The 80 Degree December Weekend

Yes, that's right, it was 80 degrees here this weekend. Northern Virginia people who suffered through weather in the teens and severe wind - don't hate us. It was one of the best weekends we've had here, if not had ever.

Friday we had to babysit the girls but that just consisted of building a gingerbread man house, eating sushi or Mexican food, watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show againnnnn (the girls love it) and struggling to stay awake.

Saturday Zach and I went to Balboa Island, which is this tiny little island right off Newport Beach. To sum it up.. you drive over a few little bridges and you are in heaven. The length of the island can be walked in about 15 minutes, while the width of the island only takes about 10. There is a main street of shops (all of which are fairly upscale and pretty artsy), restaurants and an open air market. Zach and I bought some cheese and crackers at the market and had our own little picnic on the beach looking at all of the nice boats and being jealous of everyone that owned them. Kaos loved running around on the sand and walking through the streets so he was exhausted by the end of the day. All of the houses were decorated for Christmas because there was some guided walking tour the next day so that made the whole thing even better. I would totally move there if home prices didn't start at 2 mil (for a small place/fixer upper..).

Sunday we went to Huntington Gardens with Donna and the girls. It was legitimately hot. Like at one point we all had to sit down to eat ice cream and have some water because we were hot, exhausted and dehydrated. The gardens were incredible - some of the roses were still blooming and the Japanese and Chinese gardens were great. We also briefly went through the tropical, Australian and desert area which were nice. The girls had a great time, the adults had a great time... it was good for everyone. We went up to their house for spaghetti that night and it was a good ending to the weekend. Oh, and I looked up if they do weddings there just because it seemed like the perfect place - they just started doing weddings this year and they site fee is $100,000. Uhhhh no thanks.

Also, I'm officially bipolar. Well, when it comes to work at least. Early last week and the week before I was ready to walk out of this office and never come back it had gotten to boring and miserable. I was looking for other jobs (there are none..) and contemplating waitressing just to have money coming in until Zach and I eventually moved home in the spring. We were going to travel as many weekends as possible to get the most out of the area until we left. Well.... at the end of last week my boss gave me a lot more responsibility (finally) and was very happy/impressed with my work. I'm actually doing lawyer type work now, as opposed to just office administration. I am working on cases and actually doing some of the investigatory process that could help us win. Its much better.

All of that said.. we may still come back east in the next year. It might not be as early as spring, but I still feel like something just isn't right. I miss my family and friends back east.. but at the same time, if we leave California we'll miss our family here A LOT. Oh, and the weather ;)

Andddd...

I'm back to hating my job again.

So fortunate to have Frances, the assistant for different lawyers, so I have someone to talk to/not go crazy/know my boss always has problems with his assistants.

Ohhh if I didn't have rent and other bills to pay (and the holiday party next week full of free food). I'd be outta here.

Happy Birthday, Keira!

Random notes..

1) Keira's birthday was yesterday so we went to CPK to celebrate. Delish. Then I watched the VS fashion show again so Mitch and the little girls could see it. They were in love.

2) It is going to be in the 80's this weekend, and it is in the 70's all week. Love this.

3) I started out this week hating my job, swearing I was going to find a new career path immediately or move home, etc. Right now I feel like I've had a good day at work (except where my co-worker told me even more horror stories from the girls before me.. at least I'm not the only one) so I am considering staying in this field, just potentially with a different firm. And I'm not as desperate to get out of here right this minute (for now). Everything changes day by day in my world.

4) My parents are moving into their new place today. Who knows if I'll be living there..

5) Zach gets to go to Vegas for free (plus he'll get paid) with the family he works for. Lucky duck. But I might get to go at the same time or around then with Mitch and Donna. Since we might come home in the spring we are going to travel as much as we can on the weekends.

6) Tonight is Survivor!!! wooooooooo

7) Linnhe, if you are reading this.. GET BACK ON FACEBOOK.

Slytherin

1) I still have not seen Harry Potter.
2) I held three gigantic snakes yesterday.

So we're back in California. We did not enjoy leaving. The highlight was certainly the two snow storms we drove through in New Mexico and Arizona. We also had two great meals on the drive - the first of which was in some small town restaurant in Oklahoma. It was a sports bar and there was a big Oklahoma game that night. I'm pretty sure football is the only thing that happens in Oklahoma, so needless to say that was a big deal. There were like 4 tables of people at this restaurant. Wow. Another day for Zach and me to stand out like sore thumbs. This restaurant was clearly the popular place (and this WAS a Saturday) but it was also pretty run down. On the bright side, it had a ton of TVs. The local newscasters that came on briefly during commercial breaks were just hilarious. But the food was super cheap and still pretty darn good. Sunday dinner was in a Cracker Barrel in Arizona, right before we crossed into California. I think I've been in a Cracker Barrel only once before this, but I got pretty darn excited when I saw that fried chicken was the special that night. Zach has been many times from his baseball days and immediately started playing the little peg game that they have at every table. For you Cracker Barrel virgins out there its just a triangle with a bunch of pegs in it that you play essentially like checkers. It says on there how smart you are if you get down to a certain number of pegs; having only 1 left makes you a genius.So Zach plays a few times and grumbles about how he can never get just one left. He stops playing and I take it and he kind of warns me how hes played a bunch and never beaten it. He starts playing other games on his phone as I try at the pegs. I beat the thing in ONE try. Not joking. As I loudly celebrated Zach (and the rest of the restaurant) just stared at me. Then he swore I cheated and just did that to piss him off. I told him to watch me do it again in hopes that I could remember how I did it - he refused. I smelled fear. The third time I did it I taped myself in case he refused to watch me do it the whole night. He was humiliated, I was so proud. It was a life changing moment - confirmation that I am, in fact, a genius.

My first week back to work after break SUCKED. On top of that, our heat was broken (well.. we thought we just lived in such a crappy complex that we didn't deserve heat) and it was the coldest week in California yet (40). It was not a good welcome back.

The weekend was fantastic. Friday night Zach and I went out to dinner at the Grove and shopped a little. It was all set up for Christmas, with its huge Christmas tree, Santa's house, people singing outside, etc. It snows there every night, its amazing. Saturday we went shopping in Glendale and then cleaned our apartment. Awesome! We had to babysit the girls that night because Mitch and Donna had to go to the engagement party for Sam Simon, one of the creators of the Simpsons. 10 mil a year gets you a 250 person, security guarded engagement party complete with a mermaid in the pool. Crazy cool. Not cool that they served vegan food. Mitch and Donna came home and scarfed down the Chinese food leftovers we had. Zach and I were both so pathetic that night, but it was hilarious. I brought Kyla up to go to bed at maybe 9:00, definitely not later. I read her the two stories and laid in bed with her. She kicked around for 30 minutes (and by kicked I mean played fort in the blankets, randomly kissed my nose, moved my arms around to make her comfortable) and I was so exhausted that I was so desperate for her to fall asleep. Like, my bones hurt I was so tired. Finally we both fall asleep. Next thing I know Mitch is standing over me. I feel like I'm unconscious but I get out of bed. He tries showing me pictures of the chandelier in the house and I felt like I was going to fall over the whole time. So pathetic. I get downstairs and it turns out Zach had fallen asleep too. Both of us can hardly form sentences. Then they tell me Donna had tried to wake me up, couldn't, and had to get Mitch to try. FYI, this is very abnormal for me - maybe even a first. I guess that's what two weeks of very abnormal sleeping patterns and time zone changes gets you.

Sunday was one of the best days everrrr. It was Keira and Kyla's birthday party and they had hired some animal person. She brought over tailless rats, mice, chinchilla's bunnies and some lizards. All of that was cool and all.. but then she got to the snakes. She had three gigantic pythons. The first was albino and the other two were just so so long. I have always wanted to hold one of those huge snakes. Turns out I can't be near the head, because the second I noticed it turning its head and moving towards me I almost died.

Also, Donna and I now have gold hair tinsel in our hair. Thank you lady from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and blonde chick on Miley Cyrus for the inspiration, we love it.

Lastly... I hate my job more than ever today. I applied to several other, but this blog has gone from a "CarolineInCali" blog to a "CarolineIn...Cali?" blog. Connor, you're about to lose your "only child" status.

From CA to VA to NJ to NYC

Here you go, Doris :)

So we left Beverly Hills at about 1:30 Thursday afternoon and got into Sterling at 10:00 Saturday morning. We sat in traffic for the first hour just trying to get out of LA, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. We thought we'd pull over to sleep through the night a few times, but we drove straight through for the most part. Zach bought 2 five hour energy things because I can't drive at night while hes sleeping, I get way too tired. The second night we did pull over twice, once for 20 minutes and the second time for an hour, so we could both sleep because neither of us could drive. Not many highlights from the trip, but when we got to about Bristol, VA it was 5:30 am and we pulled over to get gas. We were 2 of the 15 or so people at the gas station and we were the only ones not wearing camo. Usually when people stare at me I wonder why.. let's just say this time it was pretttty obvious.

We hung around for about 30 minutes once we got home before we started helping my parents move. We took a break to get dinner and I got to get my hair highlighted/cut but besides that we moved until midnight that night. I woke up to Tony (our amazing helper that we hire for essentially everything) coming over at what I could have sworn was like 3 am, but it was really 7:00. My mom woke Zach and I up pretty much right after that and we moved all day again. It was ridiculous. We got back to the house from our last storage trip at 9pm after we had dropped off the rental truck to grab the stuff we needed to bring to NJ. We realized at that point that we still had a good hours worth of stuff to pack that had somehow gotten left behind. Anyways, after that whole hour of frantic packing we walked around our oddly empty house to say goodbye. No one was emotional, though - we had been expecting this day for a long time. We went out and grabbed some dinner and checked into our awesome hotel and had a great night.

Next morning, my dad woke me up at 8am. I thought he was joking. We had to drop a car off and move some packed stuff around at the place Zach's staying, drop off stuff at the moving truck place, sign the house papers and head to NJ. We got to NJ at about 4:00 and my grandparents were still in NYC with Mitch and Donna and the girls. We had a great night with them, as always.

Tuesday we went into NYC with Dana and her boys and my grandparents stayed behind (with my parents cute little doggy that I've finally met now and I swear hes just a stuffed animal). We rode the train in which was pretty fun, especially since we saw Austin Scarlett from Project Runway when we got off in Manhattan. We strolled the streets - went to the New York Public Library, got lunch at Bryant Park Cafe, shopped, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Central Park.. to name a few. Dana and her boys never go into the city so it was pretty new to them. The boys are at the age where they aren't usually impressed by anything, but they loved NYC. Mitchell asked Owen at one point if he was liking NYC and Owen said he hated cities (typical). I asked him an hour later if this was one of the coolest places he had ever been.. he said yes. Dave agreed with him when I asked him later. It was a great day. A few highlights:
-saw the building my grandpa worked in for 10 years, right near penn station
-a billboard explaining why the speed limit was 30 mph in the city - you hit a kid at 30 mph and there's an 80% chance they'll live, whereas at 40 mph its a 70% chance they'll die
-Dana got incredibly flustered when we got to the NYPL. She is a librarian so when she went in she was just amazed.
-we all forgot my mom's purse on a table outside the library, went to a restaurant and sat down for a little before we even realized it. I sprinted back and it was still there - I've always thought New Yorkers weren't as bad as people think they are - this proves it.
-Central Park still had the colorful leaves on its trees whereas NJ is about 2 weeks ahead and has bare trees
-there were guys with bamboo sticks and sting that were blowing huge bubbles in Central Park. All of us used the sticks and created the bubbles too so we stayed there for about 30 minutes and it was great. Kyla got to stand in a balloon.

Lastly... we had to run to catch our train connection and despite having a huge group including children, we all made it. Impressive.

Today we went on a hike in a nearby neighborhood that was full of Gentleman's Farms. I've been saying for some time now that I want to buy a farm and this makes me REALLY want to buy a farm... I'm just short a few million dollars. These houses were amazing.. the kind that don't go on the market and just get passed down in the family most likely. While we were there a pack of fox hounds and their owners (on horseback of course) came down the road. I'm used to my cousins' beagles so these dogs seemed HUGE. Also, every time I've joined them for the beagling it didn't seem like there were quite so many dogs in the group, but that easily could have been because they were such tall dogs. I texted Linnhe and she even knew the people, I guess its a small community. It was very fun though because the dogs came over to us.. smelled my grandma because she was sitting on the ground, tried smelling Leo because my dad was holding him.. they completely surrounded us. Very cool.

After that walk we were all so wiped out so we just lounged around the rest of the day. At one point we ALL took naps because we were just so done. Tomorrow M&D and the girls and Dana will come over for a Thanksgiving lunch. We've never done a lunch before but since Zach and I are leaving for CA Friday evening it just made more sense, plus it'll be easier for Mitch and Donna to drive back into the city if it isn't too late. Certainly not looking forward to heading back to California quite yet. Because of the moving I haven't even gotten to see my friends really, unless you could a whole 10 minute run-in with Kristen. It sucks. Guess I should start researching farms on the east coast for me to buy :) Feel free to chip in to the farm fund..

Andddd We're Off!

We leave for Thanksgiving break in 30 minutes!! Very excited.

We're driving essentially straight through. We will probably pull over and sleep for a few hours both nights, just by laying the seats down in the back because it goes completely flat, but we aren't staying in a hotel or anything. Its going to be a challenge but I think that's going to make it even more fun.

We dropped the kitties off at Mitch and Donna's yesterday and I missed them before we even left. I'm so obsessed with those little guys. I wish I could take them back east with me, but it just won't work.

We have the good gas stations picked out and the GPS is ready, so Zach is just finishing up some final projects in the apartment and coming to get me! Yay!

The Good vs. The Bad

Although last week was great, the weekend had its ups and its downs.

The work week went well - I didn't see my boss Thursday or Friday, and hardly at all on Tuesday. On Tuesday I got out early to babysit for Francie, and that's always a fun diversion. On Wednesday I went to a restaurant called Bouchon for Donna's birthday with her and six of her girlfriends. That was SO fun. Amanda and I were the only two not riding with the group because we live on this side of the hill (that's right, I've got some LA in me) so we got there first. This was kind of a blessing in disguise because shes one of the women in the group I've known the longest and therefore feel the most comfortable talking to, plus shes VERY down to earth. Her husband has been friends with Mitchell for years and years so I feel like I've known them my whole life. We mainly talked about my amazing laser eye surgery (as everyone seems to talk to me about the first time they see me post-op) and by the time we got through that subject the rest of the group was there. Donna seemed very pleasantly surprised to find Amanda and me waiting at the bar.

The meal was ridiculously good. The women ordered a bunch of wine, cocktails and appetizers when we sat down. I stuck to my lemonade, of course (it was great though). The only appetizer they ordered that I had ever tried before were truffled fries, so it was definitely interesting. The fries were delish, the rest I wasn't as impressed with. Lets start with the foie gras. My advice is to NOT sit next to a vegetarian/almost vegan while trying these new things. She was kind enough to tell me the horror story of how they make foie gras before I tried it. Knowing that I would never eat it again, no matter how delicious it was, because of that story.. I went for it. It was just okay. I can see why people like it; its very creamy and smooth and good spread on bread. Not worth torturing the poor goose. Next up was pate. YUCK. So gross. Like, almost-couldn't-swallow-it gross. It's worth mentioning that the people at the table who love these two items thought this was the best pate and foie gras ever. Very strange to me. They also ordered salmon tartar, which didn't get the same rave reviews from the whole crowd (not that they didn't like it, but they were dying for it like they were for the others). I wasn't impressed with that either. Same goes for the platter they ordered, raw oysters, shrimp and lobster. Didn't even bother with the second two because I know I like those, but the oysters didn't do it for me either. But, I'm very happy I tried all of it. I'm sure that all sounds negative, but it was actually a very fun portion of the meal. I love trying new foods, no matter the outcome.

Lisa had a great idea to go around the table and had everyone say how they met Donna and how much they love her. She went first, all teary of course. The rest of the ladies went and it was very nice hearing all of their stories. Her friends really love her. When it got to my turn I knew I couldn't really compare - we're family after all. I actually didn't even KNOW the first time I had met her until a few weeks ago when Donna happened to tell the story of the first time she met the whole family.. when I was six. Apparently I was tired by the end of the night and I just crawled into her lap and fell asleep on her. It was a very special moment to her, but unfortunately I don't remember it at all. So it gets to me and I was going to tell them how I don't remember it at all, but she had told me, blah blah blah. Instead Donna interrupts and says I can't talk. (In my head, I'm going "phew!") Everyone thought it was because it would be all emotional... because every.single.person. had gotten teary so far I think. Not my scene. Anyways, so she goes on to say how I can't talk so she'll talk for me. She tells them all the story (called me a little angel multiple times, thank you very much) and them somehow I'm supposed to say something after all of that??? Awkward. I essentially said how I couldn't really follow that up, but that I've now lived with Donna and I invade her home several times a week and how shes really been who I spend all of my time here with and its been great. Which is true, this has been a really rough and overwhelming move (I think its just starting to hit me how overwhelmed I am, now that I've been able to slightly slow down and think for a second) and that shes really been there for us the whole time. We would certainly be back in Virginia by now had it not been for them, but instead we've had a lot of fun.

Anyways, dinner came and was amazing, I got steak frites and it was probably the best steak I've ever had. I don't even know what they put on top to make it so good, but it was very different and delicious. The rest of the women loved their food too, including Amanda who ordered trout which comes with the head on (and staring right up at you). Dessert was an incredible chocolate cake. I don't know what they did to make that thing so fluffy and smooth, but it was working. The vegetarian next to me also ordered two extra desserts (a decent lemon tart and a very unique vanilla puffy thing) but the cake was the winner. Suzie had ordered the cake as well as the flowers that were our centerpiece, which of course was very emotional for Donna. This thing had its tearfest moments. Girls. I will say, though, that this dinner made me realize that I don't want to move away from Donna and the girls. They are a huge part of my life now. Well, that feeling of being certain that we'd stay here until they moved ended up only lasting about 3 days...

Donna didn't know about that dinner, or the stunning eternity ring I helped Mitch pick out her, or the trip he had planned for them and another couple to go to Vegas the next day, or the resort in San Diego for the weekend. She had joked about wanting diamonds, so she was thrilled with that and they are still the first thing I notice when I see her. Very eye catching. They went to see Love in Vegas (the Beatles show) and Mitchell said it wasn't the best show ever, it was the best THING ever. Zach and I watched the girls while we were there which went very well. Went to see Megamind, I don't really recommend it, and then got some takeout and watched TV until Keira fell asleep. I read a book to Kyla and we all slept in M&D's super comfy bed. Well, Zach got the couch ;) Got them off to school the next morning and everything went great.

Then came the weekend. Mitch and Donna got back and picked them up from school and we went to the mall and out to dinner that night. I was exhausted so I figured that's why I wasn't feeling well, so after dinner I went home. By then I was just in a fog and felt like I just had to go home, I couldn't be out anymore. The next morning Zach, Kaos and I went for a walk/jog on this path in Beverly Hills that I drive by on my way to work every morning and have been wanting to go to the whole time because its so gorgeous. We had a really amazing time. I had a stomach ache so when we got home Zach got me meds and fed me, etc. He was very good. We watched TV until he had to go to work. For some reason, when he went to work I just went into a terrible mood. All of these emotions about being overwhelmed and stressed crashed down on me. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. It kind of felt like an anxiety attack, but I was also very sad. And it all came out of the blue. It was awful. I was supposed to babysit that night and fortunately it fell through because I was just a mess. I texted Zach which helped, and by the time he got home I was feeling much better. It went away even faster than it had come, for the most part. This morning I almost went into that same disaster mode again, and for no apparent reason, but it was also when Zach left for work. I was also leaving for work right after him, so I left even earlier than expected because I just couldn't be alone. Very strange. Haven't felt that way since right after I left Radford (a very stressful time in my life).

The good news is it really made me reassess everything. I realized many things. First off, LA might just be too much for me. Things are hard out here, and I don't want to deal with it. Its very hard to realize that despite my education or success at my last job, no one out here really cares and there really aren't many opportunities for me. You always think you're going to do great things, and I'm not right now. Very disappointing. I also realized just how much of this anxiety and stress I've taken out on Zach. I don't know how on earth he puts up with me sometimes, but this breakdown definitely helped our relationship.

The next day he had to work all day. Cindy asked if he wanted to bring me with him, so I went with him and we went to Santa Monica. It was so much fun. The kids were difficult at times but we had a blast anyways. There are fair games to play and we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which was filled with Forrest Gump movie stuff and was right on the pier. We played a lot of games and stayed there a long time. It was so exhausting, but we had to stay at Cindy's house for a little while once we got back until the nanny, Marisol, got there. She had the weekend off which is why Zach had to go in. We helped Cindy go around the house and find what she needed fixed which was nice because I hadn't really spent any time talking to Cindy and we got along very well. I'm usually very shy and uncomfortable with people at first, and I have been with her every other time I've met her, but this was fine. Plus its nice to feel useful and helpful, especially when I only feel that way about 15% of the time at my job. Another thing I hate about being here, its not a good feeling.

Sooo.. long story short, it was a great week and weekend. Not only was it fun (minus the breakdown) but I think the rough parts actually will really help me in the future. I know something is wrong with my life here right now, but that it has nothing to do with my relationship and that my relationship is actually much better than I've been giving it credit for lately. Now I just have to figure out what to do to get me out of this slump.

Another Work Week

So here's another Monday. So glad the clocks rolled back because I definitely am enjoying the extra time in the morning.

This weekend was very fun and was once again spent primarily with Mitch and Donna. Friday Zach and I hung out just the two of us - we went to Lankershim which is a nice tree-lined street with shops and restaurants. We found a store I really loved and ate at a great bakery. I immediately wanted a job there so I could eat all the dessert after the place closed down, but the guy working there told me it seems great until you go to bed with a stomach ache literally every night. So there goes that. We also went to a great froyo place called Twirl. I had been craving Menchies and this place was actually just as good.

Saturday morning we drove around a little with the dog to see all of these crazy things I had been wanting to take pictures of. Then we grabbed lunch in Chinatown with M&D and the girls. I thought we were getting dimsum but we got regular Chinese food and it was amazing. We walked around for a while after that until it started to cool down outside. It was exhausting for some reason so we took naps before heading over to Donna's for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, last night.. wait for it.... Donna and I cooked dinner. For those of you who don't know.. Mitchell cooks literally every single night. I babysat the girls in the afternoon and Donna showed me a Turkey dinner recipe when I got there saying she wanted to try it. Mitchell had a rugby game and met Zach, me and the girls up at BJ's (an amazing brew house with great deep dish pizza) so I mentioned to him we were going to cook. He couldn't believe it. Long story short, it turned out really well. Also surprising, the girls were incredibly well behaved when I watched them - didn't get in a single fight, played together the entire time, and didn't even watch TV for a second. Keira melted down later in the day, but that's to be expected.

Completely unrelated - I found these great new construction townhomes in Raleigh that are incredibly affordable. I can definitely afford them if I can get approved for a loan, which might be hard with my age and the fact that I moved here so there will have been 3 job changes in 2 years. However, if I can get approved for a loan and I am still convinced its a good area and everything over the next several months, I will probably buy one. I can't imagine leaving the little girls and M&D, but it could be a great investment. So I'll be looking into that pretty nonstop for the next oh... 6 months :)

Halloween Weekend and Warmth!

This weekend was a lot of fun. Friday I don't really remember (hence the point of keeping this blog, because that was only 3 days ago..) but I don't think we did anything. I didn't work much last week but I was still in major need of some relaxation. Isabella is super sweet and sent me a Godiva care package for my eye surgery so I think I just enjoyed a fair amount of that Friday night.

Saturday we went to the mall in Santa Monica that they recently renovated. It used to be all indoors and then you could walk outside to 3rd street which is also a very popular and touristy destination for all of its shops, restaurants and street performers. Now they've opened up the indoor part of the mall so its essentially this very cool looking, multi-leveled outdoor mall. We wandered down to 3rd Street for some lunch and went into a bunch of cool shops. I found this new store, Cotton On, that is originally from Australia and New Zealand and it has awesome stuff. Also, Donna's sister had bought a bunch of stuff from Victoria's Secret while she was in NYC and most of it didn't fit so she gave it to Donna to return so she didn't have to be bothered with it. So we went and returned all of it and had $171 to spend in Victoria's Secret for ourselves. We split it in half and picked out what we wanted.. It was awesome. I didn't even know that was the plan for the day so it was a great surprise. Zach got a hoodie he loves from Quicksilver and we all loved our lunches (all of us except our arteries) so it was a great trip.

Afterward we went back to their house because Mitch said he was going to make Gumbo for dinner and that he would have plenty to share. You just don't turn down Gumbo. Or Mitchell's cooking for that matter.

Donna started dying my hair that night but its going to take another application before its the exact right color. It didn't come out that orange or anything, so I'm okay being out in public until she can do the next step fortunately. We were going to fix it yesterday afternoon, but time got away from us and it was Francie's party before we knew it.

Francie and Rob (hippie and Elvis) are the couple I babysit for. They have 4 kids that are amazing and they're just the perfect family. It's almost disturbing how perfect they are. Anyways, every year they throw a party at their house for their friends and their friend's kids. Everyone gathers there for Rob's famous cosmopolitans and some appetizers/pizza before they all head out to go trick or treating together. Zach and I showed up towards the tail end of that so we could go door to door with the girls, and even though we only knew a few people there it was a ton of fun anyways. Mitch and Donna have the coolest friends. And, of course, there was delicious food.

Kyla dressed up as a Greek Goddess ("naturally" - as some random lady in a parking lot said when she asked Kyla what her costume would be) and Keira was Little Red Riding Hood. They were both adorable. I put one some butterfly wings and Zach was a bum and didn't wear his costume. Super lame. Anyways, trick or treating here is a wholly different experience. The entire elementary school all goes to the same few streets. The streets are PACKED with kids and their parents. Also, a lot of people do parties ahead of time like we did, so the kids are in huge groups as are their parents, and most of the parents are walking around with Solo cups in their hands. The people decorate like crazy. I don't even want to know how many thousands of dollars they spend on it. The best house was one of Donna's friends, The Bobbits or something. The husband is one of the most famous set designers in LA and he goes all out. This year you could see the house from down the street because it had a huge movie screen up on a pole flashing scary images. Then you get to the driveway which was flanked with two 20 foot tall pharaohs or something. Next to the driveway is a massive (bigger than real life probably) dead cow and a convertible that has a skeleton (holding a beer bottle..) in his hand. Caution tape all over it. You walk in the driveway and there is 15 foot long coffin that looks like its made out of concrete. To the left of that is a little graveyard surrounded by a metal fence. Fog was billowing out of there and there were a lot of things getting lit up. So you're looking at all of that and children all dressed up and creepy looking start popping out from behind the graves. Real children. And they will yell at you, etc. They even followed one kid who went up to them and said he wasn't scared of them. To the right of the huge coffin is another huge dead animal, this time a horse. Behind the horse is a hearse that has a coffin sticking out the back and a dead guy is peeking out of the coffin. There are also gigantic statues of gargoyles, panthers, everything. As you keep walking among other random decorations you get to this big tree in front of their house. They had several bodies hanging from the tree. That was probably my favorite part because it was so creepy. They had every detail down perfectly. They even lined parts of their property with huge fake boulders that looked so real Mitchell had to stand on them to realize they were fake. If I can do Halloween like that when I'm a parent, I'll consider my life a success.

Other houses had awesome things too, but none compared to that. The girls did have to skip a few because they were scared almost to tears. One guy dressed up as an ape and sat next to the candy table in his garage and him moving made Kyla terrified. Another house had a huge column type thing next to their front door and one of the people hid behind the column so you couldn't see him til you got to the door and he would just stand there in his mask staring at you but hardly moving. Kyla kept telling him to "stop!" Another house had really loud metal music and huge demons all over their property.. had to skip that house. Lastly, one house had a graveyard next to their sidewalk and a little girl was like army crawling around it and would come over to people as they walked by. So good.

We planned on going to the West Hollywood parade afterward, but it had gotten colder and we knew the crowds would be huge by then so we skipped it. Well, it was probably primarily just because we were SO exhausted from the trick or treating. We got to Francie's at 6:30 and were back at Mitchell's by 8:30 but it was still sooo exhausting. Zach rode by Santa Monica Blvd since its just a block away to see the costumes and by the time he got home from that he was ready to go straight to bed. Kind of disappointed we didn't see it, but at the same time going with the kids was probably way better. Keira told me how much fun it was to go with me there which made it so worth it.

This week the weather is going to get into the 90's. Today is the coldest day of the week at 86. Love it. Also, we are going to Palm Springs this weekend so it'll be even warmer there. The house we go to there is so amazing and the pool may be even better, so we're looking forward to that. Plus, I need a weekend away from that dog. He's eating all my stuff.

Eye Update & Then Some

Went to the doctor yesterday - everything is good. Well, they are still using the word "excellent," which I'll take.

I went over to Mitch's last night and Keira almost cried because my red eyes scared her so badly. She ran over to see me when she got home, but once she saw my eyes she literally gasped, covered her mouth with both hands, jumped backwards and then hid behind Mitchell. The rest of the night she wouldn't be in the same room as me. SOOO funny. I cried I laughed so hard.

When I was at my doctor appointment yesterday I saw a thing on the wall that I hadn't read before. It gave the credentials for the doctor who does the surgery. Turns out he is the founder and president of Laser Eye Surgery (the nationwide company) and has done over 40,000 surgeries and received numerous awards. Pretty cool. I mentioned this to Mitchell yesterday and he kept saying that they just want me to think he did it, who knows if it was actually him. At first I had no idea what he meant, but then I realized he thought I was knocked out for the procedure. I told him I wasn't knocked out, that you can see them opening your eye up, peeling away and replacing layers of your eyeball, and the brushes they use to reseal and moisturize your eye after its open. Let's just say he had a very contorted face the entire time and was thoroughly disgusted. I, on the other hand, thought it was so cool to see this done to myself and wish I had it on videotape. Surgery and medicine are so fascinating.

Today it is 80 something degrees out and gorgeous. After work I am heading up to Tarzana again for Survivor and home made pizza (the best). I put this as my facebook status and Doris commented saying that it would be better if the whole family was with me, so I told her that she and everyone else just has to move out here now. After some back and forth about us moving home instead, she says how we should all come to Raleigh because of jobs with the Hurricanes (NHL team there). I texted Zach about it just kidding around and he is still texting me about moving there in the next week. I'm not that ready to leave California and I'm very surprised he is. I'll have to talk to him tonight to see how serious he is. Also, if I WAS to leave California, I don't think I could go straight to Raleigh. Right now there is still a lot I want to do here and I love being near the girls, M & D. Of course I seem to keep getting less and less hours at my job, which is a problem. He is renovating a mountain house he just bought so hes out of the office a lot. Annoying.

I hope not, but there's a chance our Thanksgiving trip will be one way..

Ow, Ow, Ow, Awesome!

So I had my laser eye surgery yesterday. Good thing Zach was there because I definitely got more stressed as the appointment went on. I was primarily stressed about the financial aspect and the fact that I hadn't been prepping for this for a week since it was planned so quickly.

Everything went perfectly fine. Leading up to the surgery they redid the tests, which is all very easy. Zach was able to stay with me up until they sliced my eye open, so for about an hour. It all felt very fast after he left, though, which was good. They told me I'd be waiting for a few minutes after he left.. nope, he left and I got put in the first room, where the doctor immediately came in and started. It was much more uncomfortable than I expected. Looking back I am not surprised, because I literally went in expecting no pain whatsoever. I'm an idiot. The procedure itself had very little actual pain involved, but a good amount of pressure. They say don't confuse "pressure" with "pain." My response? Pressure on your eyeball is painful! It was not fun, but the whole time I kept thinking to myself.. "this is worth it."

After they opened up my eyeball (so fun saying that, and even more fun seeing your eye get opened up..) they walked me into the next room to do the correction part of the procedure. It goes pretty quickly but also is not the most comfortable thing in the world. As I laid down I almost had a panic attack because I didn't realize there were two different portions in two different rooms, so when the first part was done I thought I was done. I started thinking to myself that I probably should have taken the Xanex, but I was able to calm myself down within 5 seconds and according to the doctors I was excellent throughout the surgery. Because of my fair skin he was worried that the cutting my open part would be more difficult, but he said things went much better than expected. Relieving. Then they taped these bug eye things on my face and put sunglasses on my. Not as cool. Zach laughed out loud at me as I walked into the completely full waiting room. Thanks. He also refused to carry me to the car as I had been telling him all along he had to do (jokingly). Thanks again ;)

It wasn't until we were pulling into our apartment garage that I started not feeling so well. At first I thought it was just nausea from having my eyes closed the whole ride home since I get car sick anyways. By the time I got to the couch I realized I was in a lot of pain; I had a migraine, my stomach still hurt, my eyes were on fire to say the least. My mom had mentioned how she watched the ACC tournament after her surgery so I couldn't figure out why I wasn't even able to open my eyes and was in so much pain when she hadn't been, which was very scary. After a while I felt comfortable enough that I let Zach go to the store for some salad supplies and after I ate I took half the Vicodin. At that point the pain had already started to become more tolerable (I had also taken an extra strength Tylenol right after I got home) but the Vicodin really made it so I could function. I was able to open my eyes to the point where Zach started yelling at me for peaking at the TV for too long. He took very good care of me. I'm very fortunate that I had him help me through this, especially the part where I was so scared.

This morning I woke up and could see across the room. I can't even remember the last time I was able to do that. It is the most incredible feeling. My eyes are pretty red around where they cut them open (looks pretty funny - there is the blue and then a sliver of white and then a perfect line where the red starts) but I am feeling no pain whatsoever. Occasionally they will feel a little dry or abnormal, but I think a lot of that has to do with how much red there is. I have a followup appointment today (and like once a week for the next few months.. bleh) so we'll see what the deal with the red is, but I'm pretty confident that everything is okay. There isn't even any blurriness or anything. I can't say enough how great it is.

Laser Eye Surgery

So we had a really great weekend. On Friday we went to the pumpkin patch with Donna and the girls. We hadn't really planned on doing anything but errands and relaxing that day, but once I heard they were going to a pumpkin patch I, clearly, had to go. This place was awesome too; it had lots of rides, games and random areas set up for the kids. We had a lot of fun and then picked up some Chinese food on the way back to Mitchell. The slippery shrimp at the restaurant near them is to die for, so clearly we stayed for dinner.

On Saturday Zach and I finally ran our errands (helloooo Wal-mart) and I had a consultation for laser eye surgery. It ended up costing about what I expected it to, but more than I was HOPING it would. I decided to give myself a couple of days to think it through, especially because I couldn't get it that same day. (They offer it the same day, but I had to work at Lisa's birthday party). So after the consultation and then Wal-Mart we went to CPK for a quick dinner and went up to Lisa's.

Her set-up for the party was so gorgeous, it looked like she had a party planner come in and do everything. It wasn't even really like working because M&D were at the party and we know a few of their friends that were there as well, so I got to talk to them for a fair portion of the night. Plus Lisa just had us helping out essentially, which included taking pictures and stuff I would have been doing for her even if I wasn't getting paid. Pretty awesome. The party was crazy.. despite the fact that they were all older they definitely all thought it was a college party. It kind of was, just in a beautiful home with hired helpers, bartender and DJ. People were smoking weed in the front yard and Mitch said he and one of the guys used the lawn as a toilet. Hilarious. Most importantly, Mitchell wore jeans that I had picked out for him (skinny jeans from Levi's, but not super skinny) and got compliments. The women were veryyyy impressed. :) I left early because there was chaos down at Donna's house. Lisa's kids, her brother's kids and Donna's were all getting babysat at Donna's and the babysitters even came up to the party to let Donna know that it was too crazy and they couldn't handle it. Donna and Lisa's brother left the party for a good 30 minutes to try and diffuse the situation. Pretty funny. By the time I got there the other kids had been brought up to Lisa's and stuck in the bedrooms and Donna's kids were asleep, so I didn't have to do anything.

We get home that night completely exhausted.. I got to bed.. Zach gets in the shower, the usual. Until Zach gets out of the shower and wakes me up angrily asking why I left my glasses on the bed. I tell him I didn't, I left them on the nightstand. Turns out our lovely dog took them off the nightstand and continued to chew on them and completely destroy them. I was so asleep that I didn't even see them until the morning, which was when I realized that they were practically unwearable. So that laser eye surgery planned for next weekend is now scheduled for today, Monday. I am very excited, but also frustrated that the stupid dog made it so I have to miss work, etc. because I can't wear contacts before the surgery and I can now hardly wear glasses. Anyways, we essentially just relaxed yesterday. Zach went for a ride on his motorcycle and I watched some excellent TV since I couldn't really do much.. being blind and all. After fantastic naps we hiked up to the Hollywood sign as it was getting dark. It was misting when we left our house and by the time we got to the point we wanted to turn around the mist had gotten much harder. It was so foggy you could hardly see the lights of Hollywood and the mist was heavy enough that my hair was soaked and we had water dripping down our faces. It was pretty awesome. It felt very secluded and like we weren't in the center of a huge city. No one else was out there or anything.

So today I just have to sit through the next few hours at work and then I'm off to get my surgery. Zach took the day off so I won't have to sit there alone, which is very nice. I can't even imagine not having to worry about glasses or contacts or any of that anymore. SO awesome. Also, Zach and I contemplated just heading home this week so we could move back by the time Jon Stewart has his rally in DC this weekend. Both of us are so excited for Thanksgiving break... But maybe if we move back East it'll be to Raleigh instead of DC. Who knows!

Orange County

This weekend was really great - one of the best we've had in a while.

Friday night I got out of work and met Zach at the Beverly Center because I needed (yes, needed) an H&M trip. He was very nice and decided not to meet up with one of his motorcycle buddies and went shopping with me. It was a lot of fun and I got some stuff I really love, and I hardly ever go shopping for myself so it was great. When we got home we ran to the grocery store because I decided I needed cookies, plus we needed to buy stuff to make dinner. Zach started feeling sick that night so we got a mix for Snickerdoodle cookies, and they were so delicious. I couldn't believe how good they were and I am certainly making these non-stop for the foreseeable future.

Saturday we went down to Orange County with Kaos and had a really nice lunch in Costa Mesa. We were just driving down the road and looking to see what the area was like when Zach saw a Tiki bar, so clearly we turned around and went there immediately. It was an awesome restaurant; everyone seemed to know each other and it was clearly a neighborhood joint. We got the appetizer sampler (pupu platter) and it was so delicious. It was about 65 degrees that day so poor Kaos was freezing. Between the cold and our exhaustion we decided we had explored the area enough for that day and just drove up the coast to head home. It was really gorgeous and we decided that if we stay in California after this first year that there is a good chance we'll move down there next.

Sunday Zach woke up really sick so he had to call just about everyone in his family to have them tell him how to feel better. Pretty funny. I have a picture of that now posted on my Facebook. He was hoping to go riding that day but since he was so sick we stayed in to watch football and do some crockpot cooking for most of the day. We only went out to go to the grocery store, which convinced Zach and me that we had to buy lottery tickets (our savings that day was $7.77), and to see Jackass 3-D. First off, the crockpot dish was soooooo good. It was some Cajun shrimp dish that we served over biscuits. We have enough to feed a small army now. Second, movies are insanely expensive. We went to an Arclight theater, which we know now is more expensive, and we went to what is apparently a landmark theater. M&D told me this yesterday, I had no idea - its just the closest theater to our apartment. We almost went to the theater in Universal Studios but parking was so expensive I wouldn't stand for it. Its a matter of principles really. Anyways, the movie was HILARIOUS and the theater was incredibly comfortable with super fancy 3-D glasses and it even had real costumes from Alice in Wonderland in glass boxes in the lobby. However, I will not be spending $20 per movie ticket EVER again. Ugh. Everyone should go see Jackass though.

Yesterday I sat at work bored to death so I decided I need to start looking for other ideas out there. The possibility of moving home and then eventually to Raleigh with my family is still a real possibility so Mitch suggested I just do something fun and risky out here since it may be short term. He said he could get me a job as a Production Assistant on the movie he wrote which is currently in the early stages of being made, and I'm seriously considering doing that. I will feel bad leaving my boss because I know he would be hurt by it, so I am going to ask if there is even a slight chance you can be a PA part time. Who knows.. but it WOULD be awesome. More awesome if I could do both jobs at the same time though.

Zach was an idiot last night so I am still mad at him and almost just gave up and packed up my stuff to come home last night. The drinking situation is going to break us up, which I keep telling him because he makes incredibly poor decisions relating to alcohol, so we shall see where that one goes.

And lastly, today I set up an appointment for me to get a consultation for laser eye surgery. I can afford it if, but it would mean not putting nearly as much money.. if any.. into savings. Depends on the price they quote me, if I'm even eligible. I'm kind of scared for the appointment because I reallllly want it, and if they tell me I can't ever get it I'll be so disappointed. I'll find out Saturday.

It's raining until Thursday essentially, so besides Survivor tomorrow I see this be a slow and sleepy week. I'm alright with that though.

Finally Thursday!

So, I guess I'll just post a quick update. Not much has happened this week. I got to see Isabella and Dave for my lunch break yesterday, which was nice. Isabella got these super cute shoes for me as a bday present, so that was very exciting. We went to this little sushi place right off Santa Monica blvd for lunch. I had been there once before but this meal was better than last time; I decided to get tempura veggies and they were amazing. There were little bugs flying around the whole time though.. I think Isabella and Dave were a little grossed out.

Zach passed the written portion of his motorcycle test today so he is now licensed. We will pretend he hasn't been driving that thing for a couple weeks now.. He did have proof that he had passed the riding test though, so hopefully that would have been enough if he got pulled over.

Yesterday I went to Donna's to watch Survivor, which was very nice since I hadn't been up there since last week. I usually talk to them most days of the week and see them every couple of days at least, but since I was sick this weekend I kind of fell off the grid. We went and bought Nicholas (boy Zach babysits) some absurdly expensive Halloween decoration for their yard, along with all of the other ridic decorations they have, before getting to Survivor. The traffic was horrendous, which is awful with two kids in the car, but it was a fun trip anyways - especially because it ended at BJ's which has delicious food.

One of the ladies in my office brought in some homemade chicken enchiladas for me today! So awesome because I didn't realize I forgot the salad dressing for my salad from BJ's last night, so I was essentially lunchless. Made my day.

Today I get out of work early to go babysit for a few hours, and then tomorrow is Friday! Very excited for the weekend. Donna and the girls are going to some Halloween thing at Disneyland this weekend and staying overnight. Zach and I had planned on exploring Orange County this weekend before we even knew they would be down there, so now we will bring Mitch down with us to meet up with Donna and we'll all go explore. I figure that if Zach and I stay in Cali there is a good chance we won't stay right in the city, so maybe in a couple years we'll move down to Orange County. Seems to be more my speed anyways. So exploring it this weekend should be great.

This is the last weekend of all the heat. Supposedly on Sunday we are going to get cooler weather. Its only been in the 80s, but its felt even hotter for some reason. The mornings and evenings, however, are pretty darn cool and this morning in particular was really foggy. I love the fog, so except for the getting out of bed part it has been really nice to get fog so often.

Back to work!

Rough Day

Well, today is one of those days that I suppose is to be expected when you move across the country away from your parents and everything you've really ever known. Its weird to miss home at a time when things really are going pretty darn well out here. Its so gorgeous outside right now, I couldn't even believe that days like this existed as I walked into work today. But then I got to work, and realized that although I don't hate what I'm doing by any stretch of the imagination, I don't really love it either. Sure, its a job, and most people don't LOVE their job, but still. There are so many things I would love to do (come onnnn View co-host) that I don't want to sit around doing something just because I know it could pay off well in the end. And not amazingly well, mind you, there is certainly a cap on this particular position. Beyond that, half of the reason I was interested in this job was to see if I wanted to go to law school. I don't. I sooo don't. The cases are interesting and I know the hours can be reasonable depending what sector of law you go into, but still. I need to find something more active. Real estate agent, event coordinator, working on a TV show if I stay in California. This just isn't enough.

This morning as I was driving in the idea of staying in the hospitality business crossed my mind. I was thinking about how I wish someone had told me years ago that I should hold a job that can count as "experience" even during college, because it is really hard getting a good job without experience, even if you have a college degree. It could take years to get enough experience for you to get a job that pays any better than the job I held before this one. This got me thinking back to what my "experience" looks like, and this kind of thinking keeps bringing me back to CCF. That was a darn good job, and its hard to believe I left a job I liked so much AND that paid so well. I'm not going to find a job like that out here, plain and simple. No one is hiring, and if they are they certainly aren't paying a good wage. Not because you don't deserve it or because they don't want to pay you any more, but because they can't. I sit here and realize that Zach and I were both making more money at home (whether it be because of the hours we were working or the rate we were making) and that we had much less expenses there. I realize now why people move back to their parents after college. The house shows I've been watching has these young people buying homes at about 25, all because they lived at home and saved up. I'm not saying my parents would love this idea, but hey - maybe having someone helping them with the bills wouldn't suck. It could be beneficial for both of us in the end.

It seems like every time I write on here I'm thinking about going home. And that's probably because I do think about it a lot. I should mention that part of this probably has to do with the fact that Zach and I work very different schedules, so we don't see each other until about 8:30 or 9 at night, and since I work in the am I go to bed earlier than him. (Should I point out now that my 5.5 mile commute takes 30 minutes on a holiday aka no traffic, and on a regular day 45 mins to an hour?) This work schedule along with the type of work we're both doing is not conducive to a huge social life, whether its with other people or just ourselves. But back to what I was saying.. I'm not used to being away from my family. In fact I used to think people that moved away from their family this far were crazy. I still kind of think that, actually. But then whenever I think about realistically heading home after a year or two out here I realize that there is a great chance I would regret it. I'm not sure of this, and I think I'll have a better idea of it when I go home for Thanksgiving, but I do love a lot about this area. Every time I drive somewhere and hit major traffic (make that just "every time I drive..") I hit the detour button on my GPS and it brings me through a neighborhood or down a side street. The neighborhoods and communities I go through are so gorgeous and fun. They are just perfect, like out of a movie. Only problem? These amazing homes are smaller than mine at home but cost a couple million. But anyways.. I also have to admit that I don't miss a long winter. Sure, the idea of having a colder season seems great and I'm concerned it will stay too warm here all year, but I DON'T miss winter. I do miss fall. I don't miss summer's humidity. The proximity to the beach, the mountains, the desert, other nice cities like San Diego or heaven aka Santa Barbara is also amazing. This would be 100% the perfect place for me because of all of these things.. if it weren't for the fact that hardly any of my family is here, it wasn't so expensive to live, and the job market was much better.

My thoughts on this matter change daily. So long story short, today my thoughts were about going home to save money and finding a day job, going back to CCF for some extra money (and delicious food), and seeing where it goes from there. Heck, my parents are moving to Reston Town Center, that wouldn't suck. Or would it..

I was scurred

So this morning I went to work about 20 minutes later than normal, so I was rushing (kind of..) to my car. Since Zach got his motorcycle hes been parking it directly in front of my car so it is harder for people to see and steal. It is something we pay really close attention to because when we bought the bike the guy tried getting us to buy this extra insurance stuff for if your bike gets stolen, and their pitch to get you to buy this is telling you about how every single guy in the place has had a bike stolen, blah blah blah. So we were concerned about theft and bought a great lock and have been very careful. Anyways, I get to my car and when he moved it last night to put his bike in front he left it unlocked. I get in, look around, everything's fine, alright. As I look down to throw my car in reverse I think I see something moving behind the bike, like a flash of something tan. I figured I was going crazy, but I also knew I'd be wondering if I should have checked all day so that I might as well look. I was pretty sure I was just nuts because for someone to be where I thought I saw something they'd have to be crouching down behind the bike. So I open up my door and stand up and what do I see? A baseball hat! I immediately screamed, and I realllly mean screamed, "hey!" and then immediately was a little concerned because maybe I should have just gone to get Zach instead of dealing with this by myself. Too late for that, so I kept screaming like "what are you doing back there, get away from my boyfriends bike!" I notice there were two people back there and then finally one stands up and its like a 17 year old Hispanic boy. I was immediately slightly relieved. He looked so terrified. He was saying sorry and explained how he was just hiding there so he could smoke, and I knew that was true because I could smell weed as I was walking to my car. I felt so bad for scaring him, but I was still pretty scared myself so I asked them to go hide somewhere else because they really scared me because I thought someone was trying to steal his bike. They kept saying how much I scared them too and apologizing, eventually telling me to have a good day as they walked away from our parking spot. As I'm pulling out there was a cop that was right behind on me the street right outside our gate for our community and for a split second I thought about having the cop scare them away because I was worried that maybe they would steal our bicycles or something (which are right behind the motorcycle so they were sitting in between the bicycles and the motorcycle), but didn't want to get them in trouble because they seemed like good kids. So I started calling Zach so he could just go check and make sure they disappeared.. this happened at 8:30 and Zach didn't pick up til 11:00! He had been jogging the dog. He freaked out because before I could finish the end of the story with them walking away he gets off the phone and runs downstairs. Everything was fine, so he called me back to thank me for freaking him out and I got to finish the story. Anyways, all is good, but I can't believe I actually DID see something moving behind the bike, and it was a person. My heart was pounding for at least the next mile.

Boredom at Work

Well, to be honest I don't really have that much going on to update, but I have officially run out of websites to browse through to keep myself entertained at work, so here I am! My boss was out of the office Thursday through 2:00 Tuesday, and I left at 3:00 that day, soooo I haven't exactly been doing much. Yesterday he was working out of the office allllll day, which is okay because I came in late because I almost died from the world's worst stomach ache. Usually I recover from stomach aches or any kind of ache with just one pill or dose of medication since I rarely take meds, thanks to my pure hatred for them, but this time I had to take TWO super strong ones within 2 hours of each other to feel remotely better. It was terrible.

Work is getting much better because I feel like I've really learned a lot and can do much more than before, but it's still making me wonder if this is what I want to do the rest of my life.Maybe its just the field of law that I'm doing right now (I doubt it) but I'm still just not so sure. I certainly am going to start making moves towards other professions. First on the plate is looking into getting my real estate license since I could go through all of that while still holding this job. Since that's the kind of job you have to break into the field before you start making any money, it'll be perfect that I already have this job. Next couple of steps are following up on my absurd career ideas. Idea #1 - become a co-host on the View. Yes, that's right, I WILL be writing Barbara Walters and co. letters as to why they need me on the show. They desperately need a young voice that isn't a celebrity and certainly another blonde. That's where I enter. Next idea? Working on Survivor. I don't know what angle I'm going to use on that one, but they should still hire me.

It has been so rainy the past few days. Yesterday was actually a fairly heavy rain, whereas the previous few days were just cloudy with occasional sprinkles. Whereas fall is the best season back east, it is probably the worst season here. Still nice, don't get me wrong! Today it is in the lower 70's and by this weekend it'll be back in the 80's. Good thing too, I've already almost frozen to death. It was a nice reminder of what it is like to live somewhere cold. I keep thinking about whether or not I want to move back to the east coast in the next few years, and this has made me less interested in that idea and more interested in moving to a different park of California in a few years. I am, however, still very interested in moving to Europe for a year. A girl can dream, can't she? Or at least go for a few months and travel through all the cities. That I'm certainly doing at some point.

This weekend Isabella is coming back out to visit. I'll probably only get to see her Sunday but I'm still very excited. Between all the time I've spent working and then helping Donna with random projects we haven't gotten to meet many people yet. I'm actually quite content with this; my life is very fulfilled with just Zach, our pets, seeing my family out here and talking to my family at home. I didn't even think twice about any of this until Zach mentioned being excited to meet people on Sunday because he is doing a group motorcycle ride that the dealership he got his bike from does monthly. That kind of just shows me how content I have become with not being a typical 22 year old. I like it. Speaking of his motorcycle ride, I'm actually very excited for him. If I do get on the back of that thing anytime soon it will be so I can go on one of these rides with him. To me, that is the perk of having a motorcycle (that and getting through the atrocious LA traffic). Meeting up with a bunch of people and seeing the gorgeous scenery that Southern California, or any where for that matter, has to offer. They go up north for a while, grab something to eat, and then head back down. Sounds pretty great. Plus I wouldn't mind it if Zach was able to make a few friends, but like I said, it certainly isn't something I need yet.

I am starting to research easy, quick stops or things to see/places to eat on our way home for Thanksgiving. Should be some cool ghost towns or old diners that you wouldn't see in the rest of the country. I'm also hoping we'll be in Albuquerque quickly enough on the way home to go to this market I heard about where the Native Americans sell Turquoise. I have to look into it more, but I've really wanted to go there and didn't get to on the way out here. Speaking of which, I still have to ask my boss for time off for that whole week :/ kind of scared, even though I'm pretty sure he will say yes. I just feel bad being gone that long because I know he only takes of Thursday, and just recently did his assistant's start taking off the Friday after. I'm asking for the Friday before and that whole week off... yikes. I plan on just working extremely hard until then, especially because I need all the money I can get because I'd like to buy a new camera before doing another road trip.

I guess that is all for now. I'm pretty sure my boss is about to give me several more things to do, even though it is already 3:30 and I've just been sitting here the past 2 hours. That's how it works though. And honestly, I don't really mind because I get to do so much on the internet here that we haven't even bothered setting it up at home yet. When we do need the internet we just use Zach's iPhone. It's actually been quite nice.

Dreams

The past couple weeks have been really great but also gotten both Zach and me thinking about the future. Zach finally accomplished one of his biggest dreams and took a motorcycle class and bought a motorcycle. That is now his main transportation and he really seems to be loving it. We can both be going to the same place yet he begs to take the motorcycle instead of riding in my super stylish Prius ;) To my family members who read this, NO I have not ridden on it. The first day he got to ride it was the day Los Angeles broke its record for hottest day.. not just in September but EVER. It was grossly and seriously hot.



Usually it is the hottest in the valley, so where Mitch and Donna live, and then cooler as you get downtown and the coolest at the beaches. Well, that Monday it was 113 downtown, 111 here at work in Bev Hills, 108 in Hollywood and only (only) 106 in the valley. First off, what the heck! One of the pluses of being down here instead of in the valley with M&D was the lack of heat. Just a few weeks in and it switches on us?? Second, a woman went hiking with her dog that morning and the heat caused her to pass out and she eventually died. She was hiking on a path that Zach and I actually took Kaos on last night for his nightly walk because it is so close to our house, and it goes right to the Hollywood Sign. Not only that, but a couple weeks before Mitchell had met her husband for a business brunch. Doesn't really know the guy, but still, another small world experience in this big city.

Another dream come true for us has been our new couch. It may sound like we're crazy, which I suppose we are, but we are seriously obsessed with our couch. I'll give you the whole story, because I know you want to hear it. I was watching Tori & Dean ages ago and saw that she had a couch that was so deep you could cuddle your whole body on it as if it were the long part of a sectional. I knew I had to have a couch like that, but figured you would have to spend gobs of money on it. This couch has constantly been on my mind when we look at couches as the "if only I were rich.." couch, the one I wished I could have but knew I couldn't. We had been looking around for couches and one night as I was babysitting I was flipping through a Crate & Barrel catalog that had yet another deep couch that just reminded me how much I wish I were rich. This one was slightly more affordable (like $2k) .. but not my kind of affordable for next, oh say, 20 years. It was like an evil joke, coming around to remind me of what I really wished I could have, but simply couldn't. So we continue our search and Donna mentions that Western Ave. like a street down from us, is known throughout LA as being THE furniture place because its filled with warehouses with inexpensive and nice looking furniture. So my boss was out for a Thursday and Friday so Zach and I took the opportunity to venture over there. We found the couches that looked identical to what we had narrowed in on online. We didn't want to spend a lot, around $500, so we knew we couldn't be that picky. The couches were right at our price point and we thought we knew what we were going to do. We went to one last place that I had seem online (thank youuuu yelp) and that I was very interested in because they custom made furniture at a great price. I had secretly planned all along to see what their price would be for my incredible couch dream, but figured it would be very expensive. We get in, see a couch that looks like the one we liked other places, and figured that would be what we got, but then the owner started explaining to another man that if you look through the catalogs he had sitting out and show him a couch you like in there he will do it for at least half off. What catalog is the man holding at that very moment?? That same Crate & Barrel catalog. As soon as he put it down I snatched it, showed it to Zach, he agreed, and we talked to the guy. I'll shorten this part of the story - they could do it! For a little more than we wanted to spend (but worth every penny) we got exactly what we wanted.. even better than in the catalog because we could alter things like arm width, fabric type, color, etc. It's gorgeous. We picked a chocolate brown fabric that is so incredibly soft you don't know what to do with yourself. It's so huge. Zach and I each get a cushion to ourselves and can really stretch out. Heaven.

Anyways, looking back over the past almost 2 months I realize how lucky Zach and I are to be in the positions we are in. We had saved a lot of money to come out here, and since being employed we haven't really had to cut into our savings. Thanks to my incredible family we were able to stay somewhere until we both had jobs, so not only did we have to spend money we weren't yet earning, but we also got to choose where we lived based on both of our commutes. In this economy it isn't sensible to be picky about the place you work based on the commute, so I could have been stuck with at least an hour long commute. For example, had we gotten the first place we considered with Kyle I would have been. We are so happy to be in Hollywood and to be living just the two of us, and we really love our apartment, so I'm super glad things worked out the way they did. Plus, we certainly get along better without a third wheel. We are also both lucky to have jobs that are supporting us well enough to make our bills and have some left over money. Fortunately Donna knew people who needed a babysitter so that has been some extra income for me and it's nice to be able to leave work early for that occasionally. All in all, things have worked out really well. All the things that could have gone terribly wrong, didn't. Even the dog and the kittens are getting along much better than expected after this short of time.

...Just kidding, they really are:



Regardless of how great things are, Zach and I are still considering our options for the future. I've always had two dreams - own a house and become a real estate agent. There is this show "House Hunters" (and the even more dangerous "House Hunter Intl.") that have made my dream of home owning even bigger. I think Zach is infected too. One of the problems with this show, though, is that is shows us just how much more expensive LA is. Now, I understood all along LA was expensive, and that all of CA was. What I didn't realize is just how much more expensive, I didn't realize that in some place you could get a pretty nice home for under 300k. That doesn't really happen in Northern Virginia, so to see that there were homes in areas I could see myself being happy in a price range I could certainly afford in the next couple of years (only that long because you need a longer employment history to get the loan) has made me interested in other areas. That along with hearing the opinions of people who live here. Hearing some of their rich friends, and even M&D themselves, say how even though they make so much more money than people that live in smaller cities, they can't afford the vacation homes or lifestyle that their parents could afford. I don't know if I'm explaining that clearly, but essentially I see it as: they're working so hard and so successful yet they're not living a relaxing life. I don't care about designer labels or huge homes, I care about spending time with family and people I care about and living an enjoyable and relaxing life. It seems like I will be able to do that sooner and more easily if I live in smaller city. I still don't like the cold, and I still love California and living here, but it is certainly on my mind. Plus I can't tell how likely it is that my parents will come out here. The idea of living in a quaint little how within walking distance of some cute town with nice shops and restaurants seems pretty appealing right now, though. Zach, on the other hand, doesn't know if Los Angeles is where he wants to stay permanently, but is still planning on staying in California. I'm certainly considering the east coast so I guess we will just see.

I also don't know if law is still the path for me. It is certainly not conducive to the relaxing lifestyle. If I were to stay a legal assistant I would have more regular hours and be much less stressed, but with a smaller income. I could also become a real estate agent, but I know I still look too young for anyone to trust me. But maybe if I teamed up with Donna? I also know I really want to travel the world, so maybe I should be a college professor because that seems like the coolest job on the planet, plus you get summers off. But then I still have more schooling to go through, those jobs are reportedly hard to get, and you have to publish papers through your career? What? I don't know. Other ideas? Open a B&B in New England, wine country OR one of the islands. Then your life is a vacation, even though you don't really get to take any. Seems rocky and hard to start, though. I briefly considered being a flight attendant despite having an education, but it seems too demanding and like its not enough money, plus you don't always get to enjoy the places you visit. And I don't love flying anyways. Ugh. Adulthood.

On a lighter and much more exciting note.. Zach and I are coming home for Thanksgiving!! Make that.. driving home for Thanksgiving! I'm very excited, despite everyone's warnings of how exhausting it will be. I know it will be, and I'm fully ready for it. First off, its like a challenge. I will feel so accomplished once we've done it. Also, we will save so much money its sick. We could afford to fly home but that would probably mean using some of our saved money. Most of that went to getting here, so I'm trying to save the precious remains of that account in tact. It also sucked that the most expensive part of flying home would have been boarding the dog. I hate the idea of doing that in the first place, plus we wanted to come home for 8 days so it really added up. I really love road trips and had such a great time getting out here that I am actually excited for the opportunity to do it again. Kaos is so good in the car and you get to see some really interesting things. To get here we went an incredibly indirect route so this time, since we're essentially driving straight through with only rest stop naps, we will be going a route that is primarily different. We will only overlap between LA and Flagstaff and again between Nashville and home. The rest will be all new territory. My only regret is that we will not have time to see the sights. I could easily do another 2 weeks if time and money afforded it. Anyways, my family is going to New Jersey and NYC for Thanksgiving so that is one of many reasons I really felt compelled to go home for this holiday in particular. Not to mention that my parents will still be in our house before moving and I want to see their little puppy asap. I knew I'd go home for one of the holidays, and I'm very glad it is this one. Thanksgiving dinner in Chinatown, here I come!

Oh, and one last dream that got answered these past couple weeks?? I have been WANTING a thunderstorm so badly, but I know they are incredibly rare here. On my birthday I went to M&D's house for dinner because they offered to send Zach and I to a restaurant but Mitch cooks way too well for my health and it was Survivor night and I was already a week behind.. so we ate there. He let me pick the menu and everything, it was great (except this is the worst season of Survivor ever). Anyways, right after I get there I'm on the phone with Dana as I hear some strange rumbling noise. I even said to her how it sounded like thunder but since I'm in LA I wasn't going to get my hopes up. Guess what! It was thunder! And it kept going, along with a rainbow! Eventually it drizzled a little and we even had some lightening. Talk about a birthday present. Mitch said that this was considered earthquake weather, so of course I called my mom to slightly freak her out. It was just awesome.



Guess that's all for now. Back to this rainy, dreary day at work. Been a crazy month for weather though, right?

Hollywood!

Well the past week was just as exciting, if not more, than I was expecting it to be. First off, I got the job I interviewed for last Monday! I didn't expect to start until this week, but he had me start on the spot! This is actually really great because it made it so I'll have money coming in sooner, which is necessary now that Zach and I have signed a lease and moved into an apartment in.. you guessed it.. HOLLYWOOD!



So, first things first.. job. I am a legal assistant in a law office in Beverly Hills. The location is even cooler than I expected. I am on Beverly Drive, about a mile from the main part of Rodeo that you see in the movies and such. There is also a really famous pizza place in Beverly Hills that is a short walk from my office. There are a lot of great little shops and things at a reasonable walks distance as well. It is just a small law office, and most of the lawyers work independently or with only 1 or 2 other associates. They basically just share this office space. The lawyer I work for is pretty awesome. He is about as laid back as lawyers can get. I have heard he can be demanding, but that's exactly what I expect out of this job so I am looking forward to it. If all goes as planned I'll be staying here for at least a year. If I like it after this first year I will probably just stay, or if I find a similar job offering a lot of money maybe I'll move towards that. If I decide to go to law school I know he has written recommendation letters for previous assistants, one of which went to USC, where he went, and got a great job afterward. I am still in a place where I'm not 100% sure law will be my path, so this job will certainly help flesh that out. I got am email from Mason the other day saying that a new USC masters program is recruiting history grads from GMU for their program. I think it would be pretty cool to be a professor so I may look into that just to see what else is out there. The masters program didn't necessarily put you on path to be a professor, but maybe a path for other jobs I would be interested in as well. Time will tell.

I got to leave work early on Tuesday, so I used that time to go see an apartment with Zach over in Hollywood. The commute from Tarzana to Beverly Hills isn't remotely fun, so I immediately liked the place when I realized how close to my office it was. Plus I mainly drive through West Hollywood to get there, which is such a cool little area, so that's much better than the 405 or 101. We loved it when we walked in, so we signed a lease the next morning. It is much bigger than we expected, which is nice since we now have 3 pets and hopefully will be getting some visitors (hint hint!) one of these days. It has nice hardwood floors and I liked the layout a lot. It certainly isn't cheap, but we're very happy with how much space we have for the price because we were expecting to have to have something ugly or a studio if we found something at this price. When we first started searching for apartments we were really looking for a place with a lot of amenities, but we quickly realized we didn't really care. Mitch and Donna have a pool and a country club if we really need something along those lines, and Zach knew all along that he would get a gym membership or work in one even if we had a gym. I rather be in a cool area with a big apartment than have amenities we'd hardly use. I'm not saying its the perfect place, or that we will stay there for years to come - but so far we're pretty darn happy with it. And we're certainly happy that its just the two of us and we aren't sharing it with anyone.. yet. It looks like one of his friends may need a couch to sleep on for a while in the near future, but once again.. we shall see.

As exciting as this week was I still had moments where I wished home was much much closer. My parents and Connor got a puppy, and I really wished I had been there for that. I told my mom that they have to move out here soon and we'll get a bunch of land near Santa Barbara or something so we're all together, but still have privacy, and can own a ton of animals. Guess I should start playing the lottery to make that one come true.. But in the end I really love being out here. There is so much to do and so many cool areas to hang out. Every time I drive through a different part of LA I see a street I want to walk on and visit the shops. There are also so many nice paths, canyons and beaches I want to visit.. not to mention day trips I really want to take. I just wish the people at home (certain people..) could pick up and move out here and enjoy all of the great things out here with us. Fortunately we still see Mitchell and Donna a lot, even though we've moved, so that really helps.

Which reminds me! three things..
M&D took us to this great bar/restaurant on Friday night to celebrate us finding a place and give us a little tour of the places they loved while they lived in Hollywood. One of the neat parts of us living in Hollywood is that my main memories of visiting them when I was younger were when they lived in their house in the hills here. We went to the oldest bar in Hollywood or something, and it was SO cool. It was like stepping back into the 1920's. Donna said her mom used to come here with her dad when he was working on movie deals when she was just a little kid, and would get so bored after a few hours that she would go help out in the kitchen. The place hasn't changed since then - in fact when the next generation in the family took over a few years ago they wanted to change the wallpaper and people made such an uproar that they didn't. The servers all wear old-fashioned jackets and it has old cash registers.. just perfect. (It got me excited for Boardwalk Empire which in the end completely disappointed me..)



Also, moving day was the MOST exhausting day of my life. I have never been to the point where I didn't think my body could support my weight anymore, let alone box or furniture weight, and I was at that point for the last couple hours of our move. Stairs are not your friend, just to let you know. Also, the FIRST thing we moved was Zach's massive dresser, and I got to be the one walking backwards up the ramp onto the moving truck with it. You should also know that there is a littleeee step at the top of a moving ramp, which you probably wont see when you're walking backwards. Yea, that little guy got me, I fell straight backwards, 6 foot dresser fell on me, and then almost off the truck until my super awesome moves caught it. I was stuck under it at first, it was awful. 3 days later I'm sitting at work in these pants that are kind of like leggings and I can see my swollen knee through them. I'm so freaking cool.

Lastly - I met one of the associates at work yesterday that I hadn't met before and it was the weirdest thing ever. We were just talking about NPR or something, which brought up my commute last week, so she asked where I was coming from.. I said Tarzana. She says how thats where she grew up, so I ask where. She says the street off the main road, I say yeaaaa I take the same one and tell her which neighborhood it is. She is shocked because she grew up in the same neighborhood, and tells me which street she lived on. I'm now shocked too, so I tell her Mitch and Donna's house address to see if she knew which house they were in.... she grew up in the house Mitch and Donna live in! They bought it from her parents! They had owned it for the 30 years prior. I think we both nearly had a heart attack. She asked where we were sleeping, it was her brother's room, etc. Crazy. She called her mom who remembers my aunt and uncle and she can't believe it either. It was SO awesome. And as she kept saying.. "Not like LA is a big city or anything..."

Bielski and Zuma

What a weekend it has been, and what an exciting week ahead!

Things have been so great lately, especially this past weekend. Isabella visited the weekend before this and we had a lot of fun. We got sushi, korean bbq, dim sum.. the food was great. We even went to a little lunch on Rodeo Blvd with her friend Dave. They are dating now so it was so cute to see them having fun together while they were here. We did smores one night and another Zach and I just stayed in and relaxed for possibly the first time since we've been here while they went out. It was a very nice weekend.

We had a week where no one was here visiting or anything so life was pretty normal then. Some days were just very nice and quiet and others we were working a little. Donna and I went to look at some cats at the local shelter because we had been looking at so many online and found a local kill shelter. We loved so many there, and it turns out it can be really hard to adopt certain cats because there is such a high demand. They show off the cats before they are available sometimes, so people come back the day they are available at 7am when the place opens and they get auctioned off. Its so great to see that a lot of these cats get rescued, but it was still a really sad place. There were also a lot of dogs there so I wanted more pupsters, especially some of these incredibly sad looking pitbulls. Pitbulls were obviously the most common breed there and it was really hard to walk away from them - but our rental situation is already hard enough as it is... more on that later ;)

Then Kristen flew in!!! I was sooo exciting. Having her here was so great, it was probably the couple of days I've had since I've been here. Some of our plans didn't go accordingly because of communication problems with her boyfriend and stuff, but we had a blast anyways. We got to go to the beach, we toured downtown.. and we also got a lot of quality relaxation time in. Last night, her last night here, she had planned on going to the bars with her boyfriend and his friends, but Zach got a call asking him to come babysit last minute, so she decided to come with the us to babysit. It was essentially just hanging out at the house because the girl went to sleep within 45 minutes of us being there. We knew the pool was heated, so we felt the water by the stairs and it was SO warm so we got in. Big mistake - by the time we got up to our chests we realized the rest of the water was freezing. So we rushed across the pool and jumped into the beautiful hot tub that seemed to be calling our names with all of the steam coming off it it. Wrong again, it was cold. We're really smart so we stayed in the hot tub jumping up and down hoping Zach would see us from inside and come help us. It worked, after about 45 minutes. :/ He comes out and tries to figure out how to make it warmer and bring our towels closer to us because it was like 50 degrees last night, and after another 45 minutes the hot tub is finally getting warmer, but since it was already 1:30 and we'd been in there so long we decided to get out. It was torture getting out. Actually the whole thing was kind of torturous, but also hilarious. We were laughing at ourselves the whole time for how much pain we were in, despite the fact that the water was a minimum of 94 degrees the whole time. The ladies we were babysitting for got back soon after we got out because the party they were at (some TMZ party) was apparently very boring. Perfect timing.

This morning we woke up bright and early to take Kristen to the airport. Not only did it suck having to take her home, but I was sooo exhausted. Usually I can't fall back asleep in the morning, especially after being awake and doing stuff for an hour or so, but I came back home and completely passed out. It was amazing. I planned on not doing anything all day, until Mitchell asked me if I wanted to go to the shelter with him again. While we were being tourists downtown yesterday they all went to the shelter and adopted 2 cats. The shelter puts microchips in the cats and fixes them before they let you bring them home, unless they're sick because then they have to do it once they're healthy, so they hadn't brought them home yet. Mitch had seen a cat that he fell in love with so he wanted to go back and check it out, so Zach and I went with him. Wellll, we got two kittens for ourselves!! Here's the whole story, because I think its a cute story. When Donna and I went the other day there were so many incredibly cute kittens. It was one of those situations where you want to bring home every cat in the place. It would have been impossible for me to pick out a cat - especially because there was one cage of 5 little kittens that were so cute, 3 of which were siamese. ughhhh cute. However, there was this one black and white kitten that started meowing and got my attention. When I pet him through the cage he was leaning up against the wire and was going crazy. When I walked away to pet other kittens he started meowing wondering why the heck I was paying attention to someone else. Basically, I fell in love. When Mitchell and Donna went back yesterday they didn't see him and thought he got adopted. I had been content with the fact that I hadn't gotten a cat because of the rental situation (even though I DID look into buying instead of renting so I could adopt - but I'm not sure that would work out right now with a couple of the loan requirements). Once I heard he was gone I was so sad, though. I realized I had realllllly wanted that cat. When I went back with Mitchell and Zach today we were looking at Mitch's little kitty and WHAT DO I SEE but my guy!!! That was it, I was getting a cat. Part of me considered waiting until Mitchell's cat was available, because it's a 2 for the price of 1 deal there, but we looked around to see if I liked any others because I was afraid the cat would get taken before we came back. He was sick with an upper respiratory thing, which in kittens can be dangerous, so I thought I might be safe that no one would take him, but who knew. We walk around, I cuddled with a few kitties until I found this super cute and playful black kitten with bright green eyes. She was so playful that I almost just gave up on her, figuring she wasn't a cuddler. Then, when I walked away from her she got upset that I walked away! Apparently I can't handle that because I was pretty sure I needed this cat after that. I held her and she was so cuddly. We went back to get the information for the first cat and this chick was looking at him and was like "oh and this is the cat my boyfriend is getting" to one of the ladies. I was like uhhhh that's the cat I'M getting. She wasn't thrilled, but she was nice, and I got my two kittens!!!!!! The all black girl is Zuma, the black and white boy is Bielski. Zuma is a beach here that I absolutely love and have always been obsessed with. Bielski is the last name of the brothers that started a village in the woods in the Holocaust to save themselves and eventually 1200 other Jews. They even fought back against the Nazis. The movie Defiance was based off of their story and they were the inspiration for and a major part of my senior thesis on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. My Bielski still has his cold, but hes very happy in his new home. Not so used to Kaos yet, but it could be worse. It will be a process. Zuma comes home tomorrow, as do Mitch and Donna's new kitties - Maui and Paris (two of their favorite places they've vacationed with their girls).

The kitten homecoming is only one of several exciting things happening this week. Tomorrow I have an interview that I'm super excited for. I don't want to get my hopes up because it seems like a great law firm so I'm sure they are interviewing several people, but I already know I really want this job. The guy I'm interviewing with talked to me on the phone for about 30 minutes the other day before asking me to come in, so I think I've already passed phase 1. It is a firm in Beverly Hills that does a wide array of cases, which would be perfect for me because I'd be exposed to a lot different sides of law. Plus it is right in a great part of Beverly Hills and is a small firm so I'd have more interaction with the partners. Awesome. Also, the guy I interviewed with seems to be the top guy and he is really into photography and hiking, so we have that in common.

After the interview I am bringing Zuma home and Bielski in to get some new medication for his "cold." Zach and I will then be a family of 5 psychopaths. Perfect. At this point we're just going to take any apartment that will take us - don't really care about how nice the kitchen is or anything anymore since we have 3 pets. Also, I am still looking into FHA loans because I would love to buy a place. Even if I can't now it is another reason for me to rent something lower end so I could put more money in the bank for when I buy OR go to Europe ;) I'm also very excited for all of the new TV starting this week! All of my favorite shows, really. Survivor.. Always Sunny.. plenty of others that aren't nearly as important as those two. Also, the girls start school tomorrow so that should be very fun and a new experience for me. They're very excited and got great teachers. That's all for now!