LA (SANTA MONICA) TRAVBUDDY MEET UP 2008

OMG I have been looking forward to the mini then BIGGIE LA MEET UP!!!! The last LA MEET UP was on December 8^th 2007. I txted joy about 9am, I knew she was picking up Jeremy and then picking me up at 3pm. I just remembered Jeremy (vulindlela) misses IN-N-OUT burgers. It is a must to have an IN-N-OUT burger when you visit California, Nevada and Arizona. I txted  Joy “Jeremy loves in-n-out burgers”. Joy replied with “he could not get a flight to LA and that she and alina is going to pick me up. “ AWWWWWW I was looking forward to meet Jeremy too. Oh well, until next time Jeremy.  It will be my first time meeting Alina, I am looking forward to it :D

I get a txt from Joy (pvtjoy) that she and Alina (alitoronto) are on their way to pick me up at my mum’s house at 3pm.

She was a block away. I just went down stairs to wait for them.  I look outside wondering hmmmm where they are. Then I this see arm waving outside a SVU and joy yelling out “we are here, sorry”. I was running and laughing towards joy’s SUV. I open the car door. Alina was sitting in front. The first thing joy said were “you look just like your profile picture!!!” I said thanks. We all exchanged hugs and laughs. I knew us girls are going to get along on this ride to Santa Monica meet up. I sat in the middle of the back so I watch the road and chat with the girls. It was my first time meeting Alina and Joy.

We hit traffic as usual on the 405. We girls were laughing exchanging stories about TB. Talking Alina to go to the NY meet up in April 2008, Joy is awesome. She is as crazy as I am without liquor LOL. We instantly got along. Alina and Matt (mattrilla) are the reason of the LA meet up.  I hope everybody comes like they say they would.

  Alina lives in Toronto, Canada. She came to LA for a biz trip and the last 3 days is TB heaven LOL.

I received a txt from James (pearcetoyou) “CW and J1 ru having fun yet?” I read the girls what he txted me. So what did I do…..i asked Alina to take a pic of me and Joy with my phone cam to send to James and I txted back “YES WE ARE!” HAHAHAHAHA (inside joke…..)

It was traffic on the 405 near the Sepulveda pass to the west side. I wanted to take a picture of us 3. Joy waited when we were at a complete stop…which is frequent on the 405. I got us 3 perfectly ….

We all chatting about us, what we do, food, upcoming trips, food, future TB meet ups, food, what did Joy and Alina did before they picked me up, food, what did I do before they picked me up, and not to mention FOOD. YES we love sushi and Thai food.

Phew!!!! We finally got to the Santa Monica pier after an hour. We dodged the detour route around Colorado. This is the main street through the pier. We parked on the north side of the pier. Rusty surf ranch is on the south side. We were ready for happy hour….. :P

We entered the rusty surf ranch. Joy told the host that 16 are coming. They seated us at the back patio. We sat down and got to know the happy hour menu.

I received a txt from tracy (TRE69) that she is parking and on her way in. Alina and Joy did not waste time. Joy got a red wine and Alina got some sort of red drink. Then Tracy walked in. we all hugged each other. Then there were 4. Tracy has been talking about the blue iguana drink. She better order that LOL :P……she had 2 of them :P

GOSH all of us were laughing and cracking up while we were waiting of the rest to show up.

We had appetizers. We ordered the chicken quesadilla and calamari. Then Joy gets a call from tiffany (tiffybear24), Alice (alicegourmet), and Matt (mattrilla). That they are on their way, WOW I thought Matt was unable to come.  He said he was going to see us at the VEGAS MEET UP April 5^th.  Awesome, it will be good to see him.

I was sharing with everybody my traditional “AWARD”. I made up an award in the VEGAS MEET UP last march 2007. The “MOST FURTHER TB” AWARD. You would buy the ugliest and tackiest souvenir from the TB city meet up and have all the TBs sign it. The further TB wears it all night. I owe tuyen (tuyent99) her award. She is the further TB, she lives in Boston.  I owe her an ELVIS boxer shorts HAHAHAHA.

Since Matt is coming, I went quickly to the nearest gift shop to find a tacky Santa Monica gift. Alina was saved. She would be getting the award if Matt did not come. Matt is from the UK.  We were cracking up on the different ideas we were coming up with.

Then tiffany (tiffybear24) came. Now there are 5. More hugs. Just is my first time meeting tiffany. Tiffany drove from Temecula. It is an hour drive south of LA…..with no traffic.  We all gave her a hug. She was hesitant to come to a TB meet up. I think it’s safe to say she did not regret coming. She got a warm welcome from us girls.  :P

Then Alice showed up with her goody bag. She has precursed everybody that she was going to bake TB cookies. I was looking forward to that. We all hugged. The first thing I said to Alice was “Hi, what’s your favorite sushi bar?” I have been dying to talk to Alice.

She is a foodie like me. She has a blog all about it with her recipes and pictures. This was the first time I met Alice. She is my new best friend. HAHAHAHA :P

OMG she rocks. She made the TB cookies. She baked and packaged 3 cookies with each of our names on it. That is so sweet of her. We all took more pictures and could not even eat it. It was so cute. This might be my new default pic.

OOOOOPS it just dawned on my that i have not called james (pearcetoyou) i promised him i would call him during the meet up. i don't know why it's like plucking your own pubes for the very first time.....self torture and pain HAHAHAHAHAHA. oh whatever, i called him i told him how much we were having fun and giving him crap that he is not here and he is missing out YADA YADA YADA. then i had everybody yell out "HI JAMES". i had girls who knew of him talk to him, joy, alice, tracy....i lost count because i was too busy laughing or talking to matt and dan.

finally my celly is back. i closed it off with "ALL YOU HAPPY NOW YOU GOT HOT GIRLS TALKING TO YOU BEFORE YOU GO TO BED AND HAVE SWEET DREAMS OF US?!?!!?" james said "YESSSSSS".  i miss you james see you in vegas......

Then i saw matt on the phone. i asked him who is he talkng to. it was JILLIAN (jillianj)!!!!!!!!!!! i grab the phone from him. plus he was looking for joy to hand the phone to her. while he was doing that i chatted with jillian. i have not met her yet. i will in vegas. we were having small talk and of course making her jealous and guilt trips....it's fun!!! LOL. then i saw joy and i handed her matt's phone. SEE YOU IN VEGAS, J1 :P

NOTE: JILLIAN, JAMES AND JOY ARE THE "3JXPRESS" IF YOU ALL DID NOT KNOW THAT. THESE 3 HAVE NOT EVEN MET YET....UNTIL VEGAS THIS WEEKEND :)

Then Matt showed up, Matt looks exactly on his profile pic. Matt was not planning on coming, but, he came to spare 20mins with us.

Which I think he regrets now…….HAHAHAHAHA.

I hung out for about a few minutes and I was off to go In search of a tacky gift.  30mins of walking up and down the pier, then I there it is, THEE SHIRT I WAS LOOKING FOR. Matt is going to kill me :P I bought the shirt. I was laughing and giggling back to rusty’s.

I give Joy “THE EYE” that I got it. I sat down and I grab the sharpie and I was writing my screen name and name. they I passed it to tracy, then to tiffany, then to joy, then Alina, and then Alice. We girls were giggling while we were writing our names. Matt was wondering what we were doing, being shady around him. I was distracting him while the “pink shirt” was going around the table being signed by every TB.  We wanted to wait until more showed up for me to present the award to him.

Then low and behold, Dan (rotorhead85) showed up.

He just got back from South East Asia. He has a house in Thailand.  He said he has not worn shoes in 5 months. He has been wearing flip flops ever since. I would do the same if I have been gallivanting in warm weather, beach and island hopping. This is the first time I met Dan. I have been reading his SEA blog since the beginning. I hope we cross paths next year. I am planning to go to Vietnam and Cambodia in 2009. Dan is very knowledgeable about the places he has been. I can pick his brain for hours. I was glad he could make. I hope we did not scare him with our craziness. LOL :P

Then Alice’s friend, Vinnie (vinnd) came. Then there were 7. He drove from long beach. I was presenting the “MOST FURTHER TB” award to Matt. We were all taking pictures and laughing. My stomach was hurting I was laughing. I think this is a fun gag award. As he was walked in as we were taking pictures on Matt in his new pink “I AM THE BOOTY” shirt.

I asked Vinnie to sign the shirt while Matt was wearing it.

Then tiffany has been talking me into doing a grey goose shot all night. She ordered matt and I one to do a shot together. Everybody took pictures of us taking a shot of grey goose. Matt is such a good sport. He was probably thinking “THESE DAMN AMERICANS” LOL :P every time a new TB arrives he was asking where they lived so that he would be wearing the pink shirt. HAHAHAHAHA.

Throughout the night more and more TBs are showing up. Sybil (iheart2ravel) came. I just saw her in VEGAS last week (SEE BLOG). I know she won’t be staying long. She has to pack and leave for Joshua tree. Then  Carole (keeweeset) arrived. She lives in Santa Barbara, Ca. one of my favorite cities in California.

If you have never been to California, never pass up to visit Santa Barbara and meet up with Carole. It was my first time meeting Caroline. She has amazing pics on her blogs. Check it out.

Then Sheila (sheila35) and grace (mizcali) arrived together. They both never met in person. That is so terrific to hear.  It is also my first time meeting both of them. I did not talk to them as much. Many people to talk to that evening, although we have many pictures together.

I asked Matt to remove the shirt to have everybody sign it. Matt could not stay long. I told him I will keep the shirt until the vegas meet up this week. I wanted everybody to sign the shirt. There were still 4 people coming. They were caught in traffic. Warren (OCWarren), Dmitri (dmitrius), Eli (code173), and Jennifer (jenn79)…hey Jennifer has no excuse.

She lives in downtown LA.  :P All who I have never met except for Jennifer. I have not seen her since LA meet up last December 2007.

Then tiffany ordered rounds of “blow jobs”, HAHAHAHA pretty much it has bailey’s irish cream and kahlua top off with whip cream. You had to put your arms behind you and wrap your mouth around the shot glass and tilt back and swallow. Unfortunately, rusty’s ran out of whip cream. We had to swing it without it.  HOW CAN YOU RUN OUT OF WHIP CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did the first “blow job” I need water ASAP after the shot.  I am hyperglycemic. I will be a “angry mellemel8” if I don’t tone down the sugar, not a pretty sight. :P

Then it was joy, tiffany, and Tracy turn. We were laughing so much that they could not do it right away.  Joy just end’s up licking it like a cat.

HAHAHAHA. I can’t even type to explain the story. You had to be there unless joy or Tracy or tiffany or Alina can explain it better………….

We all just took more group pictures, more drinks, more laughs and more mingling. There were about 13 people and I was overwhelmed talking to everybody. Tiffany is so evil. I think joy will get her back if she decides to go to the vegas meet up. HAHAHAHA. Tiffany and joy did a “wet pussy” shot…. HAHAHAHA…. that drink is 1/2 shot glass crown royal 1/2 shot glass amaretto 2/3 - 3/4 mixer glass red bull. WOO HOO the girls down it fast. Joy is such a trooper.  She needed to be sober enough to drive home.

My buzz was dropping which is fine. I needed to stop. I am saving my liver for vegas meet up. I was having fun talking, laughing, and having a good time. There was a band playing inside the ranch. The elvies was performing. Some of the TBs went inside to listen and maybe slam dance with each other.

Then finally, Jennifer (jenn79) arrived. Geeeeez it was already 9pm. she txted Sybil earlier that she was taking a shower then going to the meet up. We gave each other a “mellemel8” hug or “queen CW” hug depending who I am talking to HAHAHAHA :P which is a hug then squeals of “hiiiiiiiiiiii” and swaying side to side. I miss her so much. Alice passed out her bag of cookies to everyone who showed up. Jennifer proceed to talk to everybody.

Then Dmitri (dmitrius) showed up. He just joined 3 days before the meet up. I hope that is accurate. He will have instant friends and vouches after tonight. He will be in vegas but, a week after the meet up. He and I might meet up for drinks when he is there.

Then finally warren (ocwarren) and eli (code173) arrived.

Wow they hit traffic. Eli drove from Barstow then warren picked Eli up at his hotel and they both carpooled together to the meet up.

I hugged warren first when he arrived. He said “hey you’re mellmel8”.  He is such a sweetheart. he is very outgoing, friendly, and loud like me. I love it. This is the first time I have met warren and eli. Warren and eli were hungry. They immediately ordered food.  We all took more group pics and more silly pics.

I talked to Eli for a bit and Warren for a bit. We all talked about a common subject. The future TB meet ups. After that to be honest was a blur. So many people to talk to, so little time. 

Tracy has mentioning that the pier was closing the parking lot at 12am. The local peeps had a caucus to where else to move the meet up. Between Sheila, Tracy, and Dmitri had some suggestions.

 We settled our bills. Jennifer was hungry.

We moved the meet up to ma’kai. It is a lounge on Broadway.  There were 11 of us going.  We all carpooled and parked on the same parking structure. We walked toward ma’kai. When we got there, joy had her red wine at hand. Sheila had her white wine at hand. Dmitri and Alina as well. We had a break out our IDs. OMG I could not believe I did not have my ID in my wallet. It was still in my backpack. I only carry my ID and boarding pass in my pocket and then I move it to my backpack pocket.  The bouncer was this big black guy. I gave him my “pleeeeez” look. After looking at other IDs, he let me in. if I was in vegas, there would be no way I would be able to get in.

However, Jennifer, Carole, and Tracy had the munchies. The bouncer suggested eating at Joe’s pizza which is few doors down the street.

I told the bouncer not to forget about me.  We told the others that we will munch. I hung out with them to have pizza. We took more pics.

Then we walked back to ma’kai. We walked in and we were looking for them. It should not be hard to find them. It is such a small place. We found them drinks on hand and dancing. The DJ was mixing crappy music til the end.  It did not matter; we were all having a blast. I have no pics for this event. I ran out of memory. I thought I brought my 2G card, nope I have 256MG card. I am such a tool. :P I shall jack it from Tracy :P

TRACY AND WARREN GET ON THE BALL AND UPLOAD THE MA’KAI PICS………….MMMMMMMMMMMKAY :P

Let me summary my meet up. Joy and Alina picked me up at 3pm. spend happy hour with Joy, Alina, Tracy,  Tiffany, Alice, Matt, Dan, Vinnie and Sybil until 7pm.

 After that, Sheila, Grace, and  Carole arrived. Then Sybil and Vinnie left. Then few hours later Grace leaves. Then Jennifer and Dmitri arrived. An hour later, warren and Eli arrived after 492838438hrs on the 5, 405, 10, 60, whatever freeways they jumped on :P then we all moved the meet up at ma’kai with Shelia, Joy, Alina, Alice, Tracy, Caroline, Jennifer, Warren, Dmitri and Eli. We lost Dan in transition. He said he knew where it is. I did not have his number. I was hoping one of the TBs did. Eeeeeeeeeek no one did. I hope Dan had a good time.  We danced until the ma’kai kicked us out at 1:30am. I have been laughing and taking pictures for 10hrs. I LOVE TB MEET UPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I felt bad Warren and Eli drove all the way down. They only spend about 3hrs in Santa Monica. Eli was disappointed the clubs closes at 2am because of the liquor laws in California. Eli was use to the clubs in Germany.  Hey he would love vegas.

Clubbing until 4am and after hours clubbing at Drais until 10am.

After getting kicked out from ma’kai, we chatted for bit. We were suggesting Eli where to go before driving back to Barstow on Sunday.   He has never been to LA.  I hope he meets up with Jennifer and Alina to go sightseeing. I was very tired that I could not think. I rode home with Tracy. We walked to the parking structure with Sheila.

Tracy and I drove me home and recapping our crazy 10hr meet up. We were cracking up. I was very tired I had to wake up early to have brunch with mum in long beach.  Before going to bed I had the upload my pics and laughing at the pics while I was deleting some pics that were just tacky. ANOTHER SUCCESFUL MEET UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it was such a pleasure to meet new travbuddies. As always it gets better and better.

I only knew Sybil, Tracy, and Jennifer from past LA meet up in December 2007. I enjoy meeting more newbies. I hope as we post more TB meet blogs. TBs are more comfortable to join in the fun or madness if you come across certain individuals….. I AM NOT NAMING NAMES OR ANYTHING…….:P LOVE YOU GUYS….MMMMUAH.

THANKS JOY AND ALICE FOR ORGANIZING THE MEET UP….UNTIL NEXT IME….MAY 17^TH……..IN THE WEST SIDE …….HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE BIG “17” THAT CAME…………..

JOY
www.travbuddy.com/pvtjoy

ALICE
www.travbuddy.com/alicegourmet

WARREN
www.travbuddy.com/OCWarren

JENNIFER
www.travbuddy.com/jenn79

ALINA
www.

travbuddy.com/alitoronto

MATT *MOST FURTHER TB” AWARD*
www.travbuddy.com/mattrilla

MELANIE
www.travbuddy.com/mellemel8

TRACY
www.travbuddy.com/TRE69

CAROLE
www.travbuddy.com/keeweeset

SYBIL
www.travbuddy.com/iheart2travel             

SHEILA
www.travbuddy.com/sheila35

TIFFANY
www.travbuddy.com/tiffybear24

DAN
www.travbuddy.

com/rotorhead85

VINNIE
www.travbuddy.com/vinnd

DMITRI
www.travbuddy.com/dmitrius

ELI
www.travbuddy.com/code173

GRACE
www.travbuddy.com/mizcali

BLOGS THAT I KNOW OF………..

JOY

JENNIFER

WARREN

DAN

ALICE

TRACY

TIFFANY

ALINA

SHEILA