Not sure about this whole blogging thing, we’ll see how in pans out. So…I guess I just dive right in then?

I’ll write a lot for this week because it was big one, but don’t worry I won’t do this much ever again 😉 Let’s be honest… this will likely just turn into a food blog.

Here I am! It’s Sunday, August 18th and I have officially lived in Los Angeles for a week. So much has happened, yet not that much has at all. For those who don’t know, I was offered a cooking job at Warner Brothers last month and that’s what has ultimately brought me here! It’s been a long and stressful 3 months since I initially applied for the job (to say the least), dealing with things like leaving my beloved sous chef job at Restaurant 415, moving away from Fort Collins after 5 great years there, and saying goodbye to my family and friends in a state that I have lived in my entire life. Although it was a rough road, I am very happy to finally be here.

So I packed up my car (to the brim, with my 75 lb dog included) on August 17th and drove solo to my new home in Cali. I split the drive into two days, so on Saturday I drove from Denver to St. George, Utah and stayed in the only dog-friendly place I could find, a cheap motel right off of the highway. Then on Sunday I drove through Vegas (got Metro pizza there, a Sounart staple) and then straight to L.A.! Pretty much all of the drive I listened to Dax Shepherd’s podcast or some sort of cooking thing so it went by fairly quickly. I will say my anxiety was much higher than normal due to the fact that ALL of my warning lights came on in Vail (check engine, VSC, and tire pressure) so that was terrifying especially in the middle of nowhere but my car made it through just fine!

Arriving to my place was something I will never forget. For some background info… I had been searching for a place to live for a while. My dad and I even flew out to L.A. one weekend just to try to get something in person. Finding a place within my budget, large dog-friendly, and somewhat close to my work seemed impossible until I stumbled on one super last minute and committed to it almost immediately without even seeing the inside of the place. My landlord told me that it was street parking only, so I kind of dreaded that part, but figured it would be fine especially because I was so desperate to get a place.

Moving on… so my place is in Koreatown. This place is PACKED. I arrived to my apartment building around 6 PM Sunday night, absolutely exhausted from driving, and pulled into the alley that my landlord told me I could use to unload my car. The alley was so tight I could barely open my doors all the way, but it was doable. I walked into my unit and nearly started crying. The smell, like something had recently died but had been buried in paint. The size, smaller than I was expecting (and I was prepared for small). The neighbors, don’t seem to speak any English. Instead of grass along the sidewalks there’s just trash everywhere. Like it looks like people literally just take their bags of trash and just dump it out there. But… I pushed through and did the 15 loads from my car before going on the 30 minute adventure of finding a parking spot 6 blocks away. I then went and sat on the floor in my apartment thinking over my life and everything that had lead to that moment.

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Whew! Vulnerable moment there. But don’t worry, things turned around. I blew up my mattress that night and slept off all the stress and exhaustion from traveling. I woke up with a whole different mindset, and needless to say my place was perfectly fine! Once I unpacked my stuff, lit a candle, and looked around, I realized I could make it my own and really enjoy it. The neighborhood is something that will definitely take some getting used to, but it’s a good way for me to appreciate the little things in life… that is for sure. It’s been pretty hilarious doing my research on K-Town though, it’s literally known as the worst place for parking in all of L.A. (this article sums it up perfectly) It’ll certainly be an adventure! On the plus side though, there is food EVERYWHERE. Which you know, for me, is a major plus. Also K-Town is central from most things, so driving places isn’t nearly as bad as other areas. I’ll keep you updated on this living situation though, I might make it on the news in a few months for fighting someone over a parking spot 😉

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I don’t start my job until tomorrow (Monday, August 19), so I got to spend the whole week exploring and getting settled in. My first full day in L.A. on Monday was just the classic first day in a new city. I first took Lucca to a dog park up at Griffith park and brought him into the “large dogs” section. The dogs were certainly not large! I’ve come to realize pretty much everyone has tiny dogs here. Works out though because so many people are terrified of Lucca so he makes a great guard dog. After that, I decided to try Korean food for the first time so I went to the first place I stumbled upon in my neighborhood. I couldn’t read the menu so I just ordered cold noodles and they brought out all these little dishes of things and then the noodles which she proceeded to cut with what looked like office scissors so that it in of itself for worth going for. I will probably never know what I ate there, but it tasted great! The rest of my day consisted of me hitting a parked car, getting stuck in my first rush hour L.A. traffic, and then spending 45 minutes finding a parking spot at home. But like I said, it was the classic first day. Gave me a nice picture of what to expect here haha.

On Tuesday I decided to be glamorous and drive to Malibu with Lucca to check out their dog beach and it was soo worth the drive. So beautiful! Also, watching Lucca experience the ocean for the first time was priceless and totally worth me cracking my phone screen (solid first few days, I know).

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I finally got to meet up with my friend Jessica on Wednesday, she is one of the main reasons I am here! She was my roommate freshman year and we’ve been friends ever since. She moved to L.A. a little over a year ago and works for WB so that’s what gave me the idea to apply there. On Thursday I literally never left my apartment. My parking spot was too good to abandon! Plus I needed one more of those days before work began. Then on Fri-Sat I drove down to Carlsbad to see my grandparents and made them risotto which they had never had before so that was fun! Carlsbad is beautiful and I would be totally fine living there some day.

On Sunday (today), I finished off my vacation by making my place more livable and boy did I get creative making temporary furniture. My family is bringing the rest of my stuff in a couple of weeks so that’s why it’s a bit depleted (Pics below)

There you go! Way more information than you needed to know. Off into the real world now.. I’ll be back again.