Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Twenty Eight
'Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality'
(Lewis Carroll)

Week two started with the latest addition to my tattoo collection - a little key that is an amalgamation of the ones inside Anberlin's Lost Songs album cover. Jasmine and I have always loved the band since I took her to watch them as her first ever gig back in 2007, and we saw them again in 2012, and also their final tour before they broke up in 2014 (still not over it!). I would never get an obvious band tattoo, but this has meaning to us both whilst still looking unrelated. I had it done at High Seas Tattoo Parlour on Melrose by a sound young guy called Joey, who works with a single needle for really dainty designs. 

That evening Aum and I went to a Persian restaurant called Flame for tea, that is around the corner from our house. We shared some houmous and pitta bread, and then he had lamb kebab whilst I opted for a layered chicken and saffron rice dish with barberries in called Zereshk. The service was great and the food amazing, and there was plenty leftover for lunch the next day. 

I heard my track for this week in a taxi and asked the driver what he was playing - to which he told me this. It took me back to my emo days,  so thought I'd throw it into today's post as a bit of a curveball.

On Tuesday I took a trip to Beverly Hills to do some shopping. It is all very lavish so I didn't quite have the budget for any spending, but it was fun wandering around Rodeo Drive people watching, and I stopped for lunch outside in the sun at the original Cheesecake Factory. I had mushrooms in a cheesy pesto sauce followed by a slice of their chocolate turtle cheesecake: a brownie base with hazelnut and praline mousse and topped with a swirl of ganache (the 'turtle'), a huge slab so it lasted me two sittings!

On Wednesday I went back to Santa Monica to Bloomingdale's where I got a lovely '50s style halter dress and a dusky rose lace skirt for $20 each, and that evening we went to The Grove, an outdoor shopping area with a stage for live music, a farmer's market selling food from all over the world (I had a Turkish pizza), and a number of quirky shops. I couldn't resist getting Ferryn some funky doggy treats from The Dog Bakery, they were shaped like cream cakes but made with animal friendly ingredients like cream cheese, peanut butter and mashed carrots!

On Thursday we went for breakfast at Mary & Robb's Westwood Cafe, a five minute walk away from our house, and then during the day I headed to the Abbot Kinney area of Venice to check it out. It is super trendy around there (and very Instagrammable); loads of incredible bright coloured graffiti, hipster bars, bohemian clothes boutiques, and a short walk from the canal system, which feels very European. I managed to snap my sandals so had to walk around on the boiling concrete barefoot looking like an idiot for about half an hour, but I eventually made it to the boardwalk where I got hold of some flip flops, albeit two sizes too small. I bought a pretzel for lunch and sauntered along the ocean's edge until school pickup.

That evening we ventured a bit further afield to the Pacific Palisades to a seafood restaurant called Gladstone's which was definitely worth the extra distance. We all shared the macadamia shrimp and then I had a lobster roll for main, washed down with some much deserved prosecco after my shoe ordeal. The waiter (who looked and sounded just like Samuel L. Jackson!) wrapped the boys' leftovers up in gold foil to look like giant animals which was a friendly gesture that they were thrilled with.

Yesterday we all had a much needed lie in, and then went to Venice beach for a couple of hours. Jen and I sat chatting in the sun whilst the boys expelled some energy playing in the sea, and then after having a mosey along the boardwalk we went to 26 Beach for lunch, which was hands down one of the best meals I have ever had. For main I ordered the Crab Royale - a scramble of eggs, snowcrab, bacon, spring onions, avocado and cheese served 'Hawaiian style' on top of brown rice, and then Aum and I shared the S'mores french toast, stuffed with Nutella and marshmallow fluff coated with biscuits and topped with cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce. Out of this world!!

That evening just Aum and I headed up into the hills to check out the Hollywood sign and take some photos. The view of the city from there is beautiful, and it was all the more impressive as we were there for the sunset. A lack of wifi meant it was a struggle getting home, I eventually had to steal someone else's Uber, but we made it in the end!

Today has been another busy one, cramming in as many sights as possible with it being the last full day the boys have. We started in Beverly Hills at Walter's Cafe for breakfast, and then caught a cab to Downtown LA to The Last Bookstore. Anyone who knows me will confirm that I am an absolute sucker for books and libraries, and TLB is California's biggest new and used book and record store, so basically heaven for me. It has a vault full of first editions, sofas dotted everywhere, a huge poetry section and cute little independent art and knick knack shops on a gallery upstairs, totally worth a gander if ever in the area.

After dragging the boys around we then took them for a treat at The Ice Cream Lab, a 'molecular creamery' which uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the cream and flavour ingredients to order, apparently making it the freshest and best tasting ice cream around! I had 'Salt Lick Crunch' - pretzels, caramel and sea salt - and the boys had 'Blue Velvet' literally a blue velvet cupcake including cream cheese frosting, both of which had vanilla ice cream as their base. 

We then caught a cab to the Griffith Observatory, a science institute with the best views of LA as it is high up in the hills, and the boys got to watch a Tesla demonstration and do some interactive experiments. We went home after a tiring day, and ordered $160 of sushi and gorged ourselves for tea!! 

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Twenty Seven
'In fairytales, the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life, the princesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs.'
(Paulo Coelho)

This has been my first full week in Los Angeles! I always enjoy the freedom I have when I visit America each year with work, as I get time to myself whilst Aum is at camp to explore, but then there is still the safety net of having a routine to each day and having him around for some company in the evenings/ weekends. Someone else paying for everything is a definite bonus as well! This year is even better as we are here with his cousin Euan and his nanny Jen, so I have an adult to chat to (and have a drink with) and he has another kid to play with - smiles all around.

Monday was their first full day at camp, and I was still suffering a bit with jetlag, so didn't do anything too outlandish. I found a local yoga studio called Laughing Frog that offered unlimited classes for two weeks for just $30, so I tried a session there which was really uplifting and enjoyable. I always find yoga in the US is so much more immersive and spiritual than in the UK, there is less focus on pushing yourself and hitting goals and more on learning about your body and respecting your limits, which in turn removes the pressure and usually results in me accomplishing much more than back home.

After that I headed home, got ready and went for a wander around the local shops in Westwood village where we are staying. It is a lovely little area, there is an Urban Outfitters, Victoria's Secret, MAC and a few other units so it is perfect for a chilled amble - I bought some navy fluffy sliders that I'm hoping are kind of 'so bad they're cool', we shall see; ten year old boys usually give an honest opinion! For tea that evening we went to Beverly Hills to a Chinese called Xi'an where I had stir fried asparagus and king prawns and scallops with cashew nuts, delicious!

My track for this week is my number one song by one of my all time favourite bands, Alexisonfire, who I have been lucky enough to see live twice, but are sadly no longer together. I listened to this walking along the beach in Magaluf a few weeks ago, and it came on my iPod again as I was walking back from dropping Aum at camp this week. I like how the heaviness and screaming vocals often contrast the place I am in or what I am doing at the time, and it takes me back to being a fifteen year old getting drunk and running around a mosh pit!

On Tuesday I got an Uber to Santa Monica, which has a beach, old style pier and a commercial area, and is about 15/20 minutes away. I had a look around the shops as there's a large pedestrianised area on 3rd Street, then grabbed a triple cheese quesadilla from a beach shack for lunch before spending a couple of hours on the sand. It was July 4th so there were lots of families and couples having barbecues and relaxing so there was a great vibe to the place.

On Wednesday we got up a bit earlier to go out for breakfast at Headlines Diner. I had a short stack of pancakes with bacon and scrambled egg, which I knew I would slightly regret and feel sluggish at yoga afterwards, but I couldn't resist. I did a bit of work and caught up with some TV (Love Island of course - thank god for my firestick) and that evening Jen kindly looked after both the boys so I could go to a Sofar Sounds gig in Venice. 

It was super bohemian, we all sat on raffia rugs on the floor surrounded by fairylights, and performances came from Jim & Sam, a married couple who have set themselves the challenge of performing 365 days in a row (they were on 247), Matthew Cuban who did some brilliant performance poetry, and The Sledge Grits, a four piece band who are all sisters, and totally kicked ass. The lead singer was only 17 but had a beautiful soulful voice that was way beyond her years.  

On Thursday we discovered the apartment we were staying in not only had a gym and a climbing wall, but an insane pool up on a terrace that was a proper little sun trap, so after an energising run home from camp drop off I spent the day sunbathing there. The weather has been glorious since we arrived and it was a comfortable 28 degrees, so it definitely gave me chance to work on my tan. That evening just Aum and I went to an Italian back in Beverly Hills called Da Pasquale (Jen and Euan fancied Mexican) where I had a calzone filled with parmigiana, oh my god it was incredible!

So F is out of the picture, since he has totally ghosted me! It's the first time it has happened to me, and I find it really baffling. Do people think you are going to cry your eyes out or hurl abuse or something if they say they aren't interested? I'd much rather be told where I stand than to have someone I've been talking to for the best part of a month randomly stop speaking to me with no explanation, it's plain rude. The fact that a phrase has had to be coined to describe someone not being able to admit their feelings I just find really sad. We'd only had three dates and I am halfway around the world in an amazing place though, so I didn't dwell on it for too long.

On Friday after yoga and a lazy day, we got takeaway food, took the boys up for a swim and then got an early night as we were up at the crack of dawn yesterday to go to Universal Studios. It took us about 35 minutes in a taxi to get there, and when we arrived we were persuaded to upgrade our tickets to VIP passes, so we got a buffet breakfast in the VIP lounge (I took full advantage of the pastries available), unlimited queue jump for the rides & shows, a behind-the-scenes tour on a luxury bus (air-con was needed!), a guide who fully planned our itinerary for the day, and a fabulous all-you-can-eat lunch in a gorgeous restaurant that included sushi, steak, homemade crepes, petit fours and shellfish risotto cooked in front of you, amongst lots of other scrummy options.

It was an extra $275 per person, (about 218 quid) so pretty steep, but the average queue wait time for each ride was 90 minutes, and it was a blistering 34 degrees, so we figured it would mean we could do the whole park in one day and save paying again to come back to finish everything. There were also other perks such as free bottles of water all day, a leather goodie bag with suncream etc in, and free secure phone charging points, and our guide looked after our bags to save us waiting for the lockers, which even with a queue jump ticket for the rides ($220 alone) you still had to wait up to half an hour for. Definitely a luxury that I myself couldn't justify paying for, but it made it a much better, more comfortable experience for us all so our bosses were happy for us to go for it.

We were at the park for over 10 hours, so were exhausted when we got in, but we had an awesome action-packed day, getting soaked on Jurassic Park, drinking butterbeer and 'casting spells' with the wands the boys bought at special areas in Harry Potter World, learning all about setting people on fire and cutting off limbs in the Stunt Show, and seeing real props and sets from some of Hollywood's biggest movies on the Backlot Tour. So lucky I get to do this as part of my job!

Today we had to move to another accomodation nearby where we are staying for the next two weeks, it sadly doesn't have a pool and is a bit further from the boys' school, but is much bigger and better equipped, and my room has a full wall of mirrored wardrobes so I am happy! Once unpacked we went for a traditional American diner style breakfast at Cafe '50s (malted waffles with blueberries and a peanut butter cup milkshake FYI) then after a bit of a rest for a few hours (new poem up on Instagram here), we took the boys for ice cream on Santa Monica pier, and for dinner at Rize, a Thai restaurant where I had a king prawn pad thai, and a cheeky margarita. Not quite sure how we're going to top this week!