{whatever wednesday} Favorite Moments of 2014

This week, my {whatever wednesday} is a look back at some of my favorite 2014 moments.

I traveled all the way to the West Coast and finally got Eggslut.  The most perfect, deliciously sloppy breakfast sandwich of my life.

Hikes through Griffith Park to the Hollywood sign were hot but spectacular.

Knocking attending a live filming of Chelsea Lately and meeting Chuy Bravo off my bucket list.

Spending a weekend in Cincinnati with the family.

We attended a Monster Truck Rally and celebrated my soul mate's 21st birthday.

"In life it's not where you go, it's who you travel with."

An early December weekend get away to Chicago with one of my bestest and oldest (in length of friendship, not age) was one of the most splendid adventures.

We spent Father's Day at the "Key West of the Midwest."

I ate a bunch of Strange Donuts with no remorse.  This Sloppy Joe Done with tots was my favorite.

From eating so many Strange Donuts, I won tickets to a Cardinal's Postseason game.  We lost but Pops and I had a grand time.

We took up yoga and attended these fun events that include yoga and post-yoga cocktails.

Last but not least, we expanded Style Your Space to a second location!

{Neil Gaiman}

2014, you've been a lovely and wild ride.

See you next year!
peace, love, sparkles and flamingos
Allison

The Time I Met Chuy Bravo.

One of my bucket list goals was to attend a live taping of Chelsea Lately.  To me, Chelsea is one of the greatest people on the planet.  I used to schedule my gym sessions to watch her show during my workouts, then Club Fitness changed their TV deal and no longer have E!.  (THANKS a lot, Club Fitness, for really ruining my workout mojo).  But anyways, I attended one of Chelsea's stand up comedy shows at a huge venue years ago, so attending a live recording was a big deal.

After booking my trip to LA, I was determined to get tickets to see the great Chelsea Handler.   I found out that tickets were actually free, and were much easier to get than I had assumed.  I searched online, clicked a few links, typed in some information and BOOM!  The tickets were e-mailed to me.

A few weeks before my visit, Patrick ended up getting all these jobs (I know, how DARE he work, right?), which left me adventuring around on my own quite a bit.  It was clear I was going to attend Chelsea solo, but I wasn't about to let ANYTHING come between us.  I came all the way to LA, I had tickets, I was GOING to see Chelsea.  I also had some experience with the subway system, so I was like a pro at it come Monday.

There's me on my way to see Chelsea.

So, fast forward, I make my way to The Universal stop.  Following all the people that got off, I head over to the tram (because everyone's going to see Chelsea, duh), which drove us up all these hills.  Meanwhile, I read the fine print on my ticket, which states in bold "DO NOT PROCEED ON TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS".  Immediate panic ensues.  "How long is this ride?!  When will they let me off?!  How do I get back?!  Will they drive me back?  Will I have to run back?  If this tram keeps going, I'm totally running back down these hills.  I bet I could run faster than this driver is driving."  After what seemed like FOREVER, we get to a stop, I flag down an attendant, and show her the papers (clearly I wasn't the first moron who made this mistake).  She instructs me to get back on the tram and go right when I get to the bottom of the hill.  The walk was a bit longer than I had anticipated, and I SWEAR the studio numbers didn't go in numeric order.  It was a bit confusing.

Finally, I see signs that say "Chelsea Lately Recording" and so on.  My nerves are calmed.  I get to the line area, and it was like waiting at Six Flags.  They had it all covered with greenery and those annoying misting fans going. 

We were then led to the studio part and separated in to different lines.  Since I was by myself, the bouncer looking guy (we'll call him Gary) had me go to the first line with about 5 other people.  It was a very sunny day, so he told me to move up to get out of the sun.  I was worried that this group of 3 girls were going to beat me up since I was cutting in front of them, but they heard Gary and I was just following what I had been told to do.

We then go through the metal detectors and these secret service looking guys, check to make sure your phone is shut off, and proceed in to the stage area to be seated.  Gary points at me, then leads me up to the very front row.  The seats next to me were blocked off for VIP and remained empty until about 5 minutes before the show started.  I'm not sure how long I sat there with empty seats (since I couldn't check my phone), I'd estimate it seemed to be about an hour.  All I could imagine was all the people jealous of my seat and wondering what I had done to deserve such special treatment.  Gary came back by to make sure I had left my book with security to get signed.  I felt like a 12-year old on a flight by themselves, but it was okay. 

The music was loud, then the guy came out to pump up the crowd, go over recording rules and laughing etiquette.  He also announced that since the guest had a scheduling conflict, they had to plug in the interview that had been recorded a few weeks earlier.  Because no celebrity guest was a bummer, we had the option to do a meet and greet with Chuy after the show.  THIS MADE MY YEAR.  Another bucket list goal was about to be achieved.  So thank you, Megan Fox, for having a scheduling conflict.  I'm not a guy and I'm also not a huge fan, so her lack of attendance did not bother me one bit.  I WAS ABOUT TO MEET THE GREATEST LITTLE NUGGET IN THE WORLD.

So then, the greatest Chelsea makes her way on to the stage.  I was seated approximately 10 feet away from her.  It was insane.  I could have tossed a gumball and hit her.  I wasn't going to, but I could have.  Chuy was dressed as a Ninja Turtle, which was hilarious.  It was also Chelsea's "two week notice" episode, so luckily I was able to attend before the ending of Chelsea Lately.  During the breaks, they would bring out stacks of the books for Chelsea to sign, so we knew she actually autographed them.

Chuy throws out these black and white stress balls that have stamped "I caught one of Chuy's balls" on them.  That was another dream of mine, to catch one of Chuy's balls.  After the show, he threw one towards the VIP guy seated 2 away from me.  It ricocheted off his hand and rolled down in front of me.  As I reached to pick it up and hand it back to him, Chuy threw him another one.  So I was able to catch one of Chuy's balls by default.  I felt like the luckiest lady in all the land.  It was a glorious day.

There I am awkward standing with the one and only Chuy Bravo.

Hey LA, You're Pretty Rad.

What I discovered living in Los Angeles for a week:

The food is amazing.  And you can get just about anything anywhere until 3 am. No joke.

They take their Mexican food VERY seriously.  If you give it a "meh, it was good," you WILL submit yourself to public shaming.  Being overly enthusiastic about their burritos is the definite way to go.  So, for the record, I HEART LA MEXICAN FOOD!

Some coffee shops, you wouldn't wear sweaty gym clothes to.  Some coffee shops, you feel okay wearing sweaty gym clothes to.

Succulents are basically the best thing ever (but I already knew this).

The only stars are celebrities.

On the celebrity topic, I'm not good at being on the lookout for them.  I probably saw more famous people than I realized, I just didn't recognize them outside of the television screen.  So, if you're famous, reading this, and you see me anywhere, don't be offended by my obliviousness!...and holding up a star-shaped sign with your name on it would be nice.

St. Louis loves patios.  This may sound absurd, especially for a city that has maybe 30 favorable patio days per calendar year but we love them.  They're not a big deal in other cities plus they have cooler things, such as rooftops.

Wearing a crop top and cross-body bag to roam Venice will leave you with incredibly awkward tan lines.

Coyotes run the town.  Seriously.  One actually ran past me on Avocado Street.  First, I thought it was a dog on the loose, then realized it was a wild coyote.  A WILD COYOTE!  They also sneak in people's doggy doors and steal their cats.  FACT (or maybe cats just decide to leave, I'm not really sure).

Public transportation via Subway is much easier and not nearly as scary as it seems.  I accidentally screwed up and got on the purple instead of the red line just once, my very first day.  The purple line travels all the way to the dead end of the line.  Since I couldn't go any further, it was pretty simple to navigate my way back.  I did see some weird, slightly frightening stuff, but not enough to scare me.  Obviously, I handled that subway like the professional badass I am.

Headphones are a saving grace when you're roaming a city solo.  Depending on where or time of day, I wouldn't suggest actually listening to anything.  Like, I wouldn't walk in to an alley late at dusk blasting Taylor Swift.  But the thing about headphones, music or not, it LOOKS like you're listening to something important so you don't have to acknowledge people you don't feel like talking to.  I only got caught off guard one time when I was in DTLA.  A guy came up (as I was fidgeting for my phones) and complimented my eyes.  Since he t-lined towards me..is that a thing? A t-line?  Well anyways, he didn't actually see my eyes, then proceeded to ask if he could get my number to take me to da club.  I politely responded, "No, thank you" and hurried on my merry little way.

There's never such a thing as too many palm tree pictures.  I repeat: NEVER.

So, I'm not going to leave you with a palm tree photograph, but rather my LA city view on my departure flight back home.

Until next time!

peace, love, sparkles and flamingos,

Allison