Here's to Kajra Re and California...

...this is me and Grace on the beach she so wanted to see. Being with Grace was like reliving a memory that you never thought you would be able to. I couldn't have asked for a better couple of weeks. Here's a little trip re-living the memory one last time.


...This was when Grace and I went out for a Greek dinner. That night they had a belly dancer and Greek dancing and breaking of plates (Kristina, I thought you might find this picture kind of cool.) Sadly, my camera broke so no more pictures like this one :(

...although a few funny things did happen, of course. When we got to Santa Monica beach in California Grace was expecting us to go swimming. It was freezing and there was no way we were going to go swimming. We started to walk towards the beach when a weird scrawny white kid came up to us and started to make small talk about how he thought we were models. I started laughing and Grace invited him to come along with us. He asked us if he could rap for us. I said, of course. He didn't however, and I am not even sure if he knew how. Walking along the pier he started to make comments about wanting to pinch Grace's bum and she turned to me to say, "Mel, at one point I just got very uncomfortable." So we sort of ignored him until he disapeared. I haven't talked to as many strangers as I did that day on the Santa Monica Pier, man...that is sad.

Next, however, was a young guy who was visiting from Manchester, England and was an aspiring actor/model. He had been to acting school in England and was about to graduate. That's him with his mom in the picture. His school would be sending him to California to get his feet wet. Of course, as if I were a professional, I warned him about the drugs in Hollywood and how "they will offer you any drug you can think of and they'll make a mess of your career." I suggested he didn't try out for any MTV specials or American Idol. He agreed. He had a thick Manchester/Northern English accent and I told him he would get any job in Hollywood with that accent. I didn't tell him that they'd probably make him lose it eventually. After talking for a while and eating a Churro we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. I think I just met the next Jude Law, guys, seriously. As we walked back to the beach, Grace just kept yelling "Don't you mess this up, Mel! Not this one!"...Who me? Mess something up? No...:)

Then we went to Universal Studios and somehow saw the entire park in a day and still drove all the way back to Phoenix that night.
That's Grace and I with our fellow partner in crime, Andrey. We missed him this trip. We missed him in a way that you don't realize you miss someone until a duo-that-used-to-be-a-trio isn't together. (Side note: That is actually Russel Crowe in the picture, but Andrey looks just like him anyway.) The Real Andrey:


Back to Universal...here is the funnest picture we took. My favorite question of the day? After a Universal worker or stranger would see me and my whiteness they would proceed with, "Where are you from?" to Grace. At first, Grace would respond, "England." then after a while she realized people wanted to hear "Nigeria." She was fascinated by how everyone asked and smiled and said "hello" Oh, America. ps: I thought the peace sign would make me look un-American here.

...No, don't be alarmed. We didn't witness a horrible crash (we also weren't on the set of Lost ((sadly enough)), but we WERE however on the set of War of the Worlds! I seriously was about to jump out of the little car and walk onto the set, running my hands through my hair and maybe faintly here Tom say, "Get in the car!" It was fantastic. One of my favorite parts.

...I end with this. I end with it because it was funny. We had just got out of the Shrek 4-D ride and I didn't know why we were taking a picture with them. Grace got the easy one, but Miss Fiona here did not seem too thrilled with this picture.

I miss Gracie. I hope she comes back soon so we can Indian dance in LA traffic at 6pm again. Gracie, if you're reading this...come back soon, ok?