Rock Steady

No Doubt has been my favourite band since I was 12. Gwen Stefani has been my idol for just as long. Last night Caleigh and I went to our 5th No Doubt concert and it was SOOOOO AMAZING! It was also ohhh sooo reminiscent of the first one – being on the floor and all, but this time we were all grown up in 3rd row seats instead of being in the mosh pit desperately clinging to our mom/dad’s hands, terrified we were gonna get crushed by 20 year old punks. And it was at the ACC, not good old Maple Leaf Gardens. Up until this show, the Tragic Kingdom show was my favourite concert ever (perhaps because it was our first concert, because we were SO obsessed with her, and Gwen just puts on such a great show) but this one was just soooo much more amazing! Every song was a single (not that we don’t love all their songs anyways), Gwen’s body was SMOKIN, the stage design and costumes were all sooooo badass, the videos playing in the background were AMAZING, and did I mention we had THIRD ROW SEATS!? Literally when Gwen was doing her pushups during Just A Girl, she was in spitting distance from us! Caleigh and I were pretty much going crazy it was so cool! We were also SO close to Kingston and Zuma backstage and it was so neat to see them! But I also felt really weird and stalker-ish taking pictures of them. Leigh Bush would not approve! But we totally had the good side of the stage (she hung out on our speaker wayyy more than the other side) and I got SO many amazing pictures!

Highlights include:
-The stark white with black accents stage/set and wardrobe (we all know how much I love black and white)
-Just a Girl, Stand and Deliver (they were all playing drums at the beginning), Rock Steady, and Sunday Morning (my fave and the closer of the show).
-It’s My Life and the really cool video that was playing in the background
-At the end of the show she was standing on the speaker by us for SO long getting some drawing that someone did of her and Kingston – we could’ve almost touched her!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to our backstage pass connection in time, so we didn’t get to meet them again L But we tried to comfort ourselves with the fact that Gwen doesn’t even usually hang around backstage (in 2001 Tony brought us from the backstage area to a separate vip room that Gwen stopped by for 5 mins). But we really just want a picture of us and her where we don’t look like 16 year old dorks!

Anyways, the concert left us feeling soooooo nostalgic for the past and just so in love with Gwen! She’s just the coolest! I want to be her friend. It makes me so excited for my California life… maybe I’ll bleach my hair again and wear it in crazy knots like the good old days… Nah.

WestCoastBestCoast: Days 36 - 39

Day 39

Last days in LA suck. But this last day isn’t as bad as every other last day since I’m coming back in a month, and I’m moving here in the fallllll! This week’s mission: get my FIDM application in!

So today I woke up at 6:30 and could not for the life of me fall back to sleep. It was horrible. My brain just turned on and started thinking about packing and all the errands I had to do today and I couldn’t get it to stop thinking! So I lay there until 7:30 and then I got up. Leigh got up at 9 and we went on our hike, the last Hollywood Sign hike. It was really cold and misty rain and by the end of it my hands wouldn’t work anymore! Like, trying to untie my shoes was a real task!

Following abs & showers, the errands commenced. I went to Sprinkles to pick up Round 2 of cupcakes to bring home, and stocked up on detox tea. Then the real chore began. Packing. And not just the type of packing I was doing yesterday (folding up the clothes perfectly and arranging them in the easy side of the suitcase), today’s packing was the hard stuff. Getting shoes and hair appliances and starbucks mugs and electronic stuff to fit nicely cushioned amongst the clothes. Yuck. It took a while, but I did it. But my knapsack is stuffed and my bag of cupcakes is accompanied by shoes, sweatpants, and 2 of the 5 mugs. Unfortunately I had to leave my anthropologie bowls behind, but that’s okay, they’re for my LA house anyways!!

After packing, leigh got home from her matinee with Christina and Ash and Charity soon joined in on the fun. We ate all the cupcakes from last night, parts of diet dinners, and cuddled up in front of the tv. Leigh had to leave for her night play (which ended up being cancelled) and the rest of the crew drove me to the airport. And here I sit at gate #27, wishing it was December and Derek and I were sitting together at gate #23. I’m bored.

This was definitely the best LA trip yet. Because we did soooooo much, and I figured out my FUTURE! Hahahah! Even though it’s horrible to leave, I’m kinda looking forward to getting back into my routine. Spinning, personal training, not eating cupcakes every day, and… Season 4 of The OC Office will hopefully start this week! Right L&R?

*Update from home: Things I miss the most (other than the obvious - Leigh, warmth, hiking): cherry & blueberry activia, leigh & dave's bowls and skinny forks, boiling tap water, luxurious backyard furniture and the truck (I also found out today that my mom had used my car and didn't put it back in the garage, which just happened to be the night of the golf ball hailstorm. It got dented to shit. They got it fixed for me.
Things that are cushioning the LA withdrawal blow: Berkley (his hair is perfectly scruffy), cupcakes (they survived the plane ride), Rui (training tonight to burn off cupcake cals), Leigh & Robyn's shampoo (i went out and got it), my bed, and knowing i'll be going back soon.

Day 38
8 am Hollywood sign hike. Leigh and I sped uphill, she walked downhill and i ran (had to get home in time to go get my bangs trimmed at 11). Went to see Kelly, she trimmed my bangs and kinda gave me a bit of an all over haircut, and was so excited for me that I found a way to stay! After the haircut I came home and started the dreaded task of packing. Packing up a months worth of purchases as well as everything I came with is the most daunting task ever. I'm gonna have to leave some stuff here... Leigh came home from the Grove, and we made banana cupcakes (I had bought banana cupcake ingredients because we were supposed to have a party for Christina's belated birthday, and the bananas were perfectly ripe so why not make cupcakes?) And we were supposed to be having some sort of get-together at the house that evening. Anyways, we wanted to eat them but they fit perfectly on the platter so we really couldnt - there was one extra that the three of us (us and dave) split but it was just a tease so Dave was like "make another batch!" and i was like "no way!" but then we found a cake mix in the cupboard and since we had leftover icing, we felt like it was a sign. So we made another batch. Sidenote: Valley Oak altitude is apparently perfect for cupcake baking. Seriously i've never seen such rounded perfect tops on any cupcakes i've EVER made and the icing just spreads soooo perfectly!!

Ok sooo Leigh went to her play, I packed alll afternoon (i should mention that i can't just sit down and pack. I pack like 5 things and then get distracted or bored and just cant do it anymore). Dave's friend Morgan came over and the three of us went to Birds for dinner (it was pretty amazing because I had been wanting broccoli alllllll day and when my side of "mixed vegetables" came out, it was broccoli! Amazing. Oh - but before this we stopped at the green store and Dave ordered two super shots (what i thought was for him and morgan) and he asked me if i wanted the chocolate alchemy thing. I said I didn't want anything, just my fat burning lemonade. So then the super shots are served up and Dave announces that he already had one today and that they're for Morgan and I. DISASTER! Those things are sooooo awful. My mouth was afire with spicyness for at least an hour. I got my fat burning lemonade, bought a present for Leigh at the bookstore (The Host by Stephenie Meyer ... sooooo reminiscent of Arizona desert) and they wrapped it in black tissue paper with a black gift bag and it looked really sexy.

We went back to the house after dinner, and I continued with my dreaded packing. The Good Life entourage flaked on us, so I continued packing, Leigh came home and we had our cupcake/shirt photoshoot, Vicky and Paul came over, and we drank tea on the couch while talking about how very sad it is that I have to leave. But then we talked about how very wonderful it is that i'm MOVING HERE IN OCTOBERRRRR! And I plan on coming back in July to start house/apartment hunting. The plan is to get a sick little guest house in Beachwood Canyon so i'll be right in Leigh's (and Samantha Ronson's) hood and we can hike every morning.I can't wait for my LA life to begin!!

Day 37
Today was another amazing day. It's all thanks to the clouds. Overcast LA days are my favourite.I went on my morning hike at 8 and it was beautifully gloomy with misty rain. I went all the way to the top and ran down again (which wasn't a good idea. my knee is hurting again... i knew i was pushing my luck trying to run)!! After Leigh got back from pilates we had a Farewell Pickup Truck photoshoot. It was hot. We then had to go return it cause the glorious month was up. The grand total ended up being $681 bucks! Oh how I love my ridiculous teacher discount.

After the rental place we went to Sprinkles so I could get (and freeze) pumpkin cupcakes for my mom. Gotta go back on Sunday to get the rest. Leigh and I got free chai latte cupcakes (for saying the code word "tea time" (how perfect) and a lemon coconut and pumpkin to split. We came home, killed time, listened to November Rain because it fit with the weather, Vicky and Paul came by, and then we ate our cupcakes. Dave had a black & white and ate his icing and he started going crazy from the sugar. He says my blindness every time i stand up is from too much sugar, but it's not. It's from lack of salt. (I go blind for several seconds almost every time i stand up). Anywaysssss we then decided that the theme for tomorrow's party should be "cupcakes" and Leigh and Dave wanted JOhnny Cupcakes shirts to wear for the occasion. So Leigh stayed home to do work while Dave and I went shopping. I got to drive the Porsche! It was very exciting.

So we get to Johnny Cupcakes and Dave got the cupcake & crossbones hoodie, and we got Leigh a "Make Cupcakes Not War" shirt that's soooo cute and i want it. We then hit up DC, Dave bought some stuff, and I mentioned how I like shopping at boy stores - which was a mistake, because he then made me stop at Pep Boys to get car interior cleaner and look at mini motorcycles. We came home, Leigh and I split some leftover diet meals for dinner and it was actually sooooo good! It's STILL cloudy out and i'm loving every second of this wonderful day!

Day 36
Another favourite day.I woke up at 7 to bigtime gloominess outside. Lucky for me, I LOVE gloomy days in LA. So I headed out on my hike at 7:30 and it stayed gloomy the entire time, even started misty raining a bit. I also opted for gloomy day music (armor for sleep, arcade fire, bloc party, the national) instead of my usual britney or other motivational hardcore-pop. It was my favourite hike of the trip.

Back at the ranch, I had breakfast (cherry activia instead of blueberry with my cereal concoction) and it was really very wonderful. Why can't we have those flavors at home?? After eating breakfast I went and quickly got ready for my appointment with an admissions counsellor at FIDM. The drive down there was breezy, no traffic on the 101 surprisingly, and when I got off, I was greeted by the stunning Disney Concert Hall (props to Frank Gehry for that one), so I snapped a pic.

FIDM was wonderful. I have to go. I'm going. I spoke to the admissions counsellor, went on a tour (the place was FILLED with Barbie stuff - all the programs did barbie themed projects for the 50th anniversary - too bad I missed out). And the interior design program looks like soooo much fun (L&R am I crazy?) Finally I can make Daddykins proud and do something with my design prowess! So basically i'm going, because if i go, my life is finally set. The program is a year long, I get a year student visa after that, and then i'm good to go for the TN Visa (thanks to my years of experience at Q2). The only downfall, tuition is 30 grand. But I called my mom and she's like "just get a loan and do it!" and I found out that the school is recognized by OSAP as well so that's a plus! Andddd did I mention that school is only 18 hours a week? Welcome back two day school weeks! I can paint on the other days and slowly but surely pay off my debt. AND worse case scenario, I somehow can't get a visa and i suck so no one wants to hire me, I'll just go work for dad as a draftsman... but that definitely won't happen. I'm gonna be an interior design rockstar! LA HERE I COME! Cinderella was SO right when she said that if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true! I'm pretty much the happiest girl ever right now. Can you tell?

After FIDM I went to pilates with Myara (which surprisingly only took 15 mins to get there). It was SO fun today. Not sure why. But my abs are killing me already and I love it. After pilates I picked up mom's Tory shoes cause they were in, then went to check out The Hundreds t-shirt shop. After trying on a black t with the multicolor bomb design on it (too basic), a purple t with a girl silhouette with her head cut off bleeding (cute), and the hundreds/johnny cupcakes t in navy (too angry), I chose the purple girl silhouette. I then went over to Johnny Cupcakes which was pretty much the coolest store ever because it's fully set up like a bakery but with T-shirts on all the shelves - their branding is SO CLEVER. And I bought myself the basic black tee with the white cupcake & crossbones. I'm obsessed with it. After buying a cupcake shirt I needed a sugar fix, and I decided to hit up Big Sugar for the last time this trip. So i jumped onto Laurel Canyon and drove over the hill to Studio City. I want to live there next year. I'm fully in love with it. But Leigh says I shouldn't live there because it's too far away from everything. I beg to differ, the 101 (which i need to take to school) is right there... although its traffic can be torturous, but it has everything else I need: a bakery, a bookstore & close proximity hikes. I got home in time for fourtimepourtime and ate my cheesecake brownie and tea out in the backyard. I then looked through my FIDM application stuff, called mom to tell her my exciting news, and stickered my surfboard with my Hundreds and Johnny Cupcakes stickers. I don't know why I haven't put more stickers on it... Vicky stopped by and we chatted in the backyard, Leigh and I had dinner and we planned the rest of my days here. I'm horribly sad to leave, but at the same time, excited to go home and make money and get my life organized in order to move here!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!