BEDA 2: Beach day!

I'm typing my second BEDA post on my flight from LAX to SEA, trying desperately to process that last week I've spent down here in Southern California. You would honestly think that after awhile, traveling would stop affecting a person in new ways, but it never really does. Every time I walk through the airport, about to board a flight bound for home, I can actually feel the weight of my new experiences and thoughts and ideas resting on my shoulders.

TUESDAY

This particular trip to LA started out calmly and relaxingly. I arrived in town at midday, when I was picked up (along with Forest) by Ariana and Rosi. She took us to the mall to get some food and we ended up all buying new pairs of sunglasses. I'd never owned a pair of aviators before because I was afraid they made me look like a douche, but everyone insisted I looked cool, so. After drooling over some Betsey Johnson dresses (which I've never REALLY understood the appeal of beyond looking, as they're just so freaking expensive) we went to Ariana's new apartment (which is adorable).

I had a phone interview for a radio show scheduled that evening for 9:15 pm, so we had a bit of a laptop party (scrolling through Tumblr together) while we waited for that to happen. The interview itself was incredibly bizarre, but the guy was fun and had a lot to ask me about YouTube and Harry Potter and my Buffy video. My friends were listening and laughing from the living room, and lots of people from twitter tuned in as well, which was nice.

It was such an easy, lovely night with friends. It was nice to get to spend some time with Rosi in a casual setting (usually I only get to see her at conferences) and there was no rush or stress in anything we were doing.

WEDNESDAY

As far as days with no rush or stress go, though, Wednesday was even more brilliant. It's funny, because I tend to do a lot of traveling in the summer, but very rarely would I constitute any of these trips as a "summer vacation", as they generally involve playing music or a schedule of events I need to be at, etc. But the Wednesday before VidCon, all we were concerned about was having a fantastic day at the beach (after Ariana made us all breakfast in her new kitchen).

We were joined by Tyler Nicholas, and together, the five of us packed a little picnic of snacks, threw our books and towels in beach bags, and set off for the beach. We did have to stop briefly at Target because for some reason I didn't try on the bathing suit I packed before tossing it in my suitcase (it was from two summers ago) and it was weirdly just way too big for me. So anyway, I bought a new bikini at Target (I am actually embarrassed about the number of times I've needed to buy new swimsuits on vacations for various reasons) and then we had a momentary holdup while all three of us girls decided we needed to randomly buy high heeled shoes.

Eventually we were back on our way though, headed to Zuma Beach in Malibu. It was such a beautiful, beautiful day. The beach wasn't too terribly crowded. The sun was high in the sky, and the waves were lapping gently against the shore in a rhythmic cadence while we chatted, read books, and let the warmth soak into our skin.

I know I am totally spoiled at the number of times I've had the pleasure of lying on the beach in the sun already this year, but it just never gets old. I love it so much.

Once the shadows started getting long, we packed up our things and headed back to Ariana's to wash up and get ready to move into the VidCon hotel for the rest of the week. We arrived around 8ish and were immediately greeted by so many familiar faces. After dumping our stuff in the room, we crossed the street to the usual mall food area to find ourselves some dinner, deciding on BJ's. Midway into our meal we were joined by Alex Day and John Green, which was nice. Before long though, more and more people started showing up, including the whole of most of the UK YouTube group of people I had been so exited to see again. This was the moment it really started feeling like VidCon.

After dinner, Alex gave us a tour of the penthouse he was sharing with Charlie McDonnell, then my group headed back to our room to unpack a little bit and settle in. After a little while, Ariana and Tyler headed out to stay with one other friends, and I went back up to Alex's room to chat and catch up a little bit, as it had been a good long while since he and I had even seen each other.

It was a good start to what was sure to be a crazy week. :)

Flights taken: 17