J and I flew into Burbank last Thursday to meet up with his former coworker and friend A. She is originally from Burbank, and she invited us to join her for the Rose Parade, an item on her bucket list. Unfortunately, she’d fallen ill a few days before and then J woke up with a sore throat the day we were to fly down… None of this foiled our plans, but it just made the experience a little less enjoyable.

A is an executive assistant/chief of staff for a tech company, so she’s a planner. And oh boy was it nice to have everything all booked and researched before we got there! I just had to get our air ticket (Companion Pass FTW) and rental car, and then as soon as we touched down, A had already researched places for lunch. What a nice change of pace!

The AirBnb she booked was super adorbs… it was a renovated garage in a very cute part of town in Pasadena. The only thing was, it was a studio (murphy bed + pullout couch) which A didn’t realize and it was very cold inside. There was a hot tub and pool but the hot tub was drained and the pool was unheated. Otherwise, it was a great place… just with the unseasonably cold weather and rain, I was basically chilled to the bone for three days.

Still, we saw all kinds of things: drove through old town Pasadena, did a drive-by to CalTech, checked out Christmas Tree Lane in a wealthy part of town (classy, not obnoxious lights), hit up Huntington Gardens and Griffith Observatory. We saw a lot in just a few short days. And I really like southern California: it’s much more artsy/creative and socio-economically diverse… meaning there are so many more venues for art (I mean, I guess Hollywood is not far) and not EVERYONE is in software/tech like people disproportionately are in Silicon Valley. Housing is still pricey but less so (I had my realtor apps open the whole time), and food is like consistently good and cheaper! That’s right: I’m planting the seed now. LA is a possibility for future places to live!

Btw, A turned us on to an incredibly delicious drink: we hit up the BevMo and made this every. single. day. The Archer’s Peppermint Patty is no fucking joke. You gotta make it!

We attended the Rose Parade our final day in LA. Pretty cool experience, and I’m glad it was on A’s bucket list, bc it’s not something we would have otherwise done. Ever. Funny though: A is so much more gregarious and vocal than J and I are. For example, with every float, she was so excited and full of compliments and positivity. J and I were just quiet– like the shit was cool for sure, but there are similarities from float to float and more top of mind for me than anything, was that I was FREEZING my ass off.

Traveling with other people, you also realize just how different we all are. Like at the airport, one agent was handling inquiries from passengers at two different gates… she was really good about managing the queue and providing customer service: She would manage expectations by saying hold on: lemme get these passengers onto their flight departing now, and then I’ll help this couple, then this group, then you. Thank you for your patience.

She was super pleasant and nice the whole time. After she helped us, J and I said thanks and walked away. But A like REALLY thanked the agent: Thanks for processing all of us and you were so pleasant managing all those simultaneous requests… you are great at what you do!

And while me relaying what A said might sound too much or insincere, it was totally natural and genuine. I really took that as a reminder that you can never really acknowledge people enough. Gratitude is a beautiful thing and I hope that I can learn to express it more often.[FAG id=7500]