California Dreamin'

The boyfriend's brother got married last weekend in LA. So we flew down there to attend the festivities. That couple really knows how to throw a party.
I left on Friday afternoon and met the boyfriend in LA. We stayed in a nice enough cheap hotel in LA's downtown. We were quite close to the nicer hotels where the other guests were staying, but ours was significantly cheaper, and really what do you do in a hotel room but shower and sleep anyway, and for most of that time the lights are off, so what's the big deal with an expensive hotel room. On the other hand, I actually started to wonder after a few encounters with the staff if there was something wrong with them, perhaps the hotel was a sheltered workplace for the mentally challenged or something (I changed that just for you Ash!). For example, when I went down to ask for more pillows, and told them my room was 1255, instead of calling housekeeping, the woman called our room and told us to bring pillows up to 1255. The BF tried to explain to them that we were 1255 and if we had pillows we wouldn't have asked for them. It was more funny than annoying.
The first morning we were there, we went for the rehersal breakfast dim sum. Some of the bride's family were from less multicultural areas and so dim sum is a new thing for them. Normally, when we go out with TT, we take sort of a sink or swim attitude to introducing people to new Asian food experiences. Many readers of this blog have had heard TT yell, "NO FORKS!" at a waiter who was charitably trying to bring forks to our floundering whities at Asian restaurants. Before meeting them, I was threatening I would do this to the bride's family. But when they got there, they were such good sports about the whole thing, even though some of them were really out of their element, that I really had to admire them.
We dropped in at a grocery store after brunch and I just wandered up and down the aisles looking at how much stuff they have for sale there that we just don't get in Canada, so many different kinds of pop. The BF's dad was waiting in the car and I was just wandering up and down the aisles looking at stuff. After that we headed out to a discount shoe store we'd heard about, it was the size of a football field. I bought 3 pairs of shoes, two more practical and one pair of high-heeled leopard-print Steve Maddens that came in very handy later.
Later, while the BF was 'playing videogames' at the bachelor party, I met up with a friend from high school who lives in LA, it was great to see her. It's so nice to be friends with someone you can not see for years and you just pick up where you left off.
The wedding was held at an old art deco hotel in downtown LA called The Oviatt. The wedding was lovely. I really enjoyed it. The theme was picnic, so there were these amazing grassy flower arrangements on the tables and a burger buffet with all the fixin's you could ever hope for, and the dessert table was all cupcakes and glass jars of licorice and candy bars. It was just lovely. It's the kind of wedding I could picture myself having if I ever got married. Elegant without being fussy, and the focus was on fun. The venue was so beautiful, I think that's what really made the evening. I love Art Deco.
And there was a hallway full of signed pictures of Howard Hughes and Leslie Howard (from Gone With The Wind) and other famous people. The original Lalique decorative glass was still there, and some beautiful Deco art. There was even a secret toilet that looked like a chair and a sink that looked like a side table. I love that stuff.
All the pictures in here are from the Oviatt.