Hollywood Christmas Parade

Elmo looks like he's going to eat all the people, but don't worry he's tied up. Many an inappropriate joke was made about Elmo coming for the kids...

Thanksgiving Day as I was working with my house guests to prepare our delicious turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn bread casserole, etc etc etc we discussed the fact that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is often referred to as the Macy's Day Parade. Cudos to Macy's for having a whole parade on Thanksgiving be one of the biggest and most interesting forms of advertising in the holiday season.

I went to see the Hollywood Christmas Parade, the equivalent of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, only it's smaller and not on Thanksgiving. A friend's sister was in town as an assistant director for a band from Indiana, Pennsylvania (represent!) to march in the parade and we went out to support her! It was fun to see the floats and bands go by (plus all of the "celebrities" we didn't know in fancy sports cars waving like Ms. America).

super cool band "banner"

I happened to be standing near a wire that crosses Hollywood Blvd (by the Popeyes if you know where that is...nearly across the street from my church) for no apparent reason. I'm sure there is/was a reason at some point but it just complicates things for those marching with big balloons, all of then had to almost touch the ground in order to pass underneath it holding up the parade for a bit.

Dukes of Hazard

In any case, it was a fun evening cheering on the side of Hollywood Blvd and, because I took the metro, I didn't have to deal with parking and/or driving in that mess :)

Scoobie Doo!!!

Who ya gonna call?

In other news. Last night I was able to attend a screening of some shorts up for the Oscars this year. None were particularly stand out but it was fun to watch them and learn about the voting process. There are even little pens with flashlights and glow ends used for voting to turn off the short if it's really bad (note to filmmakers: make sure the first six minutes of your short are good, and don't spend all that time on opening credits).

Oh CA

It is still amazing to me the power of music to evoke a sense of atmosphere. This was something I pondered very deeply when creating a Road Trip playlist for my trek out to California this past summer. What songs evoked a sense of, "here we go, out on the road, leavin' what has been home for 22 years" and then "mountains", "plains", "desert", "new coast", "new home?" Watching the movie Take Me Home on Netflix and discovering the band Bootstraps (put together for the movie but now a full-fledged band) makes me wish I had the album for my journey out here.

So, I suppose I'm making up for it now, driving around LA on these partly cloudy days thinking of the open road and driving along the PCH (see the movie credits to understand).

Come One Come All!

I started out at my last day of internship by going to the Post Office and then Trader Joe's for some groceries for the week. Then I was taken out to a wonderful lunch at The Hungry Cat where we started with oysters on the half shell and fresh cherry limeade. Then I had some kind of fresh fish (similar to sea bass) with chanterelle mushrooms, figs, spinach, and a creamy potato base on the side. Finally we finished beignets dipped in a dark chocolate sauce and a fresh pressed coffee. It was scrumptious!

Then, I went to the Circus! Yes, Circus Vargas was in town, complete with big top tent. 

Kids Hula-Hooping in the ring

The Juggler was pretty amazing, he did up to 8 balls and only messed up a little once. I think that I was most impressed by him and the 10 year old kid who did the motorcycle globe/cage thing. craziness...

Don't forget the HUMAN ROCKET at the end! Wouldn't be a grand finale without it!

Westwood

Last Wednesday was the second time I adventured to Westwood, the heart of UCLA territory. I had been wanting to see Cloud Atlas, a movie that most people seem to know very little about except that Tom Hanks is in it. I was looking forward to seeing this movie as the trailer was incredibly epic and wonderful with great music and editing (although a little long, like the movie) and ultimately I was happy I went and saw it in theaters. Click HERE for a review of the movie by Alex Barker.

What made the day even better, though, was after a nice buttery popcorn in a cold and nearly deserted theater I was finally able to try out Diddy Riese! This place is an institution in Westwood Village and many UCLA students live off of their ice-cream cookie sandwiches (just under $2 for any combo of cookie and ice cream!). I think it was worth the search for parking to be able to say that I've finally been there (I had cinnamon sugar cookies--aka snickerdoodles--with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, quite tasty).

The rest of Wednesday was spent celebrating Halloween! I baked some amazing cookies from my favorite baking blog! Then I went to a friend's place in Silver Lake and we had rye Sidecars, Trader Joe's appetizers, delicious guac, mashed potatoes, and ratatouille with sausage (plus a few other potlucked items) while passing out candy to trick-or-treaters. It was a ton of fun and exactly the low-key evening I was hoping for.

Plus, Friday I was able to go to a Halloween party that was Christmas themed, a weird and yet awesome way to combine two holidays that all the retail stores have been mushing together for years.

San Diego Adventure

This past Friday was my first day off of both internship and Anthropologie in 20 days straight. Yes, that includes weekends. My busy schedule had left me with a small cold, but I had made plans to visit San Diego and I did not want to miss out swapping an epic (yet not too long) road trip for sitting on my couch/bed/floor (whatever area was closest and easy to lie down on) feeling sick and sorry for myself. So, Friday morning we headed south.

This was my first time driving down to San Diego. I suppose I had technically been there when I was a toddler but I don't recollect anything from that trip so for all intents and purposes this was my first time visiting the birthplace of California.

I got my first taste of the commonfolk in Orange County, not on the ocean vacation variety, when we stopped at a gas station and I had to use the restroom. I asked if they had one and the man pleasantly replied "Yes, it's around the corner outside." To which I responded "Can I have the key?" and he raised an eyebrow and stated plainly "There isn't one."

Also, the roads are very nicely paved. If you've ever driven in LA (or ridden for that matter) you will thoroughly appreciate this, I know my car did.

Once in the city the first stop was the Fish Market area by the harbor. It was about lunch time so it was out to Edgewater Grill where we sat on the outdoor terrace that overlooks the harbor. It was quite lovely and the ceviche, a dish I'd been craving oddly enough, was delicious. I highly recommend it.

Ceviche: A mexican seafood salad of sorts cooked by the acidity of lime juice. 

After lunch we strolled through the park near by; watched elderly women walk leisurely past joking to a passerby about how their husbands were in a meeting and they were out on business, kites of various shapes blow in the wind, children play in the grass, and watched the sunlight filter through the (still green) leaves.

We then ventured over to Coronado, the island that's just across the bridge from San Diego. It was lovely walking around the small shops and the Hotel Del Coronado. We even passed a sand artsist who was designing "Congratulations" images on the pavement for a birthday and a wedding that was happening on the beach later that afternoon.

On the way out of the city we made a stop in La Jolla where we caught the sunset off some (small) cliffs. There were even seals playing on a rock just out from shore. A woman photographer was so intent on capturing that image that she was wading out into the rising tide towards a curious seal that had swum close to shore. That on top of the girl doing a scorpion with the sun behind her made for some interesting viewing in addition to the sunset.

The trip was finished up by some mexican food (soup, in my case but it was delicious none-the-less) and an americano from starbucks. And, as fate would have it, Taylor Swift's RED album was on sale at Starbucks and it just so happened that I had been given a substantial starbucks gift-card. I doubt the gifter knew that I would be buying music instead of coffee with it but it was a good use for the money in my opinion. I am very happy with my purchase and listened to it all the way home to LA.

Assisting for the Day

Today is my first day as an assistant. I'm filling in at one my internships and getting some hands-on experience manning phones, schedules, and people. As often as I've compared my internship experiences here in Hollywood with those in The Devil Wears Prada (not even close to the hell that Andy goes through, don't worry), today is the closest that I've come to the real thing. I am "manning the desk" so to speak

Emily: When I am not here... Andrea, you are chained to that desk! 
Andy Sachs: But what if I have to... 
Emily: What? No! Nothing! One time an assistant left the desk. Oh, because she sliced her hand open with a letter opener, and Miranda missed Lagerfeld just before he was about to board a 17 hour flight to Austrailia. She now works at TV Guide

though I doubt the consequences of a missed phone call will be as severe...

So far I've successfully re-arranged a personal training session, started reading a script that I need to have notes on by Monday, made friends over the phone with another assistant while trying to move a lunch with a well-known TV Star, felt stupid for calling said star and leaving a voicemail about moving the lunch because I had no number for a personal assistant, felt a little better when said star called back and was very kind and he could move the lunch to the time we needed, and I have used this small amount of "down" time to write this post.

 Excerpt from The Devil Wears Prada by: Lauren Weisberger
"Ahn-dre-ah, my car needs to be picked up from the place and dropped off at the garage. Attend to it immediately, as we'll be needing it tonight to drive to the Hamptons. That's all." I stood, rooted to the carpet in front of her behemoth desk, but she'd already blocked out my presence entirely. Or so I thought. "That's all, Ahn-dre-ah. See to it right now," she added, still not glancing up.

Ah, sure, Miranda, I thought to myself as I walked away, trying to figure out the first step in the assignment that was sure to have a million pitfalls along the way. First was definitely to find out at which "place" the car was located. Most likely it was being repaired at the dealership, but it could obviously be at any one of a million auto shops in any one of the five boroughs. Or perhaps she'd lent it to a friend and it was currently occupying an expensive spot in a full-service garage somewhere on Park Avenue? Of course, there was always the chance that she was referring to a new car--brand unknown--that she'd just recently purchased that hadn't yet been brought home from the (unknown) dealership. I had a lot of work to do.
                     

So far in my limited experience I have learned the following:
1.Assistants are problem-solvers. Much like Engineers... but with people.
2. Knowing who to talk to to get things done is the easiest way to solve those problems.
3. You can tell who was once an assistant before they "moved up" and they are often kind and have sympathy, empathy, or, at least, pity for you.

Well, the day is almost half-over. Let's hope that everything runs smoothly for the rest of the day with no major or minor crises (even though Culver City is apparently doing a disaster drill at 7pm tonight...should be interesting to see how that goes).

RED

I am excited about Taylor Swift's new album "Red" due to release this coming Monday October 22, 2012 (no, I have not been paid to plug this...unfortunately). This is the first album of her's that I've wanted to purchase. Much of the time I like only half the stuff she comes out with so this is a BIG DEAL. The single "Red" is my current favorite autumn-weather pop-drive to song and would be perfect for a trip down Ivy Road towards Crozet, I suppose Santa Monica Boulevard will have to do. I also have to say that the photos for the album are awesome (vintage filters...I'm kind of a hipster) and I'm impressed with Taylor's new style (much more mature with basic reds, creams, blacks). Right, now that I've spent a good paragraph gossipping...

I'm winding down with my internships and looking forward to whatever is next. Classes are picking up and I will be meeting with agents, researching agencies, and reading as many books/scripts/short stories as possible to start building my slate as a legitimate hollywood producer! (eek!)

Meanwhile, sharing stories at the apartment last night ranged everywhere from a deep longing for forests, Nicki Minaj and her love of Dasani water, and passive aggressive (and not so passive) notes and comments from drivers...only in LA.

Here are some places I haven't been in a while:

My Grandmother's House

Tribe...working Sunday nights keeps me from you

And a place I have been going to very often:

The Grove

My Locker at Anthropolgie

Below My Feet

My absolute favorite song off Babel the new Mumford and Sons CD. Take a listen. Enjoy.

The Getty and Art

A mural in Venice by the hanging "VENICE" sign right off the strip. Randomly included in this set of pictures.

A couple weekends ago now I went to The Getty for the first time. The Getty is an art museum on top of a rather large hill. You have to take a small tram to the top, in fact. It's quite fun rising up and out of the city for a while. I was able to picnic outside with some yummy Trader Joe's food and then wander around the different exhibits. There is also a great garden outside that is fun to walk around in. Later on that evening I went to an open mic night of sorts at Mosaic's "Living Room" in the downtown art's district. It was a happenin' place Friday night as (I'll admit it) mostly hipsters roamed in and out of small shops drinking wine and eating cheese. The Living Room hosted it's first event focusing on storytelling. People recounted memories, sang songs, and recited spoken word poetry as we got into the fall spirit eating pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter, pear and walnut bundt cake, coffee, and tea, A great day in LA.

View of the city from The Getty art museum. Really cool "trees" of vines.

Architecture of The Getty

Inside The Getty

Garden from patio

Outdoor patio

Garden maze

View of The Getty building from the garden

my attempt at artsyness, what the heck I'm at an art museum

again, attempt at artsyness. This was a small stream with stone steps leading towards it. The stream runs from the top of the hill at the end of the building into the garden.

My new favorite mural, if it can be called that. Let's just say it's my favorite street art just outside of Mosaic's Living Room.

Again, a random picture. The Grove, where I spend many a late night folding the beautiful clothes at Anthropologie. This is probably my favorite. It's outdoor, has lots of live music and activities, attracts families, teenagers, young couples, and tourists. Sinatra and Michael Buble and Regina Spektor can be heard over the sound system. There is a lovely lit fountain, trees, a grassy spot to hang out, a movie theater,some of my favorite stores (including a candy store and a whole "Farmer's Market" of delicious food of all varieties). And, the best part is a little section of strung lights in a small corridor that looks like a street in Europe (a very very clean and commercial street mind you). 

Catalina Island

The Queen Mary and the shuttle (mid right) 

I apologize. It has been much too long since I've updated this blog. It's been a whirlwind past couple of weeks as I finished up a few days of internship and work before my mom came for a week for a lovely vacation. Now I've finally gotten back to the grind so to speak. 

When my mom first got to LA I picked her up from LAX and we spent the rest of the day touring Los Feliz, the neighborhood I live in, and the Hollywood area.  We saw the Chinese Theater, Walk of Fame, and where I have my internship Mondays and Tuesdays. We even had a celebrity sighting (Dominic Monaghan) at House of Pies as we were walking back from dinner in Los Feliz! The next day we ventured through Century City and on to Venice to take in a bit more of the city finally ending up back at my house for homemade pad thai and mojitos with my friends from LA. The next day we were off to Catalina. For those of you who don't know, Catalina is an island off of Southern California where many people go to vacation, particularly to dive or "summer". It's a beautiful island and has a very small town feel to it although it's filled with big city people. I guess that close proximity always creates that kind of vibe no matter where you spend the majority of your time. I was amazed to meet some of the true locals who have grown up on the island going to the K-12 school that is further inland. One of the unique things about Catalina is that it's a golf-cart town. There are limits on how many vehicles can be on the island so the majority of people get around by golf-cart.

Goodbye Long Beach

Hello Catalina

In order to get to the island we left from Long Beach Pier (I really need to re-watch Gone in 60 Seconds and see if I notice anything about Long Beach now). The day we left the space shuttle Endeavour was doing flybys around Los Angeles and we were able to see the shuttle from the ferry as we started out towards Catalina! Once on the island we enjoyed our hotel, walked around the art fair that was going on that weekend, and ate delicious fresh seafood. On our last morning we even braved the cold and incredibly clear Pacific water.

Morning from the hotel room

After Catalina we drove down the PCH to Dana Point, just past Laguna Beach in the OC, and stayed at a lovely Inn called the Blue Lantern. I highly recommend them. Service was friendly, rooms were cute, and there were several complimentary things that I enjoyed (who doesn't like free stuff?) including complimentary bikes (a trip down to the harbor was very fun), post cards (they mail them for you and cover the postage, great marketing!), California wine and cheese in the afternoons, and freshly baked cookies, coffee, and tea 24-7!

Blue Lantern Inn

Dana Point Harbor

View from our table at The Chart House

Morning walk through the neighborhoods overlooking the harbor below. Cool trail on the hillside that you can walk on.

It's a neighborly day in Hollywood

I had to take a picture of this run-down building. The contrast not to mention the Looper billboard were just too cool not to capture.

 Mr. Rogers would be proud of me. I spent my Saturday, one of the hottest days that I've been here for in LA, walking and exploring the Los Feliz/ Silver Lake area. I set out with my water bottle and book headed for the lake (yes, there is an actual lake in Silver Lake). I turned left down Hollywood Boulevard, said my goodbyes to the Griffith Observatory, passed Barnsdall Park and into the heart of Los Feliz. I passed the Vista theater, a beautifully old single screen place where you can see movies for cheap (at least for LA). Continuing on past the Circus of Books that I've admired from a distance for a while now I discovered a farmer's market and a couple stores I'm looking forward to popping into.

 I was on my way up the road towards the lake when the heat took it's toll and I decided that I simply had to turn around and go home (seriously guys it was 105, maybe hotter). I was out of water at this point and came across a yard sale off the main drag. I asked if those holding it if they wouldn't mind filling up my water bottle and, as one of the women went inside to kindly keep me hydrated, I chatted with them a bit. Turns out the man and woman who were having the sale are about to embark on a year-long road trip to the tip of Argentina and back. If that's not enough adventure they have a one-year old and are taking her along for the ride! He's a skateboard/snowboard artist and is hoping to get some inspiration from the trip and learn to live simply with his family. It's amazing how many awesome things the people around us are doing and the stories they have to tell.

My neighborhood adventure went well with the subject of a discussion I was involved with on Sunday morning. We asked the question "Who is your neighbor?" It's something the culture at large doesn't seem to spend much time on. We talk about eating local and buying local and doing a lot of "local" things but I feel that sometimes the people who are involved in all of these things get left out. Sometimes buying/eating/being "local" fosters relationships between seller and buyer of goods but even if you know your local farmer's market vendors by name I think the most we do for or with them is buy their products.

The concept of a neighbor has changed dramatically in the modern age. Conveniences like cars and air conditionings are keeping people holed up in their personal spaces and iPods, iPads, iPhones, etc keep us in our own heads even when we are physically with other people. Then you have the added factor of being in a city like LA where you are passing people all the time and you live next to hundreds, are you supposed to get to know everyone?

What we concluded as a group on Sunday was that in the grand scheme of things everyone is your neighbor. We all have connections to each other in some way, shape, or form. The things we consume, food, clothing, services, all have attachments that are linked with the people who work behind them. Nothing we do is ever truly independent of anyone. Someone had to plant a field of cotton, harvest it, turn it into thread and fabric, cut a pattern, sew it together, ship it a store where someone else unpacked it and put it out for you to try on and buy (even if most of that was done by a machine, there are people who work those too).

My point is that if it's established that everyone is your neighbor, what does your relationship to those you meet look like? Some things we thought of on Sunday were smiling, saying hello, helping someone who clearly looks lost or in need of some help, paying for someone's toll or meal behind you, giving out water bottles and granola bars to the homeless. Perhaps this sounds idealistic, but I don't want to do this out of some belief that I am changing the world or that I am making it a better place one person at a time. Being a good neighbor isn't about me or my gratification. I think that this is a duty we have to other people. Anything that I have ever gained from serving others in any form has always been humility and a greater appreciation for others. If everyone is my neighbor then everyone is just as important as me, right? Time to golden-rule it up.