Back To School
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Hello and Happy New Year and welcome to another episode of Sweet Paul Podcast, Chasing the Sweet Things in Life. Happy New Year! Season 2. Season 2. Oh my god, we're in the second season. It's actually episode 12. It is. This time we have a $10 million budget. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

I wish. I know. I wish. We have $10. Yeah, exactly. We have $10 for 10 episodes. It was $2.50 last season. Yes. $10. Yeah, $10. Okay, so we had Christmas and we had New Year's. And we both were deathly ill. Yes. Oh, my God. We both had kind of like a... Just head cold. Yeah, a really bad head cold with the cough from hell. Yeah, that lingers. Sounds like we died. Still kind of lingers. Yes, yes.

So we're two old gays convalescing in Palm Springs. Yes, I have an ice pack underneath my MS scarf on my head. Yeah, and a heating pad under your butt. Yeah, it's been actually kind of cold. Well, the last two days are back to normal. It's like 70 degrees. The holidays here were cold.

Yeah, and by cold we mean like 50 degrees. But that's cold for Palm Springs. For some reason it feels different. It feels much colder. We've fully acclimated to the desert. And now we're like literally in a wool coat when it's 50 degrees. The funny thing is when we came here last year, we came in the middle of winter. In the middle of winter. So we drove from Brooklyn and we were here on, I think we came to Palm Springs on like December the 12th.

And we thought it was so nice and warm. Yeah. And all the locals were like in wool and hats. And we were like short t-shirts. Yeah. We're not those people anymore. No, no, no. We're fully acclimated. Yeah. So, yeah. So, it's been...

Busy, like really busy. You had a lot going on. I had two weekends off in four months. Yeah. We literally did like so many holiday events. It was really great. Some were better than others. You know, we're still sort of experimenting with Mojave Flea a little bit, but this holiday season was a real learning experience. And the ACE event was amazing. Yeah, ACE was really good.

And there's another Ace coming up in January 12th. Oh, yeah. January 12th. If you guys are in the desert, come see us on Sunday, January 12th for our second event in our Winter Market series. Yes. Come say hi. We look dangerous, but we're not. Do we? We're kittens. With the beards? Yes. Yeah. Some people think we look dangerous, but we're not. We're not bikers. It's because we're so handsome that people are intimidated. Yes.

And then we're continuing Fog City Flea. That starts up this weekend. So that's every Sunday.

And then we're also launching a new... L.A. market. An L.A. market, which I'll talk about during the commercial break. Okay, you guys have to wait for that one. Yes. So Christmas is over, New Year is over. We took down the tree today. It was a little bit sad. It's fine. We were saying there should be Christmas is over music. I know. Music that you play as you're taking down the decorations. I know. Crazy.

Christmas time is gone. Back to the sad, boring days. Yeah, exactly. Okay, yes, I'll work on that one. Yeah, episode 12, new season. What's it called? You know something? I didn't name it. Okay, to be determined. To be determined, yes. Once we put the episode up, it will be called something. Yes. So this is episode 12, something, something. Stay tuned. Stay tuned.

What are we going to talk about? Where are we picking up on? Well, I think maybe we should start like high school. High school. High school. Yes. I didn't like high school. You didn't like high school?

You didn't like school ever. I didn't like, no, that's the thing. I didn't like school. There was a few classes that I did like. Yeah. Of course, I liked drama. Yeah. And I liked English. And history was ruined for you. History was kind of more or less ruined for me. That was in high school? Yeah. When you had a boring teacher? Yeah. Well, that was actually college. But yeah, no, it started in high school too.

Yeah, I just didn't like school. Yeah. I thought it was boring. I didn't want to hang out with all these kids all day. And I felt like I learned so much that I would never, ever use. Like, have you ever used algebra? No. Exactly. My point taken. Or chemistry. Exactly. Never. I had a sort of mediocre education in public school in California. Yeah.

I put up with it. I didn't really learn anything except I had an excellent English teacher who taught me two things about writing that I've used my entire life. What's that? That you should not be wordy. I think literally that's where I get my succinctness from. And also to always write in active voice because it's more convincing. Yeah.

Meaning you don't say, I have been writing. You say, I'm writing. Oh, okay. So the have been is passive. Okay, okay. Well, you're not worthy on your emails and text messages. That's for sure. I know. People think I'm severe already. So I try to show a little bit more...

in my emails because it can come across very short. Well, you have a tendency to write XO on the end and then we know that you're not. I know, I do that intentionally. And I actually, and I always. It's not upset. Yeah, and I also always write a greeting like, hey there. Yeah, that helps. So I'm basically padding my succinctness so people don't think I'm a biatch. I mean, I am, but I'm just kind of disguising it a little bit.

Okay, well, back to high school. Here's the crazy thing. So I know we're going to do this episode. And I was trying to think about things from high school. And I have forgotten more or less everything about high school. Yeah, you probably put it out of your mind. Yeah, I don't think it was very good years for me. Yeah. That's the thing. Yeah. Because, you know, it's years where you start to like...

You know, I knew I was gay, so I knew that was... I don't know. I think I was just worried a lot and just tried to like... Yeah. It can be very dark for outsiders. Yeah. And I think I just tried to like stay under the radar. Yeah. And not be involved in things. Yeah. For sure. The only thing I remember was that all summer when we were off school, I was always on a diet. Yeah.

So I always started school a couple of sizes smaller than I was when I left. And I remember one year, I must have been in like eighth grade or something. There was these pants. The brand was called Ball. B-A-L-L. Yeah. And they were super wide. Yeah. And then they were tapered in the bottom. Yeah. It wasn't like MC Hammer pants. No. But they were...

Yeah. I don't know what they were. It was kind of like a boy George pant he probably wore. Yes. Or like a harem jean or something. Something. Or a harem khaki. Yeah, something like that. Something that Pete Burns would have worn. Yeah, and I remember everyone was wearing them. They only went up to a certain size. Yeah. And I dieted all summer.

And I could get into like the biggest size when I started school. So I remember I bought those pants and I was like very proud going. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So other than that, I don't... What I do remember, I do remember I was very busy. I was very involved in like the drama class and all that stuff. Yeah. So...

I remember that. And as I said, you know, I was always the lead. I was like, kind of like the drama star. Yeah. That was when the notion in me started that I wanted to be an actor. Oh, interesting. Like for real, you wanted to be, I wanted to be an actor.

For many, many years, that's what I wanted to be. And I kind of found out quite early, like in high school, that this is what I want to do. Really? Yeah. And I would go to plays. And I didn't really have anyone to bring. No one was really that interested, especially in the family. So I would go by myself. Yeah. And I would see so many plays. And I was dead certain that that's what I wanted to do. And when I started college, I...

enrolled in the drama program and I was kind of like the drama star there as well. And so in Norway back then, I don't know if it's different now, it might be, but back then, this is like the 80s, there was only one school. There was one like state drama school and I applied and I didn't get in. And I was like, F it. Oh, so that was it. Yeah, that was it. But that's, you know, a few years later. So...

University is free in Norway, correct? Yes. So what was the university you went to? I didn't go to university. I went to college. College is... So college, it's kind of like college here. Like community college? It's different. So...

Well, yeah, there's colleges here and then there's universities. But they're the same thing. It's just one's like low budget. Yeah, it's definitely college. Okay. So in Norway, what you have to do, so one to nine, you have to do. Yeah. And then you can do college three years. Nine through 12. Yeah. Or 11. Yeah, nine to. 10, 11, 12. Yes. Which is. Which is our high school. Oh, okay. Yeah.

Which you don't have to do. I know. So basically what you say is college is actually high school. I guess. What do you study in college? Do you study like algebra and physics and things like that? So the first year, everyone is more or less doing the same thing.

You have to do math, you have to do geography, you have to do chemistry. There's certain things you have to do. And then you can also do like French or German or Spanish, drama, whatever. And then the two next years, you can sort of like...

more concentrate on what you really yes so then so I would take drama I would take theater history things like that yeah so it's kind of like a hybrid of what our high school is and what our college is yeah I guess it's a mix yeah and

Okay, so you still did drama in college. Yeah, yeah. And then just to finish, so you have to do those three extra years to be able to get into university. Yes. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I really, really want to be an actor. And so I would study with actors.

I would go to their house and take like private lessons. Really? Yeah. In college? In college, yeah. And especially when I was, I think I was 17 when I applied to the state school, the state drama school. And two years before that, yeah, I would go to a drama teacher and

And we would go through different plays and we would act and stuff. And then they would help me with my performance to get into the drama school. So what plays did you do in college? What plays? Is it the same as American ones? No. In college, we did the Ibsen play. We did... Was it more like Shakespeare? We didn't do any Shakespeare. We did Ibsen. We did Bjornsson. We did like very Norwegian authors. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

You weren't doing like Fame and... No, no, no. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. No, it was nothing like that. It was very like classic Norwegian theater. Okay. Yeah. So you wanted to be an actor and then you tried to get into the... So I tried to get into the... I was... This is when I had gone to college for two years. Yes. And I applied to the school. Yeah. I didn't get in. So what was your... Which was to me a shock because I was so certain I would get in. Oh my God. Yeah.

I was so sad. Was that your first kind of someone saying no to you in your entire life? Yeah, more or less. Okay, so wait. Okay, wait. So what was the audition? I did a monologue from a play. I can't remember what it was called. I remember the opening. It was, my name is Joe, and I had a saxophone.

And it's this story about this black kid who was a musician with a saxophone who got beaten to death by some terrible people. Yeah, I know. Why are monologues...

In high school, in college, so dark. I know. We did a whole play in high school that was based on people who were condemned to death. Oh my god. I know. It's so crazy. I know. Yeah, I didn't get in. Did you feel good about your performance? I felt very good about my performance. And they didn't tell you immediately? No, they didn't tell me. I felt very good. There was a couple of funny moments.

moments in the performance and they laughed. Okay. So you felt... So I got good reactions. Okay. I didn't feel that way, you know, okay, yeah, we'll call you. Don't call us. Oh, yeah. I felt very good when I left. I was like, oh, this was... Yeah, I think I nailed this. Oh, my gosh. But here's the thing. I was 17 years old. And of course, they were looking for...

If I had gone back the next year and the year after, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten in. Yeah. But to me, I was just like... Humiliated. Oh, okay. So they don't want me. So you just threw it all down the toilet. Yeah. And now we're going to like spring forward a little bit, but well, okay, let's go back. So let's take a break and then we'll come back. Yes. We'll be right back.

And we're back. We're back. Okay. So, yeah, let's talk about college. What I call college. Let's just call it college and be done with it. So, I started a college that was about an hour from my house. It was in the city itself. I lived a little bit on the outskirts. And the college was in the middle of the city. It was called Hartwig Nissen Schule.

And it was a school with a very good reputation, but it was reputation as kind of like a left-wing socialist, like very like... Liberal. A little hippy-dippy. Okay, yeah. Yeah. And you have to remember when I finished high school, I was like mega preppy. Yeah. Yeah. I was like...

Ralph Lauren. I mean, I was like, yes, I was like, yes, total like Ralph boy. Love it. And I remember a friend in my class said that, oh my God, yes, you're going to start that school. I'll give you a month and you're going to be one of those hippy dippy kids. And I was like, no, never me. Are you kidding? Never. I think it took two weeks. Are you serious? Yeah, because I don't know. I was surrounded by all these different kids and no one knew anything about them.

I don't know. I felt like very free. Yeah. To sort of be myself. And yeah, I started like going to secondhand clothing stores. Oh, yeah. Things like I'd never done before. Yes. And my mom was actually really into it. She thought it was fun. Yeah. That I did it. Yeah. Yes. I remember I would go to school and I had this big wool coat and then I had a hat. So cute. Kind of like a wool fedora that I...

pulled very like far back yes you know remember how boy george had it well yeah and the little boy in the madonna video exactly just like that and then i had a big i didn't have a backpack i had a big old nurse's letter fabulous i would have been obsessed with you yes yes oh my god it was actually very cute yeah i did that you know and i did drama and

I went from being a Republican to, like, a Democrat on the left side. Well, I wouldn't say that, but you just... No, no, yeah. You were more... You were preppy, and then now you were turning a new way. Well, the thing is that I met people and heard stories that I never met or heard before. Yeah. You know, there's all these people that...

came from a different background and yes you know i because up until that point you were probably still a little bit isolated yes totally and i feel like i kind of blossomed and then i was you know i i loved my drama teacher she was this fabulous woman who used to be

When she was younger, she was an actress at the National Theater, and she had done movies, and I thought she was just fabulous. So I loved the classes. I loved all those alternative classes. Of course, the first year, you have to take math. Yeah. Oh, my God, that was a nightmare. Yeah. The first math test, I got a D. Rest of the year, I got an F. I love it. And then on the last test –

Because if the year was an F, I would have to do math again the next year. So I got a D on like the major test, like the last one. Yeah.

And so I got the teacher was like, yeah, I'm going to give you D for the year. And I was just like, yes. And every, every, he said it in class, like every student would go up to him and he would like, kind of like whispering here. And I was like, yes, yes, score. So the kids was like, what did you get an A? And I was like, no, I got a D. Yeah.

That is so amazing. Yeah. So I was very happy about that because to me that was just... Yeah, for sure. I mean, I don't even know what my grades were. I don't even remember studying or doing anything. But I know that in high school, in public high school, you're required to take two years of PE, physical education. Ah, yeah. So...

If you're smart, which I did, you do it the first two years of high school. Of course. It's the worst because, you know, you have your look together and then you have to go and change and put on some weird clothes that, like, I never even had proper athletic shoes because, like, I didn't wear tennis shoes. So, it was so revolutionary to get into 11th grade and no longer have to do PE. Oh, then you don't have to do PE. Because you could

could wear your outfit all day long and not even worry about it. So it's a similar thing. Like, I think I got D's in PE.

Not because I wasn't coordinated or anything. I just... You weren't interested. I didn't want to get sweaty. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I know. So, yeah, it was... Yeah, it's weird to me that you have to get sweaty and then you shower in the middle of the day. No, this is weird. Yeah, there's no time to do your hair again and all that stuff. No, no, no. But I got an A-plus in acting. Okay. And theater history. So, that's something. Oh, oh, my God. One funny thing. So, as I said, this school was...

About an hour, maybe 45 minutes, if there wasn't any traffic for my house. And for two years, I took the bus 30 minutes earlier than I should because there was a guy on the bus that I had a mega crush on. Are you serious? Mm-hmm.

He would just ride the bus? Was he a student? He was older than me. He was a young man, but he was older than me. I remember he had dark hair. Of course. Kind of like olive skin. Of course. Brown eyes, of course. That's what I always, always had a thing for dark hair and olive skin boys.

Yeah, I think he sat next to me like twice. Oh my gosh. Never talked to him, never knew his name, no nothing. Oh, that's so sweet. No nothing, two years. Yeah. Then one day he just stopped showing up. Oh shit. And I took a bus earlier the next day, I took a bus later the next day. I tried. I tried. Oh my gosh, that's so amazing. I was kind of crushed. Oh my gosh, so fascinating. Yeah. So you never finished your story. So...

You were rejected? Oh, yeah. So, what happened was that I was rejected from drama school. And by that time... So, on the third year, I dropped out. Of college? Of college. And was it partly due to not getting into drama school? No. It was that I realized that this is a waste of my time. Oh, I love it. I was like, this is not what I want to do. I just...

I cannot wake up one more morning and go and sit and listen to all this crap. I can't because it has nothing to do with my life. Yeah, totally. And at that point you had given up on the acting thing. I hadn't completely given up. But I was in kind of like this thing where I started to get gay friends that I hadn't had before. Yeah. I joined this gay youth group when I was 17. Yeah.

And I made good friends there. And we would go out and we would hang out. And I was just like, there's a whole different world out there that I haven't tapped into that I want to be a part of. And school just wasn't a part of that. I love it. Yeah. So I went to my principal and said that,

I'm leaving. And they tried very hard. I have to give them that. They tried very hard to make me stay. Yeah. They really did. They called and they wrote. And my drama teacher was very upset with me. That was very brave of you that you told him. Yeah, no. Because I would have just not shown up anymore. I don't know why I told him, but I did. I went in. That's good. It's very responsible. I had been gone for maybe like a week. And I went in and I was like, I would like to talk to the principal.

So interesting. Yeah. I remember, you know, I talked to him and I went outside and my drama teacher came and she was like, so what's going on, blah, blah. And then I was like, you know, I think I had like maybe also like a little bit of a breakdown because I was like –

You know, I'm gay. I don't really fit in here, blah, blah. And she had a gay daughter. She had a lesbian daughter. Yeah. So, she was like, yeah, no, I understand. That's like the hardest thing for a kid to go through, you know? Yeah. I think I acted a little. Oh, my God. Your final performance, honey? My final performance. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Well, you wanted to explore other things. I wanted to explore other things. And I wanted to, like, get out of... Yeah.

It's something that felt very constricting to me. Yeah. But it's so amazing that you had that option. Because in America, you have to go to school. And if you want to do other things, you have to still get through school. And where I grew up, it's like...

Yeah.

Okay, so after you left and went home that day, after notifying them, what did you do? My parents were totally fine with it. They didn't really say anything. Yeah, but then what were you thinking? What was your plan? So my plan was that I had a really good friend. His name was Roy.

I think I had inherited a little bit of money. I think I inherited like $5,000. From who? Something. I can't remember. Some old aunt somewhere. Okay. And I was like...

Okay, let's do something with this money. Let's invest this money. Let's do something. Okay, wait, wait, wait. Okay, hold on. Yes. So at this time, you're... I'm 17. You're 17. Your grandmother is still with you. Yes, my grandmother, great aunt. And what did she think? She was fine with it too? Yeah, she never said anything. Oh my God, it's so amazing. Yeah, it was never like sit down and like, what the hell are you doing with your life? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, because they... I don't know, they...

My mom didn't like school. My dad didn't like school. And they were all industrious. And they were all industrious. Entrepreneurs. And they had their own companies and everything. So they were like, okay, he's going to do what we're doing. So you have $5,000. I had $5,000. And I was like, I want to start a vintage clothing store where all the clothes are from before 1940. Stop it. Mm-hmm.

Stop it. And my friend was like, that sounds fun. Let's do it. You know, when you're young and you're like... I was like, that's fun. Let's do it. And we were, okay, we have to call it something. And I was like, oh, wait. Okay, I got it. So I went in and I took French in school. So I had a French dictionary. And I said, okay, let's find a word. It has to be French. Oh, my God.

So do you know what we call it? We call it pantalon, which means pants. Yes, like pantalones. Yes. Oh my gosh. So we started, the first thing we got, I got my great aunt's wedding dress. She had this beautiful 1930s bias cut, like very like Schiaparelli. I can see it now. It was ice blue, gorgeous. That was like the first thing we had.

And then. Oh, my God. Yeah, she gave us that. Because I told her and she was like, oh, I think I have my wedding dress. And I was like, what? Yeah, she had her wedding dress hanging. Oh. And then we put little ads in the newspaper. Like back then there was no internet. So, you know, you had to use the newspaper. Seeing if anyone had wanted clothes to get rid of. Yeah. Yeah.

And we found a lot of really, really good stuff. Oh, my gosh. Because I have always been very obsessed about the 20s and the 30s and designers like Paul Poiret and Schiaparelli and all that stuff. And, of course, what I didn't realize was that other people weren't really that interested in it. Oh, my gosh. In Oslo in 1986. So we found a little...

store kind of like it was in this like antique mall yeah yeah but it was super cute it was tiny we painted the whole thing like black lacquer oh my gosh and then we had one row of like with all the clothes so hanging and then we had a round table with a black silk

Yeah. And a beautiful lamp on it. And then we had, like, some vintage jewelry. And we had, like, one shelf on the other. It was very, like, minimal. Yeah. Oh, and then we had, like, one beautiful chair. Yeah. For one of us to sit in. Yeah. And I thought it was fabulous. Of course, we didn't sell anything. Because no one, like... Yeah, we've had, like, fur. Like... Yeah. Or, like, you know, those...

You know, the furs that goes down to here. What do they call it? A stole? Yeah. Yeah, we had all these old buyers cut dresses. We had furs. We had jewelry. Yeah, we found a lot of really, really good stuff.

And did you, you bought everything or did people give it to you? Well, some people gave us stuff because they were just like, oh my God, this is crazy. Yeah. Just take it. But yeah, we would, it was very chic. I wish I had pictures. And did you take turns working there? Yeah.

Every other, we worked every other day. Did they contribute money too or no, it was just your money? I can't remember if he did. Did you spend all the budget? No, I didn't spend all of it. I spent maybe like a couple of thousand. Yeah. And I played Edit Piaf all day. You did? Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. To the point where they came from the market and said, you're driving us crazy. If we hear La Vie en Rose one more time, we're going to kill ourselves.

Oh my. Yeah. Genius. Yeah, I know. So that was fun. And you never sold anything. I think we sold maybe a couple of things. Yeah. So how long was it open? Almost a year. Yeah. Yeah. And then we're just like, okay, this is not working. Yeah. You know, if you were selling...

1950s and 60s clothing, that would have sold. I know, but that wasn't me. That wasn't what I was interested in. I know, but that was what the new romantics and the punks and the... I know, I know. So what we did a little bit in the end, because my friend was...

He was very good at sewing. So we would actually design a few things ourselves. Yeah. And try to sell. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, that was my first venture into capitalism. Yeah, totally. But the point is, is that you had fully...

executed a concept and created an experience for people. Yes, absolutely. It was like music, decor. Yeah, we wanted it to be dark and mysterious, kind of like an opium den in Paris. In an antique mall. In an antique mall in Oslo. With neon lighting. Oh my gosh. With fluorescent lighting. Yes, with fluorescent lighting. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed.

Yeah. But you know something? It was fun. I enjoyed it. Yes. It's so funny because most kids who get these ideas, it's about like a yard sale, not actually opening a French boutique. I know. It's genius. Like you didn't have a lemonade stand. You had a French vintage boutique. We had like a little... It's amazing. I love it. I think that's good for now. Yes. Okay. Let's take a little break and then we're going to come back with some questions. Right.

Okay, what's up, sweet Paul? What's up, sweet Paul? 2020. Yes. And this is 2020. Was that Barbara Walters? Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Linda from New York asks, do you guys, do you boys actually, do you boys have any New Year's resolutions? I actually stopped having New Year's resolutions because I find them to be impossible to do. Well, there's things that can be improved. Yes. Yes. Clearly. Yeah. But I don't do them as a New Year's resolution. Yeah.

It's true. This has been a really amazing and transitional year for us. Getting my personal health together, getting my business expanding rapidly, us moving to another coast. Oh my gosh. Hugo's mad. Hey. Oh my gosh. Can you please? We're almost done here, little dogs. Oh my gosh.

If they don't get attention every second, they have to come up with something. Okay. So it's been a really amazing year. And us personally just getting closer and we're in a really, really good spot. So me personally, I just want more of the same. More creativity, more love, more intimacy, more adventures, more

We're very lucky. So I want more of the same. Yeah. No, me too. I think we have a great, awesome life. I actually thought about it the other day. I was thinking if someone came to me and said, you can live anywhere in the world. Where do you want to live? And I was like, I think I would like to live. I want to live in Palm Springs and I want to have the life I have now. Yeah, it's true. Maybe a bigger place to stay, you know, house with a big yard. That would be really nice. Yeah, 10 French bulldogs. 10 Frenchies. Like Valentino. Yes.

That would be amazing. Yes. More of the same. Yes. And lose some weight. And lose some weight. Yes. That will come. Yes. Yes. Enough talk about that. Let's move on. When you're ready, I'm here for you. Yes. Okay. Second question. Glasses. Ashley Morehouse says, I love listening to your podcast. I'm a little behind, but that's perfect. I can listen over the winter break coming up.

I am wondering what your favorite Norwegian word is and what is your favorite restaurant back home? Oh, yeah. That's a good question, actually. My favorite Norwegian word? Well, there are some, but I can't say them because they're very naughty. You know. Do you have a word that's similar to...

Like Danish, there's hygge. Yeah, kuss. And then in Swedish, there's like puss puss or like terms of endearment that sort of mean. Yeah, we say schiss, schiss, schiss.

Which means kiss-kiss. Yeah. Kuss is the same as hygge. It's like cozy. Yeah. I don't think I have like a... Okay, let's go to the food first. Let me think about the word. Favorite restaurant. What was your favorite? Well, the thing is that, you know, I have been gone for many, many years. So, I'm pretty sure now there's amazing restaurants that wasn't there when I lived there. But I have two...

that I know are still there. And one is called Theater Café, which means the theater cafe. Yeah. It's in the Hotel Continental right next to the National Theater. And it's this beautiful old Viennese restaurant, like a big salon. Wow. Velvet. Yeah, it's very like turn of the century. You know, very ornate. Yeah.

The food isn't like spectacular, but they have really good, you know, in Norway, we have open face sandwiches. So,

So, you know, the shrimp sandwiches with eggs and mayonnaise and stuff. Do the waiters wear white coats and stuff? Is it very... They wear, I think, white shirts and ties and long aprons. So, it's very like French bistro. Yes, yes, yes. That place is like an institution. Yeah, of course. A little bit old-fashioned, but fabulous. Very old-fashioned, but super fabulous. So, if you ever go to Oslo, you need to go there. There's an amazing Chinese restaurant in Oslo. Oh, really? Called Diner.

Oh, wait. It is so good. It's super expensive. Yeah. Mega Lux. They have the best... Peking duck? Oh, my God. The best... We haven't had Peking duck in, like, years. We need to step it up. Yeah, we need to...

Yes. If someone knows what's the best place in LA or San Francisco to have a Peking duck, please DM us immediately because we're there on Sunday in San Francisco. The last time we had Peking duck was at Ludlow House in New York. I know, with those girls. Oh, so delicious. Yeah. So that place is wonderful. When I was a kid, there was a department store called Stennestrom.

Which I can't translate. It's two names put together. And they had on the top floor, they had like a cafe. But then in the back, they had this little restaurant, which was called Old House. Old House. Love it. And it was filled with old country antiques.

Love it. And my grandmother loved that place and would take me. And the food was very simple. It was like omelets and stuff like that. But the food was super good. And you were just sitting in this like, kind of like in a museum. Yeah. And eating. And that was... Oh, that must have been heaven for you. Yeah. I just, I loved it. Is it still there? I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

Ja, gamlestua is a Norwegian word, which means like the old house, old lodge. Yeah. It's beautiful, beautiful. I'm going to check and see if it's still there. Oh my gosh. Back to the word. I don't know. I'm just going to say. You're a dirty word. I'm just going to say jävla hesskuk, and then you guys can try to figure out what it is. Yes.

Anyone who's Norwegian, excuse his language. Yes, excusez-moi. Okay, last question is from Tom in Palm Springs. He asks, what did you usually do in Norway to celebrate New Year's?

Ooh. Well, my... Sleep like we did this year? Well, my parents would always... I mean, there would always be a party. And when I was a youngster, a kid running around town, there was always a party to go to. Yeah. One year, I remember we went to Stockholm. But then as I grew older...

New Year's Eve wasn't that important to me. I just was like, oh, this is not a day. And it was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. We're going to have so much fun tonight. It's going to be so amazing. And that whole thing, oh, you have to kiss someone at midnight. Yeah. I just thought it was a little much. Yeah. So I kind of stopped doing stuff. Yeah. I never took it that seriously, actually. No.

No, because usually it's like, oh my God, we're going to have so much fun tonight. And usually when you say that, that's like the worst night. Yeah. I'm not really big on the New Year's Eve parties, but I like doing what we did this year where we went with two couples just to a fabulous restaurant. Yeah, had a good dinner. Had a wonderful dinner. Sat there for two hours. We almost made it to midnight, but we...

We're kind of done. Yeah. So we came home and kissed the doggies. And we were actually in bed by midnight. I was in bed by 1201. Oh, yeah, that's true. You sat up. Yeah, I was sitting in a chair, like, looking at the watch. And I was like, okay, it's midnight. Kiss, kiss. Good night. Happy New Year. Good night. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, okay. Yeah. Okay. I think that's it for episode 12. Yeah. Yeah. That was a good episode. Yeah. Okay. So you guys know the drill.

If you have any questions for us, and we do love your questions. Yes, we do. You can send us a direct message on Instagram, which is SweetPollMagazine. Or you can send us an email at podcast at sweetpollmag.com. And wherever you listen to this podcast, please rate us. Please review us. Write a little review. You know, whatever.

Comment, like. Yes, comment, like, share, tell your neighbor, tell your mom, tell your dad, tell your aunt. Okay? All right. Happy New Year, everyone. Happy New Year. And we'll see you next week. Bye. Bye.

So the new event that I hinted at earlier is a market that we created exclusively for Rowe in downtown Los Angeles. Rowe is this fabulous destination of retail and restaurants and workspaces and creative spaces.

That is the old property of the American Apparel Factory. So all these old factory buildings that they converted into all these different kind of spaces. So we created an event series called Market Market. And it's happening every other Saturday beginning January 11th through March 21st. So it's two Saturdays a month.

And we're setting up right on Dock Street. It's going to be the very best in makers and merchants from Los Angeles and Southern California and beyond. So come find us there. It's the same property that Smorgasburg does their event on Sundays. And we'll be there for Market Market at Rowe, downtown LA every other Saturday beginning January 11th. See you there.