It's time to bring everyone up to date on the goings on in good ol' Los Angeles. I'll get to the logistics, but first I want to finish telling you about my arrival.
About 20 minutes from landing, all the window shades went up and I watched with the other passengers as we flew up from the South, the ocean on the left (west) and the mountains on the right (east). It took a little while for me to get used to the idea that the ocean and the mountains are on different sides, but I'm finally getting the hang of it. I expected to be nervous, but as we got closer to the ground a different feeling overtook me: I was calm, still, serene. And then I got my first glimpse of the Hollywood sign and excitement added to the mix of emotions.
Side note: I've been to LA before, once on vacation many years ago and once for a 10 day "camp" at UCLA, but I didn't pay much attention to anything beyond the Hollywood stuff. Now that I'm officially living here, I am actually getting to know the city for what it really is like.
Back to my story. The eerie sense of calm kind of unsettled me, which is good because it was a good two weeks before it really went away. It's both good and bad, because I miss feeling that way, but it also means I'm settled in now. I acted like a kid in a candy store as we left the airport, the big LAX sign marking the entrance and exit.
Side note #2: LAX is actually a very well-thought out airport, something I realized as I circled a thousand times waiting to pick up one of my High School friends (it was good to see you, Jess!). Not something people give it credit for, but it really is an easy airport to get around (at least outside).
Aaaannndddd... we're back. I'll save you the nitty gritty and just tell you that my parents were able to get a cheap hotel rate (they're Hotwire.com addicts) at the Mondrian, which is world-famous for its SkyBar and the music moguls and celebrities who frequent it, which is only important because as we were pulling up to the hotel, I'm pretty sure I saw Randy Jackson (from American Idol for those of you who live under a pop-culture rock) walking out of the hotel. Which serves as my first LA celebrity sighting. I know, not that interesting. The point of all this is I want to show you the pictures that I took out of my hotel window:
They should be lined up, but I'm not that computer-literate, so what can you do? But... isn't the city beautiful?
Just a little orientation, the hotel was in West Hollywood, which sits in the hills on the eastern side of LA, it's essentially northeast LA.
You should be able to see some more of the mountains on the picture on the top and if you look closely, you can see snow on the peaks, which is as close to snow as I've come since leaving the East Coast. Also, that rusty looking building in the foreground is the House of Blues.
On the bottom, the tall buildings (sky-scrapers) you can see in the distance is Downtown LA or Central LA depending on who you ask and I currently live south of there, that's right, South Central LA, which isn't as bad as the movies make it sound, you just have to know where to be and go. Note the palm tree in the foreground-they're everywhere.
I hope this gives you a little bit of an idea of how big LA is, it extends above where I took the picture, and below the furthest point you can see.
That's pretty much the longest way I can tell you this: I feel at home here, completely, totally at home, the weather is wonderful (my cracked skin healed almost instantly), I get to wear skirts and dresses and because my beloved boots are a little too warm most days, flip-flops in January are a typical occurrence. I love looking east and seeing mountains rising up out of seemingly nowhere, the Hollywood sign easily noticeable against the dark green backdrop. I love driving 20 minutes (depending on traffic) west and being at the beach, the water might be cold, but the view is spectacular.
Santa Monica at sunset on our first weekend here, I'll tell you about it in the next post.
I miss you all terribly, but I'm so happy here in my new home and I wish you could all be here to enjoy this with me!
Lots of Love and Sunshine to you all.
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