Andrew's Record Shopping Day

Last Saturday I took Andrew on his annual birthday record shopping spree.

We woke up pretty early this time and got breakfast burritos for the road.

His first stop was Rockaway. So I dropped him off there and I took off to La Luz to see if there was a new exhibit up and I was hoping to start on my Christmas shopping. To my dismay, upon arrival, there was no parking. I couldn't find parking anywhere! That's what sucks about Los Angeles during the holidays. No frickin' parking.

I ended up just driving around, taking side streets here and there. I had no idea where I was going, I was getting myself lost on purpose. Eventually, I noticed I was starting to go up one of the hills. I was determined to find the peak of this road. So, I kept driving and the longer I kept driving the narrower the roads got. At one point, I was driving on a crazy steep road wide enough to fit my car. I doubt a Hummer would even make it through this road. There were ballin' houses left and right and I was kinda freakin' myself out because of how narrow the turns were. I was just wondering to myself how the hell I was going to make it back down. The view was magnificent. I was going to get a little ballsy, attempting to photograph the view while I was driving but it was way too dangerous. At one point, I had to back up all the way down one of the roads to let an Aston Martin pass by. I kept chuggin' slowly up this steep hill and when I got to the top, I just wanted to get out and take a picture of the view but there was no where to park. Damn rich people and their anti-sidewalk ideologies, haha.

At the peak, I just stopped the car to admire a house that was beautiful beyond words. The design and architecture of the house was just unreal! I got lost going down, but eventually I found my way and drove back to Rockaway. Andrew wasn't ready yet so I pulled out my iPad and started to watch "The Last Circus". So far so good!

When Andrew was done he wanted to go to Ameoba, so we headed there. It was quite crazy. They were having a side walk sale plus there was a holiday charity auction going on in the store. People were bidding left and right on collectible music stuff. I left and went to Space 15 Twenty across the street. I love the bookstore they have in there but damn their stuff is just way too pricey for me. I also headed to Urban Outfitters and got all the girls a little something for Christmas. I hope they like what I got them!

I was surprised how fast Andrew finished in Ameoba. By the time he was done, we were both starving and I was so stoked because he finally agreed to take me to Umami Burger.

I ordered the Umami Burger and Andrew ordered the Manly Burger. We also got a side of sweet potato fries. When they brought our food out, it was beautiful. They basically looked like steaks in between two buns. It also had a kiss branded on the top of the bun. We took our first bites and our eyes widened along with our taste buds. So much flavor!

After eating we started walking back to the car and Andrew called this guy who he contacted over the Internet, hoping to score a record he's been meaning to get his hands on. We ended up picking him up close to Ameoba, since he was at a bar down the street. While we were driving him back to his place he was giving us some historical tidbits on some of the buildings and side streets off of Hollywood Blvd. The guy lives off of Hollywood Blvd. in the midst of the Black Dahlia's past including the apartment complex she used to live in to the bar she used to walk down the street to. We also crossed a street where Charlie Manson shot one of his victims. When we got to his complex he told us how they were recently shooting a movie on his street and he came out one day to see Nicole Kidman sitting on the sidewalk in front of his lobby (he showed us pictures on his phone of her actually doing so). Must be nice to live right off of Hollywood Blvd. and his neighborhood was surprisingly quiet. I assume you'd never get bored. You could basically walk to Jimmy Kimmel's studio from his place. Anyway, when that deal was over, we headed to Freakbeat.

I dropped him off and went to Handmade. I love this store. They did some rearranging the last time I was there. It's pretty much a real life Etsy shop. There are tons of booths per crafter/artist. Kinda gets a little pricey but if you're looking for that one unique gift, I'm sure you'll fine it here.

My favorite booths are the Dia De Los Muertos crafts.

I was trying to find something special for Andrew's sister and his mom but nothing stood out to me. When I got back to Freakbeat, Andrew was busy listening to his potential purchases and so I took out my iPad and watched more of "The Last Circus" while waiting for him.

When he was done he looked content, haha. Like he finally reached the point of Enlightenment. He was so stoked he scored some awesome stuff and just being able to rummage through record store after record store just made him high on life. He's a pretty simple guy. This is pretty much all he wants for his birthday every year and for me to be there with him, even though record shopping is not my thing. You kinda have to have a ton of patience going with him record shopping. He can almost spend more than 3 hours in one store at times. But in the end, it's totally worth it to see him so happy! Merry Birfday Boo!

After he had his record shopping fill, we still had time to check out the Giant Robot Post Its 7 art opening. But I'll save that for another post.