Holy cow, it’s the end of another month and my time in Los Angeles will soon come to an end. These past few months have been tremendously joyful and I’m so glad everything played out the way it did for me to have a chunk of time here.
(My uncle always picks out the best birthday cards… I love the one above.)
Without further ado, here are my highlights from April 2015.
BEACH DAY
One sunny Saturday in mid-April my friend Sommer invited a group of us to Santa Monica for beach day. It was blissfully warm and uncrowded.
Sommer, Jeremy, and I stopped at the relatively new Dunkin Donuts location in Santa Monica… best decision ever. For many reasons I dig DD: they have almond milk, their drinks are way cheaper than Starbucks, and they taste better.
One other beach day this past month — I spent a lovely Easter morning in Malibu with dear friends:
HOUSE OF CARDS EVENT
Just last week my friend Allison very kindly invited me along to a House of Cards event through the Academy of TV Arts & Sciences. It was sponsored by Netflix as a way to drum up support for Emmy voting. They screened the Russia episode from this past season and then cast members took the stage for a Q&A. Creator Beau Willimon and actors Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, and Kim Dickens were all there.
Netflix knows how to throw a party — the reception following the Q&A featured BBQ ribs, mac and cheese, pies, and all sorts of other goodies with a southern flare. Signs reading “Underwood 2016” decorated the room.
And outside the party there was a display of costumes from Netflix series. That’s Ellie Kemper’s outfit from the fantastic Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt flanked by one of Frank Underwood’s more casual attires and the dress Claire Underwood wore to their recent vow renewal. There was also a costume on display from Daredevil that I failed to snap a photo of.
WORK FUN – YOUNG & RESTLESS
Lots of fun things have been happening at work — this past week some former Y&R co-workers came to visit! Jackson and his wife came down from Oregon on the same day Molly stopped by.
The delightful, charming, kind, and funny Peter Bergman took us all to lunch. There are not enough adjectives to describe how wonderful this guy is. We had lots of laughs and even shed a tear or two. It was such a treat.
The other day at work we needed a on-set photo of our head writer with some of the actors for a soap opera magazine. Our show photographer wasn’t available so I stepped in with the point-and-shoot camera I keep on me for photo ops. What a delightfully unexpected opportunity.
This next photo goes all the way back to April 1st — I played a joke on my co-worker Mandy by changing the office kitchen duty assignment sheet. Weeks earlier she off-handedly mentioned she always forgets to clean when it’s her day, and it’s her nightmare to walk in and see her name listed for the whole month. So of course I had to make that happen.
And in case you missed it yesterday, I did a full recap of the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards. I’m proud to be a part of this community and it was a very fun night.
FOOD & COFFEE ADVENTURES WITH FRIENDS
I visited The Tipsy Cow for the first time with friends Jenny & Ziggy. The burgers are great, but the best menu item might be their milkshakes. Only Ziggy partook, but I’d return just to order their ‘Good Talk Russ’ shake — it’s got vanilla ice cream, banana, peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff.
I finally ate at a place called Blaze Pizza the other day with my friend Ed — it’s right next to CBS but I’ve resisted until now, trying to be good. But man this pizza is delicious. You can add as many toppings as you like; I went with bacon and then a ton of veggies and garlic.
I’ve had two great brunches with Anna, a new friend I met through my sister. First we visited Aeirloom Bakery and then SteamPunk Coffeebar + Kitchen. Both are good but the latter is especially terrific — and it’s not far from where I live at the moment, so I foresee many more trips there.
My friend Irving introduced me to the Panda Express Innovative Kitchen in east Pasadena — on-line it looks like just a normal location, but they’re actually testing out a new style of serving (sort of like Chipotle where you can order a bowl or burrito or salad) along with new Chef’s Special recipes. I think the Panda Express headquarters are nearby, hence this location — it feels secret though, and was very fun to check out.
My co-worker’s daughter has been moonlighting as a pastry chef, baking these gorgeous hand-crafted cookies for events around Los Angeles. You can check out her blog here.
Earlier this month I spent an afternoon exploring coffeeshops and Pasadena, where I snapped this photo:
Early April also brought the conclusion of March Madness… I gathered with friends Jenny, Ziggy, Allison, and Craig to watch the men’s Final Four at Timmy Nolan’s in Toluca Lake.
The night after the men’s final, I hustled over to Golden Road Brewing after work to watch the UConn women win their 10th national title in 20 years. As a proud former Nutmegger, this victory brought me tremendous joy.
Following the game, a bunch of us went to Chloe’s — the secret back room at Golden Road that feels like a sportsman’s lodge with a roaring fireplace — for Bluegrass Night, which happens the first Tuesday of every month starting at 8:30p. Most of the time this room is closed off to the public and until now I’ve only heard rumors of its existence, so it felt especially cool to wander around here.
Allison and Craig pose in the (totally empty) upper lever of Chloe’s — we feel like kids in a candy store having this place to ourselves.
Another night, Jacquie stopped by — she worked at Y&R for years, and after work Laura and Kai and I joined her at Wood Ranch for dinner and drinks. It’s so good to see her.
Ladies of Y&R, past and present:
And Jeremy’s birthday was just the other day — we celebrated his 31st year at Public House last Saturday. I meant to take more photos, but at least I got this one of Jeremy and Grace:
COMEDY
I made it to my favorite comedy venue — Upright Citizens Brigade hosts the hysterical Ronna & Beverly once a month. Their guests were Ben Feldman from Mad Men and Katie Lowes from Scandal.
WILDERNESS TRIP
I went on a relatively spontaneous trip this past month — four days of camping and hiking to Havasu Falls in Arizona, a place Trip Advisor calls one of the 10 most remote destinations in the world. I can’t wait to share the whole journey with you in a week or two. But for now, feast your eyes on this — it’s Havasu Falls, one of the main turquoise waterfalls we swam under. And the color is really THAT blue! This is an unfiltered iPhone photo.
Cheers to a fantastic April… posting these monthly recaps makes me feel like a lucky duck for getting to see and do so much, especially with the wonderful friends and co-workers in my life.
