How I got here....

So.. I live in Los Angeles. But I should probably explain how I got here.  Over a year ago, back in Conway, Arkansas, my friend John (who is now my roommate in LA) mentioned in a joking manner that he was moving to LA to pursue his dream of acting and asked if anyone wanted to go. I think, much to his surprise, I said, "why not?". So we started talking about it, telling people, and researching. Now, if you know us, you know we're travelers. John and I have traveled to Africa, Thailand and all over the US.  But, to actually make a commitment to just uproot everything we know, was a big deal and I don't think people thought we had it in us. I mean up until the day I pulled out of the driveway I had people saying, "So you're really going?". I wanted to scream "YESSSS!!! Don't you see my entire life (well what I could fit in the back of my Honda Element) packed in my car??? Don't you see my GPS set to Los Angeles California??"

And so on October 12, 2010 John and I set out on our grand adventure to Hollywood. We left everything we'd worked so hard to build in college. We had worked for almost five years on creating relationships, making a name for ourselves, figuring out who we were in the place and then in an instant, it was all gone. We walked away from our best friends, our families and the lives we knew for following our dreams and for discovering life, outside of college, outside of Arkansas.




This would be the dynamic group of friends we left behind, the ones that I miss oh so much everyday!  John and I are the ones directly in the middle! This pic was right before we left and set out on the 34 hour drive to get to our new home.



The beginning wasn't easy. The drive was long, and in separate cars, really felt like an eternity. I remember pulling onto the 101 and thinking it was just a big bowl of car headlights and taillights and I thought, "what the heck am I doing in this bowl?"


We really had no idea how to move to a big city. We didn't have a lot of money and we knew we needed to find jobs and an apartment semi-quickly. So we posted up in Hotel Cabana (God, please don't ever make me go to this place, ever, ever again!) for a week and started the hunt.

The apartment came first. Now, when I tell you that the apartment finding process in a tad different in LA than it is in Arkansas, know that I mean DRASTICALLY different. It was slightly more complicated and somewhat more expensive than we thought. But, we met Fred, our eccentric landlord, who just loved us to death (you'll find the "southern charm" works wonders out here! ;) ) and he hooked us up with a one bedroom at just the right price.

I know what you're thinking.... one bedroom? Two people? A boy and a *gasp* girl living together?!!?
Calm down! John has the bedroom and I, ever so graciously, agreed to have the living room as my bedroom.

So, after we landed the apartment, we set all our focus on the job hunt. Luckily, when we got here was right before holiday season and I have previous experience working retail and I was a shoe-in. So I landed two jobs, one at Wet Seal and one and Pottery Barn.

Now, you're pretty much caught up on our lives here so far. It's only been about 3 months but I'd say we've come a long way. I still need to tell you about New Years in Vegas, our apartment being fully furnished from Craigslist and the friends we've met along the way. But that's for next time! :)

So, until then... I'll share with you first photo I snapped of California on my very first full day here. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures in the place where it's forever sunny.