Reposting this again today… still would LOVE advice on this as a graduation dress.
So I need some advice.
This is the dress I’m planning on wearing to my graduation. I’m also wearing it to a formal dinner in June and three or so weddings later this summer. I think for the dinner and the weddings wearing a fancier dress is okay, but I’m so in love with this dress that I also wanted to wear it for graduation. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen on myself, in my own opinion.
It’s a morning time graduation outside in the middle of this whole lawn full of oak trees. If it’s good weather outside, it’s usually beautiful. So I think it will match well with the early summer sun.
But does anyone think this dress is too fancy to wear under my graduation robes? And if so, should I dress it down with a belt or a cardigan? What do you guys think? How do I make this appropriate for a college graduation ceremony?
Some day when I’m awfully low
When the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
just the way you look tonight.-Frank Sinatra
Here there be lumberjacks.
Tuesday June 7
So Tuesday came, bright and early. By the time 8 a.m. came around, I figured that it was a good idea to wake up two hours before my internship (a tradition I’ve kept up all week, by the way). In my thinking – this allows get ready time, breakfast time, blogging time, and ten minutes to get to my internship by 10 a.m. Yes, 10 a.m. Okay, on that note, let me get sidetracked for a minute…
So L.A. is a busy city… it’s the sunshine city, the city of Angels, the city where dreams come true or where they crash in burn in a cloud of firey passion that fades to a distant gloom. We’ve all heard these things… “It’s a lot like New York” I’ve heard people say in its delusions of grandeur and the fact that it’s go-go-go all day and all night. Well let me be the first to say that while there are a lot of rumors about LA that are true, there are some things you’d never guess about LA until being out here. One of the main things is that despite being the city of dreams, and one of the busiest cities in the country, they’ve got a completely different philosophy about work out here.
Let me put it this way. You know how everyone says you’re more productive the happier you are? The Los Angelenos really embrace the lifestyle of leisure. Work doesn’t start at 8 a.m. for most people (unless you want it to) and taking hour long lunches isn’t unusual. Kicking back with a Margarita by the pool when you head home or taking an early morning run before deciding to head into work isn’t that unusual. Wine with dinner, breaks for coffee during work, your boss yelling out, “Everyone stop working! We’re redecorating in here. What are some kickass office decorating ideas?” (Sorry for the profane language, it was a direct quote.) None of these things are abnormal in LA. While I’m sure not EVERY workplace is like this, from what I’ve heard from others, many of them are. This, I can get on board with. These kind of things make me happy. And happiness is conducive to productivity. These LA people know what they’re doing.
Of course, I didn’t know this on my first day of work. I knew I was nervous, and that’s about it. So Liv and I set off. Liv is my roommate here in LA and also doing the same internship that I’m doing. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the drive to our workplace took only ten minutes, as it has every day since, which is very short in comparison with many of our Elon in LA counterparts. We got confused outside of the office for a little while but called Clinton (our friend who interned with Ax Men last summer but now works here) to come let us in. We got up there and sat around for a little while before our new boss Army showed up. She introduced herself and seemed really cool. We learned quickly that the staff has been displeased lately because they’ve had to move from the MUCH cooler office next door to this new office that isn’t decorated nearly as nicely because the Ax Men crew was running out of space. I visited the office next door and was immediately extremely jealous of how great their building is… the interior looks like the inside of an office you’d see on a TV show about how hipster some offices can be. Thankfully, we have access to that building, even though we’re stuck in the blander neighboring office most of the day.
My first day at Ax Men was relatively like the first day of any normal intern… we got oriented to the setup of the office and what our jobs were going to entail. What I liked most was that the work environment seemed really inviting. Admittedly, I was a little nervous when we were organizing and filing some things on the first day, but those kind of things are actually where I thrive and I knew I could make a good first impression. When I organize, I do what’s needed, and then I do it better. I think I impressed my boss the first day, and she seemed approving of both Liv and I. That’s always good in a work environment.
So, as I previously mentioned, people take hour long lunch breaks. I experienced this for the first time on Tuesday when we took our lunch break to Paquito Mas, a cute little Mexican food restaurant with great enchiladas. When we finished somewhat early, I voiced what I had wanted since I’d gotten to LA… those who know me know that I love cupcakes. They are my favorite desert, favorite food, favorite everything… and since I watch the popular food network show Cupcake Wars, I know that there are a million cupcake stores in LA. So I google searched from my iPhone (what a wonderful little invention) and found a cupcake store called Yummy Cupcakes, and we bought four cupcakes there to split. Unfortunately, since I have such high standards for cupcakes, I was admittedly a little let down by YC. The frosting on the cupcakes was great, but they were a little dry. There’s an equation here, bakers, and you guys just weren’t meeting it.
No one seemed to flinch when we arrived back except to give a small smile here and there and for my boss to give us our next assignment: facebook stalk all the people in our cast. Now if there’s one thing I think I’m pretty good at, it’s facebook
stalking. So this job was a cinch.. admittedly, it seemed like an absurd assignment, but I see why it was necessary. The cast isn’t allowed to give away any information about the shows on their facebooks, because that violates all sorts of issues. For some reason it made me really happy to discover when they were doing something wrong, but it was also really pleasant to get to know all the different guys we film by their faces and bios, which we keep in one large book. And the fact that they are lumberjacks only makes my job more interesting… I found myself wanting to know more about them (though I’d know plenty, soon enough). The rest of the time of the day flew by and work, and at the end of the day, my boss was telling us she’d really introduce us to what we’d be doing the next day. I don’t remember what time I left exactly, but Liv and I drove home, because we had to be there by a certain time… the Mavs game started at 6 after all.
As I’ve said, I’m a HUGE Mavs fan. I’ve been watching them their entire season and this final series was just the culmination of my fandom. The Mavs deserved it. Which is why they were working so hard. No one here cares about the Mavs as much as I do, of course, and most people in LA hate me for being a Mavs fan. But that didn’t stop me from inviting all of creation over to watch the game. I cheered, I hooted and hollered, I ate some ridiculous amount of unhealthy food, and in the end – we prevailed! Mavs had won game 4 and things were looking up. I don’t remember how the rest of the evening ended, but I’m sure it was in high spirits. Energy is high here… and I’m sure it’s not just because of the Mavs. I’m falling more in love with this place every day, I think.
Getting caught up, I promise. Posts may be shorter until I am.
Always,
Celeste
“The Business of Hollywood”
So for those of you who don’t know, a major portion of my program this summer involves the participants taking classes on Mondays throughout the summer. This isn’t like a two-hour-class, on-your-way type of thing. J (our advisor) literally said, “Don’t plan anything between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Mondays. At all.” Well, okay then. No mid-Monday rendezvous with mysterious strangers. Got it.
So Monday morning, we trudged into the conference room for a meeting on safety and protocol for Oakwood. Basically the message I took away was no doing drugs, and no throwing parties. Six or Seven people in your apartment is okay. More than fifteen means you get kicked out. Well… neither of those things seemed really difficult to deal with, as I wasn’t planning on doing drugs and I would get claustrophobic with more than ten people in the apartment, so I nodded my head attentively, while actually focused on the lady setting up a free breakfast in the corner of the room. I was itching in my seat as the security guy, and then J, continued speaking on and on about things that I didn’t care about (jokes, J, I do care, I’m just a good person already and my stomach was growling for breakfast). As soon as we were given the all-clear I bolted for the coffee and cinnamon cream cake and was rewarded generously in both. Nothing had ever been tastier. Three pieces of cake later and we were on our way.
So there are three classes in this program: the acting class, the PR class, and the production class. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m enrolled in the production class. The cool thing about this program though is that we’ll all be working together throughout the summer to complete projects. The actors will be in the pieces that we direct and produce, and the PR crew will handle publicity for both the actors and the projects that we do. It’s a really cool system that imitates the real world in a lot of ways, and I think it’s a great way to learn about the business.
My class is called the “Business of Hollywood.” Obviously, we all have to know how to shoot film for our projects, and our advisor, J, has told us that until we know how to take a good still photo we’re not going to know how to shoot great footage. As a photographer, I resent this claim slightly. I think there’s a lot that goes into taking a good photo and know that there are a lot of people who will never get the hang of taking photos, no matter how much instruction is given. However, I don’t think J meant it offensively to people who love photography, and so I dropped my bitter attitude and embraced our first assignment.
The actors and production crew teamed up as we made the slow crawl through the hills up to the famous Hollywood sign. For our first assignment, we were taught the basics of camera operation, which I already knew, and the actors modeled for us in their fanciest getups up at the top of that famous hill. Since I wasn’t struggling with the controls on the camera, I had a lot of fun snapping photos of our actors, who are all characters in themselves. I’m already friends with several of them, and I plan on getting to know each one of them personally. Every once in a while, I wanted to make a critical modeling remark, but I kept it to a photographer’s vocabulary since I wasn’t the model this time around. Still, the project was fun, and I definitely anticipate heading up to that sign again with a camera and some more free time. Having this D90 (the camera) at my disposal all the time makes me indescribably giddy.
Here’s a few of the shots I did:
I took my first alone-time break of the entire trip so far after we made it back to Oakwood. I had a coupon for some cheap Asian food and called my mom to talk with her for a little while. The break was short and sweet and soon I was off to our first official class with the production kids. We talked about our upcoming projects, which I’m really excited for, and some of the basic aspects of filming. We also went around and talked about which parts of production we were most interested in, and it was really cool to see that everyone has a different area of interest, which will make for some great final projects. We then watched the foreign film “Cinema Paradiso,” which I have to admit I adored. It was great, and beautifully filmed, with a great soundtrack and amazing cinematography. If you like historical films, OR foreign films, I’d recommend watching this one, because it was absolutely amazing.
Liv, Kierstin, and I made our first grocery store run after class was over. It’s always interesting going grocery shopping for the first time in a new living place, because you have to buy everything. But we managed to make it out of there in time to make ourselves dinner when we got back home before we went to our next group meeting. We all found our way out to the Howard Fine Acting Studio. Howard Fine is a famous acting coach and we got to watch him in his prime. It was a very serious environment, where we couldn’t have cell phones or gum or any kind of interruption at all. But it was really cool to watch the Master Class perform and watch Howard Fine critique them all. He’s a really interesting man and maybe we’ll make our way back to watching him sometime later this summer. We left the actors there, and then Liv, Kierstin, and my friend Jenna (who is my good friend Kyle’s girlfriend) made our way back towards Oakwood.
So those of you who know me fairly well know that I’m not a grandma driver. I don’t get intimidated by other drivers (except for 18-wheelers, which are terrifying and should be destroyed with bombs). In LA, people are aggressive. They are not shy and will try to bully their way into lanes and parking spaces and I will have NONE of it. Basically, I was made for LA traffic, and my friend Liv has even said she somewhat enjoys riding with me. Well, that’s a first.
So somehow, after potentially running a red light, I thought I was going the right way back to Oakwood. I’m particularly gifted with directional skills so I didn’t doubt myself when Liv asked “Are we getting on the highway?” “No, no, this is the right way, I promise.” Well, while I WAS in fact on the right road, I was not, in fact, in the right lane. And with the craziest road system ever, LA had befuddled me again. We were definitely getting on the highway. Let me admit that this was the first time I had been on an LA highway at all, so though I had made a casual mistake, my fellow car mates were somewhat terrified. But I took charge and yelled out, “Let me know when I can cross! Team work!” and we made our trek from the left lane, where we had entered the highway, to the right lane, where we pretty much needed to be in ¾ of a mile. Liv had her eyes closed for the whole ordeal, but Kierstin and Jenna shined in this moment. Somehow, in less than a minute, we had crossed all four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and got to our exit just in time. GO TEAM!
So there’s definitely something in the water around here. LA traffic is the perfect example. Just as we were exiting the highway we saw one of the most bizarre sights. A police car was coming towards us, and my immediate thought was, “Well… crap.” Cops and I do not have a good history and I immediately thought I had done something illegal, though I couldn’t for the life of me imagine what it was. And then the strangest thought registered in my mind…. He was coming TOWARDS us. On our side of the highway, but from the opposite direction. He was driving the WRONG way on the highway. That’s when it became eerie. He was yelling something out of his big police car microphone and then, as if in a trance, a whole line of LA traffic slowed to a perfect stop in a perfect line on the highway as the cop turned around and went to rescue a car that had been in a wreck, that most of us had previously not noticed. Bewildered, we exited, a little freaked out, and in need of some nourishment to calm our confusion.
Jenna, Kierstin, Liv and I found our new favorite frozen yogurt place, Menchies, a short time later. I’m honest when I say, Plano kids, it’s better than Orange Cup and Yogurtville, and Elon kids, it’s TEN TIMES better than Yo-zone or Local Yogurt. And it’s
cheap, the only thing I’ve found in LA so far that is cheaper than something I’ve enjoyed in Texas or North Carolina. We laughed and videod about the experience. One thing is certain, and that’s that we will be back to Menchie’s very soon.
I don’t really remember how the night ended, but I’m sure it was early. I had an internship to start the next morning, and was more than excited for it. I definitely admit I don’t really have a clear read on LA yet. I know I love it, but I’m not sure what it’s vibe is. I suppose starting up a life in the actual workplace will allow me to be able to tell. On to Tuesday morning, the day of my first internship with Ax Men…. The place where I’ll hopefully officially learn how to become a lumberjack.
Yes, I know it’s Friday, I promise I’ll be caught up soon. I hope you all don’t hate me.
In love and in peace,
Celeste
If you say the word free…
As I’m sure you’re all aware, living in LA is indescribably expensive. Everything costs money, and nothing is under five dollars. Literally, nothing. So when a bunch of college kids are told that if they wake up at a reasonable hour they can have “free breakfast,” you know there will be an outpouring of kids out of their buildings on a Sunday morning to some unknown location without knowing what they’re gonna be served – it doesn’t matter how good it is, it’s free. Thankfully, Oakwood knows how to treat it’s guests right. We all trudged to the North Clubhouse Sunday morning to find that an unhealthy feast had been set out before us. There were pastries and bagels galore, and I opted for some of both, then settled down at a table with one glass of orange juice, one glass of apple juice, and a cup of coffee. I was elated.
One of the interesting things about Oakwood, and really California in general, is that everyone is trying to make it out here, and in Oakwood specifically, that includes the Children. There are tons of children out here whose parents have dished out inappropriate amounts of money for them to move to California and attempt to make it as child stars. And many of them live here in Oakwood, since the housing is temporary and it is a relatively safe community. My God, they’re everywhere. Little tweeners that dress better than I do, carrying Prada purses and cell phones. I thought Plano was bad, but Plano has nothing on Oakwood. Maybe these parents don’t realize that the success rate of child stars is so low they’re likely to dish out hundreds of thousands of dollars for their child to become jaded and bitter at an early age. And if the do, then there are some sick, sick people in this world.
After breakfast, Kierstin and I headed to rent out some cameras, since the program brought plenty of them out here for all of us to use. I’ve been seriously struggling since my DSLR camera broke and I haven’t been able to use it. Thankfully, after Sunday, this won’t be an issue anymore as I rented out a beautiful D90 that will do the job just fine for the summer until I have to give it back. I’ll get to improve my photography skills AND document my amazing summer at the same time.
In the afternoon we went on a group outing to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and stood around on the place where hundreds of stars have made their handprints like a bunch of overexcited tourists – which I guess we were. We got to tour inside the beautiful theatre with its giant curtains and famous seats where some of the centuries latest and greatest movies were premiered. I was a little starstruck admittedly. Then we went back outside where I snapped shots of the Harry Potter kids, Humphrey Bogart, and (wait for it, Natalie Williams) Julie Andrews handprints that littered the ground before the theatre. All of these people except Rupert Grint had tiny hands. It made me feel like a giant. A tall, skinny, big handed giant.
After that we perused Hollywood. Until you have been to Hollywood, you do not know what weird is. People in costumes, pretending to be musicians, others coercing you into believing 
they’re giving you something free, and then BAM, they’re chasing you down the street until you give them $5. Note…. Never stand next to someone in a costume OR take something someone is handing it to you. It is either dangerous, illegal, or NOT free. But still, we enjoyed that experience with our little group that’s been seeming to stick together recently. After a brief lunch at Johnny Rockets, which was both unhealthy and delicious, and a tour through the Kodak theatre, I had remembered why I was in LA: because I’m going to make great movies. 
Some day, I will be walking down the red carpet at the Kodak (where the Oscars are held) towards a Best Director nomination and my movie will end up on that wall with all the other best picture nominees. After my freakout future-possibilities moment, we left Hollywood in a flurry of dramatic implications and bad traffic.
Our next stop as a group was a stop at the Amoeba Records store. Okay, so I love music, and I love places where you can purchase music, and I love things that are hipster, so you would think this would have been the perfect place for me. Wrong, and then wrong again. It was a WAREHOUSE. It was huge, and overwhelming, and sometimes, when things get overwhelming to me, I freak out. I don’t do well with too many things going on at once, it must be the unexplained Anxiety issues within me, but I just couldn’t handle it for too long. I went upstairs and confined myself to the DVD’s section, where I bought another copy of my 
favorite movie, Finding Neverland (since my disc broke a few months ago), and bought a present for Jack, to thank him for watching my kitten, Naomi, for the summer. Some really cool looking show about dead people (oooooh, scaaaaarrrryyyyy). As soon as I could, I got outta there. The fresh air felt nice, and even though it smelled a little like smog, at least it was better than the hipster music-snobbery smell I encountered in the store.
Alright, so here’s where the evening gets interesting. Our last group event for the evening was to see a movie called “The Tree of Life” by Terrence Malick. Malick is already known for his weird films (anyone remember Days of Heaven or the Thin Red Line?) but the trailer had looked so beautiful. The movie was set to star Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn. All actors that I liked and respected. And, as I said, the trailer was beautiful.
I won’t get into it too in depth, but the movie was the biggest mind twister I have ever seen. It drew me out of the movie entirely when it decided to take a break from the plotline and tell me the story of the history of the universe for about a half hour. The clips were choppy and ill-organized, though the cinematography was beautiful, as I expected it to be. The acting was great, as well, but I just couldn’t get on board with this movie. It was crazy, and weird, and uncomfortable at parts, and when there were dinosaurs on screen what little attentiveness
I had for the movie disappeared into sleepiness and concern for whether or not the Mavs had won the game that night, especially because it was TWO HOURS long. A lot of people loved the movie, a lot of people hated it. I appreciated it for what it was good at: being a beautiful film, having a lot of meaning, connecting to a certain audience… but for the majority of movie-goers, I believe this film won’t be one that many return to see.
I believe I might have gone over to talk for a little while with Chris for a little whileafter the movie, though I’d had all the best intentions of finishing unpacking. But inevitably, I turned to bed at a fairly early hour. Classes were to start the next day and I certainly needed rest. Despite the awkward end (the movie), I was pleased with the day. My love affair with LA hadn’t ended… in fact, I don’t believe it has yet.
On to bigger and better things,
Celeste
More to come soon, I’ll up fully updated by tomorrow… but just to let you all know, I have already almost lost my keys in LA.
I’m sure this comes as a surprise to no one.
Love you all.
Celeste
To the top of a mountain…
Waking up to my first full day in Los Angeles is pretty refreshing to say the least. I was the only one who needed to be awake so early, but for good reason – I was getting a car today. Not having a car is always a pain in the butt. Relying on other people for rides is not something I’m good at, since I’m fiercely independent, as my mother says, and having to ask someone if I can borrow their car pains me. I had originally had some significant fears about this car rental – the one my dad had promised to pay for was something along the lines of a Yaris, or one small step above a smartcar. In LA traffic, the likelihood that I would survive any kind of accident in the Yaris was slim – a 1/10 at best. I readily admit I’ve had some accidents in the past in my Titan, and then again in my Focus. It’s not that I’m not a safe driver, I am. I’m just naturally accident –prone. I’ve broken a bone on every limb, and had stitches on my lip twice. Several black eyes, bent fingers and toes, scrapes and bruises, as well as more than once destroying a camera, phone or computer…. Let’s just say that neither my things nor I are exactly in mint condition.
Much to my anticipated horror followed by immediate delight, after getting to know some of my fellow program participants at the rental location, I got up to go meet the lovely rental lady – her name was Lori, or Janet, or Grace… I don’t know, I don’t remember, but it was nice sounding, to reflect her beautiful personality. The moment LoriJanetGrace said the words “free upgrade” I was sold on her officially being recognized as the most wonderful woman on the planet. Instead of the claustrophobic, danger trap that was the Yaris, I was upgraded to a Toyota Corolla. Corey, as I have officially dubbed her, is my new favorite thing. Yes, she may smell a little like stale cigarette smoke for the first two minutes until the A/C gets going. But she is mine, all mine, and likely to protect me from most of LA’s evil doers (the native Los Angelenos and their cars).
I managed to find my way back to Oakwood by myself, though I didn’t really anticipate any trouble as one of my few skills I’m certain of is in directions. After Kierstin arrived back with her car, I voiced that I was dying without hangers – I own far too many dresses to live in a room with a great walk-in closet and be in possession of seven hangers (which is how many were bequeathed to me by Oakwood). We ventured off in the direction of a Target. Such a nice little tie to home, commercialization and all that jazz. We rushed through some basic necessity shopping and then realized we didn’t have much time left for lunch before our next group outing. We attempted to rush home, and I left direction-giving up to Liv.
Unfortunately, I see now that rushing to find directions in an unknown, unfamiliar location, things can often go wrong. This is how we ended up in a terrifying Hispanic neighborhood with bars over all the windows. We were trapped, it seemed, as we wound from one street to another, where quaint little colorful houses tried to disguise the bars over the windows with décor and curtains. But the danger was unmistakable beneath their cheap attempts at apparent safety – after all, there were freakin’ bars on the windows. Thankfully, we work well under pressure. With some intense determination in the midst of our fear we managed to find our way to the safety of a familiar street and zoomed off towards home. By the time we got back to Oakwood, we had little time to eat lunch, and rushed through some yogurt and granola, a decision that, although delicious, I would come to regret in only a few short hours.
Let it be known now that I am not an athletic human being. I have little to no stamina, an unfortunate iron deficiency, and though the outdoors are incredibly appealing to me, we have a sticky relationship. I knew our first outing as a group was supposed to be a hike up to Cahuenga Peak. I thought this sounded reasonable, as all the movies where I’ve seen people hiking are where they move through some dense trees on a slightly inclined slope towards an unknown destination. I figured that I could do that, but alas, I was entirely unprepared for the (literal) mountain before me.
We arrived as a group at the base of Cahuenga Peak, where I reunited with all the people on the trip I hadn’t seen since the tour. And then we began the climb. Literally, within the first five minutes, I was having to claw my way up on my hands and knees from how steep it was. I thought I was going to fall within the first stretch, but I decided to keep pursuing. I wasn’t going to let a little mountain defeat me. However, by the time we were done with that first little stretch, I had used almost a half of my water supply. Well, eff.
Over the next two hours I clawed, hyperventilated, and struggled my way up this beast of a mountain. Near the end, I had dropped off from the group that had been in the lead and fell between the frontrunners and the stragglers. Austin was there as my personal cheerleader, though he definitely turned into a grumpy cheerleader towards the end. For a while, Clinton and my new friend Chris were still with me. Though they got tired of us near the end, and left in search of bigger and better things. In the last twenty minutes I literally didn’t think I was going to make it. I was so tired, I was having to stop every few minutes or so for a breather and to rest my muscles that felt like they were on fire. But I saw only sky above me and knew we had to be close – so I persevered. Slowly, but surely. And finally, at long last, we reached the very top. And it was breathtaking.
I was overwhelmed by the top of Cahuenga Peak. You could look over the edge and literally see hundreds of miles in every direction. The entire city of Los Angeles was laid out in front of me. In one direction, the beaches, in another, Hollywood. I could see the Valley, I could see Burbank, I could see all of Los Angeles. At the top of that
mountain, next to the Tree of Wisdom (where people leave letters, and journals, and notes, and thoughts; the only tree that didn’t burn down during the huge fire on the hillside several years ago), I literally felt like I was on top of the world. There was no more amazing feeling than being there, and of course, right then and there, I decided the hike was probably worth it. Okay, definitely worth it.
The hike down the mountain was much easier, although admittedly, probably scarier. There was a group of about eight of us who stayed up there after everyone else had, so of course, we descended the mountain together. Austin led the way for the most part, although at the very end, I decided to give leading a bit of a try. For the last ten minutes of the hike it was literally so steep that we were sliding down on our butts. By the time we reached the base, we were all elated at our accomplishments, but filthy. I can’t describe how accomplished I felt… I’ll let the pictures attempt to do that feeling justice.
After some really long showering – and admittedly more than a little sitting – a huge group of us set out in the direction of dinner. When our original plans fell through, Kierstin, Aly, and I, along with our friends Chris, Taylor, and Mike, set out in a new direction. We found a tiny little Italian Bistro, called Pizza Per Tutti, that seated only about 20 people in the whole restaurant. 
Oh, but how the small are mighty. It was some of the greatest Italian food I’d ever eaten, and I know everyone with me agreed. And so we became the Pizza Place Breakfast Club – I know we’ll be back there at some point soon.
Some people came over later for some relaxation and to talk the day over drinks. We chilled and laughed and enjoyed being around one another – we can already see that our apartment is becoming somewhat of a hangout. I got a call from my friend Kyle to come over and see their apartment and visit, so Clinton and I separated from the group and made the drive in their direction. Kyle, his girlfriend Jenna, his roommate Ian, and Chris, whom I had met earlier at the hike, hung out for about an hour, before Aly let me know she was hungry. Second night in LA, and Chris, Aly, and I decide to make a super late night CVS trip to purchase food. We met a lovely lady though named Mary who is the greatest CVS worker of all time.
The night ended some time after that, with friends and food and late night talks. My body was ready for sleep after the hike – by my mind was even more ready. I felt at peace. Something about being on top of the world really makes you look at things in perspective. And so I fell into the most peaceful sleep I’d had in weeks, thankful for my first full day in Los Angeles.
More updates to come – I’ll be caught up soon.
Celeste
Welcome to California!
Friday morning would normally have been a day where I struggled to get up, since I had stayed up so late packing the night before. But, of course, since I knew what was coming in the day ahead, I had no trouble jumping out of bed and going through my normal morning routine. After a goodbye breakfast with my mom and sister I made it to the airport with time to spare. A friend, Greg, was making his connecting flight to Burbank in Dallas and so we sat together and chatted about what we hoped the summer would be before we finally got on the plane and took off. I was in the middle seat, but not even that was gonna get me down.
I was one of the first people to arrive in LA. There were three other people who were there at the same time, and our lovely alumni mentors, B and Jeff, were there to escort us to Oakwood, where we’ll be living for the rest of the summer. After a check in, my new friend Brittany and I went through the struggle of getting our luggage up to the third story of our new home. I am NOT one of those people who can pack lightly. I had two checked bags (colorfully adorned with their “heavy” tags, telling me to bend my knees when I lift them - as if that will help anything), one full rolling carry on, and my backpack as my “personal item.” I had enough stuff to sustain a small family of 5. I might have gotten some judging glares at the airport, but I don’t care. At least I’ll be prepared for everything. And I mean everything. 
After grabbing a quick lunch from the convenience store with Brittany, I made my way over to my apartment to begin unpacking. The apartments here are incredibly nice, and I’ll get some photographic evidence to support this soon. (I can’t do it right this second, as it was the Mavs game last night, and our apartment has fallen into somewhat a state of disrepair.) As the first person here, I obviously decided to take the larger room with the walk-in closet and the bed next to the window. I feel no shame in this, since I was likely to have the the most stuff, and because I was first. I am rarely first in anything so I take my moments when I can. This was my moment. *cue epic swelling soundtrack music here*
Over the course of the next few hours, my roommates began to trickle in. Liv, whom I’ve worked with in Production before and who also has the same internship at Original Productions as I, will be sharing my bedroom with me. We’re compatible as roommates - both wishing things were always clean, but aware that we both make messes that we sometimes don’t clean up right away. I love this in a roommate, because it makes me feel less hated for not keeping things spotless - sure, those who love me can handle my mess. But in roommates that I don’t know well enough to ask them to donate an organ to me if I were to need it, I like the ones who can handle my mess.
Aly arrived a bit later, our little dramatic pixie. She’s in the acting program out here, and living with her is a blast. She’s fun and outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind, which I love. She was in and out in a pinch to hang out with some friends who live out here, and we promised to see each other later. Somewhere in the middle of all this, my friend Austin showed up. Austin is one of my favorite people, definitely the person I’m the closest to out in LA. Unfortunately, he’s not in our program. Austin graduated last semester, but is now living out here. He’s already been over several times since we got here. I love him. Easy said. Finally, Kierstin arrived. I knew her the least out of everyone in our apartment, but now, 4 days later, I can already tell you I love her. She’s awesome and a lot like me, and I appreciate that. Low-key and chill. My perfect combination in a human being. You can find her LA Blog HERE. She barely had time to turn her head though before we whisked her away.
Here at Oakwood, we are within a short half hour walking distance to Universal CityWalk. On our first day, without cars to our name, we decided to embrace this walk and made our way (Liv, Austin, Kierstin and I) all the way uphill - yes, uphill, all the way - to CityWalk with our friends Scott, Greg, and Soucy. Once there, we embraced the even pathways to catch our breath and people-watch on surely one of the most tourist-y parts of the Burbank/North Hollywood area. The boys wanted cheap hamburgers - the girls wanted to treat themselves after a long day of traveling. The girls won out, and Austin and Soucy accompanied us while Scott and Greg ventured off on their own. We found a little Mexican food restaurant (and those of you who know
me know this is my FAVORITE thing) and enjoyed ourselves for the next two hours, chatting and laughing and getting to know one another more. It was a great dinner that I don’t regret my unfortunately expensive tab on; no matter, I won’t be eating again that expensively for a while. We browsed around for a bit more in CityWalk, finding a Jelly Bean “Marilyn Monroe” that was made of 25,000 (or maybe 250,000? Some ridiculous number) that was worth $25K, but eventually decided to head back home. We were all pretty exhausted after all.
Making our way back to Oakwood was easy. It was all downhill, and with a quick pop in to grab a bottle of wine we were back home in a snap, chatting the night away as we indulged in laziness after a long day - some wine, some Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and some chatting with the girls, Austin, and our friend Clinton. Clinton is our year, but not in the program - he had the same internship Liv and I now have last summer and is getting paid to work there this summer (AKA what I’m hoping for NEXT summer). He hangs around sometimes because we let him - I suppose he’s pretty cool.
Then, exhausted after the day’s travels and giddy with excitement, we all went to bed. I think that then I was already sure this was going to be a great summer. I haven’t been disappointed yet - everything here is pretty perfect after all.
In the future there will be more photos in my posts - as my poor baby camera had broken and I hadn’t yet rented the amazing D90 I have now, I was relatively pictureless the first day. Don’t worry, there will be some stunning visuals soon.
Signing off on the recanting of my first day, with more updates (catching you up) to come throughout the day soon,
Celeste
Welcome to my Los Angeles Blog!
If you’re reading this, I’m sure that you know my name is Celeste Smith. I’m spending this summer in Los Angeles, interning with Original Productions, taking a class called “The Business of Hollywood,” and learning how to live in LA, the smart way. It’s a few days into my time here and I’ll be working hard to catch you all up on the past few days. It’s been very busy since I’ve been here but I can’t wait to share my stories with you! Feel free to shoot me an e-mail at csmith68@elon.edu if you have any comments or questions. You can also download an account at tumblr.com if you want to leave me comments! Or, of course, facebook me.
Alright, I’ll try to catch you all up until tomorrow in the next 48 hours. Thanks for reading! I can’t wait to share this summer with you!
