happy endings

I have a theory.  OK, so it's not so much a theory, but an observation:  all the best TV shows have one thing in common--a great gathering place for the characters.  Seriously, think about it.  Every show from "friends" to "coach" to "sienfeld"--even "how i met your mother" features a place where everyone gets together to live life & have fun.  A place where they're a regular.  That's a pretty cool concept, actually.  I think it would be a blast to have a neighborhood pub or bar or coffee shop to gather with friends and unwind.  On that note....

Today I realized that I had an entire Sunday afternoon free--something that doesn't happen very often in my life.  I called up my friend Leah, who lives in Hollywood, and wound up driving to her place to watch football with her and some friends.  It was rainy in LA--also something that doesn't happen very often--so i picked her up and we headed a few blocks down the road to a bar called Happy Endings.  Happy Endings is the kind of place you'd miss if you didn't know it was there.  It's on Sunset Blvd & La Brea, but it's pretty unassuming from the outside.  We had the valet park my car (in true LA fashion) and headed into the place...

Leah has talked about Happy Endings before.  I've even been there once, but it was late at night and totally packed, so I didn't get a good look around.  But when we walked in this time, I was unprepared for the testosterone overload in the air.  There must have been 50 guys near the bar alone, each one in a different NFL jersey.  Men everywhere in backwards hats with pitchers of bud light rooting for their team, whose game was playing on one of the several TVs placed at odd angles around the bar.  And then there were the more colorful characters:  one guy in a saints jersey, leather football helmet, aviators, and face paint throwing a pretend football around the room; a really scary looking raiders fan (oh wait--that's every raiders fan!) that looked suspiciously like Danny DeVito; a girl with dyed red hair to match her Redskins jersey.  Cheers and boos would alternate from every corner of the place. I've been in lots of sports bars, but I've never seen anything like this.  It was like I'd died and gone to NFL HEAVEN!

We met up with some of Leah's friends (also regulars) and I got to watch 3 games at once (Jets/Broncos, Cowboys/Vikings, and 49ers/Raiders in case you were wondering).  The food was great too, and as more people joined us we added more jerseys to our corner booth.  I loved every minute of it!

This is Leah's neighborhood bar.  Part of me is so jealous that she has such a fun place in which to be a "regular."  But it just makes me more motivated to find a place like Happy Endings near where I live.  Honestly, what struck me the most was that people were sitting next to each other in all different jerseys.  There weren't really big groups of fans for any certain team--and that's what made it so fun.  What a great day in Hollywood--I can't wait to go again, and I can't wait to find my own Happy Endings (no pun intended)!