A Lingerie Party?!

Ok here goes...I really wasn’t sure how to begin explaining our Saturday night's activity, but the beginning is the best place I guess....

First, you gotta know the back story- After picking up Atalaya up from the airport on Thursday night and going back to my place to change clothes, we head out to a bar called The Saint. We have a couple of drinks there and then we move on to the next place called “Happy Endings”, which I've talked about before on here. While waiting at the valet, a guy runs out of the bar and approaches Atalaya to introduce himself. For the sake of this story we shall call him Charlie. Charlie is an actor, but aren’t they all in LA, but he really is an actor and Atalaya has actually seen some of his work so whatever. He gives her his card and tells her to call him this weekend so he can convince her to move to LA. Yeah, that's exactly what she needs-a random guy telling her what's so great about living here.

So Saturday comes around and we are sightseeing on Hollywood Blvd. Atalaya gets a text from Charlie inviting us to a lingerie party that night. At first, we think of course not but as the day goes on, we start considering it as a possible option for later on in the night. It's the last night we can party and Atalaya wants to live it up! So we head over to Victoria Secret to pick up a couple of things just in case.

Ok, 7:30pm rolls around and we are getting ready to hit up our first stop and Atalaya's phone rings and it's Charlie asking if we have masks (why in the hell would we have masks?). We tell him no and he says he will find us some. He told us we needed to be ready to go by 9:30 because the limos will be leaving by 10pm. Side note: We are just thinking we are going to the Playboy mansion or something like it just…just to celeb watch.

So, we get to the rendezvous point and Charlie is an hour late! He shows up with these awful tissue paper cut-out masks. They were just horrible. Then he goes into the CVS and buys these headbands and cuts eye holes in them…which looked worse than the arts and crafts tissue paper Zorro masks. Any who, the limo appears and we get in. It is myself, Atalaya, Charlie and Steve (Charlie’s friend). We decide to take our chances without the masks. We pull up to this fantastic mansion in the Hollywood Hills. It was absolutely gorgeous! The security guard asks us for the password: We all look at each other like “password?” Anyway, the security guard goes ahead and tells us…it's ”fellatio”.... wow......

We proceed up the driveway and as we enter the house we were glad to see that some people were not wearing masks and everyone had on lingerie so we calmed down. We make our way to the outside pool area and the house over looks LA, I mean the view was amazing. I can’t put into words how nice the house was. We make our way over to the table for a couple of drinks and we begin to mingle. Then I hear “Ron Jeremy just arrived”. I wasn't familiar with who that was so Atalaya quickly informed me and we knew we were in trouble then.... I mean, what kind of a party does a porn star attend?!
We then look over to our right and see a lady dancing in the corner…with no underwear on. OMG. Atalaya's very first LA trip and we are at a SWINGERS party in the Hollywood hills, WTF???!!!!!

So, needless to say, I am instantly scared! What do we do? Are we going to be expected to do anything? Am I safe here? What the hell is going on?! Atalaya and I immediately find Charlie and ask him what in the hell was he thinking bringing us to a swingers party. He told us he had no idea but we knew that he was lying... How could you not know what you were going to if you knew the host?

Unfortunately, we couldn’t exactly leave because the limo ran in shifts, one every hour. The entire time we were at this party, we spent it ducking and dodging all sorts of advances. Other than the bathroom, there was no place we could hide. So we decided we were “with” each other. We weren’t physically with each other but for the purposes of that night, Atalaya was my girlfriend. Which turns out at a swingers party means NOTHING!

We saw so many more things that are just not appropriate for my blog but I think that you get the picture. What a night, right?! I'm still kind of in shock that it all happened in the first place. When I first woke up on Sunday morning, I really thought it was all just a dream. I couldn't seem to get clean enough either on Sunday. Despite feeling completely out of place, awkward, uncomfortable and just plain weirded out by that scene, I totally can respect what these 'swingers' are doing. They are all about free love and enjoying each other bodies very openly. I'm just not interested in that lifestyle myself. This was an experience and I guess it's more thing I can cross off my bucket list.... ; )

Thanks to Atalaya for helping me compose this post! Whew!

Night at the Theatre

Well, I'm not too sure where to begin... this was quite the eventful weekend! My visiting friend, Atalaya and I did a little bit of everything and by everything, I mean everything!

To start things off, on Friday night, we saw the Broadway show Dreamgirls. It was absolutely amazing! I had goosebumps from the incredible singing pretty much the entire show. Every performer on that stage had amazing vocal chops and I've never been so impressed by an entire cast before. We saw it at a downtown theatre called Centre Theatre Group and sadly, there were so many empty seats. We even were able to move up several rows which was awesome. I love all theatre and seeing shows so this was a perfect way to spend an evening.

Here is a little info on the show: Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wildson, and others. The musical follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago called "The Dreams", who become music superstars. Dreamgirls opened on December 20, 1981 and was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for best musical, and won six.

Moya Angela, who plays the lead, Effie was just remarkable! After two and a half years on the road with The Lion King, Angela settled back into life in Indianapolis, working as a restaurant hostess. and was forced to lean on her family for financial help. “It was just a rough time,” she says. “I was struggling emotionally and financially. My phone was even shut off and my mother said, ‘You need to get this phone back on,’ and I said, ‘I don’t have any money. I’m Skyping!’” Thanks to Mom’s help, Angela’s phone service was reinstated just in time for a call from Binder Casting inviting the down-and-out diva to New York for a private audition for the national tour of Dreamgirls. “I was like, ‘’First of all, how did you guys get this number?!’” Many months of callbacks later, Dreamgirls found its Effie. Thank goodness they did because they show wouldn't have been complete without her!

Check out these fantastic reviews:

Review by Hilton Als

from The New Yorker

November 23, 2009

‘‘Dreamgirls is delectable. Wildly propulsive and brilliant as hell. There's not one misstep in this revival. It throbs with a lovely need to please.’’

Review by Joe Dziemianowicz

from Daily News

November 23, 2009

"It's lively and packed with talent. This production has an exciting vibe that the hit film can't capture."

Review by Elisabeth Vincentelli

from New York Post

November 23, 2009

"And I am telling you: You are going! I cannot emphasize enough how great it is to see Dreamgirls at the Apollo. It's a perfect storm of music and environment. The production has gusto, grit and guts."

Review by Roma Torre

from NY1

November 23, 2009

"I'm happy to report that the revival of Dreamgirls is pretty dreamy in its own right. The show hits enough high notes to make it Broadway caliber. Step over to the West Side of Harlem and see it now. As musical revivals go, this one’s Supreme!"

First Phoenix Visitor!

Tonight my friend in Phoenix, Atalaya, is coming into town to visit me! Yay! She is my first official visitor so I am really excited! She is staying till Monday morning so we are going to get a lot of sightseeing done! She has never been to LA so I plan on taking her to a lot of the well known LA fun places. I have a whole itinerary written out so I remember all the museums, restaurant, theaters, historic sites clubs, parks, etc that I want to take her to. I haven't done any of these touristy things since I moved here so I'm happy that I have a visitor to go do them with. We are even seeing the show, "Dreamgirls" on Friday night which I've been told by numerous people is amazing.

I love being able to show friends my new life here in LA. It sort of proves that that this is really my new life and not just a temporary thing. Well, stay tuned for the details on what all we did this weekend!

I'm baaacckkk!

Well, I am back from Jamaica and it was such an awesome trip! Sadly it was not long enough but when are vacations ever long enough? Atalaya and I did a little bit of everything, we relaxed on the beach and toured the countryside. One of my favorite things that we did was zip-lining! It is so much fun and such a rush. After the stresses of moving to LA, it felt great to just escape reality for a few days and enjoy ourselves.

I really love Jamaicans. They are the kindest and most laid back people ever. We heard "no worries man" all the time. They speaks a language called Patois which is a combination of French, English and Spanish. It's neat to listen to and try to pick up on words that you know. Something interesting that I wasn't aware of before going to Jamaica is that marijuana is not legal there like most people think, at least I thought so. Nope, in fact, if police find you selling pot or smoking it publicly, you will be fined and could face serious jail time too. However, the smells of ganja are everywhere and it was rare to go a whole day without smelling it. My friend and I chose not to partake in any smoking of anything at all while we were there.

While we were there, I composed this post:

Ok so I don't mean to sound snobby or spoiled but sunny skies and Jamaica go hand in hand. It is an absolutely beautiful country and there is plenty to do when the weather is good. Laying out on the beach and at the pool, various water sports, safari tours, hiking trails and many other things just need calm weather. Atalaya and I are here now and this morning's rainy and cloudy weather was rather depressing. We certainly didn't come all this way to sit in our hotel room. Here's hoping for better weather while we are there.

Thankfully, a couple hours after I wrote that, the sun came pouring through the clouds and the rain instantly disappeared. It ended up being hot and sunny the rest of the time we were there so that was perfect. I am proud to report that I successfully did not get a sunburn at all while we were there. I lathered on lots of sunscreen and continued to reapply every hour to so.

I'm exhausted so I need to get to bed now. It was a long day and I have to drive back to California in the morning so I need my rest tonight. Sweet dreams. Perhaps I'll dream of being back on the beach in Jamaica.

LA-PHX-JAMAICA!!

Well, this post finds me back in Phoenix. Yep, after barely a week in LA, I've decided to pack it in and move back. NOT! I am back here to clean my apartment and turn over the keys and to.... fly to Jamaica!!!! That's right, my friend Atalaya and I are going to Jamaica on Tuesday for about a week! Exciting, huh?! Her 29th birthday is on Wednesday so this is her birthday trip and I willingly told her that I would go along with her. Sometimes you just gotta make those sacrifices for your friends. Haha!! I've never been and have been wanting to go for awhile. I'll try to keep posting while we are there but it might be difficult getting to a computer but I'll sure try.

Here's some basic info on Jamaica:

"Jamaica is 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length and as much as 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width, amounting to 11,100 km2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 190 kilometres (120 mi) west of Hispanola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs". Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it later became the British Crown colony of Jamaica. With 2.8 million people, it is the third most populous anglophone country in North America, after the United States and Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State. Kingston is the largest city in Jamaica and the country's capital."

Atalaya is my dear friend and I am so happy that we are going on this trip together. I cannot believe that we have only known each other a little over two years. I feel like we have known each other much longer. I will always be happy that I moved to Phoenix because I met her. She has certainly become one of my closest girlfriends and I am touched that she invited me on this trip. This will be final hurrah together for a long time since I moved to LA. I know that we are going to have so much fun laying by the beach and pool, touring the countryside, eating amazing Jamaican food, enjoying yummy cocktails, snorkeling in the beautiful ocean and of course taking lots of pictures.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -Anais Nin