Happy Friday, gentle readers, and greetings from Southern California! I have a taken another mini-vacation here in the City of Angels, and, as always, it has been quite delightful. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack my camera (lame!), so there will be no photos from this journey. That is, except the above shot, which I snapped with my cell phone at Tiki Ti on Sunset last night. That's right, Tiki Ti.
It's been quite the lovely holiday so far. I arrived late Wednesday afternoon and after dinner, my sister Fabulous Patti and I went to Koreatown for a little karaoke at the Brass Monkey. FP didn't sing, but I got a couple of songs in before we called it a night.
Yesterday was the highlight of the trip, so far. My old, dear friend Kevin, who mostly lives in New York, is in L.A. for about a month looking for work. He's an actor...an actor who is able to support himself just by acting, no less. I haven't seen Kevin since my last trip to the Big Apple in 2006, so I was thrilled to get together with him this week. We grabbed lunch yesterday afternoon at Tropicalia, one of my favorite restaurants in Los Feliz, before he had to scoot over to the West Side to meet with some potential new L.A. agents. It was super yummy and super fun catching up.
After lunch, I wandered down Vermont Avenue and into Leap, my very favorite L.A. clothing store. My sister calls Leap my personal clothier because I go there every time I'm in L.A. and always manage to find something absolutely perfect to purchase. Well, yesterday was no exception. In fact, the women who own and run Leap know me now, and when I walked in, they immediately scooted to the back to fetch a dress they had just gotten that morning, which wasn't even on the floor yet.
Of course, I fell in love. It's a 1950's-style black number from a company called Stop Staring, and it is beyond darling and perfect for my figure. It cost a little more than what I usually spend at Leap (not only do they have great stuff, but their prices are amazing), but it is worth it. I'll get so much wear out of this dress. I may even have to post a picture of myself in it once I get home. Maybe.
After my shopping success I met my friends Charlie and Denise for dinner at Malo Catina in Silver Lake. Charlie and Denise are friends from San Francisco who moved to L.A. a few months ago, and I love that I now get to play with them when I'm down here. Many chips with burnt habanero creme salsa and tacos later, we were happily sated. Denise had to take her leave at that point because she gets up rather early for work, but Charlie and I walked up the street to the aforementioned Tiki Ti where Kevin caught up with us, along with his friend Jeffrey, and the four of us laughed and chatted over rum tiki cocktails until the wee hours of the morning.
All in all, I would call yesterday the perfect vacation day. I'm taking it easy today but will likely head to South Pasadena later to visit my brother, sister-in-law and nephew, the famous Mikey Jet.
Oh, and as for the title of this post. Denise has noticed that L.A. hipsters, many of whom surrounded us at dinner last night, look a bit different from those in San Francisco due to their designer hipster garb. Hence designer hipsters. And when Kevin dropped me off after Tiki Ti at 2:30 in the morning, we kept hearing some weird animal-type screeching while we chatted outside my sister's apartment. Had to have been the chupacabra. What else would it be?
