Field Trippin': Sweet Caroline... so good, so good, SO GOOD!

A couple weeks ago my little Buddha crew & I hit the beach. It was 2 days after I catered the Pom Wonderful event & after the impromptu leftovers party I had after the event I still had some food stuffing the fridge. For a couple of weekends my boy Zak would cruise by the house & scoop Vinda & I & we'd set off for a new adventure at a different beach... the perks of living in the land of LA LA.

Mito & Curtis joined in so I decided to make a picnic out of it. I had some crispy pomegranate duck left over from the pom king duck , some Vietnamese noodles in the cupboards & takeout boxes. SCORE!


I made a Japanese Cucumber salad to cool off the heat from the noodles


Driving through the Valley to get to Zuma the sun was kissing the hills, the music had us swaying, we were talking about spirituality & how the mystic law is changing our lives & the breeze from my windows down had my hair blowing... I've been rocking my REAL hair lately Boo Boo & it has been looking & feeling FIERCE! We were so stoked. We get to the beach ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...... hold up, are we in London?!?!?

We couldn't see the water, hell we couldn't see our hands as we stretched out our arms... the fog was so dense, maybe it wasn't fog I don't know what it was I'm not a beach person but apparently out here you're supposed to check a "surf report" before you head out. Where I'm from you open the shades & if the sun smacks you in your face it's a great God blessed day to hit la playa... to you gringos or non Miami folks that's the beach. And it was as cold as a witches boob out there... not cute at all! After paying 7 bucks to park & the 45 minute drive out there we decided to brave the frozen tundra & accept our fate & we copped a squat. Happy I added all those chilies to our noodles it was a good time to lay out the food & eat it to get warm.

Mito's way of making the "best" of it... HA!

Since you can't drink at the beach, trust me Vinda & I learned this the weekend before when the ATV beach police came to smell our thermos & Zak was convinced they were going to take us in the back of their ATV's & arrest us... HA! I LOADED up a bag full of all the fruits that were leftover at the bottom of the jar from my pomegranate sangrias... PARTY, PARTY Baby! I was loaded!
Everyone loved it... except for Zak, he didn't eat he was so bummed about the weather, jokingly Vinda started chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the sun to come back, it was after 2.... the chances of that happening was as good as Rush Limbaugh owning a Football team (what is WRONG with that guy?!?!?) Never one to question the mystic law, we all chimed in to the chant, laughing. The noodles got to me & as usual after I eat the "itis" struck & I put my head down, wrapped all the towels around me & slept with the fishes...

AND I woke up to THIS!!!!!
It's well after 3 o'clock & the sun is kick-ING!!! It was beautiful... oh I also woke up to this, poor Mito I stole his towel & he made this to keep warm... pobrecito.
We took lots of pictures & laughed, I cranked up the music & our oceanside party began. Zak went from near depression to SHOCK! He kept saying "but it's after 3, it's after 3, why is the sun out like this?!?!?" Vinda the Boriqua Buddha from da Bronx just kept answering in her thick don't mess with me I'm from da boogie down accent, "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo"... it was awesome. I started playing some extremely inappropriate Miami booty bass & although I wanted to dance SO badly I just sat down with Curtis chair dancing... terrible.

A classical aria by the 2 Live Crew "Doo Doo Brown" came on... the not so radio friendly version played... Mito & Vinda were going off & I just watched in awe of how uninhibited they were. They were jokingly smacking each others cans & dropping it like it's hot! Next thing you know this precocious little girl wearing a life vest came over & she just danced circles around us.

Around & around she went, I was fixated on this & then realized the lyrics are talking about not popping bottles but popping a woman's... ahem & the guy keeps grunting "Doo Doo Brown!!!" quickly I change the music but wanting to keep the Miami theme I switch to some Freestyle.

I play TKA, Lissette Menedez, Stevie B, George Lamond, music that's way past it's expiration date but the novelty of it & the same beat coursing through every single song no matter who sang it still held on to it's brilliance.

This bundle of superb energy, Miss Caroline, did not stop. Round & round she goes, hypnotizing us with her infectious positivity. I turn to Curtis & say "what happened to us, we used to do that, we used to be so carefree?" Curtis without hesitation answered "life" this bummed me out a bit but still I was under this little fairy's spell.

Round & round she went sprinkling her fairy dust I looked at my ipod to find more music & next thing you know... there it was. The song that makes me SO damn happy if an Earthquake struck & I were left with nothing... absolutely nothing, I swear if ANYONE played this song, I would just start dancing & clapping like a feral seal jumping up & down with sheer joy, what could this piece of musical genius be you ask?!?!

It's that song you know, that you're embarrassed about it's like that date you take to the dark & dingy corner of that dive bar no one would expect for you to be caught dead at but hell it's a free drink... ok fine DRINKS & he's paying & he's not a bad kisser... yes it's THAT kind of song! Is the suspense killing you? Ladies & Germs click play:


Oh it was a WRAP! Vinda the Diva, Curtis the fab Gay, Caroline my Tinkerbell & my bitter, bitter ass LOST IT!!! We danced round & round & Caroline lead the way! Her mother & friend were looking over & laughing... they knew EXACTLY what she was doing "spreading her magic". Her Mother Chrissi & Chrissi's friend Briana were photographers & an impromptu photo shoot began... WERK!


We just kept dancing & dancing, round & round we went all of a sudden we were the little kids I spoke of earlier that were untouched by "life" well unscathed by it is a more appropriate term to describe it. They kept shooting away at our exuberence as the sun shared it's last kisses. I then switched to a White Party remix of one of my FAVORITE songs of all time, doesn't matter WHO sings it, it just makes me happy, riddles me with goosebumps & makes my soul happy, "Let The Sunshine In".


It was super poetic as the sun we were worshipping went down, round & round we went thanking both it & Caroline for their mystic blessings, round & round we went the music is begging us "you got to feeeeeeel it... you GOT to, Let the sunshine.... when you are lonely, when you are lonely... you GOT to feeeel it". Round & round we went... "FEELING it" Vinda, Curtis, Myself & wait...


where's my little stinkerbell Caroline?!?!? She was off to sprinkle her pixie dust on someone else. She was back sitting with her little brother kicking her feet in the water splashing in delight knowing full well what she had done. I will NEVER forget her & I thank her for setting me free! We continued to dance to let the sunshine in as the sun shone out. I jumped for joy as I no longer felt constrained by my needing to feel "grown up" thank you Caroline for reminding me of quality of life I have long forgotten.... what a feeling!
Photos courtesy of Caroline's Mommy Chrissi Richards: http://www.chrissirichards.com/