This is coincidentally my 365th day of living in Los Angeles and 600th 20-Nothings post, so I guess it better be good.
One year ago today I arrived in L.A. on a Virgin America flight during which I drank two mini bottles of champagne, cried my eyes out to SEX & THE CITY 2, and wrote this blog post.
Today I am sitting in the backyard of my West Hollywood house trying to decide whether or not I feel like I thought I’d feel one year in…
The more I think about it the more I realize I had no idea what this transition would be like. I think there’s something about blindly following a passion (and by blindly I mean hemming and hawing for 2+ years then developing a 6-month project plan to make it happen) that affords you the rare opportunity to only see what’s directly before you. I took my L.A. move one-step-in-front-of-me-at-a-time, so I wasn’t remotely focused on the steps 365 days in the future.
And yet here I am, 365 days in the future.
They say it takes three years to really feel adjusted to Los Angeles. I’m an overachiever, so I like to think I’m through at least two of those three. There are things I expected to love about L.A., and I do love them. There are things I didn’t expect to love about L.A., and I think I love them more. And then there are things I’m still learning to even understand about L.A., and I think I love that process the most.
For now, in honor of how good she’s been to me over the past 12 months, I’m going to focus on 10 very specific things that make thrilled to call L.A. my current home. Prepare for schmaltz. I’ll try to keep it in check.
- My frequent Saturday-at-9am hikes with R up to Griffith Park Observatory where we decide how far and long we’ll go based entirely on how much we want to pig-out at Home Restaurant in Loz Feliz when we’re done.
- Knowing that no matter what specific sector of “the biz” my friends out here work in, they’re all fighting the same fight I’m fighting to be a part of creating something I’m proud of. In other words, misery is less miserable with company.
- It’s not the fact that the beach is 20 minutes away it’s that I have a secret beach parking spot and beach-sitting section organized around the Santa Monica shopping I want to do pre or post beach.
- Outdoor heat lamps (or rather, the predominance of). Even though Adam is right – they are the most egregious form of human waste on the planet.
- The joys, hysterics, and out-of-this-world theme parties that come with my Three’s Company living situation (in which I’m John Ritter and the two girls are two gays).
- Getting 2, 4, 8, 15? people together for bench seats at a Hollywood Bowl show then pre-gaming it with enough, bread, cheese and screw-top bottles of wine to feed the entire audience.
- My salsa red Jetta. Despite the insufferable traffic we often find ourselves in together. She corners on a dime, parallel parks in the smallest of spots, and is happiest with the moon roof open, just like me.
- It’s 2 hours to San Diego, 2 hours to Santa Barbara, 4 hours to Vegas, and a $99 flight to San Francisco/Sonoma. I’ve taken more weekend trips in my one year here than I took in my five years in New York.
- The L.A. life schedule – early to bed, early to breakfast. Every once in awhile I miss my former life of 4am falafel binges at Mamoun’s, but mostly my liver and I are grateful for the slower pace of the social goings on out here.
- And finally, the sunshine. I know it seems ridiculous to place so much value on the weather – as all Southern Californians do – but it absolutely, positively makes a difference in every day life out here. It’s energizing, it’s motivating, and it’s just plain beautiful.
I have a feeling this list of ten will expand as I make my way to a second anniversary in L.A., but for now I’m grateful these and the many other loves that I’ve found out west.
And I’m very, very grateful to all the people back east whose love and support have made all my Los Angeles discoveries possible.
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Happy one year. Just celebrated mine here in DC. I agree that it does take time to get adjusted to a new city, but I also wanted it to happen at lightspeed.
Congrats on your one year in LA. And congrats on the 600th post. I just passed my 100th and I can’t imagine being at 600. I look forward to reading your next 600 🙂