I went somewhere! And finally met Megs of longtime book blog frienddom! For those of you wondering, Megs is a slender and delightful person who will drive you up, up! into the Hollywood Hills to look at the outside of a building for 30 seconds. She will also not judge you for eating two everything bagels in a row while watching Netflix. THANKS, MEGS.
Yes, I flew to LA for my birthday (and then San Francisco, but more about that next week), and everything was magical and filled with dogs and the aforementioned bagels.
Things started out what-on-earth-ish when my oldest internet friend (meaning we met in 2002, not that she's 80) turned out to be on my plane. We discovered this through a Facebook post followed by texting. "YOU'RE at Midway? I'M at Midway. Wait..." Steph and I met through a Yahoo Group about Cheers couple Frasier & Lilith (or "Frith" to those in the know). There were four of us in this group. Obviously. We were all teenagers. Steph became one of my best friends, mostly because we were both obsessed with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
I went to Los Angeles with NAUGHT BUT THESE TWO WEE BAGS.
It turned out fine. I had to buy one long-sleeved shirt in San Francisco, but everything still fit in my suitcase when I was done with my six day trip. This would not have been possible in the winter.
So! I show up in Los Angeles. I hug Megs, who is there and A REAL PERSON (whattt). And we go back to her place, from where we then go to a taco truck and get giiiiiant burritos, because LA, and I meet her dogs. Who I knew from photos, but they're so awwwww.
And because Megs is a sport, she drove with me to Hollywood Thursday night so I could finally meet Em Dickson, who I've been friends with via Twitter for yeeears. We've tried meeting up appx 50 million times, but it always gets canceled, so I kind of don't believe I met her. But I did. And Megs came with and dealt with us yelling in a very loud bar about how David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are maybe sleeping together and definitely going to end up together.
Friday! We had breakfast at a place called Millie's with Megs's husband Angel. I had a shrimp quesadilla, because I am from a LANDLOCKED REGION, and I do not trust our seafood.
Then! into Hollywood, because I had to meet Steph to go stare at handprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theater. Which is now called something else, but I refuse to acknowledge that.
Megs walked way down Hollywood Boulevard with me, which is not The Nicest Place Ever, but you can see the Hollywood sign from it, and I didn't think I'd be excited to see it, but I was.
There are also ridic amounts of dressed up people near Grauman's, most of whom will try to grab you so you can give them money to take a picture. There was a very handsy Thor, and I was walking along when I suddenly realized Megs had been held captive by a Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Edward Scissorhands.
I rarely talk about old movies anymore (aside from this post on Barbara Stanwyck) but they used to rule my life. Everyone has some subject they used to be really into, but which then lies dormant until some hapless person brings it up in casual conversation. I will get immensely excited talking about Greer Garson, Myrna Loy, Claudette Colbert, Deborah Kerr, Irene Dunne, etc. Going to Grauman's and seeing William Powell & Myrna Loy's handprints next to each other was...yep. Cannot describe.
Also my hands are the same size as Jean Harlow's!
We did some thrifting, Megs took me to In-N-Out Burger, and then we watched a bunch of Grace and Frankie because that is what we like doing.
SATURDAY. I went to Grand Central Market with my friend Devyn, who moved out to LA from Chicago a couple years ago. Devyn is delightful and got me to try a pupusa, which I'd never heard of before, but it was swell. We stopped at The Last Bookstore, which I was UNIMPRESSED BY. Look. Yes, it has some neat book art. Like this:
But I'm kind of not a huge fan of really big bookstores. Not unless each section is really well curated. I can browse through tons of books online. I want someone with excellent taste who puts books I will love in front of me on a shelf. To be honest, I was a much bigger fan of the rather tiny Book Culture in Manhattan.
So one movie Barbara Stanwyck was in was Double Indemnity. I used to say it was my favorite movie, but that was a lie because really I just knew it's popular with film critics. It took me years to realize I don't really like it that much -- I just think Stanwyck is weirdly hot in it. Weirdly because the blonde wig she has for it is the worst.
The house they filmed the exteriors for is still standing, high up in the Hollywood Hills. And Megs drove me all the way up there so I could get out of the car and walk around like a creeper. HELLO, HOUSE OWNERS, JUST HAVING A MOMENT.
Then I made Megs go down Rodeo Drive while I blasted "Wild Women Do" in the car. It was a Special Moment.
The rest of Saturday consisted of driving by Angelus Temple, me realizing HOLY SHIT THAT'S ANGELUS TEMPLE, aka 1920s scandal-ridden evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson's church (so Megs pulled over because she is very nice that way) and then driving to the movie theater the New Beverly, because Patton Oswalt talks about it allllllllll the time in his second book and I wanted to see the inside.
Yes, I flew to LA for my birthday (and then San Francisco, but more about that next week), and everything was magical and filled with dogs and the aforementioned bagels.
Things started out what-on-earth-ish when my oldest internet friend (meaning we met in 2002, not that she's 80) turned out to be on my plane. We discovered this through a Facebook post followed by texting. "YOU'RE at Midway? I'M at Midway. Wait..." Steph and I met through a Yahoo Group about Cheers couple Frasier & Lilith (or "Frith" to those in the know). There were four of us in this group. Obviously. We were all teenagers. Steph became one of my best friends, mostly because we were both obsessed with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
I went to Los Angeles with NAUGHT BUT THESE TWO WEE BAGS.
 |
| I was very proud |
So! I show up in Los Angeles. I hug Megs, who is there and A REAL PERSON (whattt). And we go back to her place, from where we then go to a taco truck and get giiiiiant burritos, because LA, and I meet her dogs. Who I knew from photos, but they're so awwwww.
 |
| Ahhhhh! |
And because Megs is a sport, she drove with me to Hollywood Thursday night so I could finally meet Em Dickson, who I've been friends with via Twitter for yeeears. We've tried meeting up appx 50 million times, but it always gets canceled, so I kind of don't believe I met her. But I did. And Megs came with and dealt with us yelling in a very loud bar about how David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are maybe sleeping together and definitely going to end up together.
Friday! We had breakfast at a place called Millie's with Megs's husband Angel. I had a shrimp quesadilla, because I am from a LANDLOCKED REGION, and I do not trust our seafood.
 |
| HI, MEGS |
Then! into Hollywood, because I had to meet Steph to go stare at handprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theater. Which is now called something else, but I refuse to acknowledge that.
Megs walked way down Hollywood Boulevard with me, which is not The Nicest Place Ever, but you can see the Hollywood sign from it, and I didn't think I'd be excited to see it, but I was.
There are also ridic amounts of dressed up people near Grauman's, most of whom will try to grab you so you can give them money to take a picture. There was a very handsy Thor, and I was walking along when I suddenly realized Megs had been held captive by a Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Edward Scissorhands.
 |
| We barely escaped with our lives. |
I rarely talk about old movies anymore (aside from this post on Barbara Stanwyck) but they used to rule my life. Everyone has some subject they used to be really into, but which then lies dormant until some hapless person brings it up in casual conversation. I will get immensely excited talking about Greer Garson, Myrna Loy, Claudette Colbert, Deborah Kerr, Irene Dunne, etc. Going to Grauman's and seeing William Powell & Myrna Loy's handprints next to each other was...yep. Cannot describe.
Also my hands are the same size as Jean Harlow's!
We did some thrifting, Megs took me to In-N-Out Burger, and then we watched a bunch of Grace and Frankie because that is what we like doing.
SATURDAY. I went to Grand Central Market with my friend Devyn, who moved out to LA from Chicago a couple years ago. Devyn is delightful and got me to try a pupusa, which I'd never heard of before, but it was swell. We stopped at The Last Bookstore, which I was UNIMPRESSED BY. Look. Yes, it has some neat book art. Like this:
But I'm kind of not a huge fan of really big bookstores. Not unless each section is really well curated. I can browse through tons of books online. I want someone with excellent taste who puts books I will love in front of me on a shelf. To be honest, I was a much bigger fan of the rather tiny Book Culture in Manhattan.
So one movie Barbara Stanwyck was in was Double Indemnity. I used to say it was my favorite movie, but that was a lie because really I just knew it's popular with film critics. It took me years to realize I don't really like it that much -- I just think Stanwyck is weirdly hot in it. Weirdly because the blonde wig she has for it is the worst.
The house they filmed the exteriors for is still standing, high up in the Hollywood Hills. And Megs drove me all the way up there so I could get out of the car and walk around like a creeper. HELLO, HOUSE OWNERS, JUST HAVING A MOMENT.
Then I made Megs go down Rodeo Drive while I blasted "Wild Women Do" in the car. It was a Special Moment.
 |
| PRETTY WOMAN STORE |
The rest of Saturday consisted of driving by Angelus Temple, me realizing HOLY SHIT THAT'S ANGELUS TEMPLE, aka 1920s scandal-ridden evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson's church (so Megs pulled over because she is very nice that way) and then driving to the movie theater the New Beverly, because Patton Oswalt talks about it allllllllll the time in his second book and I wanted to see the inside.
The next day, Megs drove me to LAX and it was off, off to my next adventure! (i.e. seeing almost every outdoor filming location of Vertigo)
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