Most amazing day ever :-)

so I've had a pretty amazingly ridiculous 24 hours. Last night I came home from work and took a little nap before heading to Los Feliz to meet Phil for dinner and drinks. After a little confusion we ended up at this little Italian place. Good conversation, good friends, good bread. Then we thought we'd go to a bar. We walked although way to a bar and it was closed... so we starting walking to another on and I happen to mention that I like dive bars. So, Phil changes the plans on us and takes us to Ye Rustic Inn, and there happen to be a booth open in the back- sweet. So we sit down and Jackie says- I'm not drinking. Then Mel says- I'm not drinking, and I say I wasn't going to drink! Why the hell are we at a bar?? So we decide we'll stay and have one beer because we're already there and we might as well. Well a couple minutes later Mel decides she's going to go drink for drink with Phil. Long story short- Mel and Phil are drunk and Jackie and I are not. While Mel and Phil are sharing there $9.00 Melonball I look over and say to Jackie- hey that guy kinda looks like Jack Bauer. Jackie tilts her head and says yea he does. Then I realize that IS Jack Bauer!! Keifer Sutherland was sitting ten feet away from me! TEN FEET! And he was drunk. Two girls try to sit down and talk to him and he is NOT happy about that. Probably because he's drunk and has issues with Alcohol. As we're leaving at last call we hear him order a triple- bad news, haha. We were all in such shock. That was probably my biggest celebrity sighting since I've been here.

So we get home chat for a little and then go to bed. I set my alarm and get up at 9 to watch the SU/Arizona game. As I was watching the game Melanie was in the kitchen whipping up some AMAZING breakfast- eggs, pancakes, turkey bacon, toast it was amazing. Then- SU won the game! Sweet 16 babydolls. YAYAYAY! So, quick recap- Jack Bauer, breakfast, and SU winners. So now it's noon and we have all day left! So exciting.

So Mel and I decide to go hit up Venice beach and see what it's about. It's hard to explain. First off, it was a little chilly today and apparently very windy. We got there and it was like we were walking in a cyclone. There were people everywhere who looked like they enjoy the reefer and then there were the tourists. I think I would consider it a trashier place than Wildwood if you can believe it. I can only imagine what it would be like when the weather's nice. We couldn't even walk on the beach because it was a sandstorm of wind. We had sand in our ears and hair and it was amazingly ridiculous. We couldn't stop laughing. Mel went into every smoke shop so she could compare prices, haha. After we walked the strip for awhile we decided we had enough. Especially after some guy was trying to sell pit bull puppies off the street : ( Made me very sad.

So, we're about a block from the car when Mr. Dennis Jacobs calls Mel and says he needs girls to play dodgeball NOW. So we put the intersection into the GPS and are on our way. We got there and wondered around until we realized that dodgeball would be played inside. We walked into the most intense games of dodgeball I had ever seen. The guys that we know were all shirtless and yelling commands and stratagizing. It was intense. Brought back bad memories of crutches and broken ankles for me... haha. So we congratulated the boys on games well played. I guess next weekend are the playoffs. Mel wants to play- I'd cheer her on. We came home watched a little tv, took the dog for a walk and here I am. It's been the most random day but I was smiling all day. This was probably one of the BEST days I've had in a long time. I was happy for an extended period of time. Truly happy. I haven't felt truly happy since everything happened in June. Granted it took this long, but I think it's a pretty amazing sign. It makes moving here make sense again. I've been stressed in the last weeks, but today makes all that seem irrelevant. I'm sad the day has to end, but it's back to work in the morning. Goodnight everyone!

Finally

So, it's the moment you've all been waiting for... I'm finally updating my blog. Please hold your applause. Ugh, so much time has passed I'm not sure where I left off. We'll start on the employment front I guess. So, I'm currently employed by Dr. Sandy's Home Veterinary Care. Basically Dr. Sandy has a van and she goes to appointments throughout the San Fernando Valley. Right now I'm working in the "office" meaning her house. I have to take my shoes off when I get to work, so I wonder around barefoot. I really don't know how I feel about working for Dr. Sandy. I mean beggars can't be choosers, and when you move across the country with no job- you're a beggar. It just makes me sad because I don't get any interaction with the animals. I don't get to see and surgeries, I basically don't get any of the perks I had at CCVH. Don't get me wrong- I don't regret moving out here in the least. I think that this is something I needed, but I'm frustrated because I feel like I'm settling. I don't settle. It's not in me, yet here I am. The other problem is that Dr. Sandy loves me. She's so happy I've joined her "family" so far she's bought me a McFlurry and gave me a card and bought pizza and ice cream for us to eat on Friday. So, the fact that I'm interviewing at other places makes me feel a little guilty.... ok a lot guilty. But I keep telling myself that this is my LIFE, this is my FUTURE. I can't sacrafice that because I feel bad for someone I barely know. She was fine for 12 years without me- I think she'll be ok if I left. HOWEVER, to make matters more complicated she wants to start training me in the Van. So, I will be going out and seeing the animals. But I just don't know how much I'm going to learn from her. However, it's not like I have other options... It's all very emotionally draining. So I think this is going to be my plan- I'm only going to apply for jobs that are for assistants (except the one that I may have a working interview for on Wed.) and see what happens. I mean it's not like people are breaking down my door to give me a job. So that's the bottom line.

Anyway, the rest of my life is pretty fabulous. I love my roommates, I love my apartment, I love my neighborhood. I've been meeting some new people and hanging out with SU kids that I know but not very well. It's like an extended college. But instead of paying to work my ass off. I'm getting paid to exert less work. Pretty sweet. However, I would love to find a way to work more than one job... I would also love to know that I wasn't going to possibly switching jobs... ugh. Ok now I'm annoyed and I don't want to write anymore becuase it always comes back to work. Life is funny that way. Soooooo0- I know I promised pictures so here are some pictures of my room/loft. Enjoy.

My room is above the kitchen.

















I know I say this every time, but I'm really going to update this thing more ofter : )

Slacking

Sorry for the lack of updates! Update soon I promise : ) I'll even throw in some pictures of my apartment for being patient.

Happy Birthday Baby

So, I'm at a standstill. I had an interview yesterday for a job. I won't say too much because I don't want to jinx it, but I will say this- it would be a lot like my old job, but with more responsibility and more hands on experience (yay!). But I won't know if I got the job for at least a week or so. In the mean time, I was offered a job with the mobile vet, but it would be much less hands on since I'd be working out of her home. So, here's my dilemma. Hold out and see if I get the "dream" job risking losing a sure thing in a time of economic crisis, or take the sure thing and settle for less than ideal. Things are not running as smoothly as desired, but oh well.

In the meantime I called Dr. Sandy today to be completely honest with her, but she's out on calls today so it will have to wait until tomorrow... so today I sit and do laundry and try not to get wrapped up in emotional turmoil (haha). Haha, so the dog has been a pain in the butt. He's so attached to me it makes things tough with anyone else. So I got him an easy leader and he hates in and I LOVE it. Haha, he listens so much better to me now... poor thing.

So, lets see- we covered work, the dog, I guess we should discuss social activities now. So, we (meaning the roommates) decided we were going to make the pizza place down the street "our" place. It didn't hurt that the waiter is a young guy and Melanie is a huge flirt (LOVE YOU MEL!!) haha. No, she's just very sarcastic and funny and makes friends easily, so now we get a discount when we go in. My goal is that when we walk in Kelly (the waiter) brings me a blue moon without me having to ask : ). After dinner (mmmm garlic knots) we came back and decided to turn Mario Party into a drinking game. Let's just say the three of us are ridiculously competitive and probably should not play games. Our friendship may not survive it. I was having taboo flashbacks... WALLPAPER- sorry inside joke. So that's where I stand. I love my roommates and I love the weather. I do miss home, though. It's hard because I don't know when I'll get to see anyone again and it makes me sad. Soooo- COME TO CALIFORNIA PEOPLE!!

Peace and love

oh decisions, decisions

Ok, so it's been a crazy couple days. I really need to try and update this more... So anyway, I had an interview with Dr. Sandy's mobile vet on Tuesday. It went pretty well, so they asked me to come back in on Wednesday to have interview part two with Dr. Sandy herself. It was a pretty intense interview that lasted about an hour and a half. She asked a lot of work related questions as well as personality type questions because she believes everyone should be a happy family and get along and love each other, so she wanted to make sure the personalities didn't clash. The interview ended by telling me I was an earth and metal person, just like her. So, she invited me to go out in the van with her the next day to see how it works and runs.

So, yesterday I got up at 6:15 am to get to work by 8 and they showed me around the van and we headed out on the road. The first appt was just drawing blood for a thyroid test. The second appt was a dental (not under anesthesia) as well as exam/vaccines, the third appt was an exam and broken toe nail, and the last appt was a quality of life appt. We didn't get back to the office/house until 7:30. Then Dr. Sandy and I had a little chat about how happy I would be there since I would mostly be doing office work and wouldn't have to much face to face interaction with the clients. She was really understanding about the whole thing, so she's giving me some time to mull things over.

Meanwhile, I got an email about an assistant position in Pasadena. So, now I have an interview on Monday, but an offer on the table! Crazyness. I don't know, maybe I can work full time in Pasadena but still put some time in at Dr. Sandy's. I mean I could definitely use the extra money. It's all so confusing. I just need a job! Preferably a job I'd enjoy doing and would help me reach my goal of going to vet school eventually. Sheesh. Oh wait, I had that job... and I quit. What a dummy, haha. Things will work themselves out... i just have to be patient. I hope. : )

At least it's the weekend which means roomie fun : )

Time to play catch up

Ok, so I've now been in "sunny" LA (hah it's rained at least 50% of the time since I've been out here!) for two full weeks. I'd like to say I've made more progress than I have but it's going slower than I was hoping. At least I've made some progress. I had an interview and a trial shift last week. The trial shift was very bizarre. I was there for a couple hours and I ended up answering phones and carrying food and things. It was very chaotic and somewhat awkward because they were conducting interviews for the position I was interviewing for...while I was standing there. I really wanted to throw out the turtle but I felt that was inappropriate. So, they said they'd call and let me know later and the week. I haven't heard anything, so I'm going to say they gave the job to someone else. Oh well.

It's not all bad news though, because last Friday I got a phone call about working for a mobile vet in Tarzana. She asked me a bunch of preliminary questions and told me she would be in touch soon. She called me this morning to set up and interview! I'm actually pretty excited about the whole thing because it would definitely be something different. The only downside is that every thing's pretty routine. There's no surgeries to watch or crazy emergencies. But at this point beggars can't be choosers. I do have an interview scheduled in March- but something tells me I'm not quite qualified for that since they need a whole month to interview everyone. I mean I'm going to try anyway, but I think it's a long shot. Hopefully the interview goes well tomorrow and I'll no longer be unemployed!

Anyway, I'll just recap my weekend for those who are interested. So it was Valentine's Day weekend and to be completely honest it was kind of sad for me. Even though I'm moving on with my life and starting a brand new chapter the holidays always make me a little sad for the past. Thankfully, I have amazing roommates who make all that emotional stuff more bearable. So, Mel and I thought we would have a nice quiet Friday night and just grab a beer or two at the Burbank Bar and Grill down the street. So we get there and it's kinda crowded and we kind of awkwardly standing on the dance floor. Then the band comes on. The 80's cover band! It was fabulous. Mel and I just started dancing and singing and it was fantastic. We even met the bass player "Billy Midol" who by day works at an accounting firm (Sara want me to try and get you a job out here??). Long story short we danced the night away to the wonderful sounds of the 80s.

Now, there is a very large network of Syracuse grads out here because Newhouse is one of the top communication schools in the country and LA is where they all flock to. I know some of these grads because I was in Newhouse for a couple semesters (before I became part of the 2% who wouldn't graduate from Newhouse). Some of the SU kids were having a house party on Saturday, so Mel and I figured we might as well go meet up with some of them. It was a little awkward for me because although I knew some of them, I'm not really friends with most of them. I did however meet a very nice man from South Africa named Hein. He was actually really nice and was looking out for me when my roommate disappeared for awhile. At one point he told me "be careful- that guys just not that into you" Yes. He actually said that to me. Thanks for lookin out for me buddy.

Last night was also fun. Jackie didn't have to go to work today since it's a holiday so we thought we'd go play some Bingo. Melanie won the first round she played. I did not win once. Story of my life... haha. It was pretty cool although we were all a little tired from our long weekend. So here I am. Excited for my interview, but still nervous because I don't have tons and tons of prior experience. I miss home and my friends and family- but I still feel confident in my decision to move out here. It's nice to live with friends again.

Here's to hoping the sun comes out soon : )

Over a Week!

So, I've been in LA just over a week. I had a really good weekend. Mel took me out with her Friday night for dinner and dancing with a bunch of her friends. I was a little skeptical at first, but ended up having a really good time. Even when Melanie disappeared a couple times hmm hmm. Then Saturday we spent all day running around doing errands and picking stuff up for the apartment and our rooms. Then Jackie made us a fabulous Mexican dinner with all sorts of good stuff. Then we headed to this pub called Cat and the Fiddle for STRONGBOW <3. While we were there we happened to run into a bunch of SU kids we graduated with... so weird. Out of all the places to go and see we picked the same one, it still baffles me. On Sunday Al came over and we wondered around Melrose for awhile. Then Mel and I found a table and four chairs on Craigslist for $50 and we picked it up and set it up. It's a really nice set too, so we were pretty excited. Once we get a couch, we'll be set : )

Ok, so I was getting up to take the dog out for a walk and go to the gym and I got a call from one of the vet offices I sent my resume to and they asked me to come in and interview at noon. I quickly jumped on the chance and headed towards Santa Monica. I had my interview and I think it went really well. The Chief of Staff was from NJ as well (points!) then the office manager gave me a tour. They have enough room to board 65 dogs! Crazyness. So it seemed like they liked me and the office manager said she would call me later today to confirm coming in for a trial shift tomorrow. They also liked that I have experience as an assistant (more points!). So, hopefully I'll hear from her soon and start work and make money! I mean it's not ideal because it is a little far away, but if Melanie and I have similar hours we could totally carpool. Yay.

So, I think things are finally starting to fall into place. If I get this job such a weight will be lifted off of my shoulders. I may still need to get a second job, but we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll have some sort of set shifts so I can get a second job if needed. That's all I got for now. Peace out