While I was There…
May 27, 2002
Since I was in LA or my Grandmother’s
funeral, I took advantage of the time to do some great stuff there. First of
the bat, right from the airport, was go to In-N-Out! YUM! My sister and I went
grocery shopping and the vastness of the store made me wonder around in a daze,
in awe. I had forgotten such things existed! Huge aisles, shelves only 8 feet
tall so you can reach things, hundreds of different choices for the same item
(eg: fruit juice). The guy at the check out counter asked me where I was from.
=)
I got to visit friends Florrie &
Dave & their baby Emma. The most precious child. She fell asleep in my
arms. I got to eat real California-Mexican food with Florrie. In New York we
seem to only have Tex-Mex. Not my fave.
I went jogging with my uncle who
showed me all his childhood haunts from the neighborhood, junior high, local
mountains, his route to school, etc… (Note: we did not see one other person
running. At all! At home -NYC- you can’t go outside your front door without
seeing at least a few in your travels. Many if you’re near the park.)
I spent great, much needed time with
my Sister, Mother & Aunt. My uncle made the greatest yogurt pancakes. I
miss my family, lots.
I got to go to one of the Academy’s
Monday night screenings. All the best picture winners, in order. We saw
"All Quiet on the Western Front". While there I saw at least 20
people that I knew. It was great! My second family of the Howard/Voorstann’s
was the best treat.
I was excited to see my Paternal
Grandparents. They always have an extremely good meal for me, and loads of
love. My sister has been staying there since she moved out of her apartment
& was waiting for her new house to close… Yes… A Brand New House!!! I’m so
excited and proud of her. We went to see it, but she didn’t have the keys yet
so we got to see the outside & through the windows. Sooo fun. And HUGE!
Compared to our box, a walk in closet it huge, but this house is really great.
I can’t wait to see what she does with it. And our good friends live just 3
doors down!
We went to see the Pasadena design
house, which is always amazing. The landscaping of the place was great. One of
the talents was our gardener back in the Laurel Canyon days of my extreme
youth! It was exciting to find him. The whole house, mansion really, was done
in a Moroccan theme and in every room I wished Alex was there to see it. It
would fit right up our alley of dream decorating. They don’t allow photos
either, so that was pooie. Alex & I had gone to the Manhattan design house
right before I went to LA & it was such a mish-mosh of different style,
colours, eras… nothing fit together. The house was amazing but the décor was
pretty awful. Not good for a design house. The only great thing was the roof
top garden/patio. Breathtaking! And right down the street from the red-tailed
hawks (another story will explain). So I really wanted Alex to see the Pasadena
one as their committee chooses a colour scheme and theme every year. It makes
for a much more enjoyable experience. While there we couldn’t help but browse
the makeshift booths in the "driveway area" with everything you can
imagine for sale. We got a couple trinkets but the most time was spent at a hat
booth. I tried on almost everything, and would’ve been happy to take it all
home. We ended up with a big floopy summer hat for my Mom and Melissa & I
are sharing a cool cowboyish straw hat. Perfect for our cross country trip.
I came back exhausted and excited to
be home. I really missed New York while there, which surprised me a lot. But it
was a wonderful visit and I look forward to the next one.
Click to see some PHOTOS from
my trip.
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