Let me just say a quickie "Happy Birthday" to one of my dearest friends Janine. Last year, I SPACED out and forgot her birthday and felt incredibly bad about it. Well…i didn’t actually forget…I remembered about 3 days after it came and went… but I’m pretty sure that counts as "forgetting"

And so..this year, I had 4 alarms set to remind me and they all went off last night about midnight.

I’ve known Janine since we were about 12 or 13 and though we don’t live in the same time zone, we’re still good friends. Now that I think of it, just about all the childhood friends I grew up with are still people I talk with ever so often and we always pick up right where we left off as if I never moved away.

When I go back to Michigan to visit, it’s always like a fun reunion and not just for me. Many of those friends who all hung out together back then only see each other when I come back to town (even though they only live a few miles away from one another). Everyone has their own lives now but when we come together it’s like being 16 years old again.

When I was 16, Janine and I flew out to California and stayed with her aunt and uncle and I remember it being such a great time. It was my 1st real taste that there was life outside Michigan..the ocean…palm trees…swimming pools, movie stars. I recall getting very sunburned while Guns and Roses’ "Sweet Child of Mine" CRANKED from the rooftop of her aunt’s apartment building. The entire time, we kept seriously considering that we should just stay here in Southern California. I can still remember the conversation as we were about to get on the plane to fly back to Winter Wonderland. It consisted of trying to figure out how in the hell we could just stay and what everyone would say if we didn’t come back

We got back on the airplane kicking and screaming (and sunburned) and on the 5 hour flight back, I thought about how i knew I’d return…someday.

As much as I complain about Hollywood sometimes and the plastic people and the crazy sky-high rent, I really am glad to be here. Out of all the places I’ve visited in my life, none gave me that feeling like it was a place i belonged. Sure, this place can make you a little jaded at times but I can’t think of a better climate to be jaded in

These days, I don’t even notice the palm trees anymore and the ocean is just around the corner… I don’t notice it either but I sure notice every time a Guns and Roses song comes on

Happy Birthday Janine!!!