la buena vida: Jackpot!

So our friend Reed has been in town since Saturday morning, and because he will be starting architecture school in the fall, it was important that we cram as much as possible into the last couple of days. Reed went to both high school and college with Stu and then took over his position in the firm when we left Atlanta two years ago.

Once we picked him up at the airport, we went straight to the Eames house to start the archtitecture tour. It was a nice start to a long weekend, with the ocean breeze and shady site where the house lounges against the berm in all it's glory. Such a magical place.

After this we continued up the shoreline past Malibu to my favorite weekend lunch spot... Neptune's Net for a delicious spread of seafood and beer. To see photos, click here. We then made our way south, to Rodeo Drive to check out the Prada store on Rodeo Drive (Rem Koolhaus) and then over to Culver City for the Eric Owen Moss village (photos).

We had a couple of hours to chill at home before making our way out for the evening. We started the night at The Dresden, which I have spoken of before as the bar from the movie Swingers. After a few drinks there and entertainment from none other than Marty and Elayne, we made our way east. We were to meet up with Perry & Ori at the Chateau Marmont, and after lots of difficulty finding parking on the Sunset Strip, we had an even more difficult time getting into the bar. Apparently the security guard(who looked very much like he could have been a secret service agent) couldn't find our name on "the list"... he suggested that we find our friend in the bar downstairs. After pleading for a while longer, someone had radioed down to his well-hidden earpiece that indeed we were expected. Once we were on the elevator, Stu shared that Perry had told him that Maria Sharapova was there, and indeed she was sitting two tables over from us! She was very elegant and had her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, similar to her style on the court. We were all in awe of her and expressing to our friend (who works there) how crazy it was that she was there... to which he replied 'yeah, it's a busy night with she and the beckhams over there'... to which we replied 'yeah right'... He then said, "No really, the Beckhams are right over there with Enrique Iglesias!"

Source: style.com

OH MY GOD! So needless to say, for the next couple of hours, I ignored all conversation happening at our table, and just focused on them. Except when Maria Sharapova got up to leave and she is 6'-2" tall + another 3" for her heels... that girl is so tall, she commands attention! Wow. Unfortunately, there is a 'no camera' policy, which is the case with the more exclusive bars around town, so there were no photos taken. But David Beckham will forever be stamped on my brain as the most beautiful man ever. We still can't believe that we saw them on their first Saturday night in America as residents of Los Angeles. Enrique is gorgeous too, by the way. To read more, check out this article on People.com.

Sunday we made a trip to Diamond Ranch High School (Thom Mayne, Morphosis) and then to the Crystal Cathedral campus (Phillip Johnson, Richard Neutra, and Richard Meier). Later, touring downtown LA, seeing the 'big3' buildings... Caltrans (Thom Mayne, Morphosis), Disney Concert Hall (Frank Gehry), and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Rafael Moneo). By the time we got home we were exhausted, and Stu convinced Perry, Ori, and Julie to bring us dinner from Doughboys.

Monday, it was back to work for me, but Reed and Stu had the whole day to hang out, visiting Watts Towers, along with other sites. Once I got home from work, we headed over to Elysian Park for a little tailgating before going to the game to watch the Dodgers beat up on the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3. Perry joined us briefly, and the three of them played Cart until the wee hours of the morning (photos).