I’ve developed quite a fondness for the man in the red coat there.) If you have to be away from the blog for a while, this is definitely the way to make up for it, I think.

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:12

    I thought that it was high time I returned with a bang and I am so glad you enjoyed these snaps. I keep looking through my LA album and smiling/sighing with longing and nostalgia.

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  • Roxanne September 23, 2011 at 10:50

    I started smiling at “CVS everywhere” and never stopped since. What a trip…

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    Stereo Reply:
    September 23rd, 2011 at 11:12

    Not that I’m knocking CVS in any way but I’m a Walgreens girl myself ;)

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  • Sara Rose September 23, 2011 at 18:08

    I adore that they are neicelet and nephewlet, like cuts of pork. SNERK.

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  • Brad October 2, 2011 at 16:46

    OMG that looks like so much fun! And I’m seriously jealous that you got to meet so many tweeps. Vegas huh?

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Stereo. 20-something aspiring bon vivant. London based. Exceptionally Nigerian. Partial to snark. My default setting is "wry". Jeans and blazers are my uniform. Landlady. Speed reader, tuneless singer, hoarder of words, drinker of Schloer; I am suspicious of most people, have zero tolerance for tomfoolery, have a vast DVD collection, worship at the altar of Al Green, own too many bottles of nail polish, have small eyes, small ears and giant hair and owe approximately 86% of my awesome to the Parents Typewriter.

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