Hello and welcome to the very first entry in my YHS Takes LA travel blog series! This is us, up above in the picture- I’m Abigail Gardner (the girl one), that’s Craig Goldberg (podcast Dad) in the middle, and on your left (sick Endgame reference!) is Jacob Walsh. Over the last seven days I have seen life in more vibrant colors than ever before, snuck into more secret spots than I should have, and sucked the very marrow out of Los Angeles with my two best friends at my side. I’m home now and surrounded by my eight cats, deep green Georgia foliage, and deliciously muggy air which somehow I missed. The coffee has been made and yes, I think I’ll have some.
Won’t you grab a cup, sit back, and let me wax-on-wax-off poetic about my California vacation of a lifetime and have some too?
You will? Tiiiiiight, lemme go make another cup real quick as we rewind it back to exactly one week ago in Atlanta Georgia…
Actually, allow me to rewind it even further back to two weeks ago, which is when I finished packing. You see, folks, I knew this trip was coming. I’d known for a while and I also knew something else- traveling stresses me the fuck out. Before I found my therapist and started on the journey of self discovery and empowerment that I’ve been on for the last year and a half I was, how do you say, travel-phobic. You see, I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Not the fun kind, where you stack your books symmetrically and move on with you life, the kind that cripples you inside a bathroom when you’re too far away from home. It used to prevent me from doing a lot of things that I love, like going to theme parks, conventions, social gatherings, long drives, hell even a trip to the local movie theatre could become very problematic and overwhelming for someone with my mental set-up.
But look! Look at all these pictures! Guys, I went to California FOR A WEEK and I lived life to its motherfucking fullest. I went up to bat against airport navigation, shared bathroom situations, LA traffic, and the autograph room at Ghostbusters Fan Fest and I knocked it out of the park every time (cool sports reference, am I doing this right, Craig?).
Now that we’re all caught up on me and my mental state let’s fast forward to one week ago (which is technically still rewinding but whatever) from today which was Monday, June 3rd. As a result of meticulous planning and preparation on the part of Yes Have Some Podcast, the three of us were up, showered, and ready on time and on task for our day of cross-country travel. The Uber arrived and after a ten minute delay (couldn’t find a cat, found the cat) Craig, Jake, and I stacked our suitcases in the trunk and sped off towards Hartsfield Jackson Airport.
Not much can be said for our flight to Los Angeles other than it was terrible. Not because of
turbulence or annoying passengers but because we all had to sit in separate rows. Ladies and gentlemen, we are a package deal. Do not split YHS up or we start to weaken and die. At least that’s what I thought was happening to me in the middle seat as I sat with a satin cat-eye mask over my face to shield out the world and all the unfamiliar elbows and close breathing that surrounded me. I slept for a while, woke up confused and angry, played 9 rounds of Mario Kart, and then wrote this list.
Hey, we all get cranky! I felt better after typing my feelings out and way waaay better after we landed and I finally made it into my first LA dispensary.
After that the three of us hit up Sage Plant Based Bistro for a decadent vegan feast and top notch service (I never remember my servers names, but I am always very grateful for them).
(Above: Two Bowls of Soul
Below: What I wish my garden tub looked like)
Once replete with plant-based treats, it was time to head back to the Doubletree Hotel for a luxurious soak in the hot tub. I think the hot tub was my favorite part of the entire day. Craig. Jake, and I talked shop and pitched big ideas while the jets kneaded out our travel tensions and I secretly plotted to install a hot tub in our future YHS headquarters (which I’m always designing the blue prints for). The breeze blew softly through the palms and I felt like we could live forever in that hot tub, but scientifically and statistically I don’t think anyone can actually live inside of a hot tub.
Instead of moving into the jacuzzi, we just hit the hay early. Before drifting off to sleep we made
sure to map out all the famous filming locations we wanted to see and the stores we wanted to make unnecessary purchases at the next day. It’s always good to make a list before going to sleep; I say that now.
Thanks so much for joining me in this first installment of Yes Have Some Takes Los Angeles, if you want to continue on this journey with me then be sure to follow my Instagram @splashmommy and our website https://www.yhspodcast.com/. Can’t wait to keep rolling out the memories and photos- stay tuned for Day Two!
(I came, I saw, I kicked OCD’s ass!)
