Six Months In – A Review

January

The first of the month, I drove to North Hollywood to look at an apartment. I had no job, nor did I know where I would spend the night.

Many thanks to my mom for the bit of extra cash that kept me out of the Cash or Cashiers' Check Only Residential Hotel on Vanowen. As fascinating as it would have been to live like Elwood Blues (you got my cheese wiz, boy?), I would've gotten asthma from the heavy mist of latent cigarette smoke.

Instead, I domiciled at Extended Stay America, a two-star hotel (according to Priceline) where each room has a full kitchen, and pets are allowed. Unfortunately, it did not have the proper PBS station; I've yet to see Season 3 of Sherlock.

Much love to Jason Best Staffing, who, when I applied for an advertised position, sat with me for an hour to get to know who I am.

Which led to a temp assignment in Beverly Hills.

February

Almost daily strolls down Rodeo Drive, and far too many walks for scrumptious sweet macarons. Back at the office, I observed formerly unimaginable levels workplace dysfunction. Yowza.

Much love to MT, with whom I stayed (paying rent, of course) for two and a half months. And to the lovely J, a truly extraordinary woman. And of course, the Queen of the Castle, S, one of the smartest little dogs I've ever met.

Jason Best called about a permanent position. In Commercial Real Estate (?), as an admin <sigh>, with room for growth <I'm listening>.

March

New job. I learned CorelDraw, I get to play with PhotoShop, and I'm learning InDesign. All of which is unusual for an admin at a commercial real estate brokerage. Things aren't bad.

Apartment hunting. The first one bedroom in North Hollywood was spacious enough. But there were blinds that didn't close, and the only window in the bedroom faced a busy street. Plus, when I arrived, the neighbors were blaring music.

The second one bedroom, also in NoHo, seemed perfect but for a faulty bathroom faucet. The person who showed the place really liked me; the property owner, not so much. He knew he wasn't going to rent to me, perhaps the moment he saw me. 'You have to have really good credit' he warned. Please. my credit is goood.

A studio in Sherman Oaks. Ground floor, street parking. Surprisingly spacious. It's not a one bedroom, but

April

Wednesday: Signed the lease for the Sherman Oaks studio

Thursday: Bought a 40" flat screen TV, a vacuum, a microwave, and a few other things at Target, on my lunch break.

Saturday AM: Bought TV stand from Ikea, assembled it

Saturday PM: Internet/TV guy arrived to work his magic

Priorities, people. Priorities.

I returned the microwave ~a week later – it didn't work. How does that even happen? Well, since I planned to eat off of fine china, anyway, I didn't replace it. It's not nearly as inconvenient as one would imagine.

May

I flew to my mom's house to get the rest of my things. All of the encyclopedias fit! (Unfortunately I don't know where #23 is.) And the rest of my books! Except for Kevin Aucoin's The Art of Makeup – a true coffee table tome worthy of a swankier pad than mine. It sits atop one of my bookshelves.

June

A box of things to give away. A box of things to shred. A few more bins to go through - desk stuff I've avoided. Amazing how much can happen in six months.