The Real La La Land - Day 6
Waking up in West Hollywood I could see the sun shining through the blinds and knew today was going to be a good day. In my lovely room in Ian Buchanan's house there were a flight of steps which lead to a real sun-trap of a roof terrace with views towards the Hollywood Hills. I was right, it was a beautiful day.
From the terrace, I could see the rooftops of LA including Soho House on Sunset Blvd, and the imposing red building of the Pacific Design Centre.
Today I was heading to an area of LA where I actually haven't really been before - Downtown! No real reason why I haven't been there, but I was looking forward to seeing the theatre district (yep, LA is more than just films!) and more 'business' part of LA. I was off to catch up with my fabulous friend Miranda, or Miss Miranda as she's better known. Miranda is a burlesque performer and model, and one of the best. She cites Dita Von Teese as her inspiration and has the most incredible stage presence. She is very English rose looking with a figure to die for and a personality to
match...in fact, I don't even think she's real. Miranda performs as part of the Double R Club, the Lynchian inspired cabaret and burlesque troupe that perform every year at the Twin Peaks UK Festival, but she's also part of Tease, If You Please, a bi-monthly burlesque show at the Globe Theatre in Downtown LA. I love catching up with Miranda as she's always such fun and has a very 'no bullshit' attitude which I adore! Today we only had an hour or so as she was rushing off to catch a flight to the Seychelles to perform, so we grabbed coffee and cake at a great local place called Verve and before I knew it were hugging goodbye!
My plans to explore Downtown were halted as I received a message from my old pal actor Callum Blue, who was having lunch in WeHo and asked me to join him. One Lyft and 30 minutes later I was transported back to West Hollywood! I always try and see Callum when I'm in LA if he's not off filming somewhere, which he often is. Cal and I trained at drama school together and soon after, he moved to Los Angeles and hasn't looked back.
When I arrived to meet Callum he was with his good friend Matthew Postlethwaite, who is currently making a great name for himself on 'Peaky Blinders'. I don't know what it is about Callum, but he seems to bring out the lunacy in me and I find myself in pure comedy mode when I'm around him. As I fell head first into the largest margarita that has passed my lips, we laughed non stop as we recounted drama school stories and hilarious moments; I'm not sure Matthew quite knew what had hit him!
I was genuinely sad to leave Callum as it's a bit like leaving family as we go back so far but he gave me a lift back to Ian's and I rested for a while before getting ready for a night out in West Hollywood.
Ian and I headed off into the night and made our way to Santa Monica Blvd and more specifically PUMP! Now, this may sound like an energetic 80's dance club (or maybe I just dream of those a lot) but this stunningly beautiful restaurant and bar is the brainchild of
'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Lisa Vanderpump. I simply cannot put into words how beautiful PUMP is or how much of Lisa's own elegant, but warm, style has been captured here. From walking through the door there is an engaging atmosphere and the mood lighting is such, that any lighting designer would be proud! It's busy, and you can see why, it feels like this is the place to be.
We made our way through to the garden at the back which was nestled under a comforting
den of purpose planted olive trees, and got comfortable at the large square bar which, quite frankly, had bartenders that looked like they belonged in Gillette commercials. Ian treated me to very lush Espresso Martinis and we chatted away enjoying our surroundings.
Ian told me that Lisa Vanderpump often turns up at her bar and sure enough, there she was a few minutes later sat in the corner with her husband Ken, looking relaxed, beautiful and every inch the proud mumma. As the night drew in the place got more crowded and Ian and I decided to head off somewhere quieter to grab dinner, but I'll definitely be visiting PUMP again!
After a bite to eat in Bossa Nova we headed back to Ian's place and enjoyed a cup of tea and a chat before heading off to the land of nod.
As I lay in bed listening to those happy Angeleno's again, a pang of sadness hit me as I realised that Sunday was going to be my last full day in Los Angeles before flying home Monday. I often get the LA blues a couple of days before I'm due to leave but I was looking forward to Sunday which was lining up to be a very exciting day indeed!
Lins x
