A Weekend aLAy

Every episode of MTV’s The Hills depicts Los Angeles, California as the city where dreams come true. But even in my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined the weekend I had. If someone had told me I would have left LA trying sushi for the first time (and enjoying it!) and having attended a party at a phat pad in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Sunset Boulevard, I would have lol-ed. As it turns out, the joke is on me.

Before this past weekend, the extent of my LA experience has been...non-existent. Living in the SF Bay Area, there's no real point in traveling down south when you live in the greatest region ever all my needs and desires are met in the North.

But the city kept beckoning. And I finally answered the call.

Upon arriving, my astonished speechlessness and jaw on the ground hindered a proper greeting to LA, as I instantly became a fangirl of this new environment. Once that subsided, I was able to better analyze my surroundings. What did I observe?

Traffic. I completely understated the severity and affect this had on anything I wanted to do. "What's the quickest way?" and "How long with traffic?" became the 2 most FAQs of the weekend.

 Style. Sitting in a music themed barbershop, with posters ranging from The Beatles to Avril Lavigne covering the walls, affirmed the totally cool and totally hip trends of the region, musically and dermatologically.

 Heat. Okseriouslywhyisitsofreakinghot. Although I was prepared to leave behind the chilly beachside weather of Santa Barbara for the weekend, I was not ready for the hot inland that awaited me. 

Bodies. "Are people so bored that they get abs like that? Get a life!" "I wanna feed half of this city." 

Thinness. The prevalence of extreme thinness couldn’t be ignored. What also couldn’t be ignored, however, were the numerous places to eat at. Could this body type be indicative of the beauty standards and culture? Or maybe it's a sign that Umami should lower the price of their $11 burgers?

But the premiere event of the weekend was seeing Marina and the Diamonds live in concert. Joined by flocks of preteen girls and gay hipsters, my eardrums were treated to one of the best shows I've been to in a while. I featured a Marina song in my list of favorite songs from 2012, but I'm going to post another song, "Power and Control," so that my love of Marina is made evident.

(Note: screaming the lyrics and my hysterical shouts of praise during the song scared not only the people around me away, but also my voice away. Well worth it though). 

There you have it. Traffic, style, heat, bodies, and thinness. And Marina. My weekend in LA was one to remember, and I look forward to the day when I can return back. Apart from feeling completely out of place for saying “hella,” I developed a strange love for LA, and discovered there’s enough room in California for the Bay Area and LA to coexist. And what do the residents of LA think if you hate on their city? "Suck my strap-on."