About LA

Like I said, we don't usually have weekend plans unless someone is visiting. So Saturday morning after GTL (or really just gym), we were watching "Hot Dog Paradise" on Travel Channel. Don't judge. After I nixed Shaun's idea of finding a Nathan's in San Diego, I agreed to road trip to LA for the apparently famous Pink's in Hollywood. We called our new SD friend Jared (well, old friend, new to SD) since he was born but not so much raised in LA. The three of us proceeded north, driving through some crazy man-made smog. Shaun says it's so foggy because we're hiding our military bases so no one can fly over and see what's going on. Sounds logical, but as we sat in 2.5 hours of traffic, I was thinking the smog might just be from fuel emissions.

We finally arrived at Pink's and the sun was shining. I got really stressed with the choices, plus we had to wait in line for half an hour so I changed my mind 55 times, but finally went with the Guadalajara dog, which had relish, tomatoes, sour cream, and I added cheese to replace onions. Meanwhile a pimped out Disney Mustang creepily pulled up next to the line and just sat there. It had stuffed animals out the wazoo, and tons of Disney paintings all over it. Maybe it was supposed to be make kids happy, but nothing says child molester like such a vehicle. Back at the ranch, I actually ate the whole hot dog and it might've been the most food I've eaten in one sitting in quite a long time. Worth the 2.5 hour trip? Probably.

After the feast, we drove to Venice Beach, but all of a sudden the entire city was in a giant, cold cloud. It was so foggy, I went from being in a tank top to a jacket and scarf. I can now kind of see why people like living in LA though. We drove through some very nice tree-lined hoods in Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica. It's a little more city than San Diego, which I liked, but the traffic is everything people say and more. It's horrendous. We don't have that in San Diego really at all, but also Shaun and I don't have to drive in rush hour since I walk to work and he works from home. But the only traffic we've been in was after a Chargers game, when we decided to drive to Costco and took a wrong turn right past the stadium.

We walked along the Venice boardwalk, but note - it's not a good place after dark. During the day, there are lots of freaks, magicians, flea markets, and trickery, but also lots of tourists and it's sunny and happy. But after dark, the good people go home, and the freaks and magicians turn out to be homeless and angry. Cops drive along the boardwalk, people say many bad words and someone even burped in Shaun's face. So we walked back to the car and drove back to Santa Monica to go to Jared's favorite place - Urth Caffe. Seriously good green tea lattes and pumpkin cheesecake at a trendy little outdoor table next to a fountain. Felt like Europe! Or maybe that was the girl speaking with an accent next to us. All in all, LA felt like an extension of San Diego, with a little less Mexican food and a little more shopping.

Why You Should Move to CA...

I'm bringing Old Faithful back to life. This blog got me through four years in New York City, before I finally achieved my only goal in life - to move to California. Now I'm going to use it to document my new CA life and try to get all of my friends and family to move out here too :)

I've been living in San Diego since the end of June, and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing here. My new goal in life is to do a headstand in yoga (I joined a studio), win the lottery (I've played twice so far, which is 2x more times than I've played in the past), and honestly, I have no idea what else.

I still work in media, and it's pretty much exactly like my NY job, except instead of a cube with high gray walls and no natural light until after 6pm; I sit under a large vent which blasts cold air on me until after 6pm, and it's more of a large desk versus a cube. After work, I go to yoga to work on that blasted headstand and watch TV. I watch way more TV than I used to for two reasons. One, we didn't have cable last year. And two, I have nothing else to do. Well, except blog and play kickball with work on Thursdays. I'm obviously expanding my horizons if I'm playing a team sport. I'm not really the sporty type.

It's a very strange, unsettling, liberating feeling to move to a place where you know no one and your close friends and family live thousands of miles away. I can't imagine doing this alone, and this has to be good for my relationship, since Shaun and I spend every non-working hour together. Sometimes I even walk home for lunch (he works from home), so there's another hour. On the weekends, we try to do different, touristy things so we don't just watch TV. So far we've gone to the zoo, played tennis, explored new neighborhoods, wine tasted on 2-3 occasions, went on a booze cruise, drove Corvettes, and when in doubt, we go to the beach. Rough life.

Pacific Beach, while having a cocktail at a pool

I left NY because I hated the snow that smothered us last winter, I was sick of of feeling sick on the subway, and something about California captured my attention since I was a kid. It was the perfect opportunity to move, because Shaun was ready for a new job and our lease was almost over, so we just sort of did it. It was really stressful at the time but now it seems like no big deal. Overall, I'm less anxious I think, although I have a very intense fear of someone falling off my 27th floor balcony. I really miss my social circle and always having something to do, especially on the weekends. I hate missing important things, like bridal showers for my best friends who are basically all getting married this year. I even miss the homeless people in NY, who weren't even half as insane and drugged out as these San Diego bums.

But wait, this blog is supposed to convince everyone to move here! On the positive side, you won't find more perfect scenery unless you move to Bora Bora, but I heard it's really expensive there and the food is terrible. We have amazing Mexican food, and it's cheap. We have a lot of fro yo places, with toppings such as frosted animal crackers. It's 70 and sunny every single day. I don't even know why I still get weather alerts. One time it rained (drizzled) and everyone was so confused and couldn't drive an inch. I can be at the beach in less than 10 minutes (I go to Coronado which was voted the #1 beach in CA). Wine is really cheap and overall rent is less expensive than Manhattan. Plus I live here, and I need to be entertained! What more could you ask for, really? Besides maybe more friends and family in the vicinity...

La Jolla