love + london
What a time it is to be me! The past couple of months have been a crazy whirlwind. Let's start with October.
Last year, Dylan and I agreed that we were tired of going to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval. For those who don't know, it's a huge street festival that takes place just about a mile west of where we live. Hundreds of thousands of people show up for it, many of them (although seemingly less each year) arrive in costume. There are stages with performances, food vendors, and it's a lot of fun although it's also kind of a hassle and can be really irritating since there are so many people there. It's easy to lose your friends in the crowd, and cell phones usually don't work because of the sheer number of people trying to use them. We had a great time there in 2011, though, and we had tentatively planned on not living in West Hollywood by the time Halloween rolled around in 2012. We did look around for a new place, but ended up staying where we were, so I decided to do something different for Halloween and host a party at our apartment.
I knew most of our local friends would be attending the Carnaval, and those who weren't would not want to try and brave the West Hollywood traffic and lack of parking options, so we mainly invited people who lived nearby or would be coming for the Carnaval already. I haven't hosted a Halloween party on Halloween night in forever, probably since I lived in Hays with Brandon. Every year that I've lived in LA, except one, I went to Carnaval.
Many ideas for the party were found on the internet, and we spent quite awhile preparing for the night. Our costumes were probably the most challenging task for me, as I sewed both my devil costume and Dylan's Wilfred (the dog from the TV show) costume.
Anyway, the party was a success, as everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the food, drinks and decorations. It went until past 2 a.m. when we finally kicked everyone out so we could go to sleep; it was a weeknight after all.
After the party, I thought I could take a breather, but realized we had planned our 10th anniversary party for November 17, so we didn't have any down time. It was just shifting gears to get ready for the next thing. In between, I had a show with my band, The Traitors, at Lola's, so I had to rehearse a lot for that too.
The anniversary party was a great success; many friends, family, and co-workers came to help us celebrate and so many people brought gifts, it was really amazing! The highlight for me was finally proposing to my partner of 10 years, and hearing him say "yes" as I slipped the ring on his finger. I was so thrilled my entire family was there to witness the moment and celebrate afterward.
Sadly, my parents, sister, and her boyfriend all had to fly back to Kansas City the very next day after we all had brunch at Mel's Drive In on Sunset Blvd.
Now, it's back to work for three frantic days before I fly off to London!!! This is a trip I've been hoping for all year and it finally came together about a month ago, so I'm not really all that prepared. I'm just really looking forward to hanging out in London, and then for three nights in Dusseldorf at the end of my trip. I'll get to see The Human League twice, I'm seeing "Viva Forever" (the Spice Girls Musical) at Piccadilly Theatre, seeing a bunch of friends, doing tourist stuff, and then seeing Scritti Politti at a festival in Koln, Germany.
Of course, when I get back, I'll have Yuletide to contend with, but I'll deal with that when I get to it!
Last year, Dylan and I agreed that we were tired of going to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval. For those who don't know, it's a huge street festival that takes place just about a mile west of where we live. Hundreds of thousands of people show up for it, many of them (although seemingly less each year) arrive in costume. There are stages with performances, food vendors, and it's a lot of fun although it's also kind of a hassle and can be really irritating since there are so many people there. It's easy to lose your friends in the crowd, and cell phones usually don't work because of the sheer number of people trying to use them. We had a great time there in 2011, though, and we had tentatively planned on not living in West Hollywood by the time Halloween rolled around in 2012. We did look around for a new place, but ended up staying where we were, so I decided to do something different for Halloween and host a party at our apartment.
I knew most of our local friends would be attending the Carnaval, and those who weren't would not want to try and brave the West Hollywood traffic and lack of parking options, so we mainly invited people who lived nearby or would be coming for the Carnaval already. I haven't hosted a Halloween party on Halloween night in forever, probably since I lived in Hays with Brandon. Every year that I've lived in LA, except one, I went to Carnaval.
Many ideas for the party were found on the internet, and we spent quite awhile preparing for the night. Our costumes were probably the most challenging task for me, as I sewed both my devil costume and Dylan's Wilfred (the dog from the TV show) costume.
Anyway, the party was a success, as everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the food, drinks and decorations. It went until past 2 a.m. when we finally kicked everyone out so we could go to sleep; it was a weeknight after all.
After the party, I thought I could take a breather, but realized we had planned our 10th anniversary party for November 17, so we didn't have any down time. It was just shifting gears to get ready for the next thing. In between, I had a show with my band, The Traitors, at Lola's, so I had to rehearse a lot for that too.
The anniversary party was a great success; many friends, family, and co-workers came to help us celebrate and so many people brought gifts, it was really amazing! The highlight for me was finally proposing to my partner of 10 years, and hearing him say "yes" as I slipped the ring on his finger. I was so thrilled my entire family was there to witness the moment and celebrate afterward.
Sadly, my parents, sister, and her boyfriend all had to fly back to Kansas City the very next day after we all had brunch at Mel's Drive In on Sunset Blvd.
Now, it's back to work for three frantic days before I fly off to London!!! This is a trip I've been hoping for all year and it finally came together about a month ago, so I'm not really all that prepared. I'm just really looking forward to hanging out in London, and then for three nights in Dusseldorf at the end of my trip. I'll get to see The Human League twice, I'm seeing "Viva Forever" (the Spice Girls Musical) at Piccadilly Theatre, seeing a bunch of friends, doing tourist stuff, and then seeing Scritti Politti at a festival in Koln, Germany.
Of course, when I get back, I'll have Yuletide to contend with, but I'll deal with that when I get to it!
Comments