All The Best Things

My friend Jason is really great. He's the kinda guy who begins stories by saying "Have I ever told you about the time..." (as if he's 85 years old, though he's only 29.) He's also the kinda guy who says, "Let's spend the day in Pasadena tomorrow. We'll do all the best things."

I think this might be one of my love languages: choosing a city in which we do all the best things--so, of course, I was on board.

Taylor is super easy going and happy to join any adventure (premeditated or spontaneous) and, so, we jumped in to my car and drove up to Pasadena.

Oh, I should also mention that my friend Jason was moving to New York City less than a week later, so we were aiming to visit all of his favorite places as a goodbye-of-sorts to his hometown.

We started with a gigantic pizza and pitcher of beer. (I'm pretty sure this is a staple of any day with J.)

^^ Then we drove across town for some really good coffee ice cream. 

(Though Taylor said the cookies and cream was better.)

^^ Jason had his final softball game at a field by the Rose Bowl. As we wound our way through back streets, I looked over and saw this building. Pawnee City Hall from Parks and Recreation! I wanted to get out to have my picture taken in front of it, but we were already running late and Jason already thought I was ridiculous for showing so much enthusiasm over a building. Instead (joke's on him), I drove us in three huge circles so I could take pictures from a few angles.

^^ The boys had a tough game, but we all chose to blame it on the fact that the batters were facing the sun, making it impossible to see the pitch.

^^ Though they lost, they were great sports

^^ After a few rounds of trivia at the local (college?) bar (we aaaalmost won the whole thing, but somehow we left Jack in the Box off of the list of the Top Ten Most Profitable Burger Chains. Before you roll your eyes in judgement, I should tell you, we diiiid mention Steak & Shake AND Hardee's, so we were looking good for a while) we finished the night at a little Tiki Bar in North Hollywood. (Being the remarkable lightweight that I am--and given the fact that I was driving--I did not enjoy the tiki place as much as some of the other patrons, but I did enjoy the company!)

All in all, it was a pretty good day in LA...looking forward to visiting all the best places in some more cities soon.