How to Fight Jet Lag in Los Angeles

Wow, was I happy when Jess picked me up from the airport! Not all friends are nice enough to wake up before 7 on a Saturday to pick up their friend from the airport (and do the similar thing the next day to drop them off), but Jessica is an exception. 

She always takes me in when I go back and forth. The photo below is from last year. Flights going to Australia don't leave until about midnight, so I flew in earlier so that I could spend the day with her. We both grew up in the same area of Chicago. We became best friends at overnight camp when we were in the tween (not yet teen) category, and we still have no problem acting like we are 12 around each other. To sum her up in one word, she is awesome. 

She took me back to her apartment so that I could take a quick shower and change my clothes. Once I was ready, she took me to brunch at Jack n Jill's Too (different location but same menu as Jack n Jill's in Beverly Hills). Needless to say, my first breakfast did not satisfy me. 

I was nearly salivating as soon as we walked in, because there was a cupcake display in the front. YUM.

For my meal, I ordered the hi-protein scramble. It came with two sides, so I picked mini blueberry muffins and salad greens. It was all DE-LISH. The blueberry muffins melted in my mouth. They came before the rest of the food, so I split them with Jess. 

How beautiful is this scramble? I never go out for brunch in Australia, so I haven't had anything like this in a while. The hi-protein scramble was egg whites with turkey bacon, chicken breast, onions, tomato and garlic with jack, cheddar and mozzarella cheese. The salad greens was an assortment of lettuce with blue cheese crumbles, chopped tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms and walnuts.  

We also got some much- needed coffee. It didn't make a difference in the end, because I still nearly fell asleep at the table. 

We went back to the apartment, and I slept for a good hour and a half. Jess had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, so she woke me up to ask if I wanted to go with her (as I told her to). I can't even describe how I was feeling at that time. I stared into space for a good ten minutes and then got up to get ready. You know that feeling when you wake up from a long nap, and you're very disoriented for a while? That's how I felt, but even worse. I could barely walk straight. I felt like I was floating on air. I wanted to be awake and alert, but my body didn't know how to let me. That, my friends, is bad jet lag. 

I could have gone back to sleep (oh, how I wanted to), but that would be a bad idea. As I said before, you have to live in your current time zone. If I slept all day, it would just prolong the jet lag. I wouldn't be able to sleep through the night, and I'd be dead tired by the next afternoon. And the cycle would repeat. 

As Jess was driving along to her appointment, I realized that there was no way that I would even be able to operate a car. My driving would be no better than drunk driving. 

As the afternoon went on, my body slowly started to wake up. We left her appointment and went to the best frozen yogurt place in the world. I'm really not kidding. Jess said that when her mom and brothers were visiting, they went there three times in under a week. Look at the fro yo. Are you starting to get an idea?

Yogurtland is a genius concept. You walk in, grab an over-sized cup (that they want you to fill to the top so that you get more fro yo and thus you eat yourself to death and they get to pocket more of your money) and look at all of the flavors on the wall. It's all soft serve fro yo that you dish out yourself, and you can pack in as many flavors as you want (you can also sample them first). 

I chose Devil's Food Cupcake Batter (tastes like it sounds) and Red Velvet Cupcake Batter (tastes like it sounds). Just when you think it could not get any better, I added some cookie dough bits, brownie bits and smashed Butterfinger. It was one of those times in my life when I thought I might cry when I finished it all. 

When we finished (and I wiped my tears), we headed across the street to the ATT store. I swiped my Aussie sim card for an ATT sim card. I hated my pay-as-you-go plan the last time that I came here, but they had a new plan that only costs me $2/day for unlimited calls and text messages in the US. Bargain! It's a little bit more to call outside the US (actually, a lot), so I think I'll have to stick to Skype. 

As the lady helping me set up my card, we talked about Yogurtland. I told her that if I worked there, I'd go there every day. She told me that she wished I hadn't mentioned it, because now she wanted to go. 

Dinner time rolled around, so Jess and I met our friend Lexi (another one from our camp days) at Fat Fish Restaurant in West Hollywood. On the walk over there, I sent some of my friends inappropriate text messages since they didn't know my new phone number. It was very, very funny. 

Fat Fish was doing happy hour, so everything was half off. Mojito for $5? Yes, please!

I enjoyed a warm bowl of miso soup to start. 

For the main event, I got the Las Vegas Roll. It was tempura eel, avocado, crab and cream cheese. It was great, although it wasn't as unique as my other roll. 

I can't find the description on the website, but OH MY GOSH it was good. It was a standard run-of-the-mill roll with some sort of fish and rice and avocado that was invaded- literally melted over- by muenster cheese (and sun dried tomatoes and crunch tempura bits). I LOVE muenster cheese and haven't eaten in ages, so I was one happy girl. I definitely cleared my plate. 

I was super energetic until we finished dinner, and then I crashed. I could barely keep my eyes open. We were supposed to go to a party after that, but I told them to go ahead without me. Lexi's friend was nice enough to drop me off at the apartment. I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I slept a full ten hours until my alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning. Unbelievably, I fought the worst of my jet lag. 

Sunday morning, Jess brought me back to the airport. And the journey home continues....