I get my coffee iced no matter how cold it is outside, my landlord fixed my leaky ceiling years ago, I don’t own an umbrella, I check if mercury’s in retrograde whenever something bad happens, and if it’s raining on a Friday, I wonder if my favorite vendor at the Hermosa Beach Farmers Market is okay 😆
The girls were supposed to come over today, and I was going to smoke my first brisket, but I’m still scared to eat BBQ, so we just hit up good ol’ Crab Hut. I used to go here so much, they had my picture on the wall. I was the Duchess of Crab Hut on Yelp and the Mayor of Crab Hut on Foursquare LOL. Not much has changed about this place, but they now tack on an automatic 18% service fee no matter how small your party is. I hate when restaurants do that. I’m already a good tipper, but I don’t like to be forced to tip. Also, I’m not gonna add an additional tip if I’m already paying an extra 18%. Does my waiter even get this service fee or does it line the owner’s pockets??? I also hate it when restaurants charge an automatic “health surcharge” on top of your bill to pay for their employees’ healthcare. I’ve only seen it done in LA. Like, I love you, République, but I’m pretty sure I’m already overpaying for this kouign amann without your additional 3% health surcharge. Don’t even get me started on alimony (I don’t believe spousal support should exist if you’re no longer spouses. All of my girlfriends who are married make more than their husbands. All of them. Separate from child support, they shouldn’t have to pay them a single dime if they ever get divorced. Ok that’s the end of my rant 😅).
I started off my morning by doordashing a spanish latte and sunrise pizza from Urth Caffé. I went to my doctor’s appointment and Dr. Joshi had nothing but good things to say about me (the first time I saw him earlier this year, he said I was “hanging on by a thread” 😅). I went through 4 months worth of mail and had over $700 in checks from overpaying for my health bennies during my medical leave. The Echo’s up the street from Guisados on Sunset, so we ate some delicious tacos before watching Hoobastank at The Echo. Not to be dramatic or anything, but yesterday was the best day of my life.
I haven’t seen Hoobastank live since they opened for Linkin Park on their Meteora tour in 2004! Fun fact: Hoobastank went to high school with Linkin Park members (Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson). I felt like a kid again watching them. Like, is it 2003? Am I about to get a charlie horse after watching them at Canes??? 😆 I was reminded that I’m not, in fact, a kid anymore when we walked back to the car and we didn’t have to pay for metered street parking because of my handicap placard, and when I was falling asleep on the drive home before midnight 😅
Shoutout to the guy standing in front of me wearing a Yellowcard hoodie 😂
Only two things about LA still warm this heart—the food and live music.
Update: You guys, Hoobastank liked my Instagram story 💀
R.I.P. to my fiddle leaf fig bush. It’s in a self-watering pot, but you have to refill it with water once a month, and I haven’t been in my apartment since August 😅
I got this noise notification (that I usually get when I’m at a concert) on the drive up to LA tonight. I guess I was rocking out to Hoobastank too loud 😆 I got a text last week confirming my doctor’s appointment in LA that I forgot about tomorrow, so I bought tickets for Hoobastank’s 20th Anniversary Show at The Echo since I’ll already be up here. Who’s ready to party like it’s 2003???
Deane sent me this vid and I couldn’t stop laughing, because it reminded me of the time we went to Boyle Heights for tacos. We heard gunshots as we exited the 5, and we were like, “This must be the place!” 😂
My super (yes, his name is Michael Douglas) left me a message saying I’ve had packages outside my apartment door for months (he lives across the hall from me), and the postman left a note on my door that my mailbox is full. He knows that I’ve been in SD (I mail him my rent check every month), so I gave him permission to use my spare key that he has to put my packages in my apartment since I won’t be in LA till probably next month. He doesn’t have a spare mail key, though. Does anyone in LA want to empty my mailbox and water my (probably dead) plants? 😅 I’ll mail you my keys and give you my building code! You can even rifle through my underwear drawer. Just kidding (I don’t wear underwear).
I’ve found a reason for me To change who I used to be A reason to start over new And the reason is you
So close yet so far It’s tearing me apart What I would do to be back with you
So promise No matter how long it takes for me to get back to you You’ll wait for me
My first blog post ever was about a Hoobastank concert 20 years ago, and I went to a countless amount of their shows in my 20s. They’re having a 20th anniversary show in LA for The Reason album. I hate watching shows at The Echo (it’s a seedy ass venue in Echo Park), but I love Hoobastank more. Plus it’s a pretty intimate venue with a capacity of less than 400 people. Will this be like the first time I saw them at Canes, and Doug Robb (the lead singer) was standing right next to me watching the opening band and no one was bothering him? The Echo is even smaller than Canes was! Anyone feel like going and reliving their youth with me???
From the passenger seat as
You are driving me home
Do they collide?
I ask and you smile
With my feet on the dash
The world doesn’t matter
It’s the 20th anniversary of Transatlanticism, and Death Cab is performing the album in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl. I haven’t seen Death Cab live since 2011! I bought tickets months ago thinking I’d be back in LA by now. Should I go or sell my tickets? Anyone feel like crying in Hollywood on Tuesday 10/17???
I want you in the worst way
Is the gate code still your birthday?
John Mayer has an intimate show at The Wiltern next week, but I got waitlisted. If you’re able to get tickets, I will find a way to get to LA. He’s my guiltiest pleasure 😅
I don’t know your thoughts these days We’re strangers in an empty space I don’t understand your heart It’s easier to be apart
My friend got us tickets to Keane at the Greek next year! I was traveling through the Philippines the last time they were in LA in 2020. Then covid hit and our lives took a 180. So glad concerts are back 🙌🏼
I bought tickets to Sylvan Esso at The Greek tonight thinking I’d be back in LA by now, but I haven’t started driving yet, so I’m still at my sister’s in SD.
The last time I was in Phoenix, Google was testing their self-driving cars and I remember thinking, “I’d never get in one of those.” 5 years and 2 strokes later, I’m seriously considering getting a Tesla so I never have to drive again (even though I still don’t trust self-driving cars or Elon Musk).
The last time I drove was before the incident when I drove myself to urgent care. The doctor was like, “You drove yourself here?!” To be fair, urgent care is up the street from my apartment. They wanted me to take an ambulance to the ER, but I was like, “I’ll just have my friend, Nori, take me.” I spent the next five days in the hospital, my sister and her husband picked my car up from the urgent care parking lot the next day, and the rest is history…
Nope, in fact I make it a point to eat with people who don’t have dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten-free, etc.)
I have toxic exes, but none of them have “the” or “official” in their IG handle. One of them live tweets, though (which is equally horrendous in my eyes). Does that count???
I used to go to the Hermosa Beach Farmers Market on Fridays for the chili dog guy and one time he was grilling hash browns next to the hot dogs and I was like, “Ooh, can I have a side of that?” and he was like, “This is my lunch.” 🤣 The stall next door has delicious pluots (plum apricots) in the summer, but I don’t have a pluot guy.
I use maps for everything to avoid traffic in LA. Also, I never remember street names. If a landmark changes visually, I’m screwed LOL.
My parents think I design shoes at Skechers, but I’m a web designer there.
My favorite bakery from NYC opens this weekend in LA (@ Levain)
Now I don’t have to pack my foodsaver to bring home fresh cookies the next time I go to New York 🤣 Their chocolate chip walnut cookie will change your life!
Redondo is ready for me to come back! Now the closest lobster roll will be five minutes away from my apartment, and I don’t have to wait for an election to have one from the food truck across the street.
I’m up in LA for a doctor’s appointment, and I haven’t been home in over a month.
I should really give someone a key to my apartment, because all my plants are dead.
People think it’s silly that I kept my studio in LA (and continue to pay a ridiculous amount for it) since I haven’t lived there since January after the incident, but I like my independence (and walking around in my chonies.). I’d sublet my apartment, but my property manager lives across the hall, so he’d definitely know 😅
The second season of Barbecue Showdown came out today on Netflix, so these are my plans for the weekend.
I’ve been to BBQ Showdown judge Kevin Bludso’s original location in Compton. He’s since moved to Fairfax, and he’s opening a location in Santa Monica this summer. Take me with you, and I’ll treat you to a Pink’s chili dog and some Brambleberry Crisp ice cream from Jeni’s after! None of which will hold up to my apartment in Redondo, so we’ll just have to eat it there! I hope you’re hungry 😏
Whenever Nori and I would go to Starbucks (pretty much every day LOL) we’d sit outside, and I could barely hear her wordle guesses over the parrots. Apparently, they live in palm trees, and palm trees are outside every Starbucks we went to in the beach cities.
Also, I was so mad when they took out the nearest Jack in the Box and put anotherStarbucks in its place. There were already 15 within a 5-mile radius of my apartment!
Who complains about too many Starbucks and palm trees? Is this my life now??? LOL.
République is one of my favorite restaurants, and the first time I ever went there, they had a mountain of butter out and I mused aloud, “What’s all this butter for?” and one of the workers was like, “PIE.”
Go if you’ve never gone before, or better yet, take me with you!
– my sister’s husband to me after I brought down my Aroma 360 diffuser and Cashmere Plum fragrance oil from my studio in LA for my room at their house in SD
I hardly listen to the radio in SD (partly because the DJs are garbage, but mostly because I’m usually listening to Young the Giant on Spotify). I heard this song a few times on 92.3 on the way up to LA, and I’m obsessed.
SZA – Kill Bill
I’m still a fan even though I was salty
Hate to see you with some other broad, know you happy
Hate to see you happy if I’m not the one drivin’
I’m so mature, I’m so mature
I’m so mature, I got me a therapist to tell me there’s other men
I don’t want none, I just want you
If I can’t have you, no one should
I filed to extend my leave because I’m not ready to go back to work yet! ❤️🩹 I haven’t even driven since the incident, you think I can design for the interwebs?!
P.S. One time, we went to LA for some doc appointments, and we didn’t take my car, so my sister left my car keys in San Diego (along with my apartment keys attached to them) and we had to stay at the Marriott (and we never let her forget it) LOL.
Also, the first time I hiked Torrey Pines with Shi years and years ago, we parked so far and we were walking for so long and I was like, “We haven’t started hiking yet?!” LOLOL.
I had to order delivery today because one of their flavors this week was Iced Oatmeal (my favorite!). I split one with Pammie for lunch, and we both thought it was delicious!!! (@ Crumbl Cookies)
FYI I also like oatmeal raisin cookies from Subway LOL (my first job that my dad made me get when I was fifteen) and the molasses cookies they used to have at Milk in LA.
We used to get Cookie Good at work sometimes and they opened a brick and mortar in Santa Monica a few years ago, but they ship nationwide. I ordered a dozen after getting this email (I’m easily swayed), and I’m def gonna split one tonight when it arrives. I’m thinking Blueberry Pancakes. Or Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chunk. Or Cinnabun. Or Circus Animal. Or S’mores. LOL.
Cookie Good is better than Crumbl IMO, but I won’t turn down a Crumbl cookie (or any cookie for that matter).
Update 4/1: I had to do a taste comparison (for science) and Crumbl has a s’mores flavor this week. IDK why I bought the other 3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Verdict: Although the Crumbl cookie was delicious, my favorite s’mores cookie is still from The Cookie Corner in Hawaii.
See’s is everywhere in LA, and I never understood how they stayed in business until I had a Dark Scotchmallow in my thirties.
I ordered some limited edition Dark Mint Scotchmallows from their website (they were sold out for St. Patty’s Day at my local See’s), and I allow myself half a piece a day LMAO.
Welp, I have until 2035 to get my life together before I start driving an electric car that needs to be charged regularly.
I’m the type of person who doesn’t fill up their gas tank until I’m running on fumes (this picture was taken today).
I’m also the type of person whose phone is always on the cusp of dying or already dead (even though I work from home). Don’t even get me started on all my unread notifications.
When I woke up this morning, I laid my crystals out to charge under the full moon, washed my serotonin pill down with crystal-infused water, and cried into my acai bowl. Pre-pandemic me would never, but LA has changed me, y’all.
I don’t know if it’s work, or my period, or the $25 I just spent on doordashing this acai bowl… but Jesus, I got emotional. You should probably avoid this hot mess express for the next 3-5 days.
Ghost, I wish you well, it’s your life
Pray you find yourself as souls divide
Seven sisters blue, it’s your life
Left my heart with, left my heart with you
I doordashed dinner tonight and just received someone else’s order (a hazard of contactless delivery). Even though I was hangry as hell, I think we can all agree that the real victim here is Kathleen M., who ordered 8 scoops of ice cream from Handel’s and received my salad and brussels sprouts from Tin Roof Bistro instead 🤣
Also, I am now a person who says, “Remember when gas was (insert lower price here)?” and also the kind of person who bangs on the wall I share with my asshole neighbor when he’s blasting his TV that he mounted to our one shared wall past midnight.