Call me shallow but I miss 'The Bubble'

After spending the last weekend sick in bed and alternatively on the couch, I maxed out on Netflix documentaries, shows and movies. It made me realize how much I miss American trashy television. Yes, it's shallow. Yes, it's dumb. Yes, I like that kind of stuff sometimes. Binge watching endless reruns of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Beverly Hills, New York and sometimes Atlanta was an amazing guilty pleasure on the weekends. When I was on a business trip in St. Louis, Missouri, which included a weekend and I was done with sightseeing after 3.5 hours, I got myself a serving of quesadillas (the only vegetarian food I could find) and ate it in bed while watching Bravo. Reality show after reality show! I loved it! I spent the next day and a half on my bed-island with cheese stains in my jammies. It was an incredible weekend of wasting time and expanding waistbands.

The other realization I had while being cooped up and watching Hollywood movies and shows was how much I miss my LA-life. When I saw Leslie Mann working out in 'This is 40' on a grassy strip between car lanes north of Montana Avenue near the Santa Monica stairs, my chest got really tight. Not just because her 40-body is way better than my 40-body but also because I used to walk along that street watching all those housewives being held down by their ankles by their personal trainers to do sit-ups. I used to run up and down those stairs every Saturday and Sunday morning along with dozens of others. I felt on top of the world after an hour of feeling every inch of my gluts.

When Paul Rudd races through the streets of Santa Monica on his bike, I know that this is made up by Hollywood because nobody rides bikes in Los Angeles except for along the beach. But it doesn't matter. Los Angeles is a bubble; a make-belief place. And while Angelinos have the reputation for being shallow, and that reputation is largely deserved, it didn't matter to me after some years in La La Land. I sometimes miss living in that bubble. Reality is harsh - just turn on the news. I know living in LA is not a sustainable lifestyle unless you are fairly wealthy and most of my friends have left over the past few years as well. LA is not what it used to be. Santa Monica has changed as well. My social circle would be different today for sure. But like with every relationship, when enough time has passed, you only remember the good times. And the times were very, very awesome.


Santa Monica & Los Angeles - you will always have a place in my heart. I know you have changed just like I have but I miss you very, very much.