To put into words all that is happening and what I am feeling is really escaping me...
As my time in Los Angeles wraps up, I am so busy I almost can't think about what this weekend brings. A new town, a new way of doing my job, new friends (while maintaining the old ones of course!), new opportunities. It's just exciting...mixed in with sad. But mainly exciting.
There are definitely things I will miss about LA. I have almost been here 6 years and I have changed so much in that time. Molly at 24 and Molly at 30 are very different creatures. :)
My first LA months were quite scary but also kind of fun. I knew one other person here because KT was still in Atlanta working on a movie. Rada (thank God, I had you!) and I would sit on our air mattress in our living room and watch Buffy dvds at night because we were new to the city, poor, and had no furniture. haha. But we made some great memories.
One of my favorite memories has to be when we went to see Live play in Pomona at the fairgrounds about 2 1/2 weeks after we moved to LA. We first of all didn't know where Pomona was and took the wrong exit. Then we didn't realize we had to pay to park and also to get in to the fair even though we had free tickets to the show. We were late and had to run in cute shoes from the boonies of the parking lot. My tank top strap broke as we were in line and we had to figure out a way to "make it work" Tim Gunn style. Finally we arrived to pick up our tickets and passes...and they got Rada's last name wrong. No passes...doh! Luckily we found a familiar face and were taken to where we were supposed to be. That was our first night out in LA and we went to The Grafton and The Standard. Ah, the sunset strip. Ha. We were SUCH newbies. Chad greeted us with "Hey, I saw you guys...did you see me?!" Um, yeah--you were the one on stage holding the guitar. :) At The Standard a guy was realllly wanting to dance with Rada. But we were new and figured "safety in numbers" was a good motto to stick to. Both of us headed to the dance floor with our new friend Lawrence. Turns out it was a good choice as he was completely impressed that we were unemployed and moved to LA knowing no one. "You guys are DOING IT! That's AWESOME!!" was said about 10 times. Nice lil' ego boost. Ha, cracks me up even now to think about it.
Katie arrived in December and by that point I had had about 6 jobs. Now, to my credit--this was me working really hard to pay for my car insurance and rent and parking tickets. I'd wrecked my car 2 weeks in to living in LA and also accumulated numerous parking tickets (parking here is a nightmare and you literally have to read every detail to every street sign because each street has a different rule and possibly 6 different rules for different days). I was sooooo happy to finally have my sister out here with me!
But to explain more about the accident...here's a driving story for ya. So I am texting. And driving. Back in 2004 apparently this seemed ok. It's not. The traffic in front of me was moving...then it stopped. I stopped too. Just happened to stop because I ran into the car in front of me. Air bags deploy. Yellowy smelly powder fills my car and burns my thumb. Oh boo. Seriously?? I was also a block and half from my street. This car had only been mine for a year and some change. A few days later I am at the auto body shop getting some things out of my car and the State Farm assessment dude happens to be there too. He tells me they are going to total my car. And that the amount they are settling for is in fact less than what I still owe on the car. I am very upset and frustrated. I go out to my rental car and what do I see? A parking ticket. Boo!!!! I get in the car holding back tears and what is on the radio? Green Day "I walk alone"...that's it, I'm flat out bawling in my car saying to myself "I do walk alone...right now, I walk alone!" It was such a low frustrating point.
So all that to say...look how far I've come! I conquered this town! (With a lot of help from above and on earth :)). After a year and a half of thankless jobs including Starbucks (which I actually loved), a management job that ate my soul, a nanny job for a drug addict who bounced my paychecks, dog-walking for BabyDuck, personal assisting for a friend (aka fake auditioning as James Gandolfini for an episode of "The Sopranos" on tape) and anything else I could fit in (babysitting, organizing, manual labor...) I landed a job that I loved.
And that is the job that I am "leaving" in 2 days. Thankfully, my boss loves me. Hooray! And he doesn't want anyone else. So he is keeping me on as his personal assistant--in the bay area. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do what I want (move) while still doing what I want (my job!).
My time in LA has been filled with....
**adventures
**one crazy landlord
**too many concerts to count--Viper Room, the roxy, the Palladium, the greek, the key club, the cat club, The Glasshouse, hotel cafe...ah so many great nights!
**brunch--Hugo's, Home, Figaro, The Farm at the Grove, urth...gonna miss you!
**coffee dates
**nights out with friends
**job upon job upon job
**band boys--The Ruse, scb...now known as echo echo
**celebrity sightings that after about 2 weeks became as common as the iced vanilla soy latte in my hand (although my Scott Speedman experience caused me to lose my ability to speak)
**phone progression--a sidekick, then a blackberry, then an iphone
**my first apartment all by myself
**2 tattoos
**a butthead
**The Griffin
**sister nights--most often involving coffee too and probably a show
**a Nissan Altima...then a Ford Focus...then a Nissan Altima
**a busted ankle
**K-town karaoke
**LOTS of driving
**a wonderful boy I love
**so many amazing memories...
To all of my LA friends and to my sister, I am excited for this new chapter, but I am going to miss you! Come visit! Just give me a teeny bit of time to unpack and make things cute! :)
To all my LA experiences (yes, experiences can now read...), I wouldn't be who I am without you and for that, I am so thankful. Even the bumpy days have brought me to where I am, and I'm so happy that I can't complain for one single second.
