The Pearl is a gem.

Dear 27,
San Diego has been cloudy and damp, but the Pearl is nothing but cool. The staff is young, hip and friendly, the digs are nautical and there's a beta fish in my room named Felix. The Pearl lobby walls are draped in stone (with the occasional glittery rock. nice.), near the check in desk there's a "lounge area" stocked with board games, shag carpet and a mirrored ceiling. The pool is salt water (a little fun fact) and there's a vertical garden. I've been fawning over the idea of a vertical garden. And here. At the Pearl they have a bitty wall filled with cascading succulents.

When I arrived on Wednesday night I planned to write a few thank you notes and reports in the restaurant and have a cocktail, three hours later I was still in my chair enjoying the Fantastic Mr. Fox poolside with a local brew and a most delicious dinner. (There should be emphasis on the "most delicious" part. Squash blossoms with chevre. A tuna steak with wasabi potatoes, bacon, brussel sprouts and mushrooms. Plus chocolate cake. And bourbon with honey and lemon. Most Delicious. Photos to prove it.)

The Pearl hosts "dive-in" movies on Wednesday nights with an outdoor screen and a trendy crowd filing in and out throughout the evening. My waiter, Vaughn, was born in Ames. (Of course he would be.) In fact, by check out I'd guess these Pearl people will feel like friends.
I'd absolutely stay here in Point Loma at the Pearl again-- you should check it out.
xo-LP

This much.

Dear 27,

I think I have a crush on Palm Springs. The airport is clean. The signage is bright. The people are well dressed. Compliments are freely granted. I had a man at the Starbucks this morning call me a "dear," while the barista referred to me as Laura so often while I waited for my coffee I felt like I was a regular. The list of reasons to draw hearts around PS on my trip itinerary continually grow.

I spotted this gem that feels like it leapt from  DesignSponge and onto to Palm Canyon Drive.

I had a burger at Tyler's (A cash-only burger joint. Cash-only places typically annoy me. And I'm not a big burger orderer, but I went for it. And wasn't disappointed or annoyed.) We dined outside with mist-ers and the locals and the pigeons on the 95 degree day.

The trip was off to a stressful start last night (a very stressful one), but I think my luck is turning around. Newport Coast tonight for a delightfullly entertaining meal. CA for the rest of the week...

(window to window)

xo-LP

Muskies are 'bout it 'bout it.

Dear 27,
Thank you John Krieger. Your infinite awesomeness at age 17 forever burned the phrase "muskies are 'bout it 'bout it" both into my brain and into MHS history. You were like an early Jersey Shore with your hot dance moves ("come on ride the train" was genius) and your cult following. All the girls loved you. All the guys pretended they didn't want to be you. You're a legend of sorts or someone who had enough pull in high school to get the entire student council to agree that "'bout it 'bout it" was a terrific way to promote Muskie pride at homecoming. I still don't know what that means.
While you had football and girlfriends, I had a locker next to Shawn Reed and a slew of boys who were friends (all of whom had a thing for Becca or my sister Jen or for riding in Jake Fox's truck wearing Goodwill t-shirts.) They all loved punk rock music.
Oh how I loved the punk rock and the ska and the skanking. (That was the term for Stover dancing. Not sure it's technical. But I recall it being used in reference to a skipping move that was like gentle moshing. Not like skanky skanking.)

An ode to the high school.
xo-LP

ps. The tour-de-travel continues tomorrow. And the Bad Dreams Ball post. And (fingers crossed) a live show for October.

The best way to tank you.

Dear 27,

I haven't been drawing nearly enough, but thanks to the ladies of Ephemera my cards are always in print and for sale, working ever-so-slowly towards selling the big 100. As I start the (way too early) process of deciding what this year's LP holiday postcard design will be, I've been working on drawing the perfect thank you note to have Arin and Karen print and add to my collection of xo-lp cards down in the East Village.

Be creative my 14 readers. What other suggestions do you have?

xo-LP

The play-by-play.

Dear 27,
Much of these past 3 months I've felt like every hour of my day is planned out from start to finish with meetings and work and calls and then more meetings and more work and dinners and music and drawing and blogging and netflix.
My 27th year has been, thus far, a blur of adventures (and work of course, I may have mentioned I do that too).
I've seen new corners of Des Moines, eaten way too much and too often, nearly doubled membership, seen a picture of my brain, mended fences, fake waitressed, taken road trips on a school night, open mic-ed, and been in Juice twice, among hundreds of other things.
Today, however, was pretty normal.

xo-LP

The birds and the Bs.

Dear 27,
Big weekend. Big Big one. An announcement from our hometown University that makes me even busier. Then my first time as a Lusher (that's lady+usher).Congrats to my dear friends Annie and B. And hello to my long time college friends-- I missed you all.


xo-LP

ps- Lots to report on this week. Hoping to make some progress on this list and working on a big challenge for November. 

Our way to Fall.

Dear 27,
Fall has officially arrived. The sweaters are out of hibernation, the old October issues of Martha have resurfaced and logically, I went apple picking. Looks like we're finding our way to Fall.

 The Happy Apple Orchard is home to rows of red delicious, jonathan and braeburn apples, as well as many animal heads (there were at least 18) and an archery target room.

Visited Norwalk for the first time. The little city is littered with horses. And grass so green it looked digitally enhanced. Jo, Ashley, Mary and I came away with many LBs of apples and soggy shoes.

xo-LP

***Bonus. Made crisp from my apples.***

Got Rocked'toberfest.

Dear 27,
Weekend of too-awesome began with a tour of some of the coolest spots in Des Moines' East Village. Then there was a visit to Market Day! (Where I got to catch up with the super-cool-blog-celeb Jen and talk to Danelle about some custom goods from the old couch-- can't wait!)

Got this ring. Love it. Old buttons are the coolest. Wish I could remember this gal's name. I'm pretty bummed I don't. Then the Oktoberfest began.

Jenni and I took our poem very seriously. The final sweetness was pressed into the German beer. A whole lot of final sweetness.

There were lots of hats involved. And great company. And stories about cops in Ottumwa.

Thanks to my loyal readers and completely photogenic Oktoberfest partners.

Prost.

xo-LP

Snaps. Snaps. Snaps.

Dear 27, 

I read this poem, written purely as an invitation and not for true public consumption, on stage, at open mic night, at the Des Moines Social Club. Thank you Craig Crile (Yes you Muscatine readers, the Craig Crile) for the ridiculous yelling that got the emcee's attention and me a free beer. There might be video. I'll be sure to post and publicly embarrass myself a second time if I can find it. It was awkward, even for me.

----

“Oktoberfest Saturday”

RE-Written by LP based on

“Autumn Day” by Rainer Maria Rilke (German Poet),
-------

Des Moines: it is time. The huge summer has gone by.
Now overlap your shirt with lederhosen,
and on Court Avenue let your sauerkraut go free.

Command the locals to attend Oktoberfest
grant them a Saturday evening of rainless fun,
urge them to meet at 6pm, and press
the final sweetness into the German beer.

Whoever has no plans now, will have one.
Whoever is alone will be comforted by a free mug,
will sit, drink, and make long toasts through the
evening,
and wander the avenue, up and down,
restlessly, while the dry leaves are blowing.

---

People clapped. And snapped. 

A guy performed a spoken rap about microwaving, there was a drum circle, a young man rapping about "republican ninjas" and the stage smelled like hippies. There were guys playing metal-head guitar riffs, a man who read stories in leprechaun voices, monster limericks, a story about pess-ee-meests and me. It was a night unlike any other. An awesome one.

xo-LP

I'm a total Gleek.

Dear 27,

What I'm about to write will confirm my status as a big time nerd. I think, however, that many Fox watching musical loving Americans feel the same way. They just may not have taken it to this level...

Last night we celebrated the first Glee Potluck complete with Schuester's Pie, Artie-choke pizza, Slushies and Rachel Barry Cobbler. 

The only thing missing, oddly, was Glee. But there were party favors, good company and a few "step cross step cross snap snap jazz hands" moves.

(Don't worry, we were able to catch it on Hulu today. You can too.)

Jenni gave Glee's premiere a pretty average rating but confirms we had "this" much fun.

xo-LP

ps- Kerry. I thought Funny Girl was pretty great. A little long. Like 2.5 hours long. But I enjoyed it. Barbara is a star. And yes, Hello Gorgeous.