ABBOTT KINNEY FESTIVAL

This past Sunday was the ABBOTT KINNEY FESTIVAL in Venice, CA. If you don’t live in LA, or live in LA but have never been it’s basically a huge, FABULOUS street festival and block party celebrating the end of summer. I love a good street fair and I love summer, so I was excited.

I woke up to the sun shining in my windows. Another hot day as we head into fall, but trying to hold tight to the days of summer. I started my Sunday as I always do (I love Sundays. They are truly my favorite day. So relaxing). I walked Peanut on the beach, then hopped on my schnazzy pink and green beach cruiser (I totally have the best bike on the beach) and headed to Coffee Bean (I love the coffee Bean a lot! Check out the July 18th blog to see just how VERY much) then to Farmers Market (where I picked up some flowers and an artichoke).

After a quick pit stop back home, it was festival time (and time to get festive). My friends Jill and Dara and Peanut and I headed out on foot (less than a mile by foot and way less of a headache to not deal with parking). As we got closer, we could hear the bands rocking, smell the kettle corn popping and see the crowds swarming.

First stop, the Pacific stage on the South side of the fair where my very sexy and always shirtless (surfer) neighbor Peter’s band was playing. He looked super hot as he strummed the guitar and crooned his sexy tunes. Sadly, he had a shirt on!

Next, we met up with my friend Zoe and cruised the wares (arts and crafts and all sorts of fun stuff). I kept my shopping to a minimum, but did a lot of browsing of art (After 2 years in my house, my walls are still bare and craving some color!)

Some of the ladies partook in the fried food sold by the vendors, but I opted for Abbotts Pizza (the best slice on the Westside, SERIOUSLY!) The line was LONG and Peanut was annoying (He hates being tied up outside and will let EVERYONE know by constantly barking the whole time), but it was worth it! I got the salad pizza which is basically the best pizza crust slathered with goat cheese then piled with crispy lettuce, tomatoes, onions and avocados (I hate avocados, but Zoe happily took them off my hands) topped with a yummy vinaigrette. Delicious!

After we were good and full, we checked out a couple of the other bands and stands and headed back towards home. The walk home seemed WAY longer since we were tired and lazy Peanut had to be carried, but we made it home in time to set up for the BBQ.

No Abbott Kinney Festival is complete without a BBQ to follow. I invited all my friends (by Evite), moved the furniture and set out the chips and beer and was ready to party. Randomly, the first guest was my friend Nico (who was once my French lover, but now is just a friend) and his friend EVE (Eve, as in the rapper). It’s sort of weird to have Eve hanging in your living room, but she was a sweetheart and totally cool. She hang and ate spinach dip as the party filled with all the different groups of LA peeps that I know.

For some reason, every time I have a BBQ everyone gets wasted and the nice party turns into a wild (VERY messy) dance party. So as the sun went down (so did the lights) and the music got loud and the party got a bit wild. Before my house got anymore trashed, I pushed everyone out and moved the crowd to a local bar. Back to Abbott Kinney (where surprisingly the streets were already clean. Boy, do they work fast! I needed a street crew to come clean up my house too) where we crowded into The Brigg (a dark, sexy bar with a pool table and dance floor).

Dancing around the bar full of all my friends was a perfect end to a FABULOUS Sunday and FUN, FUN, FUN ABBOTT KINNEY FESTIVAL ☺