my street. #sorrynotsorry

Labor Day marked my Fourth L.A.nniversary, and I totally forgot.

Year one was ironically celebrated in New York. Year two I made a big fuss and organized a Cliche LA Staycation Day. I have no idea what I did year three, but I do remember remembering. Then this year came and went without so much as a, “how ’bout that!” Maybe you can finally say that you’re a local once you forget the day you became a local?

If I had remembered that it was my L.A.nniversary I would have hiked somewhere, eaten something with avocado, driven to the beach, bought a sheer top, worked on a screenplay, cooked a vegan meal and eaten it in my backyard with a bottle of wine from Trader Joe’s. Throughout the day I would have talked to at least five people about traffic, not thought about the weather once, discussed how terrible The Leftovers is, agreed on the merits of a mostly vegan diet and scheduled a dinner at least a month out. I can’t say for sure but it’s likely that someone would have asked who does my ombre highlights (Liz at Heretic!), told me that my husband and I need a dog, and assured me that TV development season is running really late this year, so don’t worry!

Ok. Now that I feel like I’ve actually gone through the motions of celebrating this milestone, I’m prepared to discuss the progress I’ve made in exactly four years and one week:

• I still don’t miss seasons more than I love this perfect weather. Some people do, so I can confirm that it’s an element of living here. I do not. 

• I still have anxiety around parking, but now it only arrives three seconds before I have to look for a parking spot as opposed to three days before I’m scheduled to drive somewhere new. 

• I have burned out on the following food items: kale, Persian cucumbers, Chinese chicken salads, and cold brew coffee.

• I have not and will likely never burn out on: AVOCADOS!!!!!!, cilantro, ginger-infused anything, and white peaches.

• I now own an inordinate amount of sheer, flowy tops that I wear with a bra you can see, jeans and flats.

• I’ve stopped giving a shit about saying, “oh just a bunch of projects,” when people ask me what I’m up to lately.

• I have written five TV samples, four book proposals and three feature films. No. None of them sold, yet! 

• I’m still impatient about the progress of my writing career, but outside of the Lena Dunham‘s, Liz Meriwether’s and Mindy Kaling’s, no one really breaks until their ’30s, so don’t worry!

• I still hate hiking but do it any way. That said, I’m never doing a juice cleanse again.

• I still walk to 50% of the places I go in a given day. That’s down 50% from 100% in New York, but it’s still higher than 75% of L.A. residents. 

• I have developed a mean case of road rage, but now R doesn’t let me drive if there’s any chance we’ll A. be late B. run into traffic or C. encounter other vehicles. 

• I go to less “things” than I did prior to moving here, but that’s because I’m 31 and married not because I live in LA.

• I don’t think of this city as a giant, overwhelming, interconnected set of mini towns like I did when I first moved. LA feels smaller with every year that passes, and that’s very cool. 

• I don’t think of this city as being void of culture like I did when I first moved. There is a lot going on here, and not just in the entertainment industry. The literary, urban planning, music, art and food communities are incredible. 

• And – and maybe most importantly – I don’t think about LA in contrast to New York anymore. It used to always be this battle in my head: which do I like more? which is better? which is more fun? which is more expensive? But now LA is just another incredible city where I happen to currently live. It is defining, just like New York. It is motivating, just like New York. And it is home, just like New York will always be. 

So Happy Four Years, LaLa Land. Thanks to you I have a healthier diet, ironically paler skin, a writing career, a backyard, a husband, and no more questions about what will happen if I never make the move to L.A! The backyard is awesome, but the last two are my favorite.