My friend Jess came into town, she lives about 1.5 hrs outside of LA. Jess and I went to college together, where we were both tour guides, and often mistaken as sisters :) I was so excited for her to come to town! Jess is a kindred spirit, has a great sense of humor, is always up for adventure, honest, and has a heart for God. Needless to say, she's exactly the right person to have nearby as I explore LA!
We started our time together with grabbing dinner at The Grove, an expensive outdoor shopping area before heading over to West Hollywood for a night of laughs. Thanks to Yelp.com I discovered what I think is going to be my favorite place in LA...the Upright Citizen Brigade (UCB). It's a comedy school that puts on shows, ranging from free to $10, with occassional celebrity guests! The show we went to was called "Soundtrack". Audience members volunteered the use of their ipods and iphones to which the "actors" randomly picked a song and acted out a scene to the music...it was hilarious! The place itself is such a dive, and it's a small theater. Our seats were on the stage which was fun! One of the best surprises of the night is that "Gabe" from "The Office" was part of the comedy troupe that night. I will definitely be going back to this place again! I checked out their schedule and they have skits based off of audience member's text msgs and facebook profiles, who wants to come with me?
Saturday morning we walked downtown and grabbed brunch at The Pantry, a well known breakfast spot in LA that's been open 24/7 since 1924. It's one of those iconic places that never changes and always has a line! The wait was worth it. This place is so busy that we didn't even wait 5 minutes for our food, they make it that fast!
Our next stop was to retrace our steps to West Hollywood and tour the Scientology Castle. While waiting in line for the the show, we were admiring this beautiful "castle" across the street. After some research we saw that they offered free tours so we did what any good little Baptist girl would do...or not! The castle was an old hotel building that was acquired by the church of Scientology and is now used as an events venue, a ritzy restaurant, and also houses classrooms for "Auditing". We met with a tour guide, who promptly showed us to a theater room where we watched a few short movies on Dianetics (which basically had the message of "If you are a Scientologist you will be successful") and then were shown the gardens. While out there, speaking with our guide we did learn an interesting fact that you can be both a Scientologist AND Catholic/Muslim/Christian, etc. Our guide explains that Scientology allows him to understand his personal existence specifically, beginning to end to more fully enjoy his religious connection while his Catholicism and the Bible allow him to understand the beginning and end of mankind in general. That was something I'd never heard before, but to be honest I didn't know much about Scientology before today. I still have lots to learn and understand, and I have a hard time understanding how people believe this to be true. It's a relatively young "religious lifestyle" and is founded by a man who was a nuclear scientist and made his name by writing Sci-Fi novels. We were a bit disappointed with the tour. We really just wanted to see the building :( Moving on...
Our next destination was Beverly Hills to do some window shopping and try some Sprinkles cupcakes! I've heard about Sprinkles for awhile from my friend Emily, who lives in San Diego. Some of you would think that I must be all cup-caked out from my time in DC but no, I had to check out my options here! The line definitely was nowhere close to that of DC/Georgetown cupcakes and in my professional cupcake tasting abilities that's because they are not as good. Don't get me wrong, it was yummy, but the East Coast wins this round. Walking Rodeo Drive is such an experience. There is so much to take in from the window displays, to the flashy cars, to the people who definitely look like they can afford to shop there...and the ones who don't!
Sadly, Jess had to get back home for a friend's play :( I'm already looking forward to her next visit to town and planning our next adventure! Check out my facebook page for some pics!
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