I’m cruising at 32,000 ft. on my way to Milan, Italy for men’s couture fashion week and I can’t help thinking about Florence Alabama. I’m surprised to be saying this but Milan has big shoes to fill and I doubt it can come close. I was mesmerized by the quaint downtown area in Florence and if you’re ever in the area I would check out Ye Olde General Store, The Original Ice Cream Shop, On the Rocks and a local artist named Good Boy Willy. Our production was there filming a weekend party thrown by fashion designer Billy Reid. He converted his downtown shop into a speakeasy complete with bathtubs full of alcohol and hundreds of mason jar candles hung from the ceiling. Billy invited his best clients to preview his new line and party hard. My favorite part was the fact he brought in 10 bands to keep his guest entertained for the weekend. Friday night was a blur of bands but the best part was when Billy Reid jumped on stage and rocked out for the final hour of the party. Saturday night was my highlight when I had the thrill of hanging out with Justin Townes Earle sharing stories of being too loaded to get on airplanes, getting too loaded on planes and getting kick off during unscheduled stops, and his six trips to rehab. Justin Townes Earle’s set was amazing and he was a one man band making his guitar sound like a bass, drum, and finger picking machine. After his set a bunch of us gathered outside to smoke and he came out to join us. He looked clean, clear eyed and on the road to addiction recovery. I on the other hand not so much and our conversation ended when he fired up a cigarette and I said, “When you lit that match I think I saw my future in the flame.” He gave me that tilted head dog look and his handler decided it was time for them to go. I stayed and drank too much free Buffalo Trace Whiskey and forgot the rest of the night. I wish I could remember what my future was.
My current show is a whirlwind of travel so after Alabama we went back to LA for a day before it was off to Brooklyn for a magazine shoot. I’ve been to Brooklyn many times to party but have never stayed overnight and have always retreated back to the island of Manhattan. However this time our hotel was in Brooklyn so I decided to hit the streets and see what was up. When I walked into Brooklyn's Tiki Bar I knew I would fit right in. It reminded me of Tiki-Ti in Silverlake and if I didn’t know better I could still be in LA. It turns out Brooklyn has just as many hipsters as Los Angeles. It was a quick three day trip and before we knew it we were flying back to Los Angeles.
I was tired from all the travel but I couldn’t slow down because one of my lifelong friends was getting married and there is no way I’m going to miss this wedding. His family was the glue that kept our group of friends together and we had many nights at their house eating, drinking, karaokeing, and sharing laughs. Unfortunately The Lady is maid of honor for her cousin who was getting hitched in Las Vegas, so she packed her bags and left for her first visit to the city of sin. I hope she comes back, but I have my doubts after I caught her looking up Mr. Rooter on the internet. I don’t know what kind of Vegas show that is but I don’t want to ask too many questions and decide to let it go and let her enjoy her time away from me and The Three Year old. I want to tell you all about the debauchery of that weekend but the pilot just called the flight attendants to prepare for landing. Plus this wedding deserves its own page so I’ll get back to you on that one. I’ve never been to Milan and our schedule is full of fashion shows so the week should fly by for me and that’s good because I haven’t seen The Lady very much this month and I miss her.
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