Last Wednesday I went to my first ever kickstart party.  I was excited because the creator of the shoe line was there and I would have the opportunity to tell Nik how proud I was.  The facade was a 4 chair barber shop with the rotating barber pole on the outside in Los Angeles “Where is the party? .  A secret door led into a dark pub like atmosphere,  house music playing and super young crowd. Nik had the beautiful display of a footwear on a candle lit table.  I picked one up and smelled the new leather all which came From and made in  Portugal.  I hugged Nik and I immediately got a warm energy boost. “My whole life savings went into this” Nik says   You have to go out on a limb to get to the fruit.  I have a wristband which gets me a Bacardi sponsored rum drink and I order a 12.00 dollar sandwich. I’m definitely in Los Angeles Westside for sure.  I break bread with Phoebe and Moe and shared the take out they had.  A Filipino and and Idonesian and we talked food, poker and traveling and I loved the giggling “What’s up with the 13 letter names?” And teased both of them when I asked “how long have you guys been together”  they just met that night.  I knew the grilled cheese with bacon was going to be rich and it  was also delicious so I glad we shared it  The LGBT crowd is the target for these beautifully made shoes but they are for just about anyone.  I love the fresh faces complexions free of lines and beautiful heads of hair with good smelling product in it.  Everyone I met like Beck and her GF dressed stylishly and everybody gave good hand shakes. And I appreciated that there are plenty of people who take effort to dress nicely with crisp clean lines and accessories that complement rather than detract.  Nik’s girlfriend Amy seemed  tired but she was there to support Nik and that spoke volumes.  Nik you are an entrepreneur extraordinaire and have the best attitude to be successful. You are a good pet guardian too. I got my LA cache.



Humans are creatures that require socialization or else we die.  Or die earlier. In the states there is plenty opportunity to do this and I’ve chosen the meet up.  It’s “Meet people in your community to share interest” I’ve done a hiking, live music and now poker meet up.  Friday night I pull up to a house in a middle class neighborhood and my mom and I are first to arrive.  We walk to a back house 2 story and we are greeted and upon  entering I immediately see a pet rabbit and the tall guy who is running this poker group introduces us to his family.  A 15 y.o and and a baby boy both darling. It’s a full house and I’m shocked because I find out you can rent a closet size room with 2 people for 700.00 bucks.  Slowly people trickle in and it’s a Vietnamese American youngster who has yet to play Omaha,  a tall dude who doesn’t like the game because the rules just don’t make sense.  40 bucks  buy in and let the games begin. For the record it’s not a good idea to bad mouth other poker meet ups but this was an exception. Apparently there  is a gal out there who is not only crazy but uses participants to move large pieces of furniture and expects them not to scratch a thing or there is hell to pay in the form of harassing texts.  The youngster ironically said he knows her and was “scarred for life” ” I haven’t gone to a poker meet up for over a year because of her”. My mom even knew her because she has shown up at other poker groups “Is she a Redhead?”  Unasimously heads nod in agreement.  An attractive gal showed up and a potential suitor of hers who was carrying Flemish beer and  a E-cig. He is encouraged by a table full of people to “Do The Dragon” with a reluctant look he inhales deeply gets close to the poker table and an ungodly amount of rolling billowing smoky water vapor rolls out of his two facial orifices and I screamed in delight.  It looked like a scene from Lords of the Rings. I got chills too.  Lastly there was a newly fiancée couple and one of them who said to say her name is Rainbow Brite. I asked the group if I could blog about that night and I give a shout out.  Rainbow Brite was just that.  She was fun and funny and said both her and her fiancé were foodies and travel to eat “Washington, San Francisco” prefix menus are indeed the way to go.  I loved their generosity, she gave my mom and the student a filet-o-fish sandwich and me a water. Josie was serious about her life and playful in poker.  We played easily to three am and of course the newbie student won some big pots and was the main money winner I was second I think.  I wrote on the comment feedback regarding the event “entertaining, legit and seasoned poker players”.