Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

Dear Scott,

So sorry it's been a while. I have been so busy getting settled into this new lifestyle and acclimated to the city. So we have a lot to catch up on...

I spent the weekend in San Francisco with some friends from BU. Cait, Matt and I left Los Angeles at around 11 Friday morning and arrived in San Fran at about 5, the drive wasn't bad at all, especially compared to some of the grueling car rides I have recently endured. When we arrived in San Francisco, it was pouring, and continued to do so until Sunday morning. Friday night was very...um...college. We dressed to impress, all the while bobbing our heads to some of our favorite college jams, then we stuffed all six of us into a cab made for four, and gabbed the driver's ear off so that he wouldn't notice the two extra heads in the back seat. If he had noticed the two extra people stuffed into his taxi cab, he certainly had no concern for our safety, or more importantly, our stomachs. I began to see alternating flashes of both my childhood and the meatball hoagie I had had for lunch as he cruised, at what seemed to be the speed of light, through San Francisco's steep terrain. As the color of my face turned from light pink to a dark lavender and my eyes started to roll to the back of my head, the cab screeched to a halt...we had arrived, just in time.

I woke up Saturday morning to my, previously inflated, air mattress completely flattened on the hard wood floor. Despite my original insistence that I was going to need a wheelchair and a neck brace to contribute to the days activities, I eventually managed to pull myself together. Around noon, a group of nine of us met up for breakfast at a little cafe downtown. We sat at a corner booth for a couple of hours telling stories about one another and reminiscing on past times. The weather was miserable! It was pouring rain and freezing. While we made an attempt to sightsee San Francisco, the weather ended up "forcing" us into a pub down the street. Saturday night was another great time, spent with wonderful people.

I woke up early Sunday morning nearly crippled by my second night's sleep on the deflated air mattress. As I limped down the stairs of the apartment, toward the door, my handicap was almost instantly healed when I stepped outside into the 60 degree San Francisco sunshine. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We all hopped into a cab and rode it to the Castro, San Francisco's gay neighborhood, for lunch. What a place, a place of acceptance and of free love, I have never seen any place like it before. Mark twain once said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness," I'm starting to think he had just returned from a visit to San Francisco's Castro District. We spent the rest of the day visiting San Francisco's must-see attractions- the Haight District, the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz, leaving late Sunday night. The trip was amazing. I'm adding "Live in San Francisco" to my bucket list.

Improv classes are going well, I think I am finally starting to grasp an understanding of the art.

I miss Mom, Dad and Lizzy a whole lot. Be sure to take good care of them for me. I love and miss you more than you know.

Until we meet again,

Liney

Decide what to be and go be it

Dear Scott,

I had my first day of improv at the Groundlings today! It was an absolute blast. Tina Fey once said, "I was so sure that I was doing exactly what I'd been put on this earth to do, and I would have done anything to make it onto that stage. Not because of SNL, but because I wanted to devote my life to improv." Although I am aware of the long road I have ahead of me, I'm starting to appreciate the meaning of that statement.

I heard this song last night when I was watching the Grammys. I loved the tune so I downloaded the song, and as I listened to the lyrics, they resonated within me. This song reminded me of you and your beautiful soul, Scooter Pie. You epitomize my interpretation of this song- someone who was once scared of what the future held, but decided to face the music, to dance in the pouring rain. To name you a hero would be an understatement. I honestly don't think I would be here in Los Angeles living this dream if it weren't for you. This song, once again, ignites the inspiration you have given me to follow my dreams. Below I posted some of the lyrics as well as a youtube link to the song. Hope you like it, angel. I love you and miss you more than you know.

The Avett Brothers- Head Full of Doubt/ Road Full of Promise

There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it

When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it

There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it

Until we meet again,

Liney

Bieber Fever

Dear Scott,

Happy Saturday! Today, Cait, Darren and I woke up "early" (11 a.m.), threw on our tankinis and hopped into the car, not to miss the peak hours of sunshine. We spent the entire day at Santa Monica beach, in our newly purchased beach chairs, chatting, laughing and watching the world go by. One of the things I love most about California is the amount of time people spend outdoors, the warm weather creates a happy, carefree atmosphere. People were rollerblading, bike riding, surfing, sailing, playing volleyball and soccer, all with chihuahuas in-hand. We decided to leave the beach around 4 p.m., just in time for happy hour. As we strolled along Santa Monica Boulevard looking for a beachside restaurant to park ourselves, we stumbled upon the hotel that Aunt Janet and Uncle Jim stayed at during their visit to Los Angeles a couple of years ago. Although Cait and Darren insisted that the pool was strictly for hotel guests only, a little voice kept ringing in my ear saying.."well behaved women rarely make history..." so I lead them through the fancy entrance of the hotel, all the while winking at the bellhops, and strolled right up to the rooftop pool, which has, by far, the most beautiful view of the Santa Monica sunset. And watch the sunset is exactly what we did, with mojitos in hand, of course.

We left the hotel upon sunset and stopped by a grocery store on the way home to pick up dinner. As I turned the corner of the dairy isle, I was nearly knocked over by this spray-tanned, tattooed, macho man pushing a hot pink stroller. When I looked down at the stroller expecting to oodle an infant who bared a strong resemblance to Snooki, a fluffy white pomeranian stared back at me. I don't think I have ever been more disturbed.

On a more serious note, I have come down with something...

Thursday night, I was dragged to the midnight showing of Justin Bieber's Never Say Never movie, Darren had ordered the tickets a week in advance. Cait and I had spent the day hiking to the top of the Griffith Observatory, the absolute most beautiful view of Los Angeles and its surrounding cities, so I was in no spirit to wreak havoc on Los Angeles and was content with spending my night at the movie theater. After Darren and Cait had insisted that Justin Bieber was the hottest commodity since N'S(t)YNC, I agreed to go see the movie. We arrived at the theater in downtown LA THREE HOURS before the movie time, anticipating a crowd of shrieking teeny boppers, so, to kill time, we wandered around The Grove. Around 11p.m., after playing hide and seek in Barnes and Noble for nearly two hours, we strolled over to the theater and pre-gamed for the "most anticipated film of the year" by purchasing a tub of buttered popcorn and a big gulp of coca cola. I felt like I was 16 again. We sat in the theater for nearly an hour until the lights finally dimmed and the previews started to roll. All of a sudden, no more than one minute into the previews, some middle aged man ran into the center of the theater and started yelling. I figured it was some Californian, middle-aged, drug addict, so I rolled my eyes and continued to stuff my face with the vat of popcorn we had purchased. All of a sudden, a little punk of a child ran into the theater and started jumping up and down. I don't know what it was, but a fever, the Bieber fever, came over me like a tsunami and I jumped out of my seat and started shrieking. Justin Bieber himself was standing in the center of a theater of over 100 people and for some reason, my first reaction was to scream, at the top of my lungs, which is exactly what I did. I truly don't know what came over me. I was the only one in the theater who was a) over the age of 15 and b) coherent enough to know what was going on and the fever took me over. The rest of the theater stared in utter disbelief as I leapt from my seat and proceeded to climb, no, dive over the seats to reach Justin. The entire situation is a blur but I vaguely remember diving (slo-mo) through popcorn, gummy bears and junior mints, which flew up in the air like confetti. When I finally reached the railing, which separated me and the modern day "king of pop," I blessed myself and took the leap, landing at the, children's size 14, purple paten leather sneaker of Justin Bieber. The theater fell silent. The only thing heard was the echo of my hysterics, of both laughter and tears, into the floor of the theater, as I attempted to regain my poise. I laid on the floor of the theater for a solid 30 seconds, now being trampled by a stampede of 13-year olds who hugged, kissed and posed for pictures with the walking ken barbie doll, formally known as Justin Bieber. I finally managed to pick my bleeding and bruised 23 year-old self up from the floor, just in time to hear the raspy pre-pubetic voice announce, "Hey guys I just stopped by to say thanks for coming, I love you all." And then I stood there completely dumbfounded and watched as Justin Bieber flipped his dirty blonde coiffure to the side of his porcelain complexion, batted his dark eyelashes, flashed his hundred million dollar grin and then carelessly skipped out of the theater, leaving nothing but a trail of glitter.

Scott Vincent, I kid you not, Bieber fever has left me, literally and figuratively, disabled, distressed and dehabilitated, laugh about it, I can hear you now.

I love you more than the whole universe!

Until we meet again,

Liney

Falling into place

Dear Scott,

It's day three in Los Angeles and the weather has hardly dropped below 70 degrees. It's absolutely beautiful outside. I have spent the past three days getting settled into the city, attempting to find my way around, applying for jobs and scheduling auditions...which leads me to my big news...

I have been taking Improv classes in Boston for the past couple of years. Los Angeles has one of the biggest Improv schools in the country, The Groundlings, which is what brought me to this city. Groundlings has served as a career platform for some very notable alumni (Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Conan, etc...to name a few). Keeping in mind that my acceptance into Groundlings was a long shot, I scheduled an audition for Monday morning. I auditioned with about 20 other aspiring actors and comedians and left feeling just so-so about my performance. I haven't done any Improv since last spring and didn't think that I really stood out in my audition. So I took Monday night to sulk around the apartment, basking in self pity and went to bed early anticipating my bleak future, crushed dreams, and a painful letter of rejection, which would soon contaminate my inbox.

That night, I had nightmares imagining myself as a circus clown at the Topsfield Fair whose only responsibility was to sit in the dunk tank and wait for a group of obnoxious teenagers to make the shot, which would submerse me and my fire red wig under water. As I would finally manage to pull myself from the water to gasp for oxygen and my stark white make-up would drizzle down my face transforming my painted smile to a bitter frown, the same pimple-faced bully would nail the target again and I would watch from underwater as passerbys started to gather around my dunk tank to join in on the mockery.

I arose the next morning and kept occupied by performing every tedious and unnecessary task that I could think of. I refolded my laundry, french braided my whole head, and ironed my underwear, all to avoid signing in to my e-mail. And then I knew I had to face the music. So I signed into my e-mail and there it was, right in the subject line, "Your Groundlings Audition Results." I opened the e-mail, skimmed through the needless banter and finally landed my eyes on, "Caroline Collett's Audition Result: PASSED." I jumped up and down screaming bloody murder for a solid 20 minutes and then called everyone I had ever met and told them that I was admitted to clown school.

Classes start next Monday and they will be twice a week for six weeks. I have to pass four levels of improv and writing classes to eventually be a member of the Sunday Company that performs at the Groundlings theater in LA every Sunday. It's a step in the right direction.

Thanks for your help on Monday, I don't think I could have done it without you.

Until we meet again,

Liney

Let me tell you 'bout my best friend...

Dear Scott,

WE MADE IT! We arrived safely in Los Angeles yesterday at 1. I can't believe that we finally got here. When we crossed into California from Arizona, the temperature reached 65 degrees, the highest we've seen in days. Jenna and I rolled down the windows, opened the sunroof and basked in the wind and the sunshine as we finally approached Los Angeles. This city is everything I remembered. After we lugged our belongings up to Cait's apartment, we showered and headed over to Sunset Boulevard. It was the most perfect day, I couldn't have asked for better weather. We sat outside the Saddle Ranch restaurant with cocktails and appetizers catching up on lost time.

Last night I drove Jenna to the airport. We spent the ride reminiscing on the trip's most memorable moments, I could hardly see the road through the tears of laughter that welled my eyes. And then as we approached the departure gate, I knew had to face the inevitable moment. I hugged Jenna so tightly that she nearly fell over and then watched as she approached the check-in desk to eventually board the plane to Boston. It was only until airport security threatened me with a $100 fine that I was forced to get into my car, drive away, and think about our ride...

Jenna and I spent a lot of time together in the past 14 days, especially in that little Jetta that took us across the country. We shared tears, sobs, of both sadness and laughter. We shared secrets. We divulged our deepest fears and our happiest moments. We talked about our goals, our dreams, our families. We talked about our aspirations, professionally and personally. And like an old married couple, we bickered a few times. I've heard that you're supposed to surround yourself with people who possess qualities that you admire, in one way or another. My friend Jenna embodies the kind of person that I hope to be. Jenna is more than my best friend, she is as close as to a sister as they come, she is a part of me. There is no one I would have rather spent this experience with. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful person in my life. I think you would have found Jenna just as phenomenal as I have.

And here I am in Los Angeles. The trip is over, but the journey has just begun and I'm sure you'll be with me every step of the way. I love you and miss you more than ever. Here goes nothin' Scooter Pie.

Until we meet again,

Liney

The Last Stretch

Dear Scott,

We are in Tucson! I can't believe we actually made it here. We left Santa Fe at 5 a.m. yesterday morning. It was snowing like CRAZY and about 6 degrees when we left. We managed to make it to Arizona in about twice the estimated travel time, around 2 p.m. I was unsure (doubtful) whether the sight of the Grand Canyon was going to be worth the six hour detour but I put a smile on for Jenna and kept agreeing that it was "part of the adventure!" After turning off the interstate, we drove 50 miles uphill until we finally arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park welcome sign. We paid a whopping $25 vehicle fee and entered the "park." As we climbed further and further up the mountain, with a view of nothing but pine trees and fat yellow speed bumps, I became concerned that the Grand Canyon was nothing but a museum featuring pictures of what COULD be, featured in fairytales and text books. "What do you think Liney!? That it's just going to emerge out of nowhere!?" Jenna said in response to my sour attitude. And all of a sudden, among the blur of forest green that surrounded us, the trees parted and there it emerged, a magnificent mass of beauty, so great that it took my breath away. We immediately pulled over and ran to the canyon's edge and looked out in wonder and disbelief. We both stood there in silence, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, more beautiful than I had ever imagined. The sight brought tears to my eyes and I stood there and cried. I cried like a baby, in happiness, in disbelief and I cried because I knew you were standing right there next to me as I gazed out over the canyon. Jenna and I took a million photographs, including our "save the date" picture, which will be printed on postcards and sent out to all of our friends and family members upon our engagement.

We left the canyon after a couple of hours, and we still had a solid six hours of driving left to do until we arrived at Jenna's grandparents in Tucson. When we finally made it, grandma greeted us with warm milk and cookies and then tucked us into bed like toddlers, it was exactly what I needed.

This morning we emerged from our nursery after a 14 hour slumber and we were greeted, once again by grandma, with fresh squeezed oj and warm blueberry muffins. After breakfast, grandma and grandpa piled us into the car and gave us a tour of Tucson, downtown and then further out to the mountains. Grandpa narrated the tour while grandma sat in the passenger seat giggling at grandpas antics. Today was their 54th wedding anniversary and they remarked over and over that it was exactly how they wanted to spend it. For dinner we ate chimichangas, washed down with chilled coronas.

Tomorrow is our finale. We will bid farewell to grammy and grandpa and drive our final seven hours out to Los Angeles. Upon arrival I'm going to crack open three beers, one for me, one for Jenna, and one for you in appreciation and in gratitude of you and jenna accompanying me on a 3,765 mile trip of a lifetime.

Until we meet again,

Liney

My Sunshine

Dear Scott,

We made it safely to Santa Fe! I truly apologize for the fact that I haven't been in touch for the past couple of days. We left Austin yesterday afternoon and stayed the night last night in Lubbock, Texas...enough said. The town had been given a "winter weather advisory" (meaning someone threw an ice cube on the interstate) and you would have thought they were preparing for an Armageddon. When we arrived at the hotel, we could hardly find a parking spot out front. I found it difficult to imagine that Lubbock's Holiday Inn Express was the ideal weekend getaway. Upon check-in, the woman at the front desk, who wore her pant suit and highlighted mullet with pride, explained, "Y'all are lucky you managed to make it in here! Place is packed tonight cuz we're fixin' for a dumpin!" Jenna and I arose this morning to a light dusting, at best.

By the time we arrived in Santa Fe, around 3 p.m. this afternoon, the temperature had dropped to 9 degrees! We wandered around downtown Santa Fe this afternoon but the wind chill was so strong that after a mere 10 minutes, the tip of my nose bared a foot long icicle. We had no choice but to resort to a saloon downtown. Jenna and I snatched two oversized leather chairs that sat right in front of the fireplace. As I peeked out the window, slightly to the left of the roaring fire, I was captivated by the sight of a row of bright colored pueblos that sat at the foot of snow-covered mountain tops. It was just beautiful, to say the least.

Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon! I hope the weather is better than today, although I know that you, my sunshine, are guiding us every step of the way.

Until we meet again,

Liney