It's 11am July 7th 2015, my flight leaves at 14:00, my Addison Lee is waiting patiently outside my flat to take me to Terminal 3 Heathrow. As I head through the front door for the last time this summer I make sure the place is tidy as there is nothing worse than coming back with the holiday blues to an untidy apartment.
The weather in London is overcast, soon I'll be in one of my favorite cities the thought and excitement makes me smile as we drive up the M4 towards Heathrow.
Eleven hours later I arrive at LAX, I hit Shay on WhatsApp to let him know I'm en route to West Hollywood he sends me the coordinates to his apartment while I'm in the taxi. I arrive at Shay's about half an hour later, he was having a meeting with the co-owner of Uptown Records. We have a catch up, before hitting the town to see what mischief we could get up to in LA on my first night (No sleep). We meet up with Sam and Gabriella (Gabriella and her friends are leaving tomorrow) at a bar on sunset but we quickly move onto somewhere more lively - Bootsy Bellows they play Trap Music!
I don't remember much about that night but all I know one girl in particular caught my eye but I'll get to that later.
The next morning me and Shay head out to grab some breakfast and to get signed to Equinox Gym.
Since I last saw Shay things have progressed nicely for him, he secured a role as Brand Ambassador for Deleon Tequila after meeting Puffy in Vegas (Puffy owns Ciroc Vodka and Deleon Tequila). As we drive down sunset there's a massive billboard advertisement for Ciroc Vodka featuring Shay. I let him know that I'm proud of him and the whole reason for my trip this time is to see if I could live in here permanently. I'm a programmer so getting work here shouldn't be hard plus I know a recruiter from London that now lives in LA and have arranged to meet up in Santa Monica to discuss opportunities. The question for me is whether I want the LA life or the LA Lifestyle? In my line of work I doubt that I could have both unless I build my own startup.
Shay and Puff (With Deleon Tquila)
Later we meet Jada at Mondrian Skybar for a quick lunch before she heads back to London. Jada now lives and works in LA in the music industry and supports me in making a move there on a permanent basis.
Me Jada and Shay
Anyway, it's Shay's birthday in a couple of days and he's planned a "small" dinner for some friends at Boa Steakhouse on Sunset then a surprise party at Blind Dragon. I've been a here one day and have barely slept - I'm tired, Jet lagged and in need of sleep....
Rolling
Bootsy Bellows
I'll be back with Part 3 shortly