Just a Midwestern girl off to LA to live out my nerdy science dream... and hopefully make new friends, have awesome adventures and consume delicious food and beverage in the process...
Growing up, my childhood was filled with limericks to describe the process in which Winter would morph into Spring:
"March comes in like a lion, out like a lamb."
"April showers bring May flowers."
In California, these rhymes are essentially useless since seasons as I know them aren't really a thing here. To me, moving to the beach meant sunny skies and warm to mild (mind you, not hot) temperatures all year round. Over the past week, I have learned the true meaning of "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
In the middle of last week, the forecast for the weekend was absolutely thrilling:
I know, right!?
To be fair, this did play out as predicted, however, not in Santa Monica...
Saturday was quite a day. James, Emma, and I had all signed up to participate in the L.A. Challenge, an urban scavenger hunt put on by Challenge Nation. We really had no idea what we were getting into until we got started, so I'm going to allow you to have the same experience by figuring out what this whole shindig was as you read the post...
After registering and deciding on our team name, "The Wild Westsiders," Emma purchased matching team t-shirts and we read the website and gleaned that we would be wandering around Downtown LA solving clues. Before the challenge, 5 hints to the 12 clues we would get the next day were posted on Facebook:
Yeah... this gave us no advantage at all...
So after trekking downtown on Saturday morning, we went to check in for the race/hunt/adventure thing at a delightful restaurant/bar called "Big Wang's" (really?) and got our bibs before we grabbed lunch.
When we returned to BW's we gathered 'round with the other 163 teams to receive our clues. I stood in a circle as team captain and was handed an envelope that I had to hold out in front of me until every team had an envelope and the organizers had counted down from 10. Then everyone ripped open the clues and ran for the teams. Naturally, I had lost Emma and James, but fortunately they found me and we got to work on our clues:
I realize you can't read this... don't worry
We were greeted by 12 clues, 11 of which needed to be completed to finish the challenge. All needed picture evidence to prove that we had accomplished the task. After trying to quickly and strategically figure out the areas of Downtown that we needed to go to and what order was best, we RAN to the Staples Center.
**Disclaimer: I apologize for my extremely stupid face in ALL of the pictures. I was trying to say in character with the clues. In hindsight, I look really tired, sweaty, and dumb. Enjoy!
March was a crazy busy month, all ending with a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina for the American College of Medical Genetics Annual Conference. ACMG was a really great experience: I presented a poster, learned about new and interesting things in genetics, and got to catch up with many of the Chicago area GCs that I haven't seen in quite a while.
I also had the most delicious red velvet cake I have ever had in my life. And lots of southern style mac and cheese.
Anyway, ACMG also gave me a chance to do a bit of reflection on how much my life had changed in a year and how everything thing that has happened has absolutely been for the best. Even though, if you had asked me a year ago where I would be today, Santa Monica is probably one of the last places I would have guessed.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my sister was out here visiting last week. Even though she was on spring break, I still had to work all week and even though she was at my house for a total for 7 days, we really only had one full day to hang out together and experience my new city. Kendall came armed with many things she wanted to do and see all over the city and I had the challenge of figuring out not only how to fit everything in but how to combat traffic to do it. Miraculously, we managed to have one perfectly crazy LA day with no traffic issues.
After coffee and a light breakfast at home, The Duchess and I took Kendall on a scenic drive up the PCH and through Topanga Canyon to our first stop:
I'm a big fan of cupcakes. Big fan. I'm one of those people for whom a completely terrible day can be totally turned around by someone handing me a red velvet cupcake. Seriously. As intellectual as I can be, I'm really still as easily pleased as a small child. I've earned me the nickname "The Little One" at work given that I'm the youngest and that things like my new business cards are the COOLEST thing ever even if they have my e-mail address wrong and I have to rip them from the Avery printable sheets myself. Anyway, I digress...
It's no surprise that receiving the following e-mail from my father on Sunday completely changed the focus of my week:
Oh yeah, my sister is here. That's pretty cool too, but I've had her for a little over 23 years. A cupcake ATM is brand. spanking. new. I'll write more about her visit later. Right now- cupcakes. Clearly, Ken and I made sure to jaunt over to BH on Sunday after dinner to check out the newest way to get your sugar fix. The result:
FYI: Kendall's shirt is a brand new style
from Jill Aiko Yee's upcoming spring line!
Yep. The ATM was not yet up and running. The article was extremely misleading. And we were heartbroken, as you can probably tell by Kendall's expression. Regardless, I began following the ATM on Facebook. On Tuesday, the ATM updated it status and announced that it was open for business. On Wednesday, Kendall and I again made our way to Beverly Hills after dinner to find this:
Psh. Yeah. Even I am not enough of a fat kid to wait in that line for a cupcake that may or may not even be fresh. According to YouTube this is what my experience would have been like:
Chelsea Handler also had some comments about the new addition to our metropolis on her show (that I was not able to find on YouTube), namely recognizing that there are no drive-thrus in BH for a reason, the ATM is just asking for an "influx of drunk assholes" to the area and that they should really focus on a cupcake delivery service. At this last point, my heart filled with pride and nostalgia, knowing that such a magic thing existed and that it was only in Boulder.
Yes ladies and gentleman, Boulder,CO: Home of the Drunk Asshole has been doing delivery desserts since... well... at least since 2003 and probably for many, many years before that. And they are fabulous.
In summary, the Cupcake ATM is exciting and seems awesome. But like most over-hyped places in LA, there is no way that you can get near it for the time being and trying is going to be annoying as hell. When they install one at the Jack in the Box I live next door to, life will be complete. Mostly, I'm just bitter because I've failed at using the ATM. Twice. And because I drove down Rodeo Drive. Twice. In one week. Wha wah.
Also, delivery deserts would be so clutch in LA and Boulder rules.
