Only in LA

What a cutie canine. His name is Lafite (pronounced La feet). He's a poodle.

So, I spent a mahvelous weekend in Los Angeles. Felt like a two-day birthday fest simply because of the company of close friends. Something sorely lacking in Phoenix. Anyway, on Sunday, I went with some old Daily Bruin cronies to lunch in Studio City at Vitello's. If it sounds familiar, it's the restaurant where Robert Blake was dining with his wife before she was shot. We were not in the booth where he allegedly forgot his gun. BTW, the food was pretty good. I had the Chicken alla Garry Marshall. However, Garry might be upset they misspelled his name.

After lunch, the four of us moved on to this coffee house down the street called Aroma. Great atmosphere and very popular. They have two patios and a little bookstore/stationery store area. Luckily the brunch/lunch crowd died down and we were able to grab a table. Well, the party of four next to us had Lafite. I hadn't noticed him lying next to my feet. Then I guess all four of them needed to go use the restroom or browse. All the ladies got up and asked the one guy who was going to watch him. The guy just turned to me and asked. Of course, I was like "Sure!" and ready to grab his leash. He was gone for about 10 minutes. For a second, I was like "He is coming back, right??" Anyway, I showed the guy the above picture when he arrived back. He said it was good and that Lafite is used to taking pictures. His owner is a photographer and Lafite has been on TV. Apparently he's made appearances on that cable show called "The Dog Whisperer." Never heard of it. But "only in LA" would you watch a pet that's been on TV. Sigh...

Other highlights from the weekend.

*My friend Jessica treated me to a performance at the Ahmanson Theater of "Jersey Boys." The show is the story of the rise and break-up of Frankie Valli and the other Four Seasons. You get to hear the actors croon hits like "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man." It was awesome and the show won the Tony last year. If you haven't seen it, I strongly urge you to (David, if you're reading this, you'd really like it! ;) ). I think it's also playing in San Francisco this summer.

*Cupcakes! It surprised me how many cupcake places there are in LA. I hit one called Dainties. Excellent. Excellent. The cupcakes are made with either Devil's food or vanilla. But the icing comes in all different flavors. And they put the icing inside like a hostess cupcake. It's just heaven in a pastry. I got raspberry chocolate, vanilla bean, tiramisu and mango. The lady behind the counter must've really loved how much I enthused on the cupcakes because she threw in a caramel one. And being LA, this place also caters to a lot of movie and TV sets i.e. "Two and a Half Men," "The Tyra Banks Show" and apparently Avril Lavigne will only buy cupcakes from there. Check out Dainties. Honestly, show me beautiful cupcakes and I'll fold like Japanese origami.

*Jessica and our friend/old roomie Sunanda and her husband Rich -- we all went to this bar/lounge called Nikki's in Venice Beach. Great happy hour appetizers. Not talking peanuts and nachos but quesadillas, ahi tuna burgers and sweet potato fries. Anyway, after, us girls waited outside for Rich. A customer came out to introduce himself. Big, pudgy black guy with short dreadlocks and wore a dirty blue T-shirt and black pants. His name was Malibu. He tried to convince us to come out for fireworks on the 4th at Venice. Promised he'd be there with platinum hair on. When he took off his hat, a piece of bar napkin wrapped around something fell off his head. Must've been a joint as he quickly stooped down to pick it up: "Can't lose that!"

Only in L.A.