As of this past weekend, I have lived in Los Angeles for two years; two whole years ago I wrote this love letter to New York City from my one-way Virgin America flight to LAX. I both cannot believe it’s been that long, and cannot believe how quickly the time has flown. I also still cannot believe I actually went through with it.

A week or so ago I was chatting with a college student from back east – a former neighbor who is now a film studies major at UVM – about making the move to LA following graduation. “It’s exactly where you need to be to determine if a career in film is right for you,” I said, but in the back of my mind I thought, “Ugh the move is so crazy overwhelming…how is she going to pull it off?…how did I pull it off??”

This past weekend I had brunch with my friend Zac who just made the move here from New Orleans. “So, I know this is a ridiculous question at this point,” I said, “but do you like it here?” I expected him to mention the obvious pluses (weather, space, beautiful people, creative environment) and in the next breath the minuses (traffic, too spread out, beautiful people, competitive environment). Instead he just said, “Yes! I love it!” And Zac doesn’t lie for the sake of…anything really.

As I take stock of my own feelings about this city, I realize they have far less to do with the city itself and far more to do with my life in this city. I would list items like “having dinner parties in my backyard” and “driving two hours to a writer’s retreat in a mountain cabin.” Yes, people have dinner parties in New York, but I never did because I couldn’t fit more than three people inside my kitchen/living room at one time. And there are plenty of places to go out writer’s retreats outside New York, but I never went on one because I wasn’t a part of a community of writers in New York. What I’m saying is that it’s not entirely about the city, it’s about what the city allows you to do, or rather, who the city allows you to become.

I moved here to make a very specific life change because Los Angeles is the place where my life goals could best be realized. But I think the act of moving itself made me realize more life goals than I intended to accomplish. I think that LA – perhaps because of how far away from home it is? perhaps because I moved here in my late 20s? perhaps because of the nature of the city itself? – helped me grow up more, and in a different direction. Could that have happened in New York? Maybe. But I think there’s something about rocking your entire core with a “re-set button” move that opens up channels you didn’t realize existed. It’s probably a lot like how people who’ve tried LSD think about life before and after they’ve tried LSD. That’s not a recommendation to try LSD or to move to Los Angeles, though if you were going to pick one of the two I’d go LA, even though that LSD scene in MAD MEN with Roger Sterling was pretty funny.

Some other day I’ll write about the things that make me feel more adult since moving to LA (as a preview, it’s boring stuff like, I have a savings account now because I don’t live crawling distance from five bars, two vintage clothing store, and an Urban Outfitters). For now, here are my top five love letter items to this city after two pretty fantastic years:

• I love that brunch is between 10am and 11am here. There’s something about starting the weekend day before 1pm that makes the weekend feel like a legitimate amount of time off. This early rising situation may have to do with the fact that I’m rarely hungover here (because I’m rarely really drunk here), which is another unexpected plus. 

• I love that the beach is 20 minutes away (without traffic) and 40 minutes away (with traffic). I know that’s a given when you live in LA, but it hasn’t ceased to delight me, and I’m not sure it ever will. 

• I love that my community of people here is as obsessed with media and entertainment as I am. Yes, you can talk about television anywhere, but in those other places you probably won’t talk about which eight directors you’re really hoping direct the last season of Breaking Bad, and for what reasons. I find that stuff infinitely interesting to discuss. I may tire of this – people say you do after years in the industry – but for right now it’s still really exciting.  

• I LOVE the food here. LA may not be considered the food capital of the nation, but I firmly believe that the quality and creativity of the food for the price is better here than in any city I’ve visited, and I know some really picky eaters who agree. For me, this has a lot to do with the fact that avocados are always in season. Always. 

• I love that R is here. I didn’t have an R – or any other upper case letter – during my New York life. Our relationship has been the single best thing to come out of my move West, and as you know I drive an adorable red Jetta, am on the cusp of fully launching my writing career, and have the best hair of my life on account of the low humidity. R still takes the cake. Well, R and the fact that I have a giant herb garden now, but I would have killed every single one of those plants if it weren’t for R, so they technically go hand in hand. 

I think I’ll stay here for awhile longer, based on how it’s gone for the past two years.  How long? I don’t know. We’ll have to discuss at my three year anniversary, when I’m (gulp) 30, and this blog will go by an entirely different name…