Today was my third day in a row in the sea with my kite and i'm up and riding the board :D....sort of! I've had a face full of American water a number of times but i'm getting the hang and totally buzzing from it! There's a strange vibe down at Belmont Beach, it's very cliquey (like all sports) but I seem to have found myself in amongst the right locals. Hank (who sold me my kit) has been watching over me and giving guidance and generally all is very exciting and well. Woohoo, bring on the 30ft jumps....not!
We've had a really great week, we were both in need of some serious snooze time after our recent mayhem and its been nice lying in till 10am most days. Last Friday when Spence and Christina were still here I finally managed to pick up my board from Nudge down at Huntington and spent the day admiring and stroking it. It wasn't the nicest of days so after mooching around a little crafts market in the area we began the long and tedious wait for the number 1 bus home.
Less that 10 minutes later a mini cooper convertible comes zooming up next to us and it's Ashley (who lives in our building) offering us a lift, score! Thank god the journey was only 20 minutes because we squeezed 5 people, 6 bags, one bodyboard and one kite kit into that mini and were completely overflowing and very illegal at the same time.
Not much happened in the evening but thought I should mention that we indulged in a bit of Kevin Bacon in The River Wild. What a classic.
On Saturday Ashley took me to her extremely fancy and expensive gym in Newport for a pretty tough yoga class. Apparently this is where all the celebs go but I'm yet to be treated to a star sweating it out on the cross trainer. Equinox is 100% the nicest gym i've been to and if I lived here i'd probably end up with a membership too. Everything was just sooo plush, even the changing rooms had a spa feel to them with hand laid mosaic tiles, spotless glass and polished chrome everywhere.
After our morning sesh Chris, Loz, Spence, Christina and I packed our bags and headed out the door to Hollywood for our one big night out. Being on a budget we decided we'd only do this once so we checked into Le Parc, a boutique hotel on the edge of Beverly Hills (just about affordable between 5 :/) and got into the white fluffy robes provided to make us feel more expensive than we are.
The hotel had tennis courts, a pool and jacuzzi on the roof which was pretty bling but we arrived fairly late in the day so just a mini dip as the sun went down before getting ready for the night ahead. We'd brought half of Chris's liquor cabinet with us to save on buying booze out which was a good thing as the drinks on Sunset Strip were not cheap, trust me!
We'd decided to make Chateau Marmont and The Villa our destinations for the night and all was good. We even met Kimberley Walsh (Girls Allowed) who was friendly although I felt I had more in common with her boyfriend as we got deep in discussion about 24.
The next day we hit Venice beach which was a cross between Brighton and Soho on speed. Loads of weirdos, loads of artists, loads of stalls and shops, very cool. We found a fashionable juice/panini retro type of bar on the beach and sipped sangria while people watching and topping up the tan. On the way back past the freak shows and muscle beach workout pit I even found a wig stall and saw what i'd look like with jet black hair and a fringe. Answer = not great.
Everyone was knackered by the time we got back to Belmont but we happened to drive past a random hippy festival going on on the beach and what's life without spontaneity so took a detour to check it out.
There were a few different open air tents (gazebos with floaty coloured muslin attatched) playing different types of music. Some had small stages with bands on and others Dj's playing to the dreadlocked barefooted type.
That night as Chris, Kerin (his boyfriend) and I sat on a rug on the sand watching the sun setting and silhouettes of palm trees getting darker I thought how can life get much better!
Monday was a chill day and Loz and I went to Best Buy to look at getting this damn computer fixed. They said they could....for $200. No way, see you later Best Buy. That afternoon we sunbathed on Belmont and bought some 'all american' burgers from our local take out, they're good value and fairly healthy!
Tues, Weds and Thurs I have been kitesurfing everyday. The wind has been fairly strong and I'm getting over my fear of looking like an idiot infront of the other 40 kiters on the water. It's a bit like being in spaghetti junction on the water, with no control over your vehicle. I try to stay in the slow lane but I'm all over the place!
That's about it for this week, It's Loz's birthday on Saturday so I think we're going down to Chris's friends house in Newport for a pool/bbq party in the day and then out in Newport that night. Sunday we're going to rent some kayaks and potter about in the marina.
I hear the UK weather will be getting hot in the next week so have a lovely time out in the sun :D
Sounds pretty dull out there to be honest. I'd much rather be stuck indoors surfing my laptop for jobs ;-)
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