embarassingly belated (2 of 2)

here goes with late post #2. this one chronicles jessica's and my recent trip to los angeles for the textile show we attend there. la is such a weird city. it's so scummy and sprawling and concrete-y, not that edmonton is a rare jewel or anything, but i never got why people liked la so much. which is weird considering i'm obsessed with the birth of the film industry, the ocean, palm trees and (don't tell anyone) my homepage is perezhilton. where was the la of my dreams?

well i finally figured something out this trip...la IS great, it's just that i always stay downtown, and downtown la (though dotted with beautiful art deco architecture) is very much like downtown edmonton in that it's DEADtown. nothing goes on there, it's all sidewalk and street and the whole thing largely shuts down when the offices do.



lucky for us we hooked up the lovely ladies behind the clothing lines allison wonderland and imaginary friend (l to r, allison, megan and nadine) who dolled us up and took us out. this is them in our hotel room (remember how jessica always manages to book hotel rooms with glass shower walls? well this one had also had a glass toilet wall thank-you very much). here the ladies are figuring out where to eat and megan is programming the gps. god bless the gps.



it's hard to see in this next photo, but yes, we've just gps-d our way to the chateau marmont..does this make us tourist nerds?....i think not. of course when nadine spotted eve in the vip booth at the chateau marmont bar and all of us walked past twice veeerrrry slowly, well that might have been a bit nerdy i guess. though that hardly compares to us leaving the bar when eve left and instead of taking photos of the "celebrity", we spent 15 minutes taking photos of the lone paparazzo taking photos of the celebrity. we even asked if he'd let us take photos with him....guess how impressed he was with that suggestion? yeah, not very. i don't know if it's a blessing or a tragedy that none of our paparazzi photos turned out.



ok, so we actually worked some of the time we were there too. attending a tradeshow can be a gruelling, mind-numbing excursion and so we cherished breaks like the time we spent in this trim shop in downtown la. they had box after box filled with lace, chain, pins, appliques and everything else pretty and fun. it was a little overwhelming.



our last day in the city jessica and i decided to rent a car and see what all this los angeles 'fuss' was about. jessica drove (i only have my learners) and we made sure to request our now beloved gps. i don't think we could've navigated the freeway without her. let me tell you a little something about driving in la, it's nuts. everyone is bloody nuts and the best way to blend in is to drive really really fast and be really! super!! hardcore!!! aggressive. if you can cut off some gangster types on the freeway or almost hit a vintage bmw in bel air you know you're doing just fine. here's the other thing about driving in la: as a visitor to the city you can't get anywhere without driving, so you might as well get comfy with it.

first stop: venice beach. meet my new boyfriend.



here i am putting the moves on him. what happens in la stays in la, right?



both jessica and i loved having the chance to put our feet in the ocean. it's such a luxury for two girls coming from the canadian prairies in late october. i think everyone should try and put their feet in the ocean at least once a year--it's a magical and celebratory experience, or is that just the hippy in me talking? anyway, we splashed around, got our clothes wet and our feet sandy and picked up a few shells along the way.




after this we chased fancy cars into bel air and beverly hills and played "how much do you think that one cost?" with all the houses we fancied. we drove up rodeo drive and i had a pretty woman moment of silence and then we went out for ethiopian food on fairfax. the afternoon was just a taste of what la has to offer, but i'm excited to go back again and continue to explore. six months from now i'm sure i'll be telling this same story all over again, hopefully with some new adventures.