Le Bad Romance

New Lady Gaga craziness sexiness insaneness wowness. Enjoy.

Le Drive-By Tourism* in LA

Where: Los Angeles
When: Labor Day Weekend
Duration: 2.5 Days
Who: Three adults
Who else: Two children under the age of three
What: 1 Car
Time: Best. Ever.
Cost: Priceless

Agenda:
- Catch up with old friends
- Meet the munchkins
- See as much of LA as possible - drive-by style with a camera hanging out the side of the car
- See the Hollywood sign to verify it is real and exists (it does)
- Chill with the coolness of James Dean
- Hang out like Vinnie Chase and the boys would, by trespassing his house
- Wear my new summer dress
- In 'n' Out - Double double animal style (hmmmmmmm)
- Witness the site of a baby's first army crawl (adorable)
- Spirituality - Ghandi style
- See celebrity(ies) (Perez Hilton, Kate Perry, Eliza Dushku, Ashley Tisdale)
- See a transformer

Mission:
Accomplished

Livability Index**: 6 months - 1 year

Thank you:
To the best Monkey gang ever for a wonderful time xoxo!!!




First stop Malibu: Paradise Cove Beach Cafe (try the salad with fresh tuna)




Paradise Cove Beach Cafe




Paradise Cove Beach Cafe




Paradise Cove Beach Cafe




Paradise Cove Beach Cafe




Paradise Cove Beach Cafe




Paradise Cove Beach Cafe




Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Temple - Where someone stole a handful of Ghandi's ashes and sent them to LA to rest in this spot...just the way Ghandi would have wanted it.




Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Temple - Someone promised me I would see lots of birds. But there were no birds. Just nature and some ashes.




Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Temple




Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Temple - Remnants of cuteness from moments before




Marilyn Monroe's Resting Place




Variety - The Mecca of LA




Drive by tourism




Urth Cafe - Where Vinnie, me and the boys do brunch




Venice Beach




Venice Beach




Venice Beach - Just like the canals in Italy




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Drive-by Venice Beach




Venice Beach Dog




Venice Beach - Barber




Venice Beach - House ad




Venice Beach - Pause for coffee at Intelligencia




Venice Beach - Back on the road again




La Mirage Inn




Hollywood Hills




Hollywood Sign




Ashton Kutcher's restaurant Geisha House




Wax Museum




Kodak Theater - Home of the Oscars




Transformers - More than meets the eye!




Chinese Theater




Entourage Villa




Hills




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion - Construction next door. Probably a new Starbucks or McDonalds




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Greystone Mansion




Beverly Hills. 90210.




Drive-by tourism - The Spelling Mansion




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism - Beverly Hills Wilshire Hotel of Pretty Woman fame




Rodeo Drive




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism




Drive-by tourism - Kitson




Drive-by tourism - The Ivy




Drive-by tourism - Kitson




Finally, those birds I was promised, chilling like Vinnie Chase at a traffic light




Perez Hilton - My celebrity sighting



*With the archaic vacation system found in the US, I found it necessary to invent 'drive-by vacationing' - visiting new cities in as little time as possible - in order to see the country in addition to seeing my family in decent incriments. After two days of Boston this summer, I decided that LA and my lovely friends merited my precious three day weekend that marked the end of Summer 2009.

**I have also come to realize that every city I visit that I like, I measure not in terms of stars or thumbs up, but in how much time I would want to live there. I know it's crazy, but I can't stop wanting to live places. It's not something I do consciously, but recently discovered I just simply size up a city and remark "I would live here for 6 months, and I would do it in that neighborhood, in that apartment, where I would buy white furniture and shop at that grocery store". I guess I just can't sit still, and have a never-ending hunger to live in new places all the time. So I've decided to invent the Livability Index, where I rate a city according to how long I would live there. For example, Boston received a comfortable Livability Index of two Summer months. Frankfurt has a rating of -5 months. That's right. I am also pioneering the idea of negatively ratings of cities. Trust me. It makes sense if you've been to Frankfurt.

Le Penny Collector

Source

My little homeless penny jar is full. I just thought I should let you know, since I’m sure you’ve been wondering what happened to all those pennies over the past two years. They are fine, sitting on my shelf, and ready to get sent to the bank. It’s the weirdest thing, because now that I’ve been picking up pennies off the street for two years, I kind of don’t feel like doing it anymore, but at the same time, I feel really guilty when I don’t. Like I’ll be walking down the street with someone I just met, or I’ll be on a date and I’ll see the penny. And part of me wants to pick it up, honest, but then the other part of me thinks, do I really want to be that first (and only) date who picked up a penny off the street? I mean, would you go out on a second date with someone who would do that? Or is it one of these things where like, I need to just be me, ‘the penny collector’ and the right guy, that knight in shining armor, will love me more because of my strange attraction to homeless coins. Is this one of those kind of life tests? But then, if it is a life test, and I don’t actually want to pick up pennies anymore, then what does that mean? Does it mean that I am a heartless person now? That I’ve changed and lost sight of the greater good? Sigh. This is all very confusing, it’s like I’ve created a monster with this whole penny-business. Whatever, I’m off to the bank, and I’ll just take it from there.

Le Autumn of Janis Joplin

Summertime - Janis Joplin

Dear Janis Joplin,

I discovered you for the first time last week. I was at my new job, listening to music on Imeem.com, and letting it randomly take me from one song to the next, when suddenly you showed up singing 'Summertime' to me. It blew me away like nothing has in a long time, and I was sincerely sad that I've gone 29 years without your music in my life.

The irony of 'Summertime' entering my life at this point is not lost on me. Just as summer comes to an end in New York, and Autumn winds gently take over the hot summer days and nights, you have come to accompany me not only for the changing of the temporal seasons, but also a changing of seasons in my life. Right now, everything feels different than it did before, and I am relieved. And when I say different, I mean that I am right back where I started when I left for New York two years ago, much like the shepherd boy in The Alchemist, I feel like I'm back home after getting lost in the dark for a while. Thankfully, I made it in one piece even though I acquired a few cuts and bruises. Hopefully nothing that will scar, and I'm perpetually optimistic. I have a new job, new people in my life, and almost feel like my old self again. Everyday I watch me come back, and I am delighted. The wind of change that has been wafting for a few months now is in full force, and I am grateful for the beautiful music that it has brought with it.

So thank you, Ms. Joplin, for joining me this Fall, and bringing your guitar solo with you.

Love,
Sabrina

Le Yogi Sade

Sade - Cherish the Day


I had to smile when I heard Sade in yoga class yesterday. It took me back to this post I made, when I was in Munich listening to Sade and thinking about living in New York. And now here I am and it is nothing like I imagined. In fact, one of the few places where I feel like it's right and all the planets are aligned is in yoga class. The room, the view from the window, the time of day, my teacher Jeffrey and even the other students feel just right. The rest of the time I wander around the city thinking "What am I doing here?" or "Was it worth all the trouble to move here? What for?" or just "Wow".

But in yoga class, all of that is different. Everything makes sense there, even my weirdly flexible, middle eastern, crooked body, which delights in each weird crooked strechy move. As a gym student who once got a D, it is fun to excel at a sport and feel like it comes naturally to me. My favorite poses are the ones are the really twisted bendy ones, and the ones I used to do as a kid for fun, like a shoulder stand with my legs wound around two times. Surrounded by serious grown-ups, it never occured to me that adults would ever do it too.

Yoga is also the one of the few commitments I've been able to make recently. Ever since my break up, this class has been my therapy session, where my mind gets to rest as my body takes over. Everytime Jeffrey would say open your heart (where you point your chest to the sky), I would open as wide as possible so forces from above could heal the broken parts of my heart. It hurt but it also felt nourishing.

And then there's the music; Sade and Thievery Corporation which sometimes come up, and are both artists who I just love.

All in all, I try to take a "yoga view" to my life. Regardless of why I'm here, or if it was right or wrong, now that I'm in New York, I might as well live in the moment, enjoy it to the fullest and remember to breath.

Namaste

Le Closure

"Loneliness is not being alone; it's loving others to no avail." - Mario Stefani



Today was a day of closure for me. I had a long overdue talk with my ex in order to understand exactly what happened and why things ended up the way they did. We've had these chats before, but I've always come away feeling confused. But today was different, I got some answers I needed and finally understood what happened.

In some ways I feel like Carrie in the 'Sex and the City' episode where she feels like Barbra Streisand in 'The Way We Were'. That I am the crazy, emotional person who overwhelms Hubbell and he decides he can't handle her. I am relieved and happy that the permanent state of confusion that has plagued me for months has finally come to an end, and I can leave the past behind. And being Barbra/Carrie is not so bad.

After my long discussion, I came home to find a baggage-free apartment, since my undependable landlord was kind enough to help me and put my winter suitcase away where I can't reach. He only left one small bag behind. I smiled, put it away and wrote that one last email I knew I had to write, the period at the end of a sentence.

Le Goodbye to Paris

My Parisian Home

I didn't realize when I went to Paris last week, that it would be goodbye to the city of lights. It was just like going to dinner with a boyfriend without suspecting it would be your last meal together. Then you sit down across from each other and realize you have nothing left to say. It is evident your time together has come to an end, as you sit there chewing and staring.

Our "last" meal was at Cafe Marly. I was sitting at the same restaurant I always go to, having just ordered the same thing I always order. I looked at the amazing view of I.M. Pei's pyramids and I felt nothing. How many times can you go to the same place? Or see the same buildings? Or eat the same steak and mashed potatoes followed by Chocolat Fondant? Isn't it time to move on when the magic just isn't there? I felt an ending running through my bones.



We took a walk after dinner and I found my past lurking behind every corner. I returned to all my old favorite places only to find them haunted by memories. I greeted my friendly ghosts - they are all warm and happy in Paris - and I walked on. At some point, you just want to see something new, and begin a new phase in life, and I may be overdue.

I felt a door closing and another one opening. With one last glance at the city of lights, at Pont Neuf and Les Invalides, I shut the door and turned around. I couldn't wait to see those yellow taxi cabs of New York.