Tall Tara

As I sit and reminisce about what I was doing last weekend in L.A. at this time, the snow falls. I long for warmth on my skin, for tank tops, eating outdoors and soaking up the sunshine . That longing is one of the reasons I decided a trip to California during a Colorado winter would be oh-so-good for me in the first place. (Start humming The Mamas & The Papas here.)

In addition to the weather, Los Angeles proved to be a good choice by seducing me with amazing people, interesting opportunities and a diverse culture. Call it a retreat, call it a girl’s weekend, call it a bachelorette party (which I refuse to do), the time I spent in east L.A. revived me, inspired me and got me ready to rock out in 2009.

Looking back on the trip, there were a few things that were essential to the success of the weekend. Your mileage may vary, but I think you’ll agree that these are some of the necessities:

–a heavy dose of Mexican food–coming from Colorado, we were desperate for Mexican food done right. Fortunately, there were huevos rancheros a plenty, a late-night taco stand run, and lots of nachos… very important for fueling the fun.

–shopping–we walked and looked more than we actually consumed, but it was the leisurely way we did it and the local boutiques we were doing it in that made it so incredible. Silver Lake has fantastic stores and you have to love a neighborhood with personality.

–Thai massage–all “happy ending” jokes aside, this shit was awesome. As a certified massage therapist, I’ve had a lot of massage over the years. But this was a first. Probably the deepest massage I’ve received in a while and with the crazy stretching involved, also the most needed. If you’ve never had a Thai woman walk on your back,  you’re missing out. (Caroline wrote a post about the place we went to in Echo Park.)

–beautiful weather–I know I already gushed about it, but the 80-degree days were really, really nice. There was talk about how warm it was for a California winter but it was just what my pale, Colorado, bundled-in-layers soul needed.

–karaoke–say what you want about the activity, I love singing with strangers. We went to a dive bar called The Smog Cutter , which besides having an awesome name, also had a very interactive karaoke experience. Namely, there was no stage. So you basically just sang in the midst of everyone at the bar, resulting in lots of backup singers, people dancing around you, and ample opportunity to work the crowd. Seriously, it was an epic night of karaoke. Not to mention, I rick-rolled the joint. Totally awesome.

–no schedules–I came to L.A. wanting to simply go with the flow. By not planning every minute of the day, we let things happen and took it all in at a relaxed pace. Who wants to be rushed around anyway?

–near-celebrity sightings–It’s L.A. You can’t help but almost see a celebrity. Our close call came on a corner of Sunset Drive.  Ingrid thought she saw this guy:

…when really she just saw a bulldog who liked to bite skateboards. Embarrassing.

–pajama parties–Do I really need to explain this one?

–Jumbos Clown Room–I’m not going to explain this one but will say I left inspired.

–good friends–I had the right ladies accompany me on this adventure and I love what they brought to the weekend.  It was also really entertaining to tell people that we met because of our blogs. To top off the weekend, I made new acquaintances and got the chance to see an old high school chum (one is silver and the other gold)…reuniting after 14 years only to be reminded that we haven’t really changed that much.

So in summary, despite the title of this post and to some folks’ disbelief, not much actual trouble was had.

Were we troublesome? Very much so.

And boy was it fun.

Nintendo did it again.

My sisters and I had a Nintendo when we were growing up and my mom threw it away. She says she was worried that we weren’t ever going to read or go outside again. One day, the Nintendo was there, we were playing Dr. Mario, and the next day… gone. Just like that. Ripped out of our young lives.

[Insert paragraph about how, a decade or so later, I fell in love and was married to a gamer for a few years. Not entirely ready to write about it yet. But when I am, watch out...it's a great post in the making. Needless to say, it soured me a bit on the whole gaming thing.]

Fast forward two decades and what’s that? Gwen Bell invites me to a party? A very exclusive and cool party thrown by Nintendo? Ummm…okay.

I had never been privy to such a gathering before and I drove down to the party with mixed emotions. The truth: I was a little skeptical because I had actually seen one of the commercials for the DS Lite. It was the one with Carrie Underwood, where she’s in her tour bus holding a real dog in her lap while petting a fake dog with her stylus on her pink DS Lite. I thought it a little weird. How could this be fun?

However, all of my doubts were gone when I stepped foot into the party.

Awesome, fun chicks…hanging out and playing games. I was in heaven. Nintendo rented a great space, provided both the food and drinks, and gave us ladies the chance to try out different games including Mario Kart, Guitar Hero and Brain Age. I even sweet-talked one of the Nintendo girls (nice job, huh?) into letting me play Super Mario Bros from her personal stash. That did it. Suddenly I was back in middle school, playing Nintendo with my sisters. Fuck yeah.

And then, if all that fun wasn’t enough, when the party was over, Nintendo gave each one of us a DS Lite of our very own. To take home. Double fuck yeah.

While the DS Lite hasn’t taken over my life, it has proven to be a fun outlet. And I’m not the only one who thinks that. Besides decreasing my brain age by 20 years, the DS Lite is a godsend in airports. The only down side I’ve encountered?

Sharing it with my boyfriend financier fiancee.

At least he knows who it belongs to. Not because of the rhinestone encrusted martini glass that graces the front of my DS Lite. Oh no…it’s because I never let him forget.

Nintendo succeeded at making me a fangirl because they wined me and dined me, making me feel like a cool kid. No matter how old you are, everyone loves getting free stuff. Their plan worked. Not only have I bought another game for my DS Lite, but I tell everyone how much I love mine. And how Nintendo did it again.

(Mom, if you’re reading this, don’t worry. I’m still reading and going outside.)

Here are a few of my favorite things from this year’s conference:

• Partying with the Kirtsy chicks. This is now the fourth state we’ve hung out in and I always enjoy our time together. An inspiring group of women that never cease to amaze me. Thanks for the invite ladies. And thanks
  for your backyard and the paella Guy.

• Hanging with the Boulder and Denver ladies in a different place with the same results.

• Wearing cute shoes and having a straight man compliment me on them.

• Partying in a department store. I’ve never done it before and it turned out to be both weird and awesome all at the same time. The party started off a little awkward in the handbag department, but by the time we had made it up to lingerie, we were ready to roll. (The hot chocolate shots and KY lube samples were highlights of that floor!) While I may have had some flashbacks of Mannequin, I just thank god I didn’t break anything.

• The “lactation lounge”…I didn’t hang out in there, but I challenge you to find something like that at any other conference.

• Ridiculous swag. I recycled almost 2/3 of all the freebies I received and I still had this much…



• The BlogHer Unconference and the amazing amount of knowledge exchanged and connections made.This event is the perfect way to end the weekend. It’s always exactly what it should be.

• Spending time with inspiring mothers who patiently listened as I talked about wanting kids and swooning ovaries. Here’s one trying to ignore me as I continue to talk about it…
  

• Listening, learning, laughing, building new relationships and strengthening old ones. Ironic that at a blogging conference I wasn’t blogging. But I was too busy interacting to be bothered with logging on.

Thanks to all those I met. You’ve restored my hope in the humanity behind the Internet and reminded me just how powerful women speaking their truths can be.