looong day. but a good one.

Before I talk about this weekend, let's take it back to Thursday...pre-Lit project. Wow, we fail at being productive. Took the whole day to finish the damned thing. Instead of working, we watched "Whose Line is it Anyways?" on youtube for a good hour or so. Probably longer.


I'm the queen of France!


And on to Friday...Mikie pulled Saaya out of dance so we ate instead of her exercising. And what did we eat? Guess.


Raced off to drop Saaya at her studio, went back to Mikie's. I was supposed to go to Melting Pot, but I'm sheisty. So Mikie and I made fondue at her house. Mmmmmmmm :D


And that day ended with some other random stuff. Jeff, Jamie, Curstina came over. Talked. Acted lame. Left. And on to Saturday...

So Nikkie just happened to be in the area today. Using that fortuitous coincidence, she picked me up and we raced off to adventure in LA.


If there's one thing that captures Nikki's personality, it's her ipod. Observe.


On the aforementioned ipod, there was an Alice in Wonderland audiobook. Oh, the fun that ensued. The reader was superb, with a lovely accent and voice impressions of all the characters. Imagine the fun when several characters were rapidly exchanging dialogue XD

But then we had to change it back to music, for we were so distracted by the audiobook that we almost became lost.

We accidentally found Phillipe's (which I have actually stumbled upon by accident twice, now). I fell in love.

In case you don't know, Phillipe's is a cultural icon for LA foodies. It's 100 years old this year, and has stood the test of time with low prices, interesting people, and it just seems to bring all of LA together through food within the confines of its neon-sign adorned walls.

Phillipe's also just happens to have an impressive candy selection.


After waiting in a line that moved like molasses on a cold day, we ordered. I got a french dip (double-dipped, mind you), some 75 cent lemonade, and a pickled egg. All this came out to eight-something dollars. Glorious.

The bread was lightly dipped in the juice of the meat, while the meat was tender and flavorful. The swiss cheese, an add-on, didn't do much for the sandwich. I ended up eating it on the side. Lemonade was definitely homemade, but didn't live up to the standards of some other joints. But at 75 cents, I aint' complaining.

Now, the pickled egg was quite interesting. Hard-boiled and purple, I bought it out of curiosity more than anything. It tasted of vinegar and such, but not overly so. Did I mention that it was purple. Get some of these for class comp XD


Left this wonder of beef, bread, and funny Angelinos to explore Olvera Street.

I realize now how it reminds me little of modern Mexico, as little as a mock Western town would remind me of the U.S. It's just too forced. But hey, it's still fun to browse the shops and stalls. Colorful, lively, awake.

I spent my time on Olvera Street eating these cheap little fruit snack things. They're sticky, chewy, fruity-sweet, salty, and spicy all at once. It felt like my taste buds were being punched from all sides. And they cost $1 for two. It was like crack, only cheaper.


Moved on to Union Station, where I once picked up Andrea from San Diego, complete with 50 pound bag of college student laundry. The interior is beautiful. Light filters through the tall windows, bouncing off of the polished floor and dancing across the vaulted ceiling. The plush chairs and elaborate light fixtures draw me back to a time of opulence and elaborate design. Little birds fly through the open doors and dance through the train station. It's also a great place to just sit and peoplewatch.

One day, we're gonna just hop on a train and go somewhere.

We then moved on to a most peculiar post office. Definitely more interesting than the one in Torrance.


I mean, does this really look like somewhere you'd come by to drop off your mail?

Didn't think so. But I should mention that on the left wall, there are a set of large glass doors that open up into the blindingly white room that is actually the post office, with counters, PO boxes, etc. Definitely a contradiction...the aging interior of the building with an uber-modern brightly lit room within it. I'll have to go back to drop off a letter one day.

Keep in mind, everything that I've done in LA thus far was within walking distance of each other. There's just a concentration of awesomeness there.

We got on the wrong freeway to get home, missed the freeway we were supposed to merge onto, and somehow ended up seeing this sign before getting back onto the 91.

But we had to get home to support Chris at his Eagle Ceremony, so we didn't go. I was seriously THAT close to Disneyland, but didn't go. That is the definition of frustration.

So yes, we drove off to this little happenstance.

Just kidding. It's a pretty big deal. My sincerest congratulations to Chris on his wonderful accomplishment.

Some of the cool kids who came...


and the results of me awkwardly shoving my camera into peoples' faces and firing the shutter. laugh laugh.


We said our kind words, made fun of each other, talked up Voltron and Transformers, then I was off to see Ashley and Liuser :D My plot to kick Kevin failed, but at least we got to talk for a bit. Freaking frog-jumper who smiles while running. Good to hear that he stuck with track. but I really want a bit of the pizookie that they made. Meh >_<

Kevin had to leave, because he's a good kid and obeys the curfew. Ha. That's funny. So Ashley and I went to Barnes to read some really difficult books.

:]

Remember to never ever ever get stuck in the Waiting Place. It's just lame.

and that, my dears, concludes my weekend update. If you managed to make it through the whole thing, I applaud you. I have once again fallen in love with Larry's fisheye, which he has so graciously let me borrow for Vale and Class Comp. Hopefully I'll have some interesting pictures to show you guys on the slopes, in the village, and in the city. Lots of stuff to do and explore in Denver and the adjacent area...just gotta make sure that I hit all of it :D

See you guys Thursday. and I'll see you as soon as I get back :]