Promiscuity

Since we got to LA, we have done a terrible job at keeping up with the blog.
The excuse is rather fabulous: we have been leading a very active social life!

One could even say we’ve been promiscuous. We hope we haven’t taken advantage.

Everyone has really gone out of their way to be incredibly kind to us. We hope we can do nice things back to them, and soon.

Because it’s unclear whether our friends in LA know just how much we get around, we had better come clean about our dalliances, right here, in chronological order.

• Our friends from New York: Soo-Hyun and Joseph, who I met ten years or so ago - through Stephanie, who singlehandedly spins huge networks of smart, talented, fun friends – moved to LA from New York about a year and a half ago. They felt like a change, plus it made sense for work – Soo-Hyun had won a place at a screenwriting lab in LA, and Joseph’s photography often took him to the West Coast. Plus, the chance to swap an apartment for a house and garden would give their son Nomi plenty of space to play.

The night we rolled into LA, they greeted us not only with a dinner party but a spot in their driveway to park our Airstream for three weeks. Plus, they put us up at their house (see photo 1), and then at Soo-Hyun’s sister Chi-Yoon’s, where we did some light cat-sitting.

Throughout our time in LA, they’ve welcomed us into their Atwater Village home/clubhouse/workspace, sharing many a meal, drink and essential LA tip (such as using one’s GPS to avoid getting hopelessly lost).

Nomi and Sophia have become BFFs, playing for hours at a time without fighting. They even manage to merge his-and-her games into something that works….for example, Mommy and Baby Spock.

It must be serious: Sophia is considering marrying Nomi.

• My former Brooklyn flatmate: Lisette “Lisi” Linares – another point in Stephanie’s magical web - was one of my flatmates in Williamsburg 13 years ago. She is – of course – the one person we know who has starred in reality TV (‘Survivor: Fiji’) and had an electropunk hit in France.

She and her girlfriend Carolyn, who moved to West Hollywood from Miami seven years ago, are so much fun and pick out the best kids’ gifts. Like the British accented phonics game Sophia calls the “punch-button-er”, a Hannah Montana doll and Lulu’s glow in-the-dark, spinny-roundy, smiley-faced rattle/teething ring. We have a Beverly Hills celebrity bus tour pending.

• My former Michigan flatmate: Laura, who’s been mentioned before on this blog – she’s the ONE person so far to join us for a spot of camping!

Laura, who moved to LA to study Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica - has hosted us in not one but two houses in LA – the first in Mid City and the second in Los Feliz – all while starting a new job, moving and having her mom to visit. As if that weren’t enough, she also drove us to LAX at 5 in the morning and looked after our car for two weeks.

• My childhood friend: Elisa doesn’t live in LA, but was in town with her boyfriend Eric en route to New Zealand (their hobby is spending all their time and money going to weddings all around the world). Their friend Elizabeth threw a very elegant New Year’s Eve Eve party for them, so we all (Spring-Landons, Soo-Hyun, Joseph and Nomi) got to tag along.

• Our friends from the restaurant: This one probably merits its own posting, so maybe it will become one. See below.

• Daniel’s brother’s friend: Brian Parsons, Tim Spring’s good friend from a long time ago – we’re still not sure where – moved to LA a year or so ago to head up the theatre department at USC.

He is loving life in Marina del Rey, dating a beautiful German and has no intention of ever leaving. He joined us for a barbeque at our RV park in Anaheim, it was great fun.

• Our friend from the campground: Kristyn, who we met on our extended stay-cation at Santa Margarita Lake – she spent a weekend staying in the cabins with her university friends – totally hooked us up with Disneyland tickets. Her friend Ramona works for Disney and signed us into the park.

We went to some galleries with her as well, and hope to see her again.