Smurf Party ’08
Woke up. Felt slightly chirpy until I realized that I’m [redacted], tarnished egotist and blog-o-sphere superstar. Not only that, my sister was still in town visiting, and I realized upon awakening that I had to think of things to do that could knock another day off the calendar!
The day was going to consist of unleashing her on Robertson (ugh!) , but as she toasted one half of a bagel for breakfast (ugh! a half bagel? what a waste!), I told her “don’t embarrass me” and she got really mad and told me she no longer felt like shopping. Then she stopped talking to me for an hour. She just scowled at me.
We decided to go to Santa Monica. She, Nicci and I packed my car with jackets for later in the day and Nicci’s wave board, and began to drive. As we navigated Sunset Boulevard through Silverlake, she asked about the mountains that stretched across the passenger side of the car. I told her about Griffith Park, and she asked if we could stop there on the way. Detour number one. I took the girls to the secret spot where Ilya and I normally take out-of-town visitors (it’s also a really good place to smoke a spliff, if that’s your thing), and she snapped some incredible scenic photographs.
Afterwards, we took Santa Monica west, with a second detour at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I acted slightly like a dork because I wanted to uphold the “no photography” rule, and she and Nicci felt I was a herb for being hyper-conscious about getting caught snapping pictures. To her credit, she took some really nice shots.
Next we turned on La Cienega. Detour number three was a store called Trashy Lingerie. It was hot and uncomfortable at the same time, being there with both my sister and my girlfriend. I think one of the old men who worked at the boutique noticed my unease, and said something like, “Don’t worry, he’ll calm down once you try those on for him.” Unfortunately, the statement wasn’t directed at Nicci, but at my sister. It created a slightly awkward moment.
Somewhat against my sister’s will, I turned from Santa Monica onto Robertson, pointed out The Ivy and Kitson for her (two places she originally wanted to visit) but she told me not to stop, and we continued on toward Pico, which we took all the way to the Santa Monica beach. Once there, we headed over to the pier. Spent some time there. Churros. Photobooth. Ski-Ball. Hot dog on a stick. Whatever.
Third Street Promenade. Equally as boring. Stopped at lots of stores. She bought a pair of shoes. She was really well-behaved considering we were walking along a long stretch of nice stores. The girls purchased for me a car freshener, whose scent was labeled as “Cat Butt.” Now my car smells like a mixture of cinnamon and kitty litter. Not awesome.
For dinner and drinks, we met up with Phoebe, Ilya, Fawn, Brian, Jess and Chris at Pure Luck on Heliotrope. They always have really good beers on tap, and their food never disappoints. We had an order of chips, avocado and salsa, sweet potato fries, fried pickle chips, and individual main courses, plus a few rounds of drinks. It was quite a good time. Very jovial and fun. There were pictures of dogs and cats on the walls for some art opening. They all looked pretty silly to me, but what do I know about “art.”
Now we’re watching The Simpsons movie and drinking strawberry champagne. All in all, it turned out to be a good day.
