What I've learned so far...

Things I have learned from my past 2 weeks in LA:

1) People's lives literally revolve around the traffic...and they think that's normal. Leaving an hour and a half early to go all of 20 miles seems like no big deal to anyone down here. And if there's an accident? Cancel your plans. Seriously.

2) The traffic problem is like survival of the fittest, and I'm not fit enough. It's an urban jungle out there and I get butterflies every time I have to get on the 405 or the 110. I mean how many freeways do you really need, and does each one really need 2 different names (The 110 aka Harbor freeway)? This is getting confusing! And there isn't any separation between towns, it's a continuous stream with no divide, in just 3 minutes you can drive through 5 different towns but in the end? Everyone says they're from Los Angeles.

3) In relation to the traffic, southern Californians are some of the worst drivers I have come across in my life. Why do you have to tail me when there are 7 other lanes you could be driving in? And why pass me and cut me off only so you can drive as slow as the guy I was behind in the first place, and you're turning left in 30 ft anyway?

4) Vintage clothes are SO much more expensive. Like someone could have died in that shirt and you're gonna charge me how much?!

5) Lakers fans are very serious about the game, and one shouldn't mouth off about any other basketball team or you will get beat.

6) Los Angelenos will riot for just about anything (hello NBA championships). These people are frustrated and they want to burn things.

7) The people down here aren't the friendliest bunch I've ever met in my life. I feel like people think I'm a weirdo every time I smile and say hello. How do you make friends down here?

8) There are a lot of places to go and things to do down here, whether you're into museums, the outdoors, shopping, dining, movies, or a mini vacay (hello Vegas, San Diego and Palm Springs) there are a million places you can go to find what you want. Things are convenient for sure.

9) Fashion is a high priority for a lot of people, and I love that, I feel like I fit in and don't stand out like a sore thumb wearing my most of my wardrobe, but flats are a must as there is a lot of walking to be done; people really love their flip flops down here.

10) You just have to find your niches in southern California and stick with it, find your grocery store, your favorite breakfast restaurant, favorite coffee shop, good shopping and what not and things will be a lot easier if you don't have to venture too far out.

Hopefully soon there will be a lot more positives than negatives. I haven't been here that long, and I'm still getting the lay of the land but so far it ain't that bad (with the exception of that BS traffic).

Milestones

Yesterday was my birthday...I am officially 26 years old.

I don't feel 26. Not even close. I feel like I just graduated high school yesterday much less college a few years ago and now on to my doctorate in a few months.

I have to wonder when I'm supposed to start feeling or acting my age. I still like to do cartwheels in the park. My sister is graduating college in the next week and I remember when she graduated high school how emotional it was for me, more so than my own was. I think I was in shock at the fact that I was growing up but hadn't really taken notice. I judged my own growth by the fact that she was growing, until I saw her walk across that stage in her cap and gown I had forgotten I was doing my own growing and changing. I can't imagine seeing her in her college cap and gown will be any less emotional for me.

Sometimes I feel like we gauge our own growth by the milestones of others (don't tell me you weren't shocked when one of your oldest childhood friends got married or had a baby...). We forget that amidst everyone else's changes we too change and grow.

I like to spend a few minutes or so on my birthday reflecting on all the changes that have taken place in my life in the last year, so I feel accomplished and proud that I'm one year older instead of looking upon it with dread.

I lost my job

I moved from Sacramento (somewhere I loved) to Stockton (somewhere I hated)

I moved 3 times

I moved in with my boyfriend and his brother, something I never thought in a million years I would do or enjoy.

I celebrated 2 great years with said boyfriend

Got a pro bono position at a new job where I gained so much in knowledge and patience that it was almost worth not getting paid for

My mom moved back to Carmel from Kansas City

My sister is graduating college

I made new friends, lost old ones

gained weight, lost it, gained it again

I learned to cook, joined a gym and learned to garden and enjoy it

I started my own vegetable garden and learned how to compost

I was involved in my own lawsuit with my old landlord and won

I started this blog

There were weddings, divorces, births and deaths

people moved, came back, moved again

I watched others peoples lives change and move forward for the better while I felt that I was stagnant after having lost my job and I learned how to be happy for others when I wasn't happy for myself

I traveled to places never been before and wish I had traveled some more

I took the second GRE and got into graduate school

I moved to Southern California, and got the boy to go with me

I learned how to trust someone, and let them love me without needing a reason to

I read books that have sat on shelves for years waiting to be read

I became an NPR junkie and love it

So many things have changed for me and I have learned invaluable lessons from my experiences in the past year. I'm proud that I made it through. I have to be honest as a brand new baby career woman I had a hard time envisioning success in the midst of being laid off. I feel like I handled it like a grown up, and I'm proud of that. I learned a lot about myself and other people and I can't imagine with all the changes the next year will bring that this coming birthday year will be any less of a growing experience for me. I'm looking forward to looking back on the next year and seeing how much further I've come from where I am now.

And with that I pack up my suitcase, shove it in my full to the brim volkswagen bug and head to LA. I can't wait to see what happens next...

Have a lovely day.

You Otter Know

I have been crazy busy this last week and it just doesn't seem to be stopping in the near future. I spent this last weekend in Carmel for mother's day (HI MOM). We went to a fabulous brunch and ate until we almost popped.

I got home just in time to celebrate my 2 year anniversary with the boy (HI BOY) where we went to a fantastic fondue restaurant in the bay area and ate until we almost popped, who can say no to melted cheese with bread and melted chocolate with fruit while listening to David Cassidy sing "I think I love you"? I certainly can't, and the 70's pop soundtrack made it all the better.
Now we leave tomorrow for San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles to go apartment hunting until Sunday. Hopefully at least one of us comes home with a place to live and/or at least good prospects. After that it will be pack, pack, pack and then back on the road to LA we go.

I'm glad to say that the ball is now rolling full steam ahead. After being unemployed and bored for almost the last year I'm more than happy to have a lot to do.
Needless to say blogging will be sporadic for the next few weeks until the dust settles. So please bare with me and my limited writing/commenting.

Until I can get back into a good rhythm look at this cute picture of a baby otter and his mommy. It seems like the right time to post this cuteness...as if there were ever a wrong time.

Have a lovely day my dears.

You could call it interior decorating porn

The boy and I were in Los Angeles for the past few days trying to get our bearings and figure out a few things before we head down there permanently. Boy had job interview in Long Beach, boy got said job and starts 4 months before I thought moving would be in order. This put us on warp speed status and now everything is bananas trying to pull it all together. I'm a planner, I don't do "on a whim" very well.

However, while we were down there we did get to enjoy ourselves, there was lots of eating, drinking and being merry with friends old and new. We spent most of our time in Long Beach and Santa Monica. One of those nights in Santa Monica we had drinks at the Viceroy hotel and as soon as I walked in the door I gasped. Anyone who has any sense of decoration and style whatsoever can do nothing but admire it for its hip style, quality and beauty and if you like the color green (my favorite) or the green/black/white color combo you were in heaven.

Each room was different, the outside area with its trendy little cabanas, the drinks and the people watching were of epic standards. Save up cause it was expensive but I would highly recommend it, even if all you have time for is just a little walk around it's worth it, I promise.

The Lobby:The Bar:

Outside pool/bar/dining area:



Dining and such:


Amazing, and pure genius if you ask me. The Viceroy is also found in Palm Springs, Aspen, Miami, Maldives, Anguilla and soon Beverly Hills and each one is done differently.

packing up and shipping out

I'm feeling, well...overwhelmed today. I got admitted to graduate school (yay) in Southern California and I'll be moving there in the late summer/early fall for a doctorate program.

I'm really looking forward to all the changes that going somewhere new will bring but gathering up all of the things you have carted around for most of your adult life and dragging it all to an area you know NOTHING about it awfully scary.

I hate moving, I have to be honest about it. I like the idea of going somewhere new, but going down there, finding a place, packing up everything, moving out, driving down, moving in, unpacking and getting settled is just plain exhausting. Just thinking about it makes me tired. Not to mention how much hate the feeling of temporary and unsettled living, nothing says that like living out of boxes for a few weeks.

It's all of the unknown that comes with the moving process that I find exhausting. I don't know if I'll be going alone or with the boy (he'll go if he can find a job but in this economy and with how specific his career is it's not looking so great at this point in time), what things I will need for graduate school (is it different than college? Will I look like a complete idiot walking in with a backpack and a notebook?) and I know nothing, not a single thing about living in southern California...

Being 4th generation Californian I am perfectly aware of what life for southern Californians is like, I have many many friends down there, and I have visited a time or two but when it comes to living down there myself? I don't even know where to begin. I'm a Northern California girl through and through, flower wearing, Starbucks drinking, real pristine beach with no garbage cans or string bikinis attending, co-op, farmers market, hiking northern California girl. I have never had a burning desire to live down there, navigate through the labyrinth of freeways or sit in traffic for days, I've never wanted to "try the LA thing." I'd be perfectly satisfied living in the cultural microcosm that is the Bay Area for good. But alas fate has decided I'm off to school down south and so I will go, and willingly but not knowing what's out there, not knowing where to even start, and who's going with me and how I'll do this alone and starting over from scratch is awfully overwhelming. It's just a lot to take in.

Any advice on moving somewhere completely new? Somewhere you can't just go for the day to look for an apt but moving to a place where most of your searching is done through hearsay or online? I don't want to be one of those people who thinks they're moving to a great apt, in a great area only to drive right by when seeing the condition of the place/area and living in the Best Western til something better comes along (true story). Any help on long distance moving is greatly appreciated...