So much for the weekend being a time set aside for relaxation and recharging.
The last time I really posted was Wednesday... which feels like eons ago. I went out with Emily on Friday night, and we got comically lost on Robertson St. Either we have very similar luck with directions or I jinxed her, because we really did manage to spend 30 minutes looking for a particular place to eat on one street. In the process I was able to ask a Red Sox fan for help with directions, so it was definitely eventful. Emily and I get along really well. And the kicker of our game of hide and seek with Thai Boom, the restaurant we were headed for, was that once we finally found it, the place was a tiny hole-in-the-wall. She had seen that it had high ratings on Yelp.com , and I had mentioned Thai earlier in the day as well, so that's what we had settled on, to try Thai Boom, but as the place turned out to be about the size of Nadine's living room, we opted for another Thai place that just happened to be across the street. I think it was something like Nathalie's. Not sure. Very cool place though. I got Naked Shrimp- 6 shrimp served in individual little square-shaped cups, each cup filled with fish sauce, cilantro, chilis, garlic, and probably some other stuff. Mmmm. Afterwards, we went to Yogurtland. I already talked about that a bit so I'll spare you. But it calls for another MMMMMMMM. So good, so close, so cheap. Westwood Village is a great area, right by UCLA, lots of stuff to do.
Wow, just realized I didnt write about my dinner out with Jess, who is a friend of Gussy's, who is a friend of Robin's! Yes, friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend. That's what this town's all about, after all! Jess works at Dreamworks as an animator. Pretty cool right? I definitely think so. Everyone I've had the chance to spend time with has been incredible. Very interesting people, all of them. Easy conversationalists. Good stories. Good advice. We tried a new restaurant (the name of which neither of us caught, shoot!) in her area of Los Feliz. Another example of how easy it is to drive around here- I would have been hopelessly lost several times on the way there if LA's roads didnt make so much sense. I dont know why but sometimes I decide to deviate from the directions that googlemaps has given me. LA's roads are so formulaically laid out, for the most part, that it was easy to set myself back on track once I realized that my plan wasnt quite right. The restaurant had very slow service but the vibe was ... just lovely. We were all seated outside, and each table was sort of its own island. There were leafless tree-like saplings, one by each table more or less, and so the whole space was broken up nicely this way. Each table had votive candles, a wine bottle of water, and around the space were different very fragrant, subtle-but-beautiful flowers scaling intermittently placed trellises. I'll definitely go back- the minestrone soup was much different than I've ever had, with large chunks of vegetables and no beans or pasta. Yum.
Ok, what's next?
As of Friday, I started working from home. It's lovely so far. I love having lunch at home. I love dressing down. I love having the flexibility to get other things done. Tomorrow I'll be able to go to the DMV in the morning to finalize the registration process, as I had my car smog checked on Thursday and the DMV was closed on Friday. It'll be nice to have the door closed on that for a while. Got my insurance cards in the mail today too... the logistics are pretty much taken care of. Also got to talk to my Grandma for a long time. A bubbly 45 minute conversation, at the end of which I still had plenty more to say and I'm sure she had more to tell. But I needed to get back to work.
Friday night went on for too long... I stayed up till about 1AM, only to have to get up at 5:30AM for the 5K that I ran at Dodger Stadium. I didnt know what to expect, with regards to the course as well as to what my own performance level would be- but two things that I definitely did NOT expect:
4 Hill/Incline spots in 5K (exact hills not pictured)
Yep. Had to walk a couple times. Which is why I was also not expecting:
Less than 10 minute miles! I havent run since I was on the East Coast, and for anyone who's counting, that's been over a month now. Again, I walked for a couple brief periods, so I was pleasantly surprised at my time.
I was planning to run with my friend Roxy, who also signed up, but we never met up. There were so many people there! The race was supposed to start at 8 but was delayed until about 8:30... terrible, terrible. See, on the morning of a race, people have routines. For instance, if you drink enough water to keep you "running" for about 30 minutes of a race, you drink it at a certain point not too far out from the start of the run so that you wont have to go to the bathroom before you're finished. The delay of the race by half an hour nearly proved to be a disaster for me!! At 8 I was already starting to think that I wished there was a nearby portapotty, but I knew I'd make it through just fine regardless... then they delayed the start by a few minutes every few minutes, and by the time I was climbing the last hill I was concentrating on just holding on for a few more minutes. Let me tell you, it was a close call. And I know for a fact that I was not the only on in this boat! It turned out fine, though, and after the race I hung around till about 1pm. There was a lot to do- so much free energy-this and protein-that. I have a backpack full of STUFF that I still havent really gone through. The LA Marathon was the next day (today, Sunday) so there was a whole Marathon expo happening. And the stadium was open! So of course I spent a lot of time exploring. I wandered into the luxury suites part of the park and talked my way into one of the suites (different rooms were rented out by various charities for post-race unwinding). Nice view!
Then I went up to the Top Deck area behind home plate and spent a good long while sitting in the sun. (Met an Aussie! He knew his baseball, I was impressed.)
..And other exploration pics..
And that's the race. I got home around 1:30pm or 2pm and started the resting process. I cleaned my room and watched LOST... man was I tired, but I couldnt make myself take a nap. Roxy texted later on and we went out to walk along the 3rd Street Promenade. Fun, busy street that's closed off to cars/only for pedestrian traffic. Lots of stores. We relived our respective race day moments of trial and triumph. Then we both went back to our homes and crashed! ZZZZZ
Today was all about the LA Marathon. The majority of the course ran down Santa Monica Blvd, and the entire west-bound side was shut down for the runners. I live off of a side street that connects to Santa Monica Blvd so I walked out to watch for about an hour. Races are really fun events. Inspiring. I saw children runners, runners that must have been in their mid 70's, blind runners, runners with only one leg, overweight runners, very athletic runners, average-looking runners. The whole time I was thinking about how great it would be to run a marathon. I was standing by the Mile 18 marker, and saw maybe 10 people out of the thousands I watched run past who looked like they were laboring, out of breath, red in the face. I guess it's all about pacing, walking when you need to. Lots of people were walking at that point. I was standing on an incline spot so I would imagine that by Mile 18 you're feeling any even slight upward slant in the road as if it's a mountain. Walked up the street a bit to where it was a downhill slant, and ended up talking with a guy and his family who were visiting from Lowell MA. He was sporting a Boston team print button-up so I had to chat with him! And actually, as I was running my 5K, I got about 10 GO RED SOX cheers from people in the crowd as well as people I passed/who passed me. I was wearing my Pedroia shirt, of course :) People dont wear sports shirts out here- that I've noticed, at least. And I really do look out for that. I talk to any Red Sox fan I stumble upon.
When I was tired of standing, I walked back across the street to the Century City Mall and sat in the food court area (it's outside, and a great place to hang out). Wrote some letters, listened to the live entertainment. They have live music there every weekend.
Since then, I've cooked myself some dinner (chicken, spinach, corn, garlic, lemon juice over pasta), watched some LOST. My body is saying, it's time to sleep. My mind and my will might just give in tonight. I have to be up early to get in line at the DMV, take care of this car stuff once and for all.
Long entry. I deserve to be able to end it abruptly. Have a great night everyone. Happy birthday, Grandpa. We all still think of you often. Miss you very, very much.
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