californication

here, at last. finally after quite a journey I have made it through my first week.

leaving dear Centerville was bittersweet. it was fun seeing friends that I havent seen since high school, and having steph home was wonderful. most of my week home was spent with this little nugget...

last saturday night I started to kind of feel fluish. guh. I get sick more then anyone I know. I am borderline a bubble boy's kind of immune system. and with stephs homecoming last sunday I was go, go, go. so when I was supposed to leave monday morning for my drive to LA, I knew that it wasnt going to happen.

luckily my sister mandy came to the rescue, booked a one way flight from LA and rode down with me.

 

a success stop at the payson walmart. let me just say, the payson walmart had the best patrons I have ever beheld at a walmart. thats even including the Puerto Vallarta walmart that brought out a whole new spicy kind of crowd. 

we arrived successfully at The Excaliber in vegas and were thrilled for beds to crash upon. needless to say I slept like a rock-till about seven am. cue hellish morning. I probably havent thrown up in over seven years, and I forgot how much I hate it. I mean HATE it. I can think of very few things that rival my hatred for vomiting. cheetos, dill flavored anything...people with poor restaurant etiquette skills...and people walking who arent aware of others around them. but I would be bold enough to say that vomiting has moved its way to number one after that morning. I had some of the worst stomach pain I have ever had, probably since I was sick in the philippines, and spend eight hours in that cursed hotel room.

glad sister was there for documenting purposes. the plus side was the bathrooms at Excaliber are really nice. I liked them a lot. I spend a good amount of time sleeping on the bathroom floor, then the floor outside the bathroom, then back to the bed. sister had the battle of finding a beverage that sounded appetizing and that I also could keep down. dr pepper was ruled out initially because I couldnt taint my love for it. sprite, gatorade and ginger ale all were tried with ginger ale winning. needless to say I would have died without her. honestly, I would have perished at the Excaliber. a slow and very lonely death. I won big time with the sibling lot I was given. no one else (other then maybe a future wife?) would have sat and rubbed nausea pressure points on my feet while I whined in bed. she's great. after eight hours I was well enough we were able to leave and I was so happy to get out of there and finally be able to keep my food inside in me. however it was kinda sad I was sick and we had to leave because our view was so nice...

it was windy and cold though.

so we peaced out and a few hours later made it to LA. let me just say how much I lucked out. not only did I get an amazing internship, but I live in an amazing place. who has a family relation to someone that happens to have a spare guest house that's five minutes away from their work? really it was meant to be. here are some pics of my great digs for the summer....

how nice is it waking up to this every morning. so nice. really, I lucked out. I did have to go buy some ish like a toaster oven and a single burner because there is no stove or oven, but I can work with that.
we got to LA around eight thirty on tuesday night and unloaded my stuff, drove around and did a little grocery shopping.

wednesday was the first day of my internship. despite the fact that I still felt like death I was thrilled. initially things were awkward and no one really knew what to do with me because Jen, who I have been communicating with, was in a meeting the first few hours I was there. I met everyone and was given a tour and was then told to "check out Kelly's website to familiarize myself with her work and style". thats when I really wanted to pull out a 'trick please' and tell her whats up, but I smiled and said okay. cause thats not what I have been doing for the last three months?! so I looked productive for awhile until Jen got out of her meetings. we sat down with each other and I told her my expectations for the summer and what I could help with. she has me working with the head architect in the office and one of the main interiors people. there are some really big and exciting projects happening right now that I am helping with. the office vibe is great. very chill, everyone does their own thing and we listen to really great music. Kelly drives a bomb Maserati and is very nice.

I came home to loveliness from sister who had unpacked all my things and homey'd up the place. its so nice where I live. did I already say that? I love it. later that night we celebrated my first day with dinner at The Grove where we dined at Magiannos. I had a gift certificate and have been dying to go there. note to future self, when severly congested and cant taste anything, dont try a new and rather expensive restaurant. it was fun, desipite the blandness and the fact I still felt like death.

thursday was more internshiping which was great, and sister and I had lunch at the Beverly Center. another fantastic place here. also snagged me a shirt from H&M.

friday since I didnt have to go into the office was spent shopping for apartment ish, napping and going to santa monica, which I love.

california and I were meant for each other. I love it so much.

yesterday was saturday and it was gorgeous weather. my cousin Zach who has been going to school in fullerton drove up to spend the day with us. we went over to westwood, UCLA territory for lunch at BJ's which was awesome and then headed to the Ghetty Center. basically been a dream of mine since two years ago when I did my Tiny House Project that drew inspiration from Richard Meiers architecture on the Ghetty. its free to go to, minus the $15 for parking. dont you love how they do that?
we got up there just in time for the 45 minute architecture tour which I loved. its amazing...

we were pooped after strolling about the ghetty, so we hit up some yogurtland and I took about a three hour nap. I am so tired of being sick. and tired. I feel that that I am living life at a 10% battery power. its been crappy. mostly I HATE not being able to taste my food due to my severe congestion. let me just reiterate that. can you think of anything more terrible then not being able to TASTE!? I would rather be blind and I sincerely mean that. I dont know why I even paid for any food this week. I could have just been eating Fancy Feast and I wouldnt have known a difference. its not been fun. anyway, after nap time we got dinner at In N Out and did bulk grocery shopping, which I did not like cause it was SO expensive. sorry if this has all sounded negative. to sum up my week, I dont like spending money, being sick, constantly tired and not being able to taste my food. what? am I a 90 year old man, yes, yes I think your right. that sums it up. also throw in there how thankful I was that sister came with me. lets be honest, the drive would have been miserable, arriving in a new city alone would have been miserable, and the fact that I have been so sick and she has nursed me back to health, would have been miserable without her. she's the greatest. really she is.

so here's to next week living life like the 23 year old that I am!