I Love My Friends...Even MORE Than BEER!

Ok so I Skypeed (is this a verb now?) my hubby, daughter and friends yesterday at our friend Sokoun and Chris' house.
Chris showed me a glass of that DELISH Karl Strauss Amber Lager...of course I was drooling.
He told me that Sokoun thought it was the favorite part of my trip!

Well, to be honest, it WAS a highlight...but NOT THE FAVORITE PART OF MY TRIP!!!


Aw...



SOKOUN AND CHRIS


OF COURSE the best part of the trip was seeing my beloved friends!
The reason why it took me so long to blog about my trip is that when I came back I slowly fell into a slump (which is normal actually - the post-vacation blues). I missed my friends and daughter terribly! I wish I could have stayed longer, but c'est la vie...that's the life of a working stiff comme MOI!


So....where did I end part one...oh yeah...the BEER ON TAP at Chris and Sokoun's - LOL.

I forgot to mention that they now have a new addition to the family...a 5 1/2 ounce Chihuahua named Lola...as in L-O-L-A Lola! la la la la Lola. I couldn't stop serenading her while I was there. No wonder she kept trying to bite me. She is ADORABLE but NOT the friendliest pup in the world! But once she got to know me, she stopped biting/attacking me and licked me instead. Sadly, I could NOT train her to lick my ear...but she IS a female - and not a lesbian either. Oh well.

It was wonderful hanging out with Sokoun and her awesome family. I mentioned that we went to her niece's graduation (where I got to work on my tan- bonus). After the graduation we went for a yummy all-you-can-eat (oh no) Japanese buffet. I never had so much sushi at one sitting in my life. It was delish. THEN to help digest our food we went SHOPPING and Sokoun picked out 2 lovely tops for me - and I get compliments whenever I wear them. One is a halter and I NEVER EVER would have dreamed of buying a halter top (I last wore one when they were in style in the mid 70s) but she eyed it and thought it would look good on me - and it really does! (ok I am not modest - y'all know that already!).

I can't divulge anything about another little shopping spree I had with Sokolun and Chris (after mucho sake and wine). Sorry. Use your imagination!

On Thursday I conned my friend Chelice into driving me to the train station to catch a train to LA. I have my ways...I invited her for a manicure and pedicure - and while she was having flowers painted on her fingers and toes I said, "um...can I ask a favor of you? Could you please take me to the train station? My train leaves in 20 minutes, by the way!"
I kid you not. Chelice is from Detroit and she's got the Motor City chops to prove it! We FLEW to the station - downtown - about a 10 mile drive...I bought my ticket, ran to the train and had a couple minutes to spare before the train departed.
This is what it's like to be a friend of Sue's! It's not pretty....I know I know. (Right Mary????).

I had a LOVELY trip up to LA. Oh it is just a gorgeous ride - along the coast. I chilled out and got PSYCHED about seeing my Ru friend Laura (we met at a Rufus Wainwright appearance in LA many moons ago), AND the one and only Martha Wainwright.

Laura picked me up and we drove to her apartment and she served a delish spaghetti dinner with this homemade mushroom tomato sauce. Laura is a vegetarian...I like hanging out with her because I always eat healthy food. We had a few glasses of wine and caught up...then headed for the Troubadour - which is just about a 10 minute drive from her house - it's near Beverly Hills. (Oh BOY!).

We got there just as doors were opening and OF COURSE headed straight for the center of the stage. We watched Martha and her band head up to the VIP lounge which was upstairs to the left of the stage...there are big windows and I was psyched to spot her dad - Loudon Wainwright. I was hoping he would perform with her (he did).

The opening singer was FANTASTIC - her name is Jesca Hoop. CHECK HER OUT. Laura was already a fan, but I had never heard of her. Supposedly she was a nanny for Tom Waits' kids - and he describes her music as: "taking a swim in a lake at night." Perfect. Just check her out, you won't be disappointed. It was just her on acoustic guitar (I could hear a strong Celtic influence), and she was accompanied for many songs by 2 other female singers. They looked and sounded like 3 angels (corny I know, but that's the best I can do!).




FINALLY Martha came out - and the place was PACKED. I think it was a sold-out show. I was SO happy for her. The last time I saw her - about 3 years ago now - she played in San Diego to a crowd of maybe 10 people? I was feeling for her, but that's San Diego for you! NOT A HIP PLACE AT ALL. But even when I saw her in LA a few months before the San Diego show, where she opened for Stephen Malkmus at the El Rey - people were NOT receptive, or attentive...that is until she played "Bloody MF A***hole." THAT perked up their ears!
I met her after that El Rey show (for the second time) and she was really down...I could see it. Then when I saw her in San Diego she said, "Oh I remember YOU!" In San Diego told her all about Rachel Fuller's webcast show In the Attic and many moons later I was able to connect her to Rachel and she DID make an appearance on her show - and she met Pete Townshend there and they all became friends...and he recorded on her latest cd. (Sorry but the backstory is needed for the next installment!)

Anyway- things change - and thank goodness she has hung in there...she's "matured" (I hate that term, but you know what I mean) and seems MUCH more confident now.
She's married to her bass player/producer Brad, and seems quite content.
The highlight really was when Loudon came out - he was BEAMING - you could see how proud he was of his daughter. His opinion means alot to her (as a father's opinion would to any daughter). They sang: "You Never Phone," and it was BRILLIANT. There are 2 snippets on YouTube. I will look for the link and post it here later.




Martha's latest cd- BUY IT!!! :)

END OF PART 2!!!