Another day, another donut (@ Randy’s Donuts)

They started jury selection today, and 80+ jurors and I didn’t get picked. We did have to sit in the gallery for hours while the 18 selected for the jury box answered questions from the judge and attorneys. We have to report again tomorrow, because they haven’t decided on the final jury yet. At least there’s good food spots in Inglewood, and the court bailiff is nice to look at 😅

I’ve never had jury duty in LA where I had to show up in person, but today I got summoned to the Inglewood courthouse. They were short-staffed and running behind, so it was a lot of sitting around while they got their shit together. All 100+ of us got assigned to one courtroom where a man with tattoos on his face was being tried for murder 😳 We had to fill out a questionnaire before they dismissed us for the day, and we were told to return tomorrow for jury selection.

The silver lining of having jury duty in Inglewood (besides getting PTO from work) is that the courthouse is down the street from my favorite cajun deli, Orleans & York. I usually only go here when I go to a show nearby at Kia Forum or SoFi Stadium. I got a po’boy (Big Mo’s Favorite with fried shrimp and beef hot links) and banana pudding. I will probably go back here tomorrow after it’s decided whether or not a man’s fate rests in my hands 😅

Doordashed corned beef hash for St. Paddy’s Day (@ Snax)

Am I doing it right?

In case I forgot I was back in LA this weekend, we had several earthquakes and a notification of a wildfire today, and it’s also Daylight Savings, so I woke up at 5pm instead of 4pm, because my body’s still on Tokyo Time. I’m sick, too, so I’ll recap when I’m feeling better 🤒

Nori and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and this child was screaming bloody murder inside. Straight up screaming and his mom was gentle parenting the shit out of him.

We were like… What the???

Anyway, when we got our food, there was a free cookie on our trays. Not sure if they were apology cookies for having to listen to that devil child, or if the server thought we were cute 🤪

I’ve been at a work conference this whole week (@ westdrift Manhattan Beach, Autograph Collection)

Since we work remotely, and it’s our team’s first year switching to the Digital department from Advertising, most of us haven’t met in person since it was our first time attending this Digital Summit, and none of us use our real photo on Slack 😆

Most of my coworkers stayed at the hotel, because even though they live in LA, they still live over an hour away, and our days started @ 8:30am and last night, we didn’t get back to the hotel till after 10pm! The hotel is only 8 minutes away from my apartment, so I drove each day. Except the first night, I had too much to drink at dinner and took a $10 uber home 😅

Nothing says LA like a Taco Bell Cantina and an injury lawyer billboard on Hollywood Blvd.

We took a ‘City of Lights’ bus tour of LA, even though most of us live here. We went to LACMA, the La Brea Tar Pits, Urban Lights, Hollywood Stars, Sunset Blvd. and the Promenade.

It’s been raining all week. Sucks for everyone who came to town hoping to escape the cold 🥶 LA really needed the rain after those devastating fires, though. During the tour, our guide got an evacuation alert for mudslides near his house 😅

Dinner & drinks (@ 1212 Santa Monica)

The presentations were pretty dry, but the creative team stayed entertained in the back sending inappropriate messages 😆

I love working remotely, but I miss these clowns already 🥲

Used to know you well, now I’m chasing a ghost
Dancing with your skeleton’s rattling bones

Obsessed.

Heard this song on KROQ and it’s been on repeat ever since. They remind me of Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes and Tame Impala. I really want to see them live, but they have a show in LA when I’ll be on vacation. I’ll only be gone for 2 weeks, but I’m gonna miss Innings Festival, Balu Brigada at The Echo, Phantogram at the Hollywood Palladium, Andy Grammer at The Magnolia, and Deftones at Kia Forum 😭

Chinese food for Lunar New Year (@ Northern Cafe)

Are we doing it right???

Also, my lesbian aunt sent me this memoji video, and it’s the best thing I’ve seen all year 😆

(via @solomongiorgio)

I think the last time I saw Deane was on a zoom happy hour during covid!

I had the stroke after that, and she was a digital nomad living out of the country last year when I came back to LA. Now she’s back in LA, too, and living in Koreatown. We both have January birthdays, so we celebrated with Nori at Soowon Galbi, followed by dessert at Sul & Beans near her new place in K-Town.

Who wore it better??? We used to work together, and we bonded over work trauma, our love of live music, good food and no dietary restrictions 😆

We used to go to Ocean Diner in Hermosa Beach for lunch all the time, but we started noticing people would get fired after we ate there. It happened three different times! So we haven’t eaten there in years 😅

One time, we were at the Hollywood Bowl, and she leaned over and was like, ‘Can we go eat after this?’ 😆

We would leave shows early all the time to go eat (@ Bootleg Theater)

Our favorite place ever was Ramekin in Los Feliz. It has since closed down, but our friendship has outlasted all the restos and music venues that have closed since I met her. She’s the coolest girl I know in LA ✌🏼

I had a v productive day today.

I spent my morning in urgent care to make sure my wound wasn’t serious and my leg isn’t going to fall off. I spent $50 and an hour in a waiting room full of sick, crying children (my worst nightmare!) for the doctor to tell me that my leg is healing properly. She also prescribed me some preventative antibiotics. I e-mailed my boss earlier to let her know I’d be out today and attached a picture of my bloody leg. She was like, ‘Why are our legs the same color? Work-from-home white!’ Way to kick me when I’m down 😂

Afterwards, I had lunch with Nori at Northern Cafe. We were supposed to go to Mendocino Cafe, but I missed a turn 🤪

Clearwater at South Bay is accepting donations to help those in need during the LA fires, and Torrance is much closer to me than where I was originally gonna drop off at the Y in Koreatown, so I dropped off my goods there. They were amazed at all the dog and cat food I gave. I felt like Cher in Clueless 😆

I’m also a monthly donor to the ASPCA. The animals need me!

On my way back home, I saw this guy in my rearview driving behind me smiling taking a picture of the back of my car. These bumper stickers make me laugh, and I love when they put a smile on other people’s faces 😊

I thought it was a made up # on the ‘How’s My Crying?’ bumper sticker, but I googled it and it’s the White House’s #. How apropos 😅

To everyone who has checked on me since the fires started in LA, you the real MVPs 🥹

To everyone else…

Respectfully, of course.

Shi couldn’t celebrate my birthday with me this year, so she doordashed me some breakfast from King’s Hawaiian 😋🤙🏼

I like to spend my birthday surrounded by wieners, HBU? (@ Puppies & Yoga)

I live at least an hour south of any of the fires burning in LA right now. You can’t see the smoke from here, but you can smell it in the air, and my car’s covered in ash. We didn’t see any smoke on the way up to West Hollywood for puppy yoga, but we did see this injury lawyer billboard 😆

We ate at Food Network’s Brooke Williamson’s beachside restaurant, Playa Provisions. Proceeds from their fish tacos went to wildfire relief, so of course that’s what I ordered. It was delicious!

Pop-prosecco? Yes, please.

I hardly ever go to the beach, even though I live literally 2 miles from the ocean on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Donna & David happened to be in town for a wedding this weekend, and as San Diegans who moved to the east coast after high school, they like to go to the beach whenever they’re back in California.

‘Go to the beach,’ they said. ‘It’ll be fun,’ they said.

Pardon my ashy white legs LOL, I had a little accident and slipped on some rocks 😅

Fun Fact: I’ve always wanted to be Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice for Halloween.

I instacarted some non-perishables and necessities for families and pets who have been displaced due to the fires. The YMCA in Koreatown is accepting donation drop-offs.

Pammie collected money from the girls and got me an awesome Moo Deng shirt that I wore to puppy yoga, and had leftover money, so I said to just donate it to one of these major organizations accepting monetary donations for the wildfires: LAFD, American Red Cross, Direct Relief, World Central Kitchen, or the Salvation Army. They need it more than I do. Please give what you can 🥺

I was going to spend my birthday eating my way through Smorgasburg LA, but it’s been canceled 🥺

If my puppy yoga class is also canceled in West Hollywood this Sunday, I will riot 😅

JK, I hope everyone continues to be safe 💔

Cody Fry – Symphony

I used to hear a simple song
That was until you came along
You took my broken melody
And now I hear a symphony

I was going to kick off my birthday weekend by crying downtown tonight (what else is new?), but the concert I was supposed to attend has been postponed due to the state of emergency in LA 🥺

Uhh, should I put some pants on? 😅

Update: False alarm. Get it together!

Now I really feel like an asshole 😅

Jeffrey’s dad was evacuated from Altadena (north of Pasadena) early in the morning yesterday. Luckily, he’s okay, but I can’t say the same about his neighborhood.

LA is huge and the most populous county in the United States (nearly 10 million people—its population is greater than that of 40 individual U.S. states!). I’m very far from any of the fires ripping through LA right now, so I’m okay. This is like when my mom asks me to bring home a dozen potato balls from Porto’s when I visit SD. She thinks that since I live in LA, I’m close to everything in LA. It takes me an hour to get to the closest Porto’s after work on a Friday night! She’s lucky I love potato balls her.

Stay safe, LA…

Actual footage of me driving through this ‘life-threatening’ wind storm in LA today:

Update: OK now I feel like an asshole because this wind storm is causing devastating fires across LA 😅 It’s a good thing Steve Guttenberg was in all those Police Academy movies 😆

Update: Thanks to everyone for checking on me… even just to make sure that I’m not secretly fucking someone in the Palisades 😅 You have a secret lover for five years once and no one ever lets you forget it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My old ass didn’t make it to midnight on NYE, so I didn’t see this until today. I immediately sent it to my friend and was like, ‘What in the default font is this bullshit?’

Earlier today, I just told one of our web designers to change the font they used on an email they designed, because it looked like a default font like Myriad. You never choose that font on purpose, it’s like it defaulted to Myriad because they didn’t have the font it was supposed to be instead.

I was catching up on my DMs, and saw that another friend of mine sent me this same video because they know I’m a typography nerd 🤓

I was once at the (now closed) Museum of Broken Relationships in Hollywood, and this exhibit really resonated with me.

After a relationship ends, even the most mundane objects can become painful reminders. At the Museum of Broken Relationships, everyday stuff was submitted anonymously and exhibited as art along with each object’s story of betrayal or loss. The result was a moving collection of heartbreak.

This guy met a girl in a graphic design class, and she used a ridiculous font, Davida, for her first project. He started seeing this same ridiculous font used everywhere from El Torito, to Café Du Monde packaging to a barbershop in Santa Monica. He couldn’t escape it. It became a game in their relationship, and they started collecting items they found using Davida font. They’ve since broken up, but he still sees Davida everywhere and knows all the streets he could drive down (or avoid) in LA to see signs using Davida font. He still thinks about that girl and what could’ve been.

It’s been nearly a decade, and I still think about this exhibit 💔

(@ LA Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. LIVE)

Who needs a Christmas tree when you can just throw some fairy lights on a fiddle leaf fig bush?

You know you live in LA when free parking is a gift 🎁

I have no debt and no kids, and my job allows me to afford the lifestyle I’ve grown accustomed to 😅 In the end, you can only depend on yourself, and I’ve never wanted to be financially dependent on someone else, especially a man ✌🏻

Also, if these frequent earthquakes are an indication that the big one is coming, I should probably start wearing pants.

*types in underwear*

I’m back in SD for my mom’s birthday today. I pretty much just go back to my apartment in LA to water my plants 🪴

(via @sbrbnla)

It’s gonna be a shit show in LA tomorrow, and it’s gonna take a week to fix the gate in my parking garage (though when someone broke into our garage the last time, my car and my mango hi-chews went untouched LOL there were BMWs, Teslas and a Maserati in my garage—nobody was trying to fuck with my Mazda hatchback). I’m driving down to SD tonight and spending the week there anyway.

I was gonna drive down tomorrow morning, but there’s been a company re-org and now the web department reports to someone new and we have a teams meeting in the morning. You guys, I haven’t had a meeting since 2020 😅 I don’t even know what half my team looks like because they started after the pandemic.  Also, I haven’t spoken to any of these people (off Slack or email) since the stroke. I’m not even sure most of them know I even had a stroke! I was sure my boss told them why I was out for 6 months, but I was chatting on Slack with my project manager, and I made this offhanded joke about having a stroke, and she had no idea. I’m like, ‘What did my boss even tell these people about my 6-month absence???’ The higher ups knew and didn’t even send me flowers while I was in the hospital, so IDK why I expected my coworkers to know. It happened right before the superbowl, and my friends saw the big Snoop commercial and were like, ‘They can afford Snoop for the superbowl, but they can’t afford to send their employee of over 10 years flowers in the hospital?!’ Yes, I’m still bitter, and yes, I dried my tears with the raise and bonus they gave me while I was on medical leave.

Anyway, here’s some actual footage of me driving in LA traffic:

(via @rvxmendoza)

…or me and Nori after we ate at the same Peruvian resto for lunch for the second time this week (we would’ve gone yesterday, too, but it was National Pasta Day, so we ate at North Italia 😆) and the guy remembered our order (a Shack Sandwich with an extra plate because we split it, and a side of fried plantains). Papi takes care of us 😜

I was looking through old posts and came across this post of ‘Where To Get Dinner With Someone Who Talks Too Loud’ and realized the resto I was recently taken to was on this list.

Pijja Palace is a sports bar on Sunset 10 minutes from Dodger Stadium, but I went there the night of a Padres/Braves game, so these Angelenos didn’t give a shit. I’m sure it’s much rowdier when there’s a Dodgers game on.

The only other restaurant I’ve been to on here is Guelaguetza, and I can confirm that you can still hear me over the live mariachi band 😜

After we went to the Rams game, we took the bus out of traffic because it was impossible to get a rideshare at the stadium. The last stop was in Playa del Rey, down the street from Chef Brooke Williamson‘s resto, Playa Provisions. We were gonna grab dinner there before heading home, but they had a private event that night and weren’t accepting walk-ins, just reservations! I forgot you either have to make a res or wait in a ridiculously long line to eat at a good resto in LA 😅

Anyway, I would never choose to have Indian for dinner, but I’m also easygoing and down to try anything (except baby animals and Highland cows LOL). I avoided all the lamb dishes, of course, but the malai rigatoni was def something to write home about (@ Pijja Palace)

It was like an Indian take on perfectly al dente vodka pasta. Maybe I like Indian fusion, because I really enjoyed the Tandoori Chicken Poutine at Maneet Chauhan’s restaurant in Nashville, too.

This place was also oddly a sports bar, so I got to catch the Padres playoff game during dinner. They won again and swept the Braves to win the wild card series!

People were asking me if I was gonna go to a playoff game at Dodger Stadium, but the last time I went to a Padres/Dodgers game at that stadium (last week LOL), Padres lost big time, so I don’t wanna jinx them 😅

The series is best-of-five in a 2-2-1 format, so game 3 will be in SD. I’ll be in SD next week, but game 3 falls on my dad’s birthday, so I’m hoping the Dodgers don’t sweep, and there’s a game 4 I can possibly go to in SD.

Also, I might have to go to a game if someone’s able to find me this cute ass Padres jacket Alex Morgan (SD Wave soccer player) wore to a game last month 🔥

Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon

After dinner, we went to Larchmont Village for Jeni’s ice cream and cookies from Levain Bakery, and this guy was playing ‘Harvest Moon’ on the sax on the street. It’s a Neil Young song, but I only know it because Lord Huron did a cover 😆

On the way home, we saw the coolest house decorated for Halloween in Highland Park 🖤

I wore my Padres hat and lived to blog about it (@ Dodger Stadium)

It’s National Dumpling Day, so we had to get a Home Run Platter. I don’t make the rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I love a big ass wiener Doyer Dog between my legs.

Garlic fries in a helmet? Yes, please.

The Dodgers beat the Padres 7-2 and clinched the division title, but both teams are going to the playoffs. Catch you in the postseason ✌🏻

My cousin’s birthday is coming up, and she and my sister both did so much for me after my stroke, so I treated us all out to our first football game at SoFi Stadium, VIP style ✨

Did I just meet my future husband? 😜

Garoppolo is the new Rams’ backup QB, so he was suited up, but didn’t get to play at all, and McCaffrey (my cousin’s favorite Niner) wasn’t even there because he’s been out with a calf injury since the season started. Oh, well. We were there for the 50-yard line club seats and complimentary food and beer at The Gallagher Club!

The guy at the tri-tip station saw me holding my plate of nachos, so he cubed up the meat and put it on top of my nachos without me having to say anything. I love this silent understanding between me and the tri-tip guy 😂

They not like us

AJ Mclean of Backstreet Boys was at the game, so they featured him on the jumbotron when they did stadium karaoke to I Want It That Way. Lebron James, Dalton Knecht and Chuck Lidell were also at the game.

The Niners were leading up until the final two seconds when the Rams scored a field goal and won. It was such a good game!

Partly because parking was $100, but mostly because our tickets came with free alcohol, we just uber’d there. It was impossible to get a rideshare after the game, so we took the bus (my first in LA!) out of traffic to the last stop in Playa del Rey, and took a 15-minute uber home from there.

We had reservations to go to Pizzeria Bianco in DTLA for my birthday last year, and I texted my cousin who also lives in Redondo and was like, “I don’t think I can make it. I had a stroke and I’m in the hospital.” 😅

We ate at the one in Phoenix when we were there for the inaugural Innings Fest, and were so stoked to hear that they were expanding to LA. We finally got to go and it was just as good as I remember it being 🍕 Now if only they’d open a Cornish Pasty Co in LA so we could get our PB&J pasty fix!

Since Pammie visited me in LA this weekend, I took her to this Harry Potter themed cafe nearby inside Del Amo mall in Torrance.

Pammie ordered Goblin Snot (an iced matcha with white chocolate cream) and I got Phoenix Tears (passionfruit and mango sparkling refresher with lemonade topped with edible gitter). Phoenix Tears have immense healing powers (according to Harry Potter Wiki) ✨

The cafe was cute, but my sister has better Harry Potter decor in her house 😆 They could definitely work on their marketing and branding. Our iced cups, for example, should have stickers with their logo on it. ‘Snot’ and ‘Tears’ were just scribbled on our cups with a sharpie 😅 My graphic designer eyes are very judgy 👀

LA has 2 MLB teams, 2 NBA teams, and 2 NFL teams, and I’m reaping all the bennies 😆

I went to lunch with Nori at Calif Chicken Cafe this afternoon in El Segundo, and it was right next to the Chargers Team Store and the Chargers Training Camp. I’m going to my first Rams game at SoFi Stadium this weekend, and I feel like a traitor, but I’m not trying to get murdered, so I’ll be wearing my Rams shirt 😅

I kept quiet so I could keep you

My sister lives in the ‘burbs, so I felt relatively safe walking around her neighborhood by myself in San Diego. When I walk around my apartment in LA, though, I bring my pepper spray and box cutter and wear my Dodgers hat 😅

A few years ago, my new neighbor hung a letter and bag of candy on everyone’s door introducing himself and his dog to the building. I remember throwing away the candy and thinking, ‘This is LA, man. We don’t do that here.’ LOL. I still don’t remember his name, but his frenchie’s name was Stella 😆

When I made the door hanger on my Cricut, I asked Pammie if she could help me weed it (the vinyl stickers). She was like, ‘I’m already disturbed. Please come in.’ I was like, ‘I know what it says… I said, ‘WEED’ it. Not read it.’ LMAO. I know I sound like a baby sometimes after having the stroke, but I haven’t developed an Elmer Fudd speech impediment. I can say ‘read’ 🤣

Anyway, I hope my Halloween decor thrills all my gentlemen callers doordash delivery guys 💀🖤

Is somebody gonna match my freak? 😜

I was woken up today by an earthquake in Malibu. I just went back to sleep, partly because it was 4:22 in the morning, but mostly because the earthquake was only 3.6 (when it comes to earthquakes and boys, I only get up for a 6 or above 😆).

I had to use the stove last night, so I moved my new air fryer toaster oven from on top of the stove to on top of the fridge and pushed the glass canisters of sugar and flour to the edge. ‘They’ll be fine up here as long as there isn’t an earthquake,’ I thought.

This reminds me of the time I moved out of my apartment in La Mesa. Shi and I set my bed frame on its side to see if I could get it out of my bedroom without having to break it down. After finding out it could fit through the door in one piece, we left it propped up against the wall.

This is the conversation that followed:

me: Aren’t you gonna help me put the bed frame back down?
Shi: Just leave it. It’ll be easier to move tomorrow.
me: What if it falls on me while I’m sleeping?
Shi: It’s NOT going to fall on you!
me: But what if there’s an earthquake?
Shi: There’s not going to be a damn earthquake, crazy!

Can you guess what woke me up the next morning? I survived the earthquake, obvi… no thanks to you, Shirley May!

I meal prepped so I don’t fall into old habits (doordashing breakfast and dinner everyday and spending a gazillion dollars on food 😅). I still go out to lunch with Nori during the week, though (a bunch of new restos opened in the south bay while I was gone, and I have to try them all).

(@ Lobster-Guys)

(@ Pita Café)

While I was away, they opened a Salt & Straw in Manhattan Beach and a Magnolia Bakery ghost kitchen in Torrance, all within doordashable distance to my apartment. This does not bode well for my blood glucose levels. Or my waistline 😅

Keane – Somewhere Only We Know

And if you have a minute, why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go somewhere only we know?

Keane – Everybody’s Changing

Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody’s changing and I don’t feel the same

Keane – A Bad Dream

And when will I meet my end?
In a better time you could be my friend
I wake up, it’s a bad dream
No one on my side
I was fighting
But I just feel too tired to be fighting
Guess I’m not the fighting kind
Wouldn’t mind it
If you were by my side
But you’re long gone
Yeah, you’re long gone now

Keane – We Might as Well Be Strangers

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
We might as well be strangers in another town
We might as well be living in another town
We might as well
We might as well
We might as well be strangers

Keane at The Greek and street dogs. It doesn’t get more LA than this!

Thank you Nori and Sachi for making my first day back so amazing 🥰

When you move back to LA during a heat wave 😅

I bought this portable A/C unit during the Great Heat Wave of 2022, and it’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made (to be fair, I’ve made a lot of bad decisions).

The VIP experience (@ Kia Forum)

As Pammie, Christine and I were scarfing down our nachos, chicken tenders, burgers, and garlic fries before the show, I looked around and noticed no one else had food. I forgot people in LA don’t eat 😅

I think we broke Christine 😆

Her husband sent us a picture of her the next day wearing a JT shirt with a huge smile on her face and was like, ‘She’s been like this all morning!’ He told her being VIP at the JT show was like when he and I had floor seats at the Young the Giant show, and Christine was like, ‘IDK what metric system you’re using, but JT≠YTG.’ 🤣

Just Selena ‘sausage-maker’ Gomez living the dream at Moo’s Craft Barbecue in LA on today’s episode of Selena + Restaurant.

You lit your cigarette
Oh, how quickly we all forget
That bed you made, you must lay in it
Lost in a fruitless cause
False hope was all you bought
Oh, and the answers didn’t seem so far

Jessie and I were supposed to see The Brook & The Bluff at the Belly Up last year, but she had to go out of town that day, so we ended up selling our tickets. The show was sold out, so we made a nice little profit. I’m so glad I get to finally see them, though. I bought tickets to their upcoming show with Stephen Sanchez at the YouTube Theater inside SoFi Stadium in LA. I have another show the week before in LA, and I figure I’ll be back by September.

I love YouTube Theater (I’ve seen Bon Iver there and may or may not have sobbed violently), but the last time I was there was to see Local Natives a couple years ago. I specifically bought front row center balcony seats so I could sit if I wanted to (mama’s too old to stand for the duration of an entire concert). They didn’t end up selling enough tickets (which I thought was odd because Local Natives are from LA, and I’ve been to shows of theirs at bigger venues), so they closed the balcony section and gave everyone who had seats up there seats on the lower level. This was never communicated to us before the show, so we took our sweet time, ate some banana pudding at Orleans & York Deli, skipped the opener, and paid $50 for parking. When we finally got there, the only seats they had left were ones where we had to stand the whole time behind these obnoxious Angelenos who talked throughout the entire show. I haven’t seen Local Natives or been back to this venue since. I’m obviously still mad about it LOL. I bought front row balcony tickets again, so hopefully they don’t do me like they did in ‘22 😅

Donna’s son has been staying at my sister’s to train at the Olympic Training Center nearby, and he had a meet in LA today, so we went up to watch him compete, have dinner with his friend who lives near me in Manhattan Beach, and stopped by my apartment to pick up my passport before my trip next month. It was raining most of the day, and we had just finished telling him about all the tickets I’ve racked up in LA, when this big ass truck hydroplaned and spun out behind us in the rain. Luckily, he didn’t hit anyone or us. We think Elijah might be our good luck charm 🤗 He placed 2nd at the meet today, just being edged out by this kid from UCSD who PR’d.

Only in LA (@ The Corner Store)

More importantly, do you carry Mango Hi-Chews here???

I can only eat pad thai now when it’s topped with a whole ass lobster tail (@ Nawa Thai Manhattan Beach)

My passport was exactly where I thought it was (even though I haven’t used it since 2020), and I picked up my mail and got a random ass check for $1600 for some Wells Fargo lawsuit settlement. I haven’t banked with Wells Fargo since I had a private loan there for art school over a decade ago, so the check was very unexpected.

I went to the disability office earlier this week and there were like literally 100 people in the waiting room and spilling out into the hallways. I was like, “I’m not waiting in this fucking line,” and told the dude at the desk that we just needed a form to report the disability income I received last year, and he was like, “Everyday, people ask me for a 1099G form to report their disability income, and I’mma tell you the same thing I told them. It’s FREE money. You don’t have to report it. The money comes from social security taxes you’ve already paid.” So I don’t have to report the disability checks I received and saved last year, and now I could buy all the banana pudding ice cream I want. Or a Tesla. I haven’t decided yet.

On the drive home from LA, I found out Donna’s kid likes the Deftones just like his auntie, and we listened to them on the whole car ride home 🖤

Nori still goes into the office, so she keeps me updated on the food spots we’d go to for lunch. I miss going to the mall just to get Cinnabon 😅 Or walking by some skanky outfit at Forever 21 and asking Nori if she’d wear it for $3 🤣

Does anyone want to go to a Dodgers game to eat garlic fries in a helmet, Shake Shack, a doyer dog, hot honey chicken tenders, korean short ribs, chili cheese tots and a churro sundae in a helmet see Shohei Ohtani play?

I miss crying at the cemetery 🖤

Patrick Watson has a show tonight at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, and I would totally go if I was back in LA…

This Lloyd Wright stunner is closing 😭

It’s a gorgeous glass chapel nestled on a cliff in Palos Verdes, and more importantly, it’s where Julie and Caleb got married on The O.C. 😆

I was lucky enough to visit this gem in 2016. Sadly,  8 years later, I’m still unmarried and without child (they do baptisms here, too).

I’ve legit said a number of these things 😅

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 😆

Chamangos and chisme (@ Crab Hut)

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 used to never believe in all this woo woo bullshit, but now look at my tarot-planning, crystal-charging, sound-bathing, chakra-aligning ass 😅 I blame LA. And the universe.

Reliving my youth (@ The Echo)

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!” 😂

We knew of this truck, because we went to a taco festival (we’re v serious about our tacos), and we picked the vendor with the longest line because we figured they had the best tacos.

You know the tacos are good when you hear gunshots! 😅 Ratatata!

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???

Don’t mind me, I’m just trying to win some brisket from zef.daddy.

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…

Morning View is my favorite Incubus album, and they’re re-recording it and performing it in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl in October.

Action Bronson and Paris Jackson are opening, though. Was Hoobastank unavailable? 😂

You only think about yourself
You only think about yourself
You’d better bend before I go
On the first train to Mexico

Redondo Beach News Update, I can’t take your emails seriously when you allow Kim K. to buy ad space on them…

I feel seen. Don’t judge me!

1. Nope, in fact I make it a point to eat with people who don’t have dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten-free, etc.)
2. 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???
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. My parents think I design shoes at Skechers, but I’m a web designer there.
6. I do want to adopt a dog, but I haven’t yet…
7. My favorite billboard lawyer is Sweet James (The Beard of Justice).
8. My regular chiropractor is in Manhattan Beach, but I did used to see a nutritionist in Santa Monica 😅 And I once sold something on letgo to a douchebag from Santa Monica who called it “SaMo.”
9. This guy moved into my building and put candy and a one-page intro to him and and his dog on everyone’s door. I was like, “Does he know he moved to LA??? We don’t talk to our neighbors here” 🤣 (unless it’s to bang on their door after midnight to tell them to turn their fucking TV down).

I moved to LA over a decade ago, and I still don’t consider myself an Angeleno!

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!

I’ve been to 3/20 places on Eater’s 20 Essential BBQ Restaurants in LA, Spring 2023 list (Bludso’s, Slab & Maple Block Meat Company). Anyone want to try the other 17 with me??? I also have a BBQ bucket list if you feel like traveling.

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.

Also, Yelp sent me this list of their 2023 Top Lobster Roll Spots in Every State. Anyone interested in eating their way across America with me???

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 😅

I once got invited to a Sleepless party in LA that started at 11:30 (PM!).

I would’ve gone, but I was sleeping 😴 Besides, I’d already taken off my bra by that time, and once it comes off, I’m in for the night…

Mmm, Daddy 😈

Logan Sandoval is my favorite contestant on Barbecue Showdown.

He has a weekend pop-up in LA. Who’s coming with me???

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 😏

FYI I get all my important news in a daily email from The Betches Sup.

P.S. Florida senators should not be commenting on California things 😒

Freakin’ birds (@ Starbucks)

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 another Starbucks 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.

Margarita Manzke (co-owner and pastry chef at République in LA) is a 2023 James Beard Award Finalist.

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!

You’re so fuckin’ bougie.

– 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

Doesn’t it, though???

P.S. Blue Salt is amazing, near my apartment, and you should totally take me there.

Love is the moving power of our world…
if you would bring healing…
bring hope.

(@ Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance)

When in LA (@ Urth Caffe)

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.

(FYI, I also like Dark Salted Caramels and Toffee-ettes.)

Is it sad that I’ve been to 3 of these places (and one of them is my own bed?)???

Escaping LA for the holidays be like…

Two things still warm this heart: freshly zambonied ice and chili dogs (@ LA Live / Pink’s)

It’s 100° and RAINING in LA. WHAT IS HAPPENING???

This heat has made me realize that I’m not built for hell, so I gotta make some life changes! 😅 Just kidding (I’ll take my chances).

Amazon primed a portable A/C today because fuck this shit.

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.

I don’t know what to tell you guys ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Silver dreams bring me to you

Local Natives (@ YouTube Theater)

Smoked wing night (@ Maple Block Meat Co.)

I had a pretty shitty day yesterday.

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.

Friyay latte (@ Urth Caffe)

Fuck, can I get pregnant from this??? 😳

APL is doing BBQ pop-ups all summer at Strand Brewing Co, and I am here for it.

What time should I be ready? 😜

The only restaurant I’ve been to on this list is Guelaguetza, and I can confirm that you can still hear me over the mariachi band.

10/10. Highly recommend.

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

Palace (@ The Fonda)

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 🤣

BRB crying into my bangin’ breakfast sadwich (I’ll see myself out).

Dance party (@ The Forum)

I had to for posterity’s sake (@ Mobil – Manhattan Beach)

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.

👵🏻 👵🏻 👵🏻

Ma’am, this is the 405…

Too bad I’m a Rams fan now 😜

Let’s get some fuckin’ french toast (@ République)

Christmas (@ Crypto.com)

There is a hell and it’s DTLA during a lakers game the week of christmas.

Not pictured: The 500 people in line for ice skating and the $40 parking garage.

If you only ever go to one concert in your life, let it be Tame Impala at the Hollywood Bowl.

What, your neighbor’s halloween decor doesn’t include conjoined unicorns???

11/20: You guys, they’ve updated it for Thanksgiving.

Everything that happens is from now on
This is pouring rain, this is paralyzed

Spent my Friday night crying in Inglewood, hbu? (@ YouTube Theater)

I’ve seen Bon Iver twice before, but this was the first time he sang my most favorite song of his (re:Stacks). This was also my first time seeing a show at the new YouTube Theater. It’s located inside SoFi Stadium and it is GORGEOUS. If I were the Chargers, I would’ve left SD for this shit, too! It’s also an 11-minute drive from my apartment and near this cajun resto where we had the best pre-show po’ boys ever. Chargers game, anyone???

Lay me in the tall grown grass in a shallow grave
Let it have me

Lord Huron (@ Hollywood Forever Cemetery)

One of my favorite bands at one of my favorite venues! My first live show in nearly two years did not disappoint 🖤

Caitlyn Jenner and Angelyne? Was Kanye unavailable???

To the asshole who stole my skincare subscription box: I hope you’re allergic to $100 worth of plant-based moisturizers!

I’d rather hitch a ride and pay with my life than pay uber $100 for a 10-minute ride home from LAX! (I grabbed a $25 cab instead and lived to blog about it.)

I enjoy long walks to any burrito (@ Redondo Beach)

Rise & grind (@ Phanny’s)

Lord Huron at the cemetery? Yes, please 🖤

Silently cheering so my neighbors don’t murder me.

My sister’s husband armed me with pepper spray when I first moved to LA. I used to keep it on my key ring, but it was confiscated years ago at some seedy show downtown. I honestly never thought to replace it until now…

Given the rise in anti-asian hate crimes, I’ve amazon primed myself some pepper spray plus a stun gun for good measure. COME AT ME, BRO.

It’s been tough working from home this past year, but I don’t miss my windowless office. The view from my studio is pretty uninteresting (though today I captured some rare LA rain!). When I get bored of the view, I just visit WindowSwap and pretend I’m working from somewhere else in the world… I’ve been in Georgetown watching this dog fetch a frisbee for hours now!

Back in the day when we were allowed to dine inside restaurants, I had an amazing meal at Jon and Vinny’s. I loved everything we ordered, from the marinara braised meatballs to the LA woman pizza, but the real star of the show was their spicy fusilli alla vodka (what’s not to love about carbs and alcohol?). I’ve been dreaming about it ever since, so when I came across Jon and Vinny’s recipe on Bon Appétit, I knew I had to make it for dinner.

This dish was surprisingly simple to make. I mean, did I have to ask the guy at Trader Joe’s what a shallot was? Yes. And did I see my life flash before my eyes for a split second when I flambéd that vodka? Also yes. But it turned out just as delicious as I remembered it being. And what was already an amazing dish was made even better by the fact that I didn’t have to schlep over to Fairfax in LA traffic or make a reservation a month in advance to eat it!

39 is staying in, binging Schitt’s Creek for the fourth time, eating your favorite pastrami sandwich and cookies from NYC, and finding joy in vacuuming all of your crumbs with the dream dyson you just got for your birthday (I’m clearly going hard this last year in my thirties).

Luckily, my neighbors drive maseratis and porsches, so my mazda hatchback and glove compartment full of hi-chews went untouched.

I literally just got back to LA, stepped out of my car and dropped my cali burrito from SD on the floor. This pretty much sums up 2020 for me.

I think the real tragedy here is that the curfew starts hours after I’ve already taken off my bra and called it a night.

…or what I tell myself when I have to work on the weekend and they forget the organic goji berries on the $20 acai bowl I just postmated.