I got to spend 6 wonderful days with Jules and honestly the trip couldn't have gone better if we tried.
TUESDAY
I flew from JFK to LAX and arrived in Los Angeles at 3:50PM and Jules was a little late to the airport because my flight was supposed to come in at 4:00PM but it came in early so he drove up to the pick-up zone in front of SouthWest Airlines and he jumped out of the car and gave me the biggest hug ever, he even lifted me off the ground! Haha, it was fun. Once I got my bags in the car we headed back to the house he was staying in and the rest of The Strokes had vacated the area to go be with their families. So it was just Jules and me for the whole trip in this huge house with a pool and everything! Tuesday was a very cozy and comfy day because we haven't seen each other in over 6 weeks so it was cuddle-central at Jules' house. We went in the Jacuzzi for a bit and then ate a feast of a meal for dinner. I was on east coast time so I was very very tired at around 10PM which was around when we went to bed after watching a little bit of Cake Boss on the computer.
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday started out with a haircut at 11:30AM and then Jules and I went to go see Cloud Atlas right afterwards (really interesting movie, Tom Hanks woo!) and then we started preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner the next day which would be Jules, John (Jules' Dad) Casablancas, his model wife Aline, and their kids Fernando, John Jr., Victoria, and Catherine. From the start Julian and I assumed it would be an absolute nightmare, and John had just vowed to sobriety so it was a non-alcoholic Thanksgiving. This dinner was destined for horrible things. So on Wednesday I set the dinning room table, peeled potatoes and put the 20lb turkey in brine while Jules went out and bought all little things that I could make for tomorrow. Then together we made lots of desserts like magic bars and German chocolate cake and frosted cupcakes and chocolate chips cookies....etc. Then we went to Diddy Reise (this famous cookie store in Westwood [by UCLA]) and ate lots of cookies and then watched The Emperor's New Groove and went to sleep in each others arms on the couch.
THURSDAY
Thanksgiving day! I woke up at around 9AM and started opening cans of yams for the candied yams and cranberry sauce for the...well...cranberry sauce, then I put the turkey together and did some decorations on this huge mansion and the guests arrived at 3:30PM and the football games were on and surprisingly...things went well. No stupid comments were made and everyone enjoyed themselves and at 9PM everyone was heading out with plenty of leftovers and good thoughts (or so I hoped they had). I was very pleasantly surprised and I think Julian was as well. I mean the relationship between Jules and John isn't very good considering Julian is relatively close to his mother and was raised by her almost entirely. I can see why Thanksgiving could have been a nightmare but thankfully (haha thankfully) it was wonderful.
FRIDAY
Friday Jules and I woke up at 6AM and went to downtown Los Angeles and got some IHOP and just sat in front of a Walmart and watched chaos ensue. It was pretty funny just watching people just jump all over each other for such material things. There was a big old black lady who was ramming her shopping cart into people as she barged into Walmart yelling "MOMMA'S GOT A BIG LIST THIS YEAR MOVE THE HELL OVA!". It was the most stereotypical thing I had seen in a long time. Then on the way home we got some In-n-Out and spent the entire just being lazy. Definitely watched 2 hours of Nickelodeon while eating Pringles and Nutella. Then we walked his neighborhood for a bit and stopped in at the local market to get some water and cookie dough, which we then ate the whole thing uncooked while watching Cake Boss. It's safe to say it was an eventful day.
SATURDAY
Saturday was probably one of my favorite days of all of my vacation. It started at 11AM when Jules and I went to Palos Verdes to get some nice breakfast with a beautiful view and got some Starbucks as well. Then afterwards we went back to the house to get some sunscreen and water shoes because we decided to go to San Pedro and go hang out around the tide pools! Oh it was so much fun, we saw lots of crabs and snails and sea urchins and what not. And we had it all to ourselves, no one was there! We put a towel down and watched the ocean for a bit and we took lots of pictures and...ah, it was wonderfully blissful. I think I got a little bit of a tan! Afterwards we got some food at Jules' house and then hung out for a bit and then went to the Santa Monica pier to go to the arcade and to get some dinner. Walking on that promenade was such a blast we saw all those street performers and twinkling lights. Wonderful. Got a nice picture in front of the big Christmas tree where the main focus of the mall is located. Then Jules had his first PF Changs dinner, ever! He loved it. Then we went home and fell asleep on his couch cuddling one another.
SUNDAY
Sadly this was my last day in California and it had to end so early because the only flight I could get back was one that left at 8:30AM which meant I had to be at the airport at 6:30AM. So Jules dropped me off at the airport and we had another teary goodbye but I'll be seeing him in 16 days so I'm not too distraught. I love me my Julian and I can't wait to have those butterflies rush into my system again when I get to see him next. And in NYC! Maybe The Strokes will play for an SNL Christmas episode! Maybe maybe.
