28 days

I can't believe I've been here a month already. I'm sitting, surrounded  by unpacked suitcases and books that don't yet have a place to live, in my new home.

It's the first time I've ever lived by myself. And even though I know I might not be here for that long, I can't stop myself nesting - to which end, I've invested in some crappy thrifted furniture, a few cans of spraypaint, and covered my balcony in binbags. (I'm praying that when I untape them there won't be three different shades of paint ornamenting the newly redone floor...)

I've been busily and geekily documenting my haphazard attempts at DIY - but for now I thought I'd mark my four-week anniversary with a few views.



The view from my new apartment

Pizza...

My little home office (and my first DIY project)

My most favourite running spot

From the roof of the Standard Hotel, downtown

People who say this city is ugly are nuts - the sky is so huge, and the strange pockets of green space in amongst all the sprawl are incredible. Architecturally, admittedly, it's no Prague - but look how shiny and purdy downtown is...

The last few days have been super-hectic, and work is going to be really busy over the next week or so - but after that the plan is to get out of Hollywood, find my way over to the beach in daylight hours, and explore some more. I'm looking forward to it!

Footnotes (otherwise known as random running happenings) part II

Seriously - the universe wants me to jog.

Today on my little route, which is in no way rural, I spotted three deer, a cool looking bird with a blue tail* and what I think may have been two eagles (or possibly very large hawks).**

Also, after weeks of general lethargy, junk food consumption and procrastinating, I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of the whole running thing. Happy days!

*American ornithology is not my strong suit

** See above. Let's face it., any kind of ornithology would really not be my specialist subject on Mastermind.

Footnotes (otherwise known as random running happenings)

Pepe le Pew!

On an entirely random note, I saw a family of skunks when I was out running today - it was ridiculously awesome. There were four - a big one and three littler ones, kinda lolloping along with their tails in the air. It took my mind of my hideous level of fitness for at least 30 seconds...

Picture This

Please don't judge me on the dodgy quality of these pics - they're from my iphone and I'm not exactly a photographic genius just yet (although that is on The List).

Also, try not to judge me too much on the fact that these photos are inordinately food and beverage-based. Firstly, I'm a bit weirded out by the idea of putting pics of myself on the internet, and secondly, well, that's how I roll. Food = awesomeness. Frozen margaritas also.

El Compadre's raspberry frozen margarita. Hello.



Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose.
Meet the chocolate strawberry cake.



Yoga in the park



Feet. And the swimming pool

Even though last week seemed to disappear in a haze of form-filling and road negotiating, I did get a few opportunities to explore. There were some vague efforts to neutralise the Mexican dinner, the cake-fest (seriously, that place is AMAZING),  and the Japanese restaurant I was too tipsy to take pictures of (it was Friday night, ok?) with yoga and the gym. And despite the fact that the day after my debut yoga session muscles I didn't even know I possessed hurt, the next one is lined up for tomorrow.

First impressions

So... tomorrow I'll have been here a week, and I feel like I should probably give some kind of description of how it's all going so far. The problem is that I can't really articulate it.

There are things I can definitely say - the sun is nice. Having a pool is extremely cool. Driving on the right and working out all the intersections is freakin' terrifying. TV with constant ad breaks is already driving me totally nuts.

But I've been focusing on just finding my feet - opening a bank account, working on my driving - and taking my theory test - flat hunting. Everything is new and exciting, and all the chores and errands keep me busy, but the last couple of days I've been feeling a little lost. I hope that if the apartment I've found works out, that'll give me something positive to focus on, but the idea of going out and finding friends in this enormous city just seems like an absolutely mammoth task at the moment.

Anyway, I think I'm just having one of those wobbly moments - I'm sure tomorrow, if the sun's shining, I'll be ready to tackle whatever comes my way...

Running songs for indie girls

So I'm here. The sun even came out for a little bit this afternoon.

I will get around to writing a post about first impressions, my final weekend in London Town, the absolute terror of driving in LA for the first time, and how I appear to have mislaid a random selection of my possessions. But not right now, I'm still processing it all.

More urgently, my generous sister gave me her ipod before I left, and I'm trying to fill it with a couple of hours of epic running songs to motivate me to hit the gym, and make the most of the 6am wake-ups jetlag has kindly given me.

Thus far, I've got a bit of Herman Dune, some Blondie, the Rolling Stones, Belle and Sebastian, LCD Soundystem, the Supremes, Kanye and Jay-Z in the slightly random mix. But I need more inspiration!

This is the soundtrack to my year, so far. Je t'aime.

Overwhelming tide of panic

I am stressed, not organised, not ready and totally FREAKING OUT.

That is all.