Gregory Charles

On Thursday evening I got the best text ever. My cousin, Greg, from Indiana said he was going to be in LA visiting friends for a few days and asked if Michael and I could get together with them. Of course I said yes! After running a handful of quick errands, we drove to Universal Citywalk and met Greg and his friend, Liz Fohl, at Johnny Rockets before she had to go to work. She is a singer (and plays piano and bass guitar) at Howl at the Moon four nights a week. In her free time she writes music and would love to one day write lyrics for well-known artists. I think she may be working towards her own album, since she already has a bunch of songs available to listen to.

Liz thought Michael and I live in West Hollywood, but it turns out that Liz only lives about 5 minutes away from us, just one block South of the library I normally use! We checked out the Howl at the Moon lounge for a minute before we drove Greg home to cook dinner. Michael grilled his delicious lemon pepper drumsticks while I made the mashed potatoes and heated up the baked beans. After dinner Michael showed Greg the surround sound and they talked for a while about political issues (new [attempted?] gun laws) that don't seem to be helping anyone, before Greg's friend Ross came to pick him up.

On Friday I ran to pick up some more books from the library ("Room to Grow" by Tracey Gold & "Getting to Heaven" by Don Piper, since I finished reading "Unsweetined" by Jodie Sweetin) and kind of watched Michael sculpt fake boobs along with the severed leg for part of the short film project that is being shot today. Then at 6:30pm, we left to pick up Greg at Liz's house. She is renting from a married couple, living in their garage that was redone into a small studio, with a bathroom! We got to see it today- its very cool.

We drove back to Universal Citywalk and had dinner at Bubba Gump. I ordered the Cordon Bleu sandwich, which was really good. But we were all deceived and disappointed by the kind waiter who asked "Can I bring you some garlic bread?", yet conveniently failed to mention that it was not complimentary. On the bill it showed an added $4.99 for the two buttery pieces we all shared. What a rip off.. We met Ross at the door to Howl at the Moon, showed our ID's and told them we were "on the list" since Liz could get us in for free. We each got the word "Hot!" stamped onto our hands (the previous word of the day was "Awesome") then circled around the small lounge to find a table.

Ross, Greg and Michael enjoyed a drink and we listened to Liz and a couple other employees performing. She did a really great cover of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". Her energetic, raspy voice went really well with that song. Another waitress did a great job on stage, singing Adel's famous "Rolling in the Deep" number. Towards the end of the song she stood on the piano -the crowd cheered louder- to belt out the chorus a few more times. Ross asked Michael about his recent work and we were introduced to Liz's boyfriend, Eric. We didn't talk to him much, but he seemed really friendly, from all the smiling he did while talking to others. Although it was really loud in the lounge, I loved the whole environment. Maybe because it was intimate in the fact that I stood right up against Michael's chair with my arm around his shoulders and had to get close to people while talking to them. Before we left, I leaned in, suggesting to Eric that we go on a double date some time.

** Recovery Notice: Sasha has been really sick for a few days since she got her rabies shots on Tuesday. She wasn't eating, but still couldn't keep anything in her stomach. Michael had to take her to the vet yesterday, where she stayed for 24 hours. The vet called Michael last night at dinner and thanks to an IV, Sasha is all better! The vet told us that Sasha scarfed down her food and licked the entire bowl clean. Haha, I'll pick her up later today.