from raleighwood to hollywood

so as i went to write my "three exciting things that have happened today" list, i decided that i need a name for these daily posts that roll off of the tongue a bit easier. which led me to: Three Extremely Awesome Parts Of Today. also known as T.E.A.P.O.T. so from this point on, this section will now be known as teapot. i'd like to think of it as not just a clever name, but also a dedication to my mom. who makes eleven cups of tea a day and leaves them all over the house. so when you see a teapot (like this one for example):

you'll know what's coming! so...here we go:

1. "i would have stayed for two thousand dollars." "i would have paid four."

everyone knows the movie pretty woman. and if you don't, then stop reading my blog right now and go to blockbuster. one of the classic scenes from pretty woman is where she's shopping on rodeo drive. well today, i did just that! okay, i didn't actually shop, but that's because i'm not willing to pay $1200 for a tanktop. BUT i did meet a friend for lunch in beverly hills today and that was an exciting part of my day in itself! i hadn't seen my friend brian since high school, but we recently reconnected when he saw that i was moving out here. what would we do without facebook? brian has been living in california for almost three years and it was awesome to see someone from back home and have a conversation that included the following words: boondini's. las margaritas. six forks. bojangles. wilmington. cookout. it was also very nice to get out of the house for the day and finally be a little social. we met two of brian's friends and walked up and down rodeo drive.

no celebrity sightings (other than myself of course), but i did see a nice group of tourists who made it into my picture of the famous beverly hills sign.

2. and i said, "what about breakfast at..."

we saw a lot of awesome beverly hills landmarks today--jimmy choo, gucci, prada, armani--but it was pretty rad to be standing in front of the original tiffany's from breakfast at tiffany's. this picture is dedicated to three people: my mom and best friend sara who LOVE black and white movies (especially the one we're talking about) and to my cousin-in-law jess who works at the tiffany's in new york. this picture is for all of you :)

3. bbq chicken

after my day of walking around with brian and his friends, i was very tempted to go straight home and put on my pajamas. after all, it was one of the first days i've had here where i didn't spend the majority of it with my ass glued to the couch. a big part of me was ready to go home and introduce my feet to a pair of fuzzy socks. HOWEVER, another north carolina native that i know here had mentioned to me earlier that he would be cooking with a friend around six and that i should stop by. i knew it would be an opportunity to meet someone new and once again embrace my social butterfly-ness that i've somewhat lost here, but still, part of me considered going home. i looked at the clock and realized that 6 PM wasn't exactly time to put on my pajamas, so i decided to stop by. little did i know, the new friend i made tonight was originally from garner, north carolina! although i'm sure i'll eventually have a social network of friends that are either los angeles lifers or from all over the country, it's nice to meet people here who understand and immediately embrace me because we're from the same exact place. not only did we have a great time cooking dinner, chatting, and watching HBO, but my friend bryce grilled some ridiculously good bbq chicken and introduced me to an awesome brand of bbq sauce (see picture).

highlight of the day:

as we walked through the ritzy area of beverly hills today, a man dressed in grey slacks, a short sleeve tommy bahama button down, a gold watch, and multiple other layers of bling stepped out in front of us and burst into song. although i was expecting a classy acapella version of "in the still of the night" by boys II men, he instead belted out this:

OLD MCDONALD WAS A BLACK MAN, E-I-E-I-O.

not really sure what kind of reaction to have, my first response was to clap. he then ran alongside us and told me the greatest thing i had heard all day:

WHAT IS IT CALLED WHEN A LADYBUG HAS A RABBIT FOR A PET?

A BUG'S BUNNY.

i laughed hysterically.

and then he asked me for a tip.

moral of the story: nothing in california is free.