Why do I live on the East Coast???

I recently spent 11 days in Southern California. It was simply glorious. After a harsh snow covered winter in Philadelphia I couldn't help but smile as I stared at the snow covered airport from inside my plane as it took off. 

My first stop was Los Angeles – I had to run an academic meeting at UCLA on Thursday, but I decided to arrive Tuesday so that I could prep and spend some time with my cousin. My cousin lives in Palmdale California which is about 70 miles or a 23425253 hour drive from LAX. Seriously the  traffic in Los Angeles in not exaggerated. I left the rental car company at the airport around 2 PM and did not arrive in Palmdale until after 5. however it would have gone faster had I been able to get into the carpool lane which, with its 2+ person per car requirement, seemed to have cars zooming down the highway. I strongly suggest  investing a half mannequin or a least a blow up doll if you don’t have a real person who can ride with you in the car at all times.

Palmdale is a lovely quite suburb northwest of Los Angeles. It offers mountain views and easy living. It’s the type of place where you can get a front yard back yard and pool for $130,000. needless to say there isn’t much to do there so we went to jack in the box (yuck) played with her new puppy and admired the art she has collected over the years. Here is a wood sculpture form Africa:

Anyway, we wouldn't have been able to do much because my cousin needed to go to court at 8 am the next morning and I needed to leave for the 15 hour drive back to LA to pick up my boss and prep for our meeting. Since I gave myself a nice buffer, I was able to stop at Venice Beach before getting my boss from the airport. I put my feet on sand for the first time in at least a year…it was wonderful….

We checked in at the W Westwood Hotel. So far I think it’s my favorite hotel, or at least a close second the the Palomar I stayed in at Dupont Circle in DC. It felt like a chic version of Cheers but without the depressive alcoholics – it felt like the staff all knew my name and addressed me by it all the time.  There is also a nice bar and pool.  Also it’s away from all the tourist – it’s not near Hollywood or any other sites, and it seemed like mostly business people and folks visiting family in the area stayed there. 

For dinner my boss and I went to an Italian restaurant, Taninos which was delicious. I had seafood salad and little zucchini and ricotta dumplings.  I  recommend this place if you are in the LA area

After dinner I ditched my boss and went to meet up with my high school friend Meena Ray at  a bar/club in Hollywood. Even though I had been to LA before I did not hang out or party, so I was looking forward to this. The club's name is The Room . the ambiance was cool - it was one of those places where you can dance if you want to or get a little area in the corner with your friends and sip drinks if you want to do that instead. There were also some celebrity sightings - particularly reality stars and r&B artists.

I definitely stayed out later than I planned but I was able to get out of bed on time and host a successful meeting. After dinner I planned to go to bed…but I had such a good time with Meena that I figured I should go out again. I met up at a live music place where she was promoting with her sister. Fun times and more pseudo celebs! This time a dude who supposedly was in the group All-4-one performed. Even though I sound a little mean I must admit there was a lot of talent in the place.

The next day I made my way to Santa Barbara by train. Imagine leaving a busy, hot city and taking a train ride into the mountains where each stop the train makes the scenery gets more beautiful…then you are no longer in the mountains but are then on the beach…soon you stop taking pictures because you cant keep up with the beauty. By the time I got off the train in SB I felt like I was transported to a beautiful magical island with a beach on one side and mountains to the other.

Seriously the beauty of Santa Barbara cannot be over-exaggerated. There is a reason why the richest woman in American lives in that area. I only went because my friend  Danielle got a job at UC Santa Barbara…so that’s for being employed friend!

We dropped off my things at her apartment and sat out on her balcony with a few beers. There was a banana tree in front of us and an avocado tree to the right. Imagine never having to pay $1.50 for an avocado ever again! The thought of that alone overwhelmed me, and i declared right then and there that i was never leaving Santa Barbara. We decided to dinner so that I could think things through.

We met up with some other girls from college at the HungryCat, a cute little bar/restaurant in downtown SB. We had oysters which were super fresh and briny. Next we headed out for Indian food. I wont bother telling you the place or what I ate: I though it was good but my friends are more foodies than I am and told me the Indian food is better in Philly.

The next day we went to the beach!!! It was sooooooooo refreshing to lay out in the sun in 82 degree weather after 4 months of cold and snow. The water was a bit cold but I got in to about my hips for a few minutes ( lots of people were in the ocean.) I left tanned and with my hair a shade lighter

After the beach we freshened up and hit a few winery shops in downtown SB. Wineries are a BIG deal there and for good reason- the wine is good and easily accessible. For $10 you can taste at least 6 wines at the wineries and if you buy a couple bottles the tastings are usually free. I  have a new appreciate for Pinot Noir and  Sauvignon Blanc aged in stainless steel after this visit!

The next morning we decided to drive to Solvang, a little dutch town about 45 minutes away in the mountains. We had breakfast at a place called The Succulent Pig where I had the biggest freshest and tastiest biscuit ever

Solvang is not far from Santa Ynez where there are more wineries!! Here I am at Kalyra, where the movie “ Sideways” was filmed. I had a pretty tasty Orange Muscat there, which I had only had before at a Wine festival in Annapolis Maryland. It’s too sweet for me to drink on the regular but very nice every now and again.

My next stop was San Diego! But first I had a layover in Phoenix. All I can tell from phoenix is that it is hot. Good lord it’s hot. I didn’t even leave the airport but just the twilight sun coming in through the windows almost killed me. It didn’t help that I had on my heaviest sweater wrap, a pair of ankle boots and leggings for the chilly plane ride. 

Once I got to San Diego I stayed at the Paradise Point Resort and Spa. I had a bungalow, which was basically a one bed room apartment with living room, dining area a microwave mini fridge and a walk in closet. It was bigger than my apartment at home. All was well until…..A BUG GREETED ME IN THE BATHROOM. I feared it was some sort of mutant mosquito, breed out of the radioactivity of the Fukushima power plant in Japan. On my first attempt to kill, it is simply jumped 6 away as if a show flying at it's head is an everyday occurrence. I got him on the 2nd try though!  I’m sorry little buddy but you had to die. I couldn't stand the thought of waking up to it on my face ( I also have a weird paranoia that all bugs like to cuddle in the bed with humans- but that's another story for another day)

This looks like the bug I killed. Sorry boo! I'll be sure not to kill your cousin next time!

This resort has a lot of bugs and plants and other things to which I am allergic. The first day I touched it out and attended the conference with charming welts on my neck and chest from God knows what.

The second day I wasn’t feeling too well so I stayed in and napped …the last thing I wanted was to have to see a doctor away from home, so decided to try to let my body heal itself. I started feeling better in the afternoon so I met up with the conference attendees and too a bike ride around the bay. After falling a few times and not thinking I was going to make it, I got help from a young man who was also attending the conference. He stayed with me while the others left. It was soooo kind of him! I has an amazing experience all because of this one person. the views were incredible.

Later that night I went into downtown san Diego. I do not like downtown San Diego. It was a bunch of rotten rich tourist. I bet the people who work downtown cant wait to live so they can do do fun things like paddle-boarding and jogging, not watch tourist get wasted off of margaritas and commercialized Mexican food.

Anyway I found a cute little sushi spot called the Sushi Den where I had a lobster roll and plum wine for the first time. There was only one other person there and that was fine with me! The place had good ratings on google but I suspect people weren’t there because they only offered Sapporo sake and the plum wine. Thank you, paltry alcohol menu for saving me from  obnoxious tourist.

My last day the conference ended a bit early so I left the resort and walked about 40 minutes to the beach. San Diego was not as warm as Santa Barbara or LA and I like heat! Still the beach was nice.

I was super duper tan by the end of my trip

I ended up having dinner at the Red Marlin which is restaurant at the Hyatt Hotel, not far from the island my resort was on.I enjoyed delicious butterfish and strong margaritas while joking at the bar with more obnoxious tourist. I think rich but boring businessmen from LA and San Francisco like to “getaway” to San Diego (Tijuana) for relaxation ( drugs and prostitution) and good stories to tell their equally boring colleagues.

Anyway in general I LOVE CALIFORNIA. I did not feel any earthquake that people emailed me about while I was there ( I also never felt the earthquake in Philadelphia either.) i'm sure with palm trees and year round sunshine, you don’t even notice a little shaky ground or all the tsunami evacuation route signs! The lifestyle is definitely worth the risk..people are living good over there!