Last Saturday/Slightly Famous

Michael Copon. The Blue Power Ranger and Felix from One Tree Hill. I saw him (with his shirt on) at breakfast on Saturday. (iiiiiieeeeeeee!) I don't know if he's a regular at The Griddle Cafe in LA, but I would be. That place had a line around the block! Caroline, Lisa (my cousin), Mike (Lisa's bf), and I watched other people eat their gigantic pancakes and stuffed french toast for 45 minutes before we got a table! But it was worth it. :)

(While I was standing on the sidewalk, I got a phone call from Lance (back home (apparently no one knew that I was going to California??!!)). Boy, it felt good to be able to say that I was in LA (aka a big city)...sigh...)

The place was noisy and packed with as many tables and chairs as could fit and still squeeze through to deliver orders. (I wonder if they had tee-shirts...) So, the four of us were sitting there and yelling at each other (and having a very good time) when this guy walks in the door who looks slightly familiar. He was tall and Asian with long, black hair and a cool, vintage, fedora-type hat. I knew that I recognized him from somewhere, so I did the completely uncool but totally effective thing and stared until I put the puzzle together. Like most times you blatantly stare at someone, they eventually look back. That's when it hit me! I was staring into the eyes of Felix from One Tree Hill (please, no mocking comments about my teenie-bopper tv taste)! He quickly looked away and the moment was over, but for two seconds I gazed into the eyes of a slightly famous person!!

Moving on, we moved on--Oh. I think this is where I wanted to talk more about LA parking. It's crazy. If you aren't a native English speaker and fairly intelligent, you aren't going to understand the parking signs. I feel sorry for the people who have to write those signs. They have a very limited space to convey multiple messages as clearly and concisely as possible. It must be very hard, and I hope they get paid a lot. (They need more punctuation, though. Some commas would clear things up.) Caroline and I circled about 5 blocks about 5 times looking for free parking. After deciphering a sign, we parked about a block away from the restaurant. When my cousin and her boyfriend showed up about 20 minutes later, Caroline and I found out the restaurant has a lot right next to it (kinda). A free lot. Bottom line: it pays to know someone who knows where to park in LA. I would like to get those 30 minutes of my life back.

Okay, moving on. Lisa & Mike and Caroline & I parted ways b/c Lisa had stuff to do. Caroline and I went to Venice Beach for the rest of the afternoon. :) The beach was wonderful. We walked from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica Pier (I think about 3 miles one way) and just enjoyed the sand, surf (and surf-ers), and sun. Santa Monica Beach has an "adult playground"--rope climbing, swing on the rings, pull-up stations, etc. The regulars were doing tricks like swinging on the rings while hoola-hooping! Pretty impressive. The walk back to Venice Beach along the beachfront walk wasn't as enjoyable. It was long and we were tired of dodging people who wanted our money. When we got back to Venice beach, we threw the frisbee around for a while.

Caroline and I went shopping at the 3rd Street Promenade, and I gave $5 to someone raising money for a homeless shelter (ha ha). (My naiveté was quickly brought to light, so there's no need to rub it in.) At about 9 pm, we met Lisa & Mike at Callendar's for dinner. :) We all ordered the same thing! I don't think that's ever happened to me before! And we all loved it (well, Mike didn't love it so much later). Lisa showed us her apt (nice!), and the three girls took a dip in the hot tub! That certainly helped my sore muscles from the horse ride! Caroline and I concluded our day around 2 am. Happily in our beds with smiles on our faces. :)

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