Sunday morning we woke up refreshed and groggy. Wait… refreshed or groggy, you choose. It was Nisha’s last morning (sob!) so we decided to squeeze in a few more things before driving her to the airport. First on the list, farmer’s market! My obsession with farmer’s markets knows no bounds and I couldn’t wait to check out what a Southern Californian one had to offer.
The farmer’s market in Studio City is right off of Ventura Blvd near Laurel Canyon Blvd. (Just a quick walk down the gorgeous L.A. river.) It’s noisy and right on the street, but what it lacks in tranquility it makes up for in PONY RIDES!!!
Like, whaaaaaa?
(Vancouver, time to step up your game!)
As we wandered through the stalls, Nisha’s eagle-eyes spotted the one and only Adam Pally. Squee! A couple things to note here:
1. Nisha is super mellow around celebrities. When I met this girl a year ago, she had NEVER seen a celebrity. Together now we’ve seen several and she’s calm and collected every time. I’m pretty sure I LOST MY MIND until at least, like, my 10th sighting of a famous person. (As in, there were tears involved when I saw Jared Padalecki for the first time. Also, Renee Zellweger straight up gave me dagger eyes. (But that’s probably my fault for pointing and hissing into Carrie’s ear much louder than necessary (or realized).))*
2. Adam Pally is lookin’ fine. The Max Bloom weight is off and that is one fine beard.
3. Through all of my brushes with those professionally charming people we call actors, I’ve never wanted to approach someone more. Happy Endings continues to be one of my favourite shows of all time, even after DOZENS of repeat viewings. I’ve never been one to approach famous people or ask for autographs or pictures. I always figure they’d appreciate their privacy more than whatever I have to say to them. But you don’t go into the business without a healthy love for attention, so sometimes it’s probably totally okay to say hi. But how do you know?! Thus, I’ve created a handy, dandy chart that you may assess before deciding whether or not to approach a celebrity.
*Edit: Nisha’s response: “I was not so cool when I saw Ricardo from the Food network. I’ve evolved.”
Kelly’s Handy Dandy Chart for Deciding Whether or Not to Approach Some Who is Significantly More Famous Than You Will Ever Be.
According to my chart it would have been totally acceptable to approach him, but, alas, we decided not to. He was with his kid and farmer’s markets should be considered a safe** place (additional factors that would require a much more comprehensive chart). In hindsight, I kind of wish we had, at least just to say how much we appreciate his work, but it was too nerve-wracking at the time. Thank goodness I have this handy chart for next time!
So in between all of this we were actually sampling and buying food. There was TONS to choose from and we probably sampled our body weight in fresh California produce. The absolute highlight of it all was something called bolani. It’s a vegan flat-bread from Afghanistan and it’s FREAKIN’ delicious. You can buy them stuffed with spinach or potato or pumpkin and then choose from an assortment of spreads to lather over them. I’m talking garlic mint cheese and cilantro pesto and jalapeño jelly. Seriously, get thee to an Afghani restaurant and order ALL THE BOLANI***.
Apparently these guys (East & West Gourmet) are all over farmer’s markets in California and you only have to read a couple Yelp reviews to know I’m not alone in feeling ecstatic over their product.
We took our bolani goodness along with some fresh avocados, handmade tortilla chips, ceviche, and salsa and headed back to Hayley and Ryan’s apartment for a feast. Amazing.
**Safe from being attacked by overzealous wannabe TV writers.
***Pronounced bo-lonnie, not bo-lownie or bo-lani. (I think… Hayley?!)
If you hadn’t noticed yet, I really like panorama shots.
After the food and before the airport, we took the windy, jam-packed drive up to the Griffith Observatory. I guess all the tourists come out on Sundays, because it took us about a half an hour to get up the hill (mountain?). But it was worth it, even if the view is smoggy and you can barely see anything, you’re really there to point your camera in the opposite direction and get the ubiquitous**** tourist shot.
****Guys, I spelt that in one try. One try! *Self high five!*
I’ve been trying this new “not showing my teeth” thing in photos and I don’t think it’s working out for me. I look pissed when in fact, I am not. (Quite the opposite actually.)
You may recognize that building on the left (aka The Griffith Observatory) from Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle or if you, unlike me, are a classy person, from Rebel Without a Cause.
We then rode over to LAX and said our goodbyes to Nisha (sad!) before heading home for an evening of relaxing and TV. The end.
Kelly Tatham 