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?