In Chicago

I totally meant to bring the cord that allows me to transfer things from my camera to my computer so that I could throw photos up during the trip, but somehow it didn't make it into my suitcase. If I had brought it, I would be posting amazing pictures of my adorable nephews, but that will have to wait.

The travel was uneneventful. We left just past midnight LA time and got to Chicago just past 6am local time this morning. I don't think I've stayed up past 11pm since we moved to the West Coast and I was a complete basket case until we got to the gate. Not nervous or stressed, just completely out of it. I slept a bit at the gate and some more on the plane, but the trip between LA and Chicago is only 4 hours, which isn't enough time to arrive rested, even if you do sleep the whole way. Upon arrival we had a great breakfast at Salonika in Hyde Park with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and the two boys and then we all came home to nap. I do a lot of napping with this family - they're my kind of people!

Now my brother-in-law and one of my nephews are at a hurling match in the city (don't ask!), my sister-in-law and SMS are out for a run, the other nephew is sleeping and I'm chillin' on the couch.

We're in Chi-town for the wedding of one of SMS' college friends who is now my friend, too. There are festivities tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday morning. We'll try to see a little of the city as well. I don't know if this is public knowledge to the loyal readership here, but we REALLY wanted to move to Chicago this year. It was top on our list due to SMS' family being here, tons of his college friends and the proximity to NYC and PGH. It didn't work out that way (the school that wanted to hire SMS didn't have the money for the position) and we're happy with our choice, but we always love a good excuse to come out here.

Apologies to my Chi-Town friends I won't see on this trip, it's a quickie, but we'll be back soon, I'm sure!

Anniversaries, Pt. 3 - Girl's Night Out

Because SMS is away at the 9th Grade retreat I had dinner with some girlfriends -- it was quite festive and quite yummy! Electric Karma on 3rd. Yum.

Anniversaries, Pt. 2

Our anniversary is tomorrow but we celebrated last night! We had dinner at a funky little place off of Topanga Canyon Road called the Inn of the Seventh Ray.

It was hard not to feel like we were on vacation. Our drive to the restaurant was rather scenic, even though it was not that far away.

For being a hippy-dippy, new-age, organic place I found the decor rather fussy, but the food was amazing!
It was lovely. It was quiet. It was romantic. It was perfect.

Things are both settling down and ramping up. I love it here, but as things become more mundane, they become more surreal. I live in Los Angeles. How weird is that?!

I pride myself on my ability to be comfortable anywhere with anyone, but part of being comfortable in just about any situation is a little bit of self-deception. If something feels out of sorts, you just plow right through . . .so that's what I've been doing. And it works, and it has served me well. But as things become somewhat routine little things pop out at me as totally unreal. Tonight SMS and I went to his high school's Faculty and Family BBQ. I met a lot of new people and I heard myself saying "Yeah, we live in Sherman Oaks" . . . a lot. As if I had been saying it all my life.

As if it weren't the strangest thing in the whole world!

The Move, one month later

One month ago today SMS and I woke up in New York and went to be in Los Angeles.

I marked today with two of my favorite activities: a hike in Wilacre and cutting SMS' hair. (Note the beginning, middle/mullet and end below.)

I am absolutely amazed that it's only been one month -- so much has happened and it doesn't seem possible it's only been 30 days. I'm not going to recap here (if you're new, feel free to browse the archives!) but I will offer some thoughts:

-- My hair is getting lighter. My dad had a thing about hair. First it was his toupee, then he shaved it all off. He let Mr. Happy put a temporary pink mohawk in his hair and later he let him pour a bottle of peroxide in it, which after a day in the sun turned my brother's hair orange. He had to re-dye it dark brown before his school would allow him on the bust for a trip to Toronto. Ah, the totalitarian 80s. Peroxide had a kinder, gentler effect on my hair and my dad loved to help me lighten it in the summer.

-- I'm always tan here. A few years ago in late January I ran into some of my friends who I hadn't seen in a few months. Elise - who has been known to play "ethnically-non-descript-and- non-threatening" roles expressed concern that I might be coming down with something. "Why?" I asked. "You look pale," she said. "Pale?" I replied, "Elise, I'm white and it's winter!" She laughed, but it's true. I have light olive skin, which in cold climates in the winter reads as GRAY. It is so nice to be somewhere where every morning I wake up and I look like I'm glowing. (Don't worry, I'm wearing moisturizer and chap stick with sunscreen!)

-- Traffic isn't as bad as I expected, but the driving here is HORRIBLE. Passing on the right is acceptable and bobbing and weaving is a way of life. I am a pretty fast driver in the rest of the country; here, I'm a slow-poke.

-- I love not having a full-time job. I've done it for 10 years and I rationalized it a great deal. I enjoyed many of my jobs, but I never enjoyed sitting at a desk for eight hours a day. I am a consummate multi-tasker, so if that means doing a load of laundry while taking an hour long business call, so be it.

-- There is still so much more to do. We unpacked the boxes with all of our artwork in them today. We hung a few pieces, but mist can't be hung until we finish getting furniture, which is going to be a few more weeks (or more, depending on how quickly IKEA re-stocks). The apartment looks and feels "lived-in" but certainly not complete.

-- I feel like an adult here. There's probably no way to say this without pissing off some of my friends in New York, but I think in some ways New York kept me from growing up. We were living in a hovel on furniture that had been found on the street or inherited from friends and family. Here, we have two cars and furniture that matches. It's not the possessions that matter to me so much but the aesthetic. Now we look like adults - we are surrounded by things that adults have and I really do feel "grown up."

-- The cats are conspiring against us. In New York Henry was barfy and itchy and bloody. We had hoped that the change in climate would help and in fact it has. But Mae has decided to start peeing outside the litter box...on the rug. She will go into the litter box to do #2, but won't use the box to pee. She is a strange, strange cat who is driving both of us a little batty.












-- This blog has not accomplished what I wanted it to. I thought keeping a record of what was going on out here would help me feel closer to all the people that I missed. Instead it has set up this strange dynamic in which people in my life may know what's going on with me but I don't know what's going on with you. The blog in some ways alleviates the need to call or write personally. Some people email when they read something they like, some people even use the comments, but I suspect (I hope!) that more of you are out there reading. I miss you! Please say hi. Please call, please write, please use the comments, but somehow let me know what's going with you. Hope you are well wherever you are!

**UPDATE** - I should also say that it is nowhere near as hot as expected. We don't use our A/C all that much, just fans. There are nice breezes and it's remarkably dry. I'm quite happy with the weather!

Anniversaries

Shortly after we moved to LA SMS and I saw an actor at the Whole Foods in our neighborhood. I couldn't quite place him, but he struck me as the guy that would have played the the jock or the bully in a high school show years ago. He was sort of bulky and blond with a mole on his face. I thought he was maybe in Back to the Future, or Stand by Me (one of the guys that stole the hat), or possibly a KEG in 90210. As you may have seen, I keep a running list of "star sightings" in the lower right and corner of this blog, so I felt the need to identify this guy. I looked around on-line but I couldn't figure out who he was.

I mentioned this to Mr. Happy when we saw him a few weeks ago and his response was "Was it Tony Miller - Brenda's prom date?"

I looked at him in astonishment, not necessarily because he named the guy, because I had no idea if that was the guy I saw at Whole Foods, but because he could call up the name of Brenda's prom date without a second thought.

This morning, because I don't sleep, I looked up Brenda's prom date and in fact, that was the guy we saw in Whole Foods. My brother is a crazy genius and still 90210's biggest fan ever.

This is a picture of Mr. Happy in a bolo tie with Brandon's haircut before Brandon had it:


Today my brother leaves for a week in New Orleans to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of Katrina. Please read about his first trip here and see his photos from that trip here.

The 29th of August is actually the anniversary of two other important dates in my life, my wedding in 2004 and the day I learned my dad was sick in 2005, the same exact day as Katrina.

Shortly after learning my dad was sick I returned to Pittsburgh to clean out the basement of his house - unrelated to his illness he was already planning to downsize to an apartment nearby and my trip had been scheduled before I knew about his illness. As I sat in the basement of the house in which I grew up (my parents and Mr. Happy had move in before I was born) going through the contents of my childhood, I watched Anderson Cooper's coverage of New Orleans. I was horrified by what I saw, but also by what I was experiencing.

I knew that what was happening in New Orleans was far more traumatic for far more people than what I was going through, but everything is relative. My parents had split shortly before my wedding the year before; I was losing my childhood home and my father was very sick. Somehow, watching mother nature rip apart an entire city was a pretty good visual for what was happening in my heart.

When my dad died three months later we chose to have contributions made in his name to Habitat for Humanity. It was my brother's idea and a good one. For me, my father's illness and death will always be tied to Hurricane Katrina. As the world moves on more catastrophes (and blessings) happen. Habitat and organizations like it still need help. Please, as the media coverage this week will most likely be sensational (as it will in two weeks surrounding September 11th) think about ways to help. Don't get bogged down in the hype, don't get complacent or desensitized. There are little tragedies every day and if you are in a position to do something about it, please do.

Me, Cohen Sr. and Mr. Happy circa 1975.

32+

I just came from Tar-Jay -- 3rd time in as many weeks!

I needed window washer fluid for our new car. (No one attempted to guess the new car's name. That makes me sad -- please write in with your guesses. Here's your hint: our other car's name is Lucy, The Silver Bullet.)

In the automotive section I found 32+. Although it looked like your garden variety blue window washer fluid it was in fact only to be used in non-freezing conditions, as in "32+," 32 DEGREES or above. I was in shock. I had never seen or heard of such a thing. And then, a moment later, more shock, when I realized, "Yup, that'll do!" I live somewhere where I don't need to worry about frozen windshield wiper fluid. How crazy is that?!

Funny thing about the windshield wiper fluid: both my mother and my husband asked me if I knew how to refill it. Ha! As if. My daddy didn't raise some girly girl!

Soooo tired...

I am tired, but I wanted to post something.

Work is good.

I did laundry for 4.5 hours today. I am tired.

The second car was born yesterday (picture to come). We got a(nother) 2007 Honda Civic, 4 door, dark grey, like a brown-ish grey. "Like gun metal?" Susan P. asked. "Yes, like gun metal," I said. I've named the car - can you guess its name? Please use the comments section below to submit your guess.

Bed.

(The photo above is very old. Judging by my unfortunate eyebrows, I'm guessing summer 2003. It also appears I have make-up on in this photo - which is weird because I don't really wear make-up. I am pretty sure I am fake sleeping, though SMS claims I was "real sleeping." I guess we'll never know. . .)

Driving

Sam and I are now both licenced California drivers. We were amazed at how pleasant everyone at the DMV was. We made appointments on-line ahead of time and even though we got there a little early, they took us right away. I had read on-line that drivers from other states did not need to a take test, but apparently that meant we didn't have to take a DRIVING test; we did however have to take written tests and that came as a surprise to both of us. And it was HARD - also a surprise. There were 36 questions and you were allowed to 6 wrong. I narrowly passed on my first attempt - Sam did not. He did however go back the next day and that day he got 100%! The woman administering the test actually asked him if he cheated!

Now we can't determine who has bragging rights - me, for passing on the first attempt, or Sam, for getting a 100% on his second try. In any event, we're both legal drivers now and today we're going looking for our second car! Lucy needs a brother or sister!

Work

A lot has happened in the past few days. . .

As you may know, I have been rather upset about not finding work out here. When SMS and I were deciding where we would move when he graduated from JTS there were a lot of cities on the list: Chicago, Miami, Philly, Seattle, etc. or we could stay in New York. I was ready for something new, but we decided we would go (or stay) wherever SMS' job took us. He put three years into obtaining two Master's degrees and we were going to go where he could put that knowledge and training to the best use. In anticipation of this potential move, I left the theatre in 2004 and moved into higher education to allow us the greatest geographical flexibility - working for a Broadway theatre certainly ties you to NYC but working for a university opens up the whole country, if not the world.

When SMS got the amazing offer he did from a school in the LA area, I was ecstatic. I didn't do any hard research, but if there is a city with more universities, I can't think of it. I thought for sure I would have a job in no time. But it hasn't worked out that way.

To date, over the past 4 months, I have applied to about 30 jobs in higher education in the LA area and I have had one phone interview. Needless to say, my ego was bruised. There were only two reasons that I wasn't in full-scale panic mode: (1) SMS' job gives us free health insurance. FREE. For both of us. (2) I have every reason to believe that I qualify for unemployment insurance based on the fact that I left my job to relocate for my spouse's job. These two facts kept me sane, though they did little for my ego. . .

And then I got an email.

I haven't written about it because I am superstitious and believe it or not, I don't think everything that happens in my life belongs on-line. But I will say that the email asked for my help, in a professional capacity, and I have since submitted a proposal to do consulting work for an institution in Israel. At this point I don't know if the proposal will be accepted or if the institution can afford me, but I will say that my ego has rebounded nicely.

Shortly after that email arrived I received a call from a new friend here in LA. She is a school teacher who used part of her summer to volunteer for the Daniel Pearl Foundation. She thought they could use my help. I met with Daniel's mother yesterday and began work this morning at 8am. At the moment it is a temporary, part-time consulting gig, but it could turn into something bigger and longer, or it could go away altogether. Only time will tell.

If I sound uncharacteristically cautious it's because that's how I feel. I have done consulting in the past and I enjoyed the freedom, flexibility and independence it provided, however I did it while I had a full-time job at the same time. Although I have often been encouraged to go out on my own, to start my own business, to consult more, it never felt right. It almost feels right now, but still strange. I hope it all goes well, I hope my proposal is accepted in Israel and I hope if it is that I won't find myself over-committed. As SMS said in the car today, it's either all or nothing with me: Two weeks ago I was feeling like I would never get an interview; now, I have a job and another one potentially on the way.

I'm also still going on informational interviews. I had one on Wednesday at UCLA and I have one next Wednesday at the American Jewish University. I also have one scheduled at USC and one to be scheduled at CSUN. I really enjoy informational interviews -- I like talking about myself (shocker!) and I like hearing about other people's journeys. So my journey continues and I'll keep you posted.

Food Jags

Last night I had a Stouffers French Bread Pepperoni Pizza for dinner. I don't think I've had one of those since college, but it was dinnertime, I was at the grocery store and I was hungry. When I sat down to eat the pizza all of these memories from college came rushing back full force. It was a bit overwhelming.

I "suffer" from food jags. Pretty soon I'm sure there will be some pharmaceutical to combat food jags (with a totally gross warning like "may cause oily discharge," but for now, I don't mind them that much.

Never heard of a food jag? A food jag is when someone (usually a child) eats the same thing over and over again. Here's an example: I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread every day of my senior year of high school except for (a) the day after any major Jewish holiday when my mom would send me with left over corned beef and iceberg lettuce on white bread with mayonnaise and (b) when fish-on-a-bun or chicken-on-a-bun was on the cafeteria menu. Here's another example: When I moved to New York City and had my first office job, I ate "deli sushi" and a bag of dirty potato chips for lunch Monday - Thursday for an entire year. Here's another example: Stonyfield Farmss Low Fat Strawberry Yogurt, for breakfast, most days of the week, for as long as I can remember.

Can't find Stonyfield Farms here. I've been eating Activia (and by the way, it works!).

So, one of the side effects of Food Jags is what I experienced last night - because I ate a certain food almost exclusively for a defined period of time it is very easy to associate a certain taste with a certain time or place. In fact, it's almost impossible not to. For example, I only drank Pepsi when I was crashing at my college boyfriend's place and now whenever I accidentally get Pepsi somewhere it is as if I am IN his old apartment.

Like I said, I don't mind food jags so much. I'm sure someone out there would love to analyze why I am prone to them, and I have my own ideas about it, but for now, I relish the memories of the places I've been through the things I've eaten.

Side Note: Someone NOT prone to food jags: SMS. If we have pizza for lunch one day and I suggest it for dinner the next, he looks at me like I've grown a second head. He thinks it is absurd to eat the same thing 2 days in a row. He's more evolved than I am!

What I learned today

1. The unemployment office is depressing.
2. Even though LA has tons of traffic, it often takes longer to park where you are going than to drive to where you are going.
3. I have a beautiful smile. (This bit of information was conveyed to me by a parking attendant in a lot where you get to pay to double park.)
4. Even if you drink all the water you want to, you can still get dehydrated when it's this hot (even if it is a dry heat).

Road Trip Day 6: Home!

We're home.

The monsters are happy to see us, but they were very well taken care of by our friend JSW.

The last day was unremarkable, save for a DBL w. Cheese - it was supposed to be animal style, but somehow it wasn't. Sigh.

I'm back to a load of work - meetings, appointments, proposals to submit. Things were brewing before I left; now they are bubbling over!

All the photos from the roadtrip can be seen here. Enjoy!

Road Trip Day 5: 10hours in the car

Monday started in Eugene, OR and ended in Oakland, CA. We made stops in Weeds, CA for lunch and in San Bruno, CA to drop off Mr. Happy. In Oakland we had sushi with a friend of SMS' that he hasn't seen since high school and her girlfriend. A good time was had by all! Then we crashed at a friend of SMS' from college who he reconnected with at the wedding. Lots of old friends on this trip, which has been really, really nice.

As I write this it is 7:16am West Coast time and I want to get on the road and get home to the monsters. SMS is up but not ready to get on the road yet...

Soon. Soon.

Road Trip Day 4: No More Miles!

Sunday was a day with very little driving. SMS and I woke up to breakfast at the bed and breakfast and then lazed around, happy to have nowhere to be. In the late morning we took a walk around Eugene. It really was a perfect day for us: a walk, a college campus, a bookstore and a cemetery - all of our favorite things.














Then SMS took a run, a read for a bit and we headed out to the wedding on the river. It was a very sweet affair fitting of our friends A&A. It reminded me of our own wedding 3 years ago, but it was decidedly cooler!

Road Trip Day 3: Accidental Off-Roading

My brother is a photographer. He wasn't always a photographer - he was lots of other things - but now, primarily, he is a photographer. The best thing about being a photographer, I think, is as long as you have a camera, you can do your thing. It doesn't really matter where you are or what you are "supposed" to be doing, as long as you are looking around, you are working. I woke up at 7am in McCloud - Mr. Happy was nowhere to be found. I called his cell and he answered, "I'm out shooting." He didn't want to miss the early morning light. I offered to drive him out of town a bit and he accepted. We drove from McCloud up to Mt. Shasta and then, on our way back, we took a ski park road up the mountain. Just before a gate closed it off (not in season) we saw Rt. 31, a national forest road. "Should I take it?" I asked. "Yeah," he said. Easier said than done.

Soon after we got on to Rt. 31 it became a dirt road. It had clearly been paved once, a long, long time ago. We kept going, looking for the perfect light, the perfect shot and felt sure that eventually Rt. 31 would meet up with Rt. 89 which would take us back in McCloud. Not so.

After about 40 minutes (and only 6 miles!) we turned around when the road became pretty much impassable for little Lucy, The Silver Bullet and me. Mr. Happy was not impressed my skill in reverse or my 3 point turn on the side of mountain, but he doesn't have a license...

We made it back unscathed and Lucy proved herself to be a strong and reliable friend - she's a bit dirty, but she doesn't mind.

Back in McCloud we checked out the candy store that had all my dad's old favorites and the far J was throwing in the park. Then back on the road....













We left Mr. Happy in Ashland, OR and made it to Eugene just in time (actually a bit late!) for the rehearsal dinner. Yum.

Road Trip Day 2: 300 more miles, 3 more great meals and a brush fire

Friday started in San Bruno and ended in McCloud. We ate breakfast on San Francisco’s Haight Street, drove up the coast for a bit through Marin and then Napa. We got stopped by a brush fire (Mr. Happy took amazing photos, of course) and then pulled over at a road-side delicatessen in Middletown that had surprisingly amazing veggie salads. Upon arrival in McCloud our old friend J made a simple dinner of pasta, salad, bread and wine. We had vanilla ice cream and apricots for dessert.

Breakfast on Haight was at Kate's Kitchen and I, under protest from the table, had a Barry Bond's, hold the Human Growth Hormone.

Upon agreeing to bring my brother along for a bit of the trip I made it clear that we would be listening to our music. That ended up meaning Mr. Happy picked songs off of SMS’ I-Pod - a loophole, but a fair one. Apparently our musical tastes form a perfect ven-diagram: The music that my brother liked that could be found on my husband’s I-Pod was all stuff I listened to in High School. I closed my eyes and pretended I was 14 – that my dad was driving – that my mom was in the front seat. It didn’t really work, but when I opened my eyes I liked what I saw anyway.












The other thing I learned on day two is that it's really hard to take pictures when Mr. Happy is around making art. My snapshots just don't seem to stand up!

Anyway, Day Two: No fighting, no biting and no shenanigans. Good Stuff.

Road Trip Day 1: 300 miles and 2 great meals and a view

Our day began in LA with an earthquake and ended in Palo Alto with a fantastic meal. Between we drove 300 miles, SMS had his first In-N-Out (Single Animal Style, Hold the Meat), I had my first In-N-Out as a California resident (#2 with Rootbeer) and we picked up Mr. Happy in San Bruno. He took us on an amazingly beautiful drive down to Palo Alto and treated us to a meal at his favorite restaurant.












So far, no fighting, no biting and no shenanigans. Good Stuff.

Earthquake

Yup, Earthquake.

Seriously, Earthquake.

Apparently there was one our first weekend here but I slept through it. My friends told me that it sort of feels like a truck is slamming into your building. Problem is, we live on a pretty busy, wide street and trucks are going by all the time. They don't slam into the building, but you can often "feel" them even though our apartment is at the back of the building.

Last night it was a little more intense than that.

Again, I was asleep, but this time I woke up. It was around 1 in the morning and as SMS put it, it was like a 500lb man jumped up and down in the apartment above us. Apparently it was a 4.5 and it was centered about 15-20 miles north of us. I was mostly asleep and my first thought was, "Oh this swaying is nice," like I was on a boat or something. It wasn't until I woke up this morning that I realized how scary it really is, especially because we are leaving for 5 days today and this could be a precursor to something larger. Luckily a friend of ours is coming from back east to stay at our place while we are gone, but I do worry about the monsters...

During college I was petrified of earthquakes. Over winter break of my freshman year I watched as the coverage of the Northridge Earthquake showed a woman on an overpass, her car half on a roadway, half hanging off into the abyss. I sorta freaked out. I mean, you are driving along and all of a sudden there's no road in front of you, that's not cool. I remember thinking, "Why in the world would they build a major city on a major fault line?!"

But when we were considering moving to LA, it didn't even cross mind...until we had already decided. And then I had a moment of panic, but it was too late. The decision had been made, earthquakes be damned.

Yeah, right.

I did have a strange feeling as I fell back to sleep last night...As a kid I was really into plate tectonics. I understand how and why earthquakes happen - I understand that they are natural. The quake last night made me feel more connected to the earth just like driving stick makes me feel more connected to the road. So, living on the East Coast: driving automatic; living on the West Coast: manual transmissions, baby.

Injured, Pt. 2

So I was on the fainting couch ALL DAY today. I know it sounds relaxing, but it wasn't all that much fun. I want to be outside; I want to walk; I want to go to the pool; I want to do laundry (really, I was looking forward to it)!

SMS ended up doing all of the laundry, and I will get up eventually to pack, but what a waste of a beautiful day.

Susan P. asked me if we were hot out here and I thought it might be interesting to note that we've only used the A/C once or twice. Seriously. The heat without humidity, the dry heat as they call it, is really amazing. We don't get direct sun in the apartment, except for some late afternoon light in the living room and dining room so we use fans, but not AC. It's lovely.

So tomorrow we leave for our West Coast Road Trip - yippee! Don't know what kind of internet access we'll have, but hopefully I can post a bit from the road.

Son, Are You Hurt or Are You Injured?

I've been running into things a lot lately...I must have stubbed my toe a day or toe ago and thought nothing of it. Today, I can't walk. My toe is swollen, won't bend and when I put any pressure on it, it HURTS! It didn't feel great yesterday, but it didn't feel like this...oh well. Yesterday I spent most of the day making piles and rearranging piles and filing some piles and then making more piles...then, when SMS got home from his meeting with the chair of the History Department, I took him to Wilacre Park. Yes, I had just been there the day before with L, but I wanted to share it with SMS as well. We were both amazed that we lived merely 15-minutes from a beautiful park with an amazing view...I can't believe a month ago I was stressed beyond belief! I feel much better now, except for my toe!

My Least Favorite Part of Unpacking

In the days leading up to the move one of my friends mentioned that she didn't like to unpack. Didn't like to unpack? That's the best part! I love putting everything in its place. But today, I'm down to the pesky boxes of things that don't have a place. Papers, cassette tapes, things I can't quite get rid of but totally should...It's slow going, but SMS is out with the car so I'm just puttering around...watching bad TV and putting things away slowly...in the meantime you can check out some photos from the past month.....
July 2007
August 2007

Today, A Hike in the Hills

Finally - some hills!

My friend L called this morning and asked if I wanted to meet her for a hike when she was done with work. A hike would keep her out of the gym on a glorious day and allow us some good old fashion catch-up time. L and I have known each other since summer camp in 1990. We lost touch for many years and got back in touch only a few years ago, thanks to the internet and friendster.com. Now we live a few miles from eachother and there's a great hiking spot mid-way between us. It was a fantastic way to spend an evening and something I hope to keep doing if/when I get a job!

The Treadmill Debate

The treadmill debate rages on (in my own head). SMS has always been anti-treadmill. He doesn't understand why we would move across the country to a place where you can walk outside any day of the year and then buy a treadmill. But he knows he only has half a vote in this debate: he got his office, I get my treadmill. But I'm wavering. Our place is starting to come together, and it looks so nice without a piece of exercise equipment in the living room. Also, I've been really enjoying my walks in our neighborhood, and without a job, I have plenty of time for walking and watching TV. But I won't be unemployed forever (right? right?) and the convenience of the treadmill would certainly be helpful then. But there's another reason I'm wavering. It's my mom.

Everyday when I'm out on my walk I am reminded of my mom - it makes me feel closer to her and I know she would be proud of me. For those of you who know Susan P. you know that she is fit. She looks years younger than her age. She eats right and works out all the time. She is an inspiration.

When I was younger my family traveled a lot. And everywhere we went my mom would go walking in the morning. She would take her room key and a note that said "My name is Susan, in an emergency please call Cohen Sr. at INSERT Hotel Name & Phone Number." I am not making this up - I'm sure she got the idea from a Phil Donahue show on kidnapping or memory loss or something like that. (I know, this explains a lot about me!) Even though she was unfamiliar with an area and clearly worried about being out there alone, she wouldn't let that stop her. She would figure out a route and return to the hotel (before the rest of us even woke up!) with stories about cool houses, plants and animals she saw.

One of her favorite places to walk was a neighborhood in State College, PA. We would be there every August for my father's regional meetings and my mom would actually drive from the resort where we would stay to a residential neighborhood not far from the Penn State campus. Some days I would go with her, most days I would not. My mom always encouraged me to go walking with her, but I am my father's daughter. I would rather watch TV than just about anything else. I didn't get into a habit of regular exercise as a kid, but that was not for lack of encouragement on my mother's part.

But now I love my walks in our neighborhood and my mom would love them too. I can't wait to walk with her when she comes to visit in December. The reasons I love to walk here are the reasons she will, too:

1. No traffic lights and few cars. This allows for a constant pace, no starting and stopping which would require the bizarre practice of walking in circles or in place.
2. Nice people. I've noticed that the older people who walk in the neighborhood are eager to say hello and the people my age won't say first, but most say hi back. I learned to say hi to strangers walking with my mom. Not the best thing to teach a kid, and not something I did in New York, but certainly something that promotes community and make me feel connected to this new place.
3. The houses. The architecture is varied and interesting without houses looking out of place.
























































4. The flowers and trees.

The reasons she won't like walking here are the same reasons I don't -- and the same reasons I still may get a Treadmill (from Costco of course):

1. Only a few streets have sidewalks (what is that about?!)
2. There are no hills

So the debate rages on, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying the outdoors!

Settling In

So far this has been what I hope will be a typical weekend. Friday night SMS and I went over to our friend's (K&M) to order take out and watch the Mets game which they had DVRed for us. Yesterday we went to Venice beach with our friends R&D and their kids B&R.


It was crowded and SMS asked me if the crowds were bothering me. I told him that if it were our vacation, I think I would have minded, but because we live here, I didn't. I can't explain it. Normally I hate crowds, but I didn't mind them yesterday. And it was only the boardwalk (which isn't really a boardwalk, so much as a commerical alleyway) that was crowded; the beach wasn't at all. It was a lovely day. I didn't bring my camera (the photo above was from our last visit with R, D, B & R), but I wish I would have -- it was all so colorful. We saw the "Canals of Venice" and "Muscle Beach." Not bad for a regular old Saturday.

We did come home and build another bookshelf - hopefully not an every weekend occurrence, but it went smoothly. Now all of our books have a place to live, which is very exciting and satisfying.

Today SMS is playing basketball and I'm relaxing. Later we're taking K&M to one of my favorite places in the world (Burke Williams) to thank them for their overwhelming hospitality and support throughout this move. Again, this should not really be an every weekend occurrence, but if it were, I wouldn't complain.

While it still feels like a vacation, and I can't quite believe this apartment is actually ours, it is starting to feel like home. Last night I walked from the dining room to the bedroom and the bathroom in the dark -- always a good sign that a new place is home. There are still small differences that I notice: the way my skin feels here is different than it did on the East Coast. I can't quite explain it, but it is an intimate reminder that I am far from my old home.

I think I'll get used to it.

The Movers

So, many of you know, especially those of you who ate lunch with me most days in May and June, that I was totally freaked out about choosing a mover. I have mentioned here already that we went with the cheapest, Oz Moving, and I just wanted to explain why I would recommend them though not unconditionally.

PROS
The People: In my opinion so much depends on the guys who actually show up at your place. Oz's estimator was great - we liked him the best of the four who came by and the movers on our crew in both cities were great. I can't vouch for the rest of their guys, but our guys were nice, soft spoken and efficient.

Privately Owned: One of the reasons we went with Oz, a privately owned company, versus a national company that had authorized dealers, is that with a dealer you never know what you're going to get. We had multiple quotes from different Mayflower dealers and they differed greatly. For me that fact sort of removed the peace of mind that I thought I would get from going with a national line. If two dealers could give you different quotes for the same service, then why go with either of them?

No Haggle Pricing: The initial quote never changed. You hear horrible stories about Guaranteed Not to Exceed quotes doubling because of hidden costs and fees. That didn't happen to us. The initial quote was for 30 boxes and 5 wardrobe boxes - we had 71 boxes and the price didn't change!

The Service: Everything arrived, ahead of schedule, in pretty much the same condition it left NYC in. I was SO worried about my grandparent's art deco 43" round mirror that they packed for me and it arrived unscathed. I also sent a lot of delicate stained glass that I packed myself. While I haven't unpacked all of it yet, what I have unpacked is fine.

CONS
Sub-Contracting: As previously mentioned it seems our move was sub-contracted out to Fragile Van Lines on this end (a company I was told to avoid), however the crew that showed up was wearing Oz moving shirts and seemed to be employed by Oz. I'm not sure what actually happened, but luckily everything went off without a hitch.

Conceirge Serivce: Back in June I started getting a lot of hang-ups on my cell phone from a 954 area code. I would answer and no one would say anything. Or I would let it go to voicemail and they wouldn't leave a message. It was mildly annoying. Once or twice I would try calling the number back but couldn't get through. I googled the phone number and this is what I came up with:

Jody
This is another number for dish network. They called claiming that I had called them in regards to my service. I have never had service with them and never plan to. When I told the guy that I wanted his company to stop calling, he hung up on me.

2006-09-13Jonh
stupid call from Florida. Called me twice and don't talk. Background noise sounds like a store or a call center.

2006-09-16brad
Claimed to be a company called "SatelliteSales.com". Told me that I had contacted THEM about getting satellite service, and pitched me on Dish Network service. I asked him what company he was from, and he replied, "Do you have a Credit or Debit card handy?" I told him to email me whatever he was selling, and I would look at it, at which point he hung up. Suspicious.

Mitch
Calls and states sales for satellite company. never requested. this people ARE CRIMINAL DO NOT GIVE ANY INFORMATION TO THEM> REPORT ANY AND ALL CALLS TO DEPT OF JUSTICE. AND BBB. CALL THIS # TO GET ADDED TO NAT'L DO NOT CALL LIST 866-290-4236

2006-10-04Maria
A man called stating he was from dishnetwork and was returning a call, which I never called them. There was static noise in the backround. I tried to call back it doesn't pickup.

2006-10-08Laura
These people call me like 10 to 15 times a day,now i am getting pranked by them,sometimes they hang up or just breath but a few minutes ago they called and when i said hello a guy said (redbull gives me wings) and hung up!

So then one day in late June I answered the phone when the number called and someone actually spoke to me. She said she was calling from Oz Moving's Concierge Department and she was going to help me close my utilities in NYC and get them started in LA. She was very pleasant and chatty. I was confused because of what I had read about the number and asked her if she was actually employed by Oz. She said a bunch of stuff that didn't really make sense, but she had my move date and my address in NYC, so she seemed legit. She did not, however, have my address in LA, which Oz didn't have because we had just signed the lease the day before, so I gave it to her. She then went on to request some info about our utilities. I was a bit apprehensive but I felt there was no harm in explaining to her that we were living in student housing so we didn't have utilities to transfer. She offered to help set-up the utilities in LA and I told her that we weren't thinking about that yet. She wanted to give me her number and I asked if she could call back and leave it on my voicemail because I didn't have a pen and she said she would.

We never heard from them again. The best I can tell, Oz sold my info to a pretty shady company, but since I spoke to them, they've stopped calling and no harm seems to have been done.

So if asked, I would tell someone that I used Oz and they were cheap and good, but I couldn't recommend them unconditionally because I think there are some shady things going on beneath the surface.

The Trifecta

Target, Whole Foods and Pavillions today -- 70% of the boxes are unpacked and we went grocery shopping (at two different stores!) and to Target. Some movement on the job front as well.

I'm exhausted! Good night!

Before and After

And there you have it: the living room before and after:

Truck Stuff

12:31pm - No Truck Yet
I just called Fragile Vans Lines and was told that they would try to find out where the truck was. It seems that 3 pick-ups were scheduled before me today, as opposed to the 1 drop off that was scheduled before me when they called yesterday. I asked the woman why no one called to tell me about the change but she didn't have an answer. I am waiting for her call now. . .

Today is not a good day - I enjoy running around doing errands (and spending money!) more than I like waiting around, however flowers just arrived from my mom! That is very exciting and unexpected. Thanks, Susan P.!

Bamboo from my mom (up high enough that HOPEFULLY Henry will leave it alone!):













Fragile just called back - new estimate is between 3pm and 6pm. They started in Hermosa, are going to Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and then us. Can you say traffic much?

**UPDATE**
3:41pm - Our driver called - he should be here within the hour...

**UPDATE**
4:29pm - They're here!

No Left Turn

In the early 70s my parents were getting ready to start a family and living in Pittsburgh - their hometown and mine.

Pittsburgh is known for a lot of things: 'dem Stillers ("them Steelers"), Steel Mills (not so much anymore, and with them went all the blue collar jobs), three rivers (the stadium is gone but the rivers remain) and hills, to name a few. Back then the hills were a bit of a problem for my mom, Susan P.
For some reason, in 1971, my parents owned a VW Bug stick-shift which Susan P. was not so adept at driving. Whenever she left the house she would take a moment to plan her route so that she could avoid the hills. . . which is no small task in the 412. Years later, for high school graduation, my aunt gifted me her VW Jetta stick-shift and I quickly learned how difficult a stick could be in Pittsburgh. (After one loop around the block, my aunt suggested my parents get me a professional driving instructor, even though I had been driving an automatic for a year, and the next day, with a friend, I got pulled over by the police while attempting to make a right turn up a hill - I was causing a traffic jam.) I got used to the stick and eventually came to love that car (once I moved to Nothern VA where there were considerably fewer hills!), but I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately as I drive around LA avoiding left turns like the plague.

There is no doubt about it: LA is a car culture. That might seem like stating the obvious, however being a car culture means more than just caring what kind of car someone drives. Things are designed to be car-friendly. The freeways may be large, but the lanes are wide, the on ramps are long and the exits are close together allowing for easy on and offs. Last night SMS and I drove to Dodger's Stadium and getting in and out of the parking lot was a pleasure. (No, Bonds did not hit a home run, but he did get boo-ed, a lot!) And there are plenty of left turn lanes: they are practically everywhere, but there are very few left turn arrows. This means that I spend my time mapping out routes in my head that will avoid certain intersections, even if it takes me out of my way.

Here is a list, in ascending order, of intersections I like:

1. Intersection where I have to turn left that has a light, but no left turn lane or left turn arrow.
2. Intersection where I have to turn left that has a light, a left turn lane but no left turn arrow.
3. Intersection where I have to turn left that has a light, a left turn lane and a left turn arrow.
4. Intersection where I have to turn right.

Here's the other weird thing about LA, especially if you are from Pittsburgh: In Pittsburgh, if you are the first car at an intersection with a light and you have to turn left, you get to go first. We call it a Pittsburgh Left. As soon as the cross traffic gets a red light, you nose out there, and typically, the car facing you will wave you on ahead of them as you cross through their path. Again, not so much in LA. In LA, cars turn left after the light has changed to red: one car almost always gets through, sometimes two. In time I'm sure I'll get used to it, but right now, as a Pittsburgher at heart, it feels really, really weird.