The Real La La Land - Day 7
I awoke with excitement today as I was finally going to meet Antonio who was returning home from being on tour. I had heard so much about him that I knew I would really like him. Hailing from Texas, Antonio is warm, attentive and melts you with that smooth Texan tone. Unfortunately he was also suffering with the same hideous cold that I was - poor Ian, having to deal with both of us!
Antonio dropped me off at the Beverly Connection as I needed to buy a second bag for all the Trader Joes food I had bought to take back to the UK with me!
After mooching around there for a while I headed over to The Grove to meet two of the best people this world has to offer, Ben and Heidi, wonderful friends of mine. Ben and I trained at drama school together so, much like Callum, it's a bit like seeing family, and I just adore his wife Heidi. Ben and Heidi have just returned to LA after taking part in the Pacific Crest Trail, a 6 month hike along the Western coast of the USA - much of which was the state of California as it's so vast!
After the hugest of hugs, we headed to a new place on Beverly Blvd called Petty Cash (a nod to singers Tom Petty and Johnny Cash). It was a restaurant inspired by the street food of Tijuana, a Mexico border city just south of California. There was a great vibe in this place, chilled but vibrant, and the menu was just large enough to sample different bites or go for one
large meal. In the end I picked out a pork belly taco and a mushroom taco that were actually so small (but delicious) that I had to order a quesadilla as well! So be warned if you go to this place, you'll need at least 5 tacos or a main meal! But do check out their bathrooms as they had some pretty eerie paintwork going on!
Not ready to let Ben and Heidi go yet, we headed further along Beverly to a great ice cream bar called MILK. If there is a heaven, this must be it. There were ice cream scoops, ice cream sandwiches, cookies, cakes, hot chocolates and more - sorry Slimming World friends, I majorly fell off the wagon here! We sat outside and they told me all about their hike. Listening to them speak so passionately about the highs and lows and what an achievement is was to have walked thousands of miles, reminded me why I love these two so much. They are each others best friend and rock and are the true meaning of a partnership.
Ben and Heidi dropped me back to Ian's (haven't quite worked up the courage to drive in LA yet!) and we proceeded to get ready for a get together back at Simmzy's in Burbank. This time we were meeting up with more 'Twin Peaks' actors; Kimmy Robertson, James Marshall and Connie were all coming out to play with Ian, Antonio, myself, Josh and a couple of James's band mates.
When we arrived Kimmy was outside on the phone and we did made a lot of animated faces and hand gestures at each other, "yay, it's you..you're on the ph...no it's cool...i'll see you inside". It was great to see everyone again, and when James turned up with his pals the gang was complete. I hadn't seen James or
Kimmy in a couple of years so I was pleased I got to spend some quality time with them. Kimmy is just divine! Her energy and bubbliness knows no bounds and she has one of the largest hearts of anyone I know. Last time I visited LA, Madchen Amick, Miranda, Sean Bolger and I spent some time at her house feeding racoons in her back garden, eating home made tacos and drinking some alcopops in lightbulb shaped bottles she had bought Miranda and I, to make us feel at home. Kimmy clearly knows the British love their cheap novelty drinks! James Marshall is a super lovely guy who I have a lot of time and love for. He was actually my 'Twin Peaks' crush when I was 14 along with Sheriff Truman (sorry James if you're reading this!). As well as being a talented actor, James is also an accomplished musician and it was great chatting to him and his pals about music and venues and what they had been working on.
This was the first time I had seen Kimmy and Ian together (having played against each other in 'Twin Peaks'), and their hilarious chemistry was still very much present. All in all it was a lovely, friendly, relaxed, warm evening. Of course at the end of the night we took lots of photos to share with everyone and I couldn't help but feel slightly melancholy that I was leaving LA and these wonderful people the next day. But I reminded myself that I may see some of them later this year if I return to LA or if they trot along to the 2017 Twin Peaks UK Festival.
After a ten minute long hug from Kimmy and saying our goodbyes, Ian, Antonio and I headed back to Weho and I started the heavy task of packing my suitcase (heavy because of all the Trader Joes food I bought!) for the final time as Antonio and I watched the end of the Grammys where Adele scooped every award going! The girl done good!
I found it hard to sleep that night, mainly as I didn't want Monday to come but eventually drifted off with headphones in listening to Adele...it seemed appropriate.
Lins x
