A week ago today I moved to LA!!! Hey. Hey LA.
Feeling a whole new side of the world, literally and more internally. New insights into the person I am and the person I want to be. New visions of what’s happening inside and how it’s affecting me on the outside. Inside vs Outside…what’s in that middle space? I’m diving in. And I wanted to start a little journal about the discovery, the preservation/shedding, here, once a week, with some things.
Below are buckets — my ADHD has to have a mini system otherwise I would never finish this. The buckets have puddles in them, 3 big take-away puddles. Happy puddles. We’ll see what waters wash over this next week :)
LA, you’re a charmer so far. Here we go. xoxo, ch
— MUSIC —
Puppy
Over here in this land of non-MTA, I have a car, a Nissa’ Versa ’09. His name is Puppy. Sitting real pretty, it’s painted white-walker-eyes blue and it was painted this color after getting in a little fender bender at some point in its 120k-mile life. I know this from Harry at Harry’s Automotive who took a look after I bought it at CarMax. “you got a good one” — Harry. I think so too.
Puppy has a CD player. I didn’t know how much I missed a CD player until Puppy began licking my eardrums. And, good news, I have a 4 pack of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Broadway hits. So…
Oklahoma
Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay! OKLAHOMA. This sunny soundtrack is my main CD right now, so every time I turn the engine on, I belt out “Oh what a Beautiful Morning.” Also, if you haven’t yet, I would 1000% recommend listening to “The Surrey with the Fringe On Top”, BUT go straight to minute 2:50 because wow…there is a very sweet, lovely second half that gets me teary-eyed every time. I hope I can find someone to lightly hush the larks in the meadow, let me nod off on their shoulder, let me dream my dreams worth a keepin’.
Sam
And the first CD I plan on purchasing now that I have a place to put it will be the new Sam Smith album The Thrill of it All. Team, the song “Pray” and the song “Nothing Left For You”… MmhMmm.
— SNACKAGE —
Coffee Maker
The apartment I am subletting is a godsend. It’s the most homey home I’ve had in a long while and, besides its endless supply of comfy seats and soft blankets and quiet Cali sunshine, it also has a real coffee maker. PAUSE FOR APPLAUSE. I haven’t had a coffee maker since my time in the w-Burg, it’s been mostly AeroPress (which has a special place in my blood going into my heart). But brewing up a whole pot of coffee that only ME ME ME will drink? Plush. The excessive luxury of a pot of coffee, brewing all by itself, in a kitchen of my own, sitting next to my favorite Phoenicia Diner mug, waiting for me to pour and pour, well, that will never ever stop making me smile big.
Dairy
Speaking of chubby kid…oh wait, we didn’t mention that yet. Well, I mean isn’t that chubby kid always kinda speaking? Even when we think we aren’t listening anymore, at all, and we even bought smaller pants and a yam to attempt to cook? Yes, she’s there. And she is telling me to eat whatever I want because 1) I am in a new city and 2) I have my very own Bachelorette pad (Sebastian Bach) and 3) I’m single and don’t have to impress anyone and 4) No one knows what I am doing right now! Ya, chubby kid, we hear you.
The weird thing about chubby kid is the rebellion of not wanting to buy any bad stuff to bring into Sebastian Bach because I know I would destroy it, so I resort to eating whatever combo of things I can find in said Bach that might taste like something fun to eat. Examples include:
- Bran cereal my subletters left behind with their milk they left behind with a mixture of trader joes almond butter and other healthy-themed peanut butter and raspberry jelly mixed in that they left behind. Also a banana I bought for not this purpose.
- Gluten free table crackers mixed with crunchy grainy other crackers dipped into crunchy healthy peanut butter and salty creamy peanut butter and jelly with two additional work-out power bars that have some sort of peanut butter chocolate theme dipped into the peanut butter. Also an apple I bought for not this purpose.
- Chubby Kid broke me on Sunday and I went to the grocery store and bought things…then I watched Fifty Shades Darker while eating Truffle Kerfluffle with some salty peanut butter rounding out some bites. All of this was on purpose. Do you hate me yet? Well….
- JUDO CHOP, Chubby Kid, because today I went back to said grocery store and returned $18 worth of dairy products — hello Wisconsin family, it’s just for now, but NO dairy for 2 weeks, new mantra! k.
I’ll let you know how this next week goes, I’m choosing to believe I just needed to have a party first week in LA (I’ve got secrets I can’t tell here, wink), do whatever and eat whatever I want, settle in. I only ate one thing of ice cream, which was pretty good for me re: EMOTIONAL CHANGES…and I still feel pretty foxy.
MEXICALI
This week, I helped produce an event at Smogshoppe for Golden Road Brewery, a pretty iconic way to start my week out given that Golden Road is the LA brewery, making really freshNgood beer right here in LA, got those fierce IPAs I dig AND mucho good tastes. Smogshoppe is a spectacular venue, very adjustable which is what I like in a venue, with the most organized and considerate staff. And, to top it off, we got Border Grill to cater for us. Bah. This caterer brought the fire with fresh tamales, this spicy ahi tuna on plantain chips, some sort of bean empanada …this event happened on my second full day in LA so I really went after this mexi-cali food thing. And, ya know the old saying, “food brings people together”… er, “food and people and together”… something like that because I made a few friends(!!) while eating ahi! Which leads too…
BUDDIES
EventZ
Meeting people is kind of great here in LA. They seem to like me and want to know things about me. Not that that didn’t happen in NYC — hey baes — but I’m finding a nice ease to it all out here. At Smogshoppe, I met three dope cool very high-quality guys who bartend at this beach bar called Big Dean’s. They said to come by so Sunday I went by and boy are they nice. Any friends in LA want to do a Saturday day-to-night there with me this weekend? We got a super friendly group of dudes who will bring the fun, sun and picnic tables, and cold beer. Very thrilled I met them, so nice. OHHH also, one of the bartender gals from Border Grill and I are going to see a show at High Hat(?) Tuesday, the head chef is in a band so, we are hitting it up, yay live music and speaking of live music…
Saturday
The Cooties!!!! New fav band, super smart and witty and funny and GOOD. I heard them at Rockwood before I left town, friends of friends of…now WE are friends :) Lucky gal. Because of the Equinox-garage-closing snafu (see learnings below) I missed their set at The Virgil, but but got to hang out and first weekend in LA yahoo AND dance party and tacos/etcetera. Happyyyyyyyy. Plus two new gal pals, priceless.
Praytell
I work at the best company in the world. Why? PEOPLE. These people, golly. Praytell, if you haven’t heard about us, is the company I’ve had the honor of working at now for ummm 4–5 years? I went from account manager to strategist to culture champion to events lead. It’s pretty great. And now I’m over in the Praytell LA office, with a group of sunny babes making me feel all kinds of welcome and rightness. My girl Sarah let me crash with her in the limbo days before my Sebastian Bach was open, my boi Daniel has taken pics and kept me posted on office happenings and showed me where Sprouts was xxx, ma mama Alexia and Fairfax and Kaitlin and Marisa and Shira and Natania and Jade and Katieeeeeeeee….they are all making me feel special and loved and it’s the most appreciated ever. XXoo fam.
LOVINGS
Apple TV vs. Hot Yoga
I will always and forever love my NYC hot yoga spot — Bikram Yoga LES. They got me out of some dusty times, got my body connected to my spirit, made me feel good about myself again. If you haven’t tried out a class, HIGHLY recommend it. Tell Trisha I said hey gurl.
But now that I switched sides, I found a new spot! Hot 8 Yoga, which has, wait for it, eucalyptus oiled cool washcloths you can breath into after a 90-min hot bikram yoga class. I almost cried evaporated tears the first time I tried this thing. My fav teacher is Francesca who has a Michael Caine style British accent and says words like “Tummy” and “hold your bum in, my darling.” Just you wait Henry Higgins, just you wait…I’ll hold that Trikonasana before the year is out.
Oh and the opposite thing I’m loving is Apple TV. IT IS ALL RIGHT THERE! Less clicking, more The Matrix.
Boys
Spent Friday night home alone at the Bach, chillin’, made dinner, watched Fast&Furious…and switched on Bumble! Always interesting to see what boys are in play out here, I don’t have any intention of dating hardcore — or really dating at all, I think. But it was a nice activity. And I feel really good about where my profile copy ended up!
Parking
Learned that parking garages close sometimes, and I always need to check when they close so I can get Puppy out of said garage when I want to get Puppy homedog. Equinox parking lots are red flags. Also always bring your parking lot ticket with you so someone with official-ness can validate it and save you $$$ and/or you can get back into the fancy elevator bank to go down to P3.
MEMORIES
LAX
I landed on Monday NOV 13, 2017 on a one-way from NYC to LAX. It was sunset when I landed, and I was watching “Woman of the Year” with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. I sat on the plane until everyone left trying to finish the film, but I had to leave when she was still separating out the eggs and didn’t get to the very very end…just like Kate and Spence. I had to get my bags at claim and MAKE MOVES. Hopped off the plane at LAX…
Party
(Anyone with a dream, watch this. Or if you dig airport parking lots at night, watch this. (The picture makes me look graceful, but the video begs to differ. You decide.)
Groundlings
This is me outside of The Groundlings Theater. I went out for an audition today to get into their first level of classes, I think it went OK, the teacher thanked me for YAY-clapping between scenes. It is literally a 7 min walk from my house, I just go down two blocks and right two blocks. Lots of epic comedy and people came out of here — Lisa Kudrow! Should have known, how else would she date Conan. Honored to be so close, we’ll see what happens. Another dude in my audition thing today asked if I was nervous and I said no. And he said “ah you’re nervous” and I looked at him and said “Nope” and I meant it. Something about this town doesn’t make me nervous, just *down* to do the thing. Give it to me. Or don’t and I’ll just find the other thing equal to it.
APPENDIX ← ←
LIST OF FILMS I AM PROUD (sure) THAT I WATCHED THIS **WEEK
** That’s 7 days…I’ll just say it’s research…Because I am an Actress. And good actresses watch Keanu/etc. :+}
The Matrix
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
The Lion King
Fifty Shades Darker
Sex in the City — 3 episodes from Season 3
Game of Thrones — Season 1 Ep 2
What Women Want
Fast&Furious — where letty dies but doesn’t come back
Murder on the Oriental Express
Woman of the Year
Nick Offerman’s Netflix Special, American Ham
QUOTES FROM KEANU
Grief changes shape, but it never ends.
Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things.
The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.
→ SECRET OTHER STORY I GOT NERVOUS TO PUT UP IN THE MAIN THING SO THIS IS ONLY FOR THOSE FEW PEOPLE WHO READ ALL THE WAY DOWN TO HERE…
→ Movie Theaters
Ok ok ok one more food journey from the week. I wanted to go see Murder on the Oriental Express because me and my mama read the book, but she doesn’t really like seeing movies SO I was going to tell her all about it. Cut to Sunday night (oh ya, it all happened that day), I went and did yoga because I’m an adult and then promptly went to the movie theaters in middle-schooler style cray oversized hoodie and sweatpants. I got this falafel healthy salad thing next to the theater and snuck that in so I could counterbalance it with popcorn. Then, on an impulse buy, I got Raisinets too. While watching Kenneth Branagh act direct act and whatever for 2 hours, I ate my salad and popcorn AND dumped the Raisinets into the popcorn for some next level shit. Because I am an explorer of the taste buds.
THIS CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON MY WEBSITE www.christinehauer.com ;)
