Claire. Elana. Sarah.

Chronicle.

Wednesday night:

-Said my hellos to Claire and Elana.

-Introduced my guests to the lovely lovely Granville, where we ate.

Thursday:

-9.5 hours of misery (work) while waiting to see my friends again.

-Barney's Beanery for dinner where we experienced the miracle of potato nachos (yes!), presumably among other things.

Claire and Elana spent the day at the Grove and saw Mario Lopez. Then they walked Hollywood Blvd, including a stop at Madam Toussaud's.

Friday:

-Went to Griffith Observatory but the inside was closed (we might have been too early. Hard to say). I showed Claire and Elana the outside and told them things I knew about Los Angeles (possibly false information, but they'll never know. Neither will I.)

-took them to take pictures in front of the Hollywood sign

-ate In N Out. Not bad.

-Intended to take them to the Santa Monica pier exclusively, but when we got there, I couldn't bear to have the fun of Venice beach just a short walk away, so we did both. Muscle beach in between.

We saw the skateboarders and the crazies and the weed doctors and the child street performers and the weird animal owners and the freakishly strong, freakishly pale and freakishly ginger men (man). Elana and I bought aviator sunglasses ($3) and Claire and I bought skulls. Then we got happy hour margaritas and chips and dip and headed home.

-Granville dinner again.

-Went to pick up Sarah from the airport. Sarah's flight was unfortunately delayed by a couple of hours. We knew about this ahead of time, but that didn't stop me from overestimating how early we had to leave by a full hour. Thus, we spent some treasured time in the local grocery store parking lot playing kill/marry/fuck-- a favorite past time with friends from high school.

-Picked up Sarah, gleefully, from the airport.

Saturday:

-Went to breakfast with Elana's friend and her friend's brother.

-Went to the mall on Hollywood Blvd. and walked the streets a bit. I got some new shoes-- necessary given the large hole at the bottom of my existing ones. I was having ankle issues from avoiding the burn of pavement on my sole. I think they look like badass ballerina slippers. Like... if Fonzie was a ballerino.

-Claire was stricken with the symptoms of her sun poisoning in the parking lot of Veggie Grill. Bummer.

-Chateau Marmont. No celebrity sightings, but it was delicious. It kind of reminded me when Claire and I went to Princeton and we suddenly felt like idiots. I felt very aware of how poor and unfamous I am, by nature of the location.

-Then we went to the decidedly cheaper Cabo Cantina for DELICIOUS margaritas.

- I assume for the sake of bar hopping, we also went to some other bar. Then back home.

Sunday:

-Due to aforementioned sun poisoning, it was decided that Claire should take a break from the outdoors. Elana and Sarah went to Venice for Sarah's first time.

-Claire and I bought some sandwiches, soup, pickles and a variety pack of gushers/fruit by the foot/fruit roll ups and watched Freaks and Geeks. It was heavenly. Perfect.

-Elana and Sarah returned and we all went to Hamburger Mary's to play drag queen bingo. All but Elana had calamari salad and we all felt it was a little unpleasant-- too fried.

-Claire won a pedicure something (?) in bingo!

-Went back to the hotel and watched POSSIBLY a third of Cruel Intentions before we fell asleep.

Monday:

-Sadly dropped Sarah off at the airport.

-Claire and Elana and I ate at Denny's.

-I took them to the Getty museum (closed), around Downtown LA (dirty with an abundance of piñatas, which we were not in the market for), around Chinatown -- we never left the car.

-We finally decided on a movie, but Midnight in Paris only had crappy seats, as did Everything Must Go. This is the SECOND time I've tried and failed to see Midnight in Paris, which only makes me want to see it more.

-Claire decided to buy Freaks and Geeks at the Barnes and Noble but they were sold out. They directed us to the Barnes and Noble at The Grove, a challenge we accepted.

-But unfortunately, the Landmark Barnes and Noble is a liar and we found no Freaks or Geeks at The Grove. Good eats, though, so it was okay.

-Then we watched more Freaks and Geeks, ate Greek food in Downtown Burbank, and returned for more Freaks and Geeks.

Tuesday:

-9.5 hours of torture (I hope it's clear that the derogatory feelings reflect my desire to be with Claire and Elana and not a dislike for my job. I do like my job.) for me. Warner Bros. studio tour for Elana and Claire (Friends set, Ellen set, other sets that didn't make me as jealous as the first two). Fortunately, they ate at Subway and Chipotle, so no reason for jealousy on the food front.

-returned to Granville again.

The entire trip, Elana wished she could see Ian Harding from Pretty Little Liars. The fact that I remember his name so distinctly, I think reveals the volume in which is name was mentioned. Another pattern during the trip was a team effort between Claire and Elana in which Claire would wish for something and Elana would make it come true with magic. This worked with Converse sneakers, parking spaces, and winning bingo. To my knowledge, every wish made my Claire was fulfilled with Elana's "dreamcatcher" magic. And Elana intended to use this power to meet Ian Harding from Pretty Little Liars. In dream fashion, the actor who played the CHARACTER "Ian" on Pretty Little Liars, Ryan Merriman (of Smart House fame ("jump, jump, the house is jumping")) came into the restaurant. Elana spotted him with a keen eye and I proceeded to manhandle and yell at Elana until she got up to take a picture with him (interesting (to me) note: I have NEVER had the ability to get a picture with a celebrity since I've been here, yet I physically insisted that Elana do it). Claire watched the transaction with great anxiety. When we returned to our table, all 6 of our knees quaking, we looked at Elana's camera only to discover that it's batteries died just after the flash and just before the picture could register. No picture. Claire and I convinced Elana with success? that it's better this way. A MUCH more blog-worthy story, which is all the matters ultimately. The entire scenario begs the question of whether or not Claire and Elana have this dreamcatcher power when they're in PA (question literally and seriously begged by a nearly convinced Claire).

-Then 1.5 more episodes of Freaks and Geeks, followed by a teary departure (on my part, at least-- sitting in my car, searching my life for meaning without Claire and Elana and Sarah (and Natalya and Claire)).

Soundtrack of the trip:

"Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green

"Rolling in the Deep" - Adele

"Gold Digger" - Kanye West

Notes:

-The weather was gorgeous. It always is, but having guests reminds me of how much I love it.

-Never cleaned my room. They never saw it, although Claire saw the horse.

-I am crazy tan. My boss commented on it two days in a row to joyous beaming on my part.

-No one visits me without a stop at drag queen bingo from here on out.

-Margaritas!