Hey y'all -
I've been in LA for work the past four days, though I accomplished very little actual work. Someday, when I feel like boring you for half a day, I'll explain to you how the reality TV business works. In short, one day you can think you have six months to produce a show about...say...burritos, and then you get a call from the network telling you you now have six weeks to produce a show about monster trucks. "And why haven't we seen any footage of trucks yet? We never said anything about burritos! Why would you think we wanted a ten episode show about burritos just because we greenlit a show called 'Ten Tasty Tortillas And Their Fillings?'" Basically, I walked into the office as we were getting the monster truck call, and then hung around during the fallout 'til it was time to fly home. I came home still employed, so all of this is neither here nor there.
I got to stay a few nights with my good friend Will, his wife Lindsay and new baby Ethan.
You might remember that when Ethan was first born, I couldn't hold him because he was so tiny. Not a problem anymore. Now we're big buddies.
While it's still snowy and slushy and grey in Missoula, Will and Lindsay's backyard looks like this. I did nothing to enhance the colors in this photo. I am working through my jealousy issues.
I think Will is finding being a working parent exhausting. No kidding. A less mature me would have run in small circles in his tropical backyard chanting "I told you so! I told you so!" But the more mature me just sang it to myself inside my head while trying to keep an empathetic expression on my face. Being a grown up means you gloat on the inside.
But this face? Totally worth the exhaustion, I bet:
My second night in town, Will and I went to dinner after work with Brian and Tyler. I know I say this every time I go out with them, but I can't remember when I've laughed that hard.
Brian had chosen the restaurant because he'd heard it was great. Y'all, the place was so rife with pretentious hipsterism, it was downright funny. And overpriced. And ridiculous. We were all giving each other the side eye to make sure we were all in agreement that the Emperor was naked.
For example, this was a $17 pea shoot salad on the menu described to us by our server as "Gorgeous!" and "a can't miss!"
Y'all, it was ten arugula leaves, a coupla pea shoots, three berries and four actual peas. With a foam on top. And - my hand to heaven - it was listed on the menu under "Plates to Share."
That's when we started laughing.
This is Brian, preparing to take a bite of a pear that had been sliced and was to be served, if the menu description was to be believed, on "a bed of leaves collected by our house forager with the essence of forest floor."
You had better believe Will had some follow-up questions for our server, like, "What kind of degree do you have to have to be a forager?" Everything that the rest of us were wondering, Will came right out and asked. It was like we had sprung our embarrassing Grandpa from Shady Pines.
Tyler answered a ton of Will's old man questions about social media - how it works, why all the youngsters are participating in it, and "Why does everyone call it a "hashtag" when it's so obviously a pound sign?" Tyler was very patient and talked him through it, just like kids in the early 1900s talked to their grandpas about those newfangled horseless carriages.
The chef came out to be sure everyone was enjoying their meals, and we realized that the chef had been a contestant on Top Chef. Your dad and I love that show. So Tyler took my picture with Chef CJ, and it was awkward (for me) so I should've gone ahead and asked him what the hell he was thinking with that "essence of forest floor" business, but whatever.
Server: And here's your dessert, with strawberries that have been locally sourced...
Will: From the grocery store?
But seriously, it was the best thing we ate because even classically trained chefs can't mess up a doughnut hole.
My last night in town, I stayed with my friend Karen, her husband Stephenson, and their kids. Their kids are the same gender and age as you guys - a matched set. It was sorta like I got to pick up rental young'uns.
I think I took more pictures of the birds in Karen and Stephenson's yard than I took of any of the kids I saw on this trip. I'm not suggesting the wildlife was better behaved, but they did to stay in one place long enough to be photographed. Score one for the birds.
It was a great trip, work stuff aside, and as much as you can be homesick for a huge sprawling smog-choked metropolis, I sure do miss LA.
I realized on my last day there that I was basically doing a "bridesmaids tour" of LA, seeing all the bridesmaids from my wedding (Will, Brian, Karen). More than the weather and the food and the culture and the ocean and the job opportunities, when I think about LA, I miss these yahoos the most:
Good to see you all. I love you.
Love,
Mom
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