Stay Another Day

One of the best things about life in LA is how many people have come to visit us. Emma and I had around a hundred people come to our wedding and it is bonkers to think that out of all of those, twenty or so have been to visit us in LA. For all you non maths fans that’s a fifth of our wedding attendance that have flown out.

So in a nutshell who has been to visit thus far? Here is the roll of honor for your perusal and delight:

April: Vicki and Gary. They are special in that not only were they our first visitors, but they were our only guests to stay in the corporate apartment we were in for the first two months. This had a lot more room than our current place, and had a pool and hot tub. We did, though, make them sleep on the blow up bed in the living room due to there being more room (whereas couples now get to sleep in our bed). So perhaps they missed out after all? Many of our initial explorations of LA were undertaken with them. And many of the activities we did during their stay would be passed on to all our future visitors.

Emma and I were very sad when Vicki and Gary left and we got homesick for the first time while over here. When visitors leave is the only time when I miss home actually. That feeling normally goes after a nice dinner and some good TV.

April/May: Mr and Mrs Furness. Their stay (which Em and I loved) included one of the best weekends I have ever had which was my first trip to Disneyland. Once you have been to Disney then the magic lives with you forever! We did lots of ace things and had a great couple of weeks. It was better for Emma though as she got to sightsee with them during the day while I was at ruddy work.

May: Jim, Jakki and Holly. The Morrison family were the first visitors to our Santa Monica Shed. Again it was an adventure packed trip, including going to Universal Studios and doing a tour of Hollywood in a bus. I love going on a tour me… It did rain though during the first couple of days of their stay. This wasn’t in the plan and we spent their first afternoon in our ‘shed’ playing Scrabble and watching films. I don’t think this was the LA they had pictured. Luckily the weather got better for them as the week went on.

June: Jeremy. This visit not only included going to the WWE wrestling but also the famous ‘Robbie Williams Incident’ at the Russell Brand gig took place. For new readers I would advise looking at the June archives! That blog entry made this site famous, and to be frank it hasn’t reached the same heights since.

July: Les, Richie and Damo. Abdou (Les’ band) were playing some West Coast gigs and the band stayed with us for a couple of nights (apart from Jonny and Alison who were in a nearby hotel). Damo (the drummer) is our only visitor not to be at our wedding fact fans. It’s not that we don’t like him, we just didn’t really know him (that is my story, which I am sticking too). While Richie wasn’t technically a wedding guest he would have been had I not booked his band to play! He was thus there at the wedding and he even let me sing a song or two.

August: Toby and Kirsty. My fave memory is Toby and I watching a West Ham game at seven in the morning while Emma was trying to sleep on the living room floor (on the blow up bed). Toby had to stifle his joy as West Ham got a win for once. Kirsty had sensibly stayed in bed! We then watched Arsenal beat Newcastle before having a day of culture at the Getty Centre and then Griffith Observatory. By this stage Emma was an old hand at being a tour guide and as such her Getty Centre presentation even had me enthralled (so great were her facts and knowledge). I think Tobes was one of our most enthusiastic visitors and I love that in a guest.

September: Felicity, Mr and Mrs Furness. We had our first repeat visitors with the in-laws not being able to get enough of my company (it has nothing to do with Emma obviously), but this time the youngest Furness sister, Felicity, was also in tow. Once again ace times were had, including a top weekend in San Francisco. And this was also when I discovered my love for body boarding during a day out at the beach.

October: Mr and Mrs Spoons. This was another fantastic week which included a trip to LA Galaxy and a visit to Ramsey’s restaurant (that still has me salivating). We also had a great night in with a Chinese and the X-Factor one night. We also made their hotel bar our own. I miss the Double Tree bar a lot these days. I couldn’t go back though as Mr and Mrs Spoons wouldn’t be there, and it wouldn’t be the same.

November: James and Sarah. These were the first guests I introduced to any of my work friends. We went out for a meal on the Saturday night with Charissa and her husband Steve. Luckily Sarah compensated for James and his northern ways.

We also had a great night in with a Thai and watching ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ (are you noticing a theme?). We had done cultural stuff and a guided tour during the day though so this was allowed. This was before John Sergeant was pushed out, and before the show became a farce. I hope that smug Tom Chambers doesn’t win. But then I can’t stand dull Rachel Stevens or Lisa ‘Can’t Shut Up’ Snowdon. I don’t care who wins this year (which is sad) as I dislike them all.

November/December: Laura and Robbie. We had a great week with these two cats. Out of all our guests they liked shopping the most, so we did a lot of that with them. Robbie liked Urban Outfitters as much as me. The day after thanksgiving was called ‘Black Friday’ and it is the biggest sale day of the year. I bought lots, but once again not as much as the Robster. He even went to the sale at Urban Outfitters which started at 7am in the morning. That was too hardcore for me, but I was impressed that Robbie made the effort.

We tried new restaurants with them, as well as our old favorites, and we also had a Thanksgiving dinner! We went to ‘The Penthouse’ for this, which is very swish. We had cocktails, then a real American Thanksgiving meal. It was ruddy pricey – but worth it. Apart from the yams, which were pretty disgusting.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that it was my first thanksgiving. The Americans go as mental for Thanksgiving as they do for Christmas. The only difference is that you don’t get any presents. You still have lots to eat and drink though, as well as getting some time off work. And then a month later you have Christmas. I think we should do a similar thing back in Blighty. I am glad we had Laura and Robbie with us for it though, so us four citizens of the UK (Robbie is from Northern Ireland which is counted as the United Kingdom fact fans) could enjoy it together.

One night we went back to Laura and Robbie’s hotel and we spent the evening sitting in their hot tub (while relaxing with a drink or two). This was very nice indeed as I love a hot tub. After a while it got too hot for the ladies but Robbie and I were hardcore so we stayed in it. We got talking to this college student from Texas (who was ok, but a bit of a fool) and his girlfriend (who was from Beverly Hills). I think she liked Robbie and his Irish lilt (as she kept looking at his swimming trunk area), but the chap from Texas was oblivious as he carried on with his dull stories.

On their last night we went for a meal in a new trendy place that has opened up on Abbot Kinney Boulevard (where all the cool kids hang out in Venice). I forget the name of the restaurant but it was very nice. We then went to the bar ‘The Other Room’ and Robbie and I had some weird beers. We wanted to stay to have some more but the ladies were tired and wanted to leave at around 11pm. Robbie and I had to follow suit though we would have been more rock n’ roll if we were allowed.

I felt a little sad when we dropped our visitors off. Out of all our guests they’d probably seen the most celebs during their trip. The saw Pink on Santa Monica Pier on their last day. They had also seen Christopher Eccles Cakes In ‘Urban Outfitters’ (how jealous was I) as well as Oasis and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans (though to be honest the last one isn’t that good as I ran into him back home at my gym in Shepherds Bush!). On the way back Miquita Oliver from T4 was on their flight. I find that lady quite funny as it goes. (though she does miss Simon Amstell as a sparring partner. Steve Jones is a bit too good looking to be properly funny.)

And then Jeremy visits again today… and our last visitor in March will be little Jon Ollington. After that Em and I see will see more of the states before we have to return home. The current plan is to visit at least Chicago and New York.

At the moment we have January and February visitor free. If you do plan to visit us then this is your last chance (though it is winter now and the weather is a rather rubbish 24 degrees Celsius today!). After that we will sadly no longer be in these parts to take guests. It’s all going a bit too quickly. I can’t think like that though. I still have three months of work to go.

Cheerio for now.
Marc x

P.S. A Happy belated Birthday shout out to Rob Mellor, Emma’s cousin. Rob is an avid reader of this blog, and as such is rewarded with a ‘shout out’ (which don’t get awarded easily).