The Real La La Land - Day 3
Day 3 in LA and I awoke in fabulous WeHo back with my pals Tina and Mickey. This was the first day that the sun was shining in LA and the rain appeared to have stopped...for now at least. This was by far my most chilled out day of the trip and as Tina prepared for her morning audition, I got myself ready for the day. Anyone who knows me know how long I take to get ready and I was still pampering and grooming when Tina returned from her audition!
Tina and Mickey live in a lovely community in a great neighbourhood in West Hollywood. Whole Foods is a minute walk away, Starbucks is at the end of the road and The Grove, Farmers Market and Target are about a 15 walk away - all of Lindsey's favourite things!
We headed over the hills to Burbank where we were meeting our friend Annie at the very lively eatery Simmzy's. Annie is the director of Fairytale Theatre: 18 and over, has an incredibly infectious personality, and the face of 1000 expressions.
Simmzy's is definitely recommend - great staff, great atmosphere and great food. A colourful interior makes you feel very welcome and I probably could have sat here most of the day! However, Annie headed back to work and I was sad to see her go as I didn't think I would have time to see her again on this trip (sadly I was right). So Tina and I headed back to WeHo and decided to do a bit of shopping - vintage style.
One of my favourite shops in LA in the brilliantly named Polkadots and Moonbeams on W. 3rd Street, a great Aladdins cave full of vintage treasures and the most fantastically bonkers staff! The owner herself, Wendy Freedman, welcomes you with such warmth that you never
want to leave; and indeed we didn't, for well over an hour! Wendy and her colleagues love their customers so much that they spend a majority of their time just dressing them up! At one point Wendy insisted on taking a photograph of me after she had adorned me with a vintage headband complete with brooch and a pair of vintage sunglasses...which somehow made their way into my suitcase! While this was happening Tina tried on the most beautiful red dress that with her perfect Asian American skin made her look like the A-lister she deserves to be.
After a quick change it was time to catch up with some more Fairytalers. So, Michael, Tina and I drove over to have dinner with puppeteer Jess and his new wife, the oh so lovely Fanny. (I should drop in at this point that this lovely couple recently married and invited all their friends to watch...by webcam! It was the first time I've ever been to a wedding in my PJ's!) Jess and Fanny are both strict vegans so I was intrigued to try some new food as I'm always open to a foodie experiment...and I wasn't disappointed. We had appetisers of tofu and mushroom and vegan chips (crisps) and then for the main course we had some of the best burgers I think I've ever tasted by a company called 'Beyond Meat'. Apparently vegans are going nuts (pardon the pun) for these babies and they are selling out everywhere! I'm not surprised, they were very tasty! One city building board game later and we were all ready to hit the sack.
As I lay in bed that night I thought about the reasons why I love coming to LA so much. Yes there is the sun, the beach, the weather, the (sometimes) glamour; but the real reason I keep coming back is the people. I have made some terrific friends here and I genuinely miss their positive energy when I'm not around them. And I miss Trader Joes.
Lins x
