thirty-seven things i miss about los angeles

I’ve been back in New York for thirty-seven days. It’s been really great being home (the only exception, the only black spot is my new job; my bosses talk to me like I’m bowl of ratatouille– slow to move and incapable of comprehending English), but there are things, so many things I miss about Los Angeles.

1. My little Fiat. It was my last rental car and had my total heart. That little car could’ve kept me in LA,  I adored it so much.
2. The crunchy french toast at the Standard Hotel.
3. Ray. It goes without saying. Me miss you.
4. Afternoons at the Beverly Hills library.
5. Target in Glendale. Best. Target. Ever.
6. Lucky moments: waiting in line for the Stanley Kubrick show at LACMA, not really wanting to spend $20 on a ticket. Someone from behind me shouts out “Anybody want a free ticket?!” Yay, me, I do!
7. Listening to audiobooks in my car.
8. Driving along 3rd Street.
9. Lynn. I miss my buddy like whoa. I miss our food adventures and long, long, long talks.
10. No rain. Tony! Toni! Tone! was right. It never rains in Southern California.
11. The windy, slopey, scary, make you wonder if you’ll ever see your family alive again right angle roads in Topanga Canyon. But the view. Boy, those views.
12. Hanging out with Bridget and Emily and little cutie pie Finley. They made me happy, they made me laugh, they made me feel like I had family close by.
13. Driving along the Pacific Coast Highway.
14. My route to work– west along 3rd Street, left onto La Cienega, right onto Wilshire Blvd.
15. Donuts at SK Donuts. Thanks, Ray! I really needed to gain those extra ten pounds before leaving.
16. Walking through Larchmont Village early evening– the kids would play in the streets, the smell of jasmine was everywhere, it made me want a house with a tire swing in the yard.
17. Happy hour margaritas at Tortilla Republic. Thanks for the heads up, Ray!
18. Book Soup and Skylight Books were my favorite book stores.
19. Late night toasted plain bagels with cream cheese and tomato at Fred 62.
20. Veggie Grill— missing the Caesar salad with buffalo “chicken.” Thanks for the suggestion, Lynn!
21. My coworkers. The customers were ten tons to deal with, but I loved everyone I worked with. When I get sad at my new crappy job, I just hear “Mister, mister, sir” and “Thank you for your cooperation and support,” and I get happy again.
22. The Landmark movie theater.
23. Buying one bottle of Perrier at a time at the 7-11 on 3rd and S Vista.
24. Going to the Grove right before closing time.
25. Getting lost.
26. Listening to KROQ 106.7.
27. Hunting down the cheapest gas prices.
28. Randomly catching the smell of the ocean. Once I was on Fairfax just east of 6th and smelled salt water for no reason, because it’s not near the beach, but I got goosebumps and nostalgia.
29. Discovering new old places. Casey took me to the Dresden (a restaurant that’s been in Los Feliz for damn near sixty years) and we listened to Marty and Elayne (lounge singers who have been playing and singing there since the Civil Rights movement probably) and Casey requested “Cheek to Cheek” for me and I swayed on my bar stool and drank tequila and club soda.
30. The Marie Callender’s salad bar.
31. Anything and everything involving Damon’s Steakhouse. Ray, you changed my life. I’m having my wedding reception at Damon’s.
32. Late night trips to Von’s. Any trips to Von’s, really. I liked that grocery store. The one on Melrose had a little table with books for a dollar. You took a book and put a buck in a huge, empty water jug.
33. Beer and fish and chips at the Reel Inn.
34. The weather– mid 70’s, constant sunshine, no humidity.
35. Recognizing parts of the city from movies I’ve seen. You get that with New York, too, but it’s different and more novel to me in LA.
36. Wonderful long lunches with Luanne.
37. The feeling you get that California really is a majestic place, as beautiful and historic as you expect it to be. The past feels actualized somehow in the weather, the architecture, the landscape, you feel rooted in something that feels simultaneously very right now and very back then. Which of course is true for most places, but there’s something about the space, the odd circus people, and the range from ocean to mountain that makes it feel singular. It makes me feel like I can’t wait to go back.