Ahhhhhh…it’s April and my visit with Emily is officially complete. Sad day! It was SO fun having two and half days to catch up with my dear sweet World Changers Seester. It is crazy to think it had been almost 2 years since we spent time together in person and yet as soon as she arrived it was so incredibly normal that neither of us felt like we had been apart at all. Our summer together seemed like forever ago and then again, like only yesterday. I think the friendships where you can pick up right where you left off are the best. Seriously. THE BEST.Anyway, so I told you that Emily’s requests were simple: pedicures, shopping, and seeing as MUCH of California as possible in 2.5 days. Well my friends, we conquered, we dominated, we OWNED this part of the state. She hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and a cardigan on Thursday at 2pm and we IMMEDIATELY went to IN-N-Out Burger for some Animal Style Cheeseburgers. Then we went for pedicures. Em decided to get a manicure since the weather in Missouri currently prevents showing the toes. We had several good laughs while we were there – between the mummification process done to my legs and the crazy lady across from us who was wearing her sunglasses inside the store and looking mysteriously like Michael Jackson the entertainment was ideal. After pedicures we went to my house for the official tour and luggage drop off. We spent some time just chatting, called Michael Page, and then decided we were hungry. Again. We took off for the Whole Enchilada for good chips and salsa and Mexican food which is far better in California than in other states (as far as I’ve heard). After dinner we returned to the house to watch Grey’s Anatomy on TELEVISION together. Emily and I spent many hours during our summer together watching Grey’s Anatomy Seasons on DVD in the Tahoe as we drove throughout the country. We had a great deal of love for the weird plug in thing that kept our computer charged and the splitter which allowed us to listen with headphones because the computer NEVER got loud enough to drown out the boys in the front seat. Ahhhh those were the good days. Em was EXHAUSTED so she snuggled in just a few minutes before the end of Grey’s and was fast asleep just after seeing the Ferris Wheel at the opening of Private Practice.
Friday we got up at a decent time, had a small breakfast of Cinnamon Toast (from Trader Joes – seriously the BEST bread ever!! And even BETTER if it’s made as French Toast!!) and fresh strawberries, poured a Dr. Pepper (for Em) and a Cherry 7-Up (for me) into our awesome insulated travel cups WITH straws and hopped into the car for an all-day adventure! Our first stop of the day was at the Getty Center. We spent a few hours there walking through the glorious gardens and surveying the ridiculous view from the top of the mountain.
We also visited the Da Vinci Exhibit and the Classical Paintings area to soak up some Van Gogh and Monet. By 2pm we were back in the car headed for Diddy Reise – a famous ice-cream shop in Westwood (right by UCLA) that is KNOWN for their ice-cream sandwiches. They are $1.50 which is a STEAL and you pick 2 cookies and one flavor for your ice-cream scoop in the middle. AMAZING. However, it was QUITE the ordeal to get there. Parking in Westwood is crazy – we finally found a spot and swung in there only to put our quarters in and have the meter read: FAIL. AHHH are you kidding me?? We sat there contemplating what to do for QUITE A WHILE before a fine young British gentlemen asked us if we knew of any places to eat in the local area. We told him we weren’t from around there but were quite exasperated by our parking meter (mind you, we had already tried the meter he was now at and it was also reading FAIL!) (Another side note – the parking meters were manufactured in Harrison, Arkansas – where Emily is from!). He told us to just leave it – so with his nudging, we did. We then encountered the DIAGONOL CROSSING area! OH MY GOSH AMAZING!!! How stinking fun it was! Emily even videotaped the experience. IT IS REAL FOLKS! IN LA you can cross the street DIAGONOLLY!! Craziness! 
Anyway, we waited in line for just a bit and then ordered our tasty treats. The guy made Emily’s wrong and when she asked him to fix it he totally flipped on her – but he DID fix it for her (well, kinda – it was still wrong, just not AS wrong!). As we walked hurriedly back to the car because I was a bit anxious about the potential ticket at our EPIC FAIL of a parking meter, a SERIOUSLY EXCITED lady exclaimed, “OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE AN ICE-CREAM SANDWICH!!” I think her grand-daughter was embarrassed because she immediately was like, yeah grandma, we can get them at Diddy Riese, it’s just around the corner! Ha! Em and I barrel laughed all the way to the car! And we did NOT get a ticket! Woot!!! 
Our third stop of the day was SANTA MONICA – we parked and watched the waves for a while, then walked the pier, and rode the Ferris Wheel. 
It was surprisingly NOT scary at all and the view was breath-taking. We asked the guy working the ride to please take our picture. Bad choice. He didn’t get any of the ferris wheel and in the end, it looks like every other self photo Em and I took of ourselves throughout the day. GOOD WORK with the camera there sir! Thank you for all your help. As the sun started to set, we decided we were OFFICIALLY hungry (not altogether surprising given that we had literally only had toast, strawberries, and ice-cream sandwiches and it was approximately 6pm) and headed to Bubba Gumps for dinner. 
We have vague memories of eating at Bubba Gumps together in New Orleans when we were serving there together. I say VAGUE memories because we hve different memories – which means one of us is wrong – likely me! Em seems to remember WAY more about our summer than I do. I thought I was wearing a cute purple shirt – but she remembers us being in our LEAP shirts…so I’m not sure WHEN we went to Bubba Gumps, but if we were in Leap shirts, chances are we were extremely tired from working a project – and I will attribute the lack of memory to the overwhelming exhaustion. There was a seriously DISGUSTING eater seated at the table next to us – you know what I mean – the type of guy that had sauce dripping down his face and ate with his fingers and when they got too gooey he went ahead and licked them and then dug in for more instead of utilizing the napkin the establishment so kindly provided. ICK. It was NOT OK. I kept telling Em that I hoped he was done and gone before our food came for fear that I wouldn’t be able to eat. Seriously it was that gross. Em and I ordered the “shrimper’s heaven” and split it – we weren’t full, but we were well satisfied and ready to take on the Promenade (where people dress just so and have modern names like Jake and Mandy and modern bodies too. SAVAGE GARDEN ANYONE??). We worked our wonders at GAP just like we always do and found a few (inexpensive if I do say so myself – way to shop the sale rack emy!) treasures! YAY ruffle tank! (I hope they won’t be ugly when you get home like long white and long black are now!) 
We were off for our final adventure of the night – a cupcake at Frosted – when we just couldn’t do it anymore. There wasn’t another outing left in us, so we switched our course and headed for the house. We made two minor pit stops – the first @ Target and then the Gas Station to be ready for our Saturday adventures and then did not pass GO or collect $200 but went STRAIGHT to mi casa. We walked in the door, put on our John Curtis Christian t-shirts and sweat pants, warmed up our leftover Mexican food and settled in on the love seat for (500) Days of Summer with Megan McAlpine (or Megan Alpine, whichever you prefer!). It was the PERFECT ending to a FABULOUSLY FUN and FULL day!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment