home sweet home

Up until this last year, if you asked me "What is one place in the United States you would never want to live?" I would have said, without hesitation, CALIFORNIA. Oh sweet irony. My reasons...well there were many.

1. It's a state full of pretty people
2. All these pretty people...they know they are pretty
3. The pretty people are rich and thus have lots of pretty things
4. It costs a jillion dollars to live there
5. If I were to ever live there I would only be able to afford a shack

This could continue but I believe my shallowness has already been confirmed. Basically, I never wanted to live in California because I knew it would be bad for my ego. To make me look even better, let's explore my source for all of this wonderful information. Mmmm yea that would be the television and perhaps a movie or two. Those have always proven to be reliable sources of truth.

So now I have real life experience to speak from. For all you wondering east coasters, truth be told it is a lot different from the beautiful south. The traffic is crazy and it really doesn't even matter what time of day it is. People aren't as friendly and honestly most of them do dress better than average. Let me just say that I have never felt like I needed to wear my Sunday best to grab coffee before, that pressure now exists. The beach towns are incredible but that is also where all the stereotypical "movie" Californians are. Almost everyone that surfs has a spare board and suit for you to use, awesome. You will see more ridiculously expensive cars than you have ever seen in your life. The buildings, shopping centers, and houses are waaaaay older than the average 5 to 10 year old everything in Cary NC. And finally, for the most part...it looks NOTHING like the movies at least over here in good old La Mirada.

Chris and I did have the unreal experience of living in Newport on Lido Isle for two months, right on the water.

Morning coffee was wonderful watching the sail boats and row teams and lots of puppies out on their morning walks...which if you know me in the slightest you know that puppies are one of the world's greatest joys. This, among many other things, was an unnecessary blessing and confirmed for us that we would make it out here in crazy California.

About a month and a half ago we moved in to our little home in La Mirada, much much different than the dream world that is the Balboa peninsula with it's close proximity to amazing eats, shopping and the beach. We are now about 20 to 30 minutes from the ocean (I know it's painfully far) in a tiiiiny little town. We live in a sweet little community of graduate students where people say hi to you and want to know about your life, people share their food and let you hold their babies. The biggest trial is that we have to hand wash our dishes and we don't have AC, and yes disgustingly enough we still need it even though it's almost November. We've learned to love our weird shag carpet and the tiki roof above the bar. There is definitely a lot to adjust to and things we miss about the east coast but California is not as awful as I built up in my mind.

And I can guarantee you, even with my minimal experience as a Californian, that it is a wonderful place to visit and Chris and I just so happen to have an incredibly comfortable couch. Just sayin...