LANA, LA, & LEGOS

I'd like to start by offering a warm welcome to whoever decides to pop in and read the glimpses of my life I'm so vulnerably offering to the general public.

You see, I'm writing this blog -or beginning to write this- on January 16th, 2025, so there is a slight delay on my end. However, in my defense, I unintentionally enrolled myself in three accelerated English courses for my winter school session. I have been reading articles about plant-based burgers, watching a stupid amount of finger puppet Shakespeare plays on YouTube, and writing stories about men with cancer who read Rick Riordan while eating tinned salmon fillets (that creative writing class truly lets me abuse my volition). 

So while my workload has been heavier than it's ever been, I do find myself giggling at my computer more than ever, which—in turn—has made this quite an enjoyable educational experience. Cheers to getting an associate's in English at the community college!

Ringing in this new year has been somewhat exciting, albeit devastating. Everything will be broken down chronologically so as not to cause any confusion.

January 1st, 2025:

My intelligent, supportive nurse eldest sister, Alexia, came out to spend New Year's with me since Elena, my wonderfully alternative, loyal, yin-to-my-yang best friend, decided to abandon me for the holiday because she didn't want to wake up early to fly home to be with me. So, Alexia drove out on the 31st and stayed until the 3rd.

We spent our New Year's trying out De La Nonna in the arts district, which was a delicious experience despite the low-key lack of apetizers, but that's fine. We indulged in some cocktails and carbohydrates, which one can rarely go wrong with.

beverages

After dinner, we went to an arcade bar, where we got stuck in an uncomfortably long conversation with fellow Arizonians and discovered our love for space invaders. We promptly left this establishment to get ice cream.

After going home and trying to stay awake until the clock struck 12, we celebrated by showering, changing into our pajamas, and then going to sleep.

I had work the next day, so it was boring. 

January 2nd, however, was a fucking blast. We woke up, got coffee here in downtown, then Alexia drove our asses to the Santa Monica mountains to go horseback riding.

I had been wanting to do this for a while, and Alexia got me a gift card for a trail ride business based in Malibu. It ended up being a self-serving gift because she came with me, so it was a win-win. 

We both had a wonderful experience, and I started tearing up when looking at the horses because I am a horse girl at heart, but I've had to repress it since they are shunned. This experience was especially magical for me because I believe it changed the trajectory of my life. I would expand on this, but the exact details would ruin my manifestation practices. Give me a few weeks (or months).

Once our asses were thoroughly bruised, we went to Malibu and enjoyed the beautiful day by getting pizza, smoothies and doing some shopping

We spent more time than we both expected up there, so we spent the car ride home trying to stay awake in the standstill traffic.

Once home, I honestly can't remember what else happened, so we will move on to our next event, which occurred this week and is more exciting than anything that has ever happened to me. 

January 5th, 2025:

I, Melina Anastopoulos, have consistently met and interacted with the two artists on my Spotify wrap for the last five years. The Kanye West box was marked years ago (a story that will hopefully be on my lore page sometime soon), and now, I can check off Lana Del Rey. She is honestly my holy grail. She has always been the one person I would tweak out if I was in close proximity to, and lord did I when I heard she was pulling up in the store.

I waited and waited -impatiently at that- with my department manager for her arrival. I had yet to go on my lunch break but needed food so badly that I knew she would show up as soon as I left, and that is precisely what ended up happening. I had never eaten a turkey sandwich so fast in my life. I clocked out for 11 minutes, punching right back in when I got the text saying she was in the store. 

Coming downstairs, the store buzzed with the energy of a celebrity being inside. If you've worked in luxury retail, you'll know what I'm talking about. The store quiets down as the team murmurs to each other. The area the celebrity is in is like a quarantine zone; most are nervous about making the celebrity feel too noticed. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then whatever, you're just not aware of your environment. 

By the time I came down, she was tucked away in our VIC room, away from the other commoners. My heart is breaking. My boss and I weren't helping her, and I couldn't exactly barge my way into the dressing room and kiss her feet. 

Walking back to the store's men's section, crestfallen, my boss asked me if I had talked to her. Disappointedly, I had to admit that I hadn't even seen her. He tried to hype me up to give me the courage to speak with her, offering her water or something, so I could get my glimpse of her. I was okay if I didn't get to meet her, and I accepted that I would only see her, so I settled for a glimpse.

All of a sudden, I have everyone and their fucking mom who works there asking me if I got to see her because they all had. I wanted to bash their heads into the mahogany walls. Genuine tears of frustration welled in my eyes, and I got a frog in my throat. 

There was no way Lana Del Rey was a room over from me. I was the one person making the biggest deal out of her being in the store, and I didn't even get to see her. 

I had to make a move.

I went back to the women's section and grabbed a shirt that the sales associate who was helping her had put aside while he went to get something else. I followed the hospitality manager into the fitting room with as much confidence as I could muster. The manager was chatting with her, and I awkwardly loitered a few feet away from the doorway they were standing in. 

I'm taking deep breaths, and her eyes flicker over to me. She smiles briefly, and once the hospitality manager has stepped out of the way, I walk straight into that dressing room. I look at her, I look at her husband, and I say, "I come bearing a white shirt."

Which she replies with, "Oh, what size?"

"So this is a 16.5. These dress shirts are measured by neck measurements, but this is basically a large," I say.

"Okay, great." she says, walking up to her husband. And then, “Do you have any shirts with a different collar?"

She puts her hands on the collar of her husbands shirt. Her husband stands on the tiny stage in the VIP fitting room and she flattens the peak of the collar of the Western shirt he's wearing. She turns to look at me over her shoulder."Do you have something that doesn't come up so high? Is it supposed to be like this?"

"Yeah, we should have just a white shirt that doesn't have as dramatic of a peak by the neck?"

She nods conclusively, "Yeah! Something that will go well with this fabric—" she pats her husbands arm, which is covered by a blue wool suit jacket. "This kind of thicker wool?"

"I'm sure we do. I'll go dig and let (sales associate name here) know!" I started making my way out of the room, and she thanked me. 

I shut the door and walked into the women's area. I was immediately asked what had happened to the white shirt that had been put aside. I confessed I gave it to her, and let's just say I was not met with gratitude. Maybe I kind of sorta inserted myself, but I don't give a single shit. Not only did I see her, I got to speak with her, and it was more than a greeting or a goodbye.

Walking back to mens with a shit-eating grin, my boss looks at me, and I immediately recap what happened. He seemed very excited for me, and we bonded that day, as it was the first time I ever lost my marbles over a client around him. We have limited physical interactions, but if he were the type, I’m sure he would've put his hand up for a high-five or knuckles, some congratulatory hand action.

Immediately, I texted Elena and my family group chat about the exciting news, just for my brother to respond with, "Lisan al Gaib."

So, there's that.

I also cried the entire bus ride home, listening to her music while staring at the passing city with my hand pressed against the window. 

It was her who met Lana Del Rey that fated day^

January 7th, 2025:

LA's in flames; it's getting hot.

The seventh was the day that the fires started scaring me. 

Someone posted a tweet saying something like, "Downtown Los Angeles being one of the safest places to be was not on my 2025 bingo card."

Whoever said that was honestly so valid because while I kept it within the realm of possibilities, DTLA is far enough from anywhere that had a fire that I knew it wouldn't be going up in flames.

The smoke, however, was extremely concerning, especially when I woke up in the morning to find my room basked in orange light. The sun was pushing through the ashy clouds, making the sky glow amber; there was no blue to be seen. Yet, -for some reason- work remained open, and I got myself ready and then onto the bus to clock in.

The sky made it seem the apocalypse had hit Los Angeles, but the upper echelon needed their clothes. Thankfully, we only remained open for a couple of hours until whatever higher-up took into consideration the safety of their employees rather than their numbers. I headed home, reading my smutty novel on the way(Credence by Penelope Douglas, for those interested), and dedicated the rest of my day to finishing my book. 

That was a Wednesday, and I was already off the prior Monday and Tuesday. We were then closed on Thursday and Friday. We closed early on Saturday. I called out Sunday, then was off Monday and Tuesday again, so I got a vacation.

It felt like COVID because no one was outside, and every piece of media I was consuming, suggested staying indoors. 

January 10th, 2025:

This was last Friday when we were closed, but I finally finished my Lego set that I had been working on last week, which was extremely fulfilling. I later got a shelf for it, so now my masterpiece is hanging above my bed with my other Lego sets.

The minute I finished my Legos, I went down to Ralphs to meet up with my birthday twin and previous co-worker, Chloe. We filled a shopping cart to the brim with all the fun things a local YMCA asked for regarding donations for fire victims. We picked up a friend of hers who also had some things to donate, and we drove to K-Town to drop everything off.

I spent the rest of that day taking a nap and doing homework.

January 11th, 2025:

Despite the smell of smoke lingering in the halls of my Downtown Los Angeles apartment complex, I got my shit for work and headed on over. I spent this entire day being a ray of sunshine at work by complaining to anyone who would listen, reading Mein Kampf, and rallying troops to protest against staying open. We hoped to get out before the winds picked up and sent the lead paint, asbestos, and whatever other chemicals those houses were made that burned down straight toward us. We left at 5 pm instead of 6 pm, amen.

That is all for this BBLog.