Tag: north america

THE ELECTION

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I’ve been pretty silent on here about the election. Less so on Facebook, which has basically just become a platform for me to share links to political articles and outrages, but I didn’t know what to say when it first happened, and I still don’t know what to say now, a year after his inauguration.

It was really hard for me to get my absentee ballot. You can track it online and my status said delivered, but delivered it was not. There was an emergency number and I got a replacement right in time, but I remember my urgency (other than the normal, civic duty) was that I needed to be able to say I had voted in the election for our first female president. I was embarrassed, especially living abroad, that Donald Trump had gotten as far as he had, but had read the polls and felt little anxiety. The day he won the Republican nomination I stopped feeling any anxiety, actually.

I spent the week talking about the election with my students, and we talked about words like racist, sexist, and predator. Those were the words my elementary school aged children associated with Trump–and I couldn’t blame them because they were the words I associated with him as well.

Because I was in Spain it took forever for news to start coming in. There was talk of arranging an event at a local pinchos bar, but when we realized it would be morning before anything really happened, we decided to stay home. My roommate Shaina and I stayed up until the bitter end, at around 7 in the morning. Even before Florida was called I realized it wasn’t going to be the same as Obama’s election, when his victory had never really looked in jeopardy.

At 7 am it was clear what had happened. I was sobbing, we all were. I called my mom and she had gone to sleep–had slept through it all and was shocked he had won. She was sure I was wrong. How could so many people have chosen to vote for him??

Afterwards I felt depressed, and very far from home. I had thought I was safe, in impossibility of a Trump victory, by living so far from home. But in reality, as soon as he won all I wanted to do was be back in the states, trying to help in any way I could. I still feel that way. I seriously considered leaving Spain and going back to find a campaign or NGO to work for. I think it’s a large part of how I ended up working where I am now.

I remember feeling so afraid. What would happen when Obama left? Who would protect those of us who aren’t white rich middle aged men? Who would lead the country, and join the world in leading important initiatives–the Paris Climate Accord, the Mexico City Policy–so much of the United State’s decisions affect the international landscape. How could we trust all of that to Trump??

Doubts about about leaving Los Angeles

Yesterday I did a huge thing. I sent my passport and paperwork in to the Spanish consulate to get a visa to teach English over there for the coming school year. The strange thing is, the closer it gets to being real, the less real it feels. Back in February, I could easily picture myself in Spain. I could casually mention I was moving to Spain in the fall. Now, even though I’m getting my visa and working on Brady’s pet passport, it feels so surreal. Like, at the end of this, I will definitely still be living in LA, working in TV, and coming home to my amazing apartment and living with my best friend/life partner.

The closer it gets, the more I wonder if I’m doing the right thing. I think I am. I think my doubts are just nerves, because one of the ways that I am crazy is that I love adventure but hate change. And I especially hate changing my life now, because I love my life! I love LA, I feel healthier and happier here than I ever have. I love my friends, and my apartment, and even my crappy car. I love the sunshine and the food and the mountains. I also really do love working in television. So… why am I doing thing?!

The main reason comes down to the fact that, if I was handed my dream job tomorrow (TV writer), if that’s all I did with my life, I wouldn’t feel fulfilled. I have all these other things I want to do first. So is it more important for me to get my dream job in my 20s, or spend the rest of my 20s doing amazing, life changing things, and then settle down in one place and really focus on my career? To me, it’s a no brainer. In theory. But when the reality of leaving this life and people I love so much to move somewhere I’ve never been, where they speak a language I don’t know, and do a job I have no experience doing… well. It’s terrifying.

There are obviously a ton of pros as well. I can really dive into Spanish. I can explore so many parts of Europe. I can live on the same continent and (almost) the same time zone as Gareth.

But now I’m in the nitty gritty of selling my car and giving notice on my apartment and, honestly, I’m freaking out. I’ve made some big moves before–when I first moved to London I didn’t know anyone, and it was my first time leaving the states. But that was for college and I was surrounded by other English speaking undergrads. And I moved to LA, but that was a slow motion move that started with a semester out here and never involved having to live anywhere without Katie. Plus, I’m old now, set in my ways, and am used to a comfortable life. Where I have enough money to afford a nice apartment and a pet and anything else that might come up. I’m saying goodbye to a lot of security, and also about 75% of my paycheck. Ugh.

I know LA will always be here, and I want to move back here again some day for sure. I just wish I knew this was the right move at the right time.

VEGAS

I finally went to Vegas! I have a terrible habit of never traveling to places nearby because I’m always sure I’ll get around to them eventually, and then eventually never comes and I end up leaving Boston without doing a proper trip to NYC, or the UK without seeing anywhere but London and Gareth’s town in Cornwall. But I did see Iceland, Istanbul, and Morocco!

Vegas was one of those places. Close enough I never felt any urgency to go, and also not really my scene. I’m not a gambler, I don’t love clubbing or going to very fancy places. I was always happy to miss it but knew I’d regret not going if my friends went without me. Which they almost did!

This time was the perfect time though, I still can’t believe how inexpensive it was. My friend started working for Vice relatively recently, and she was sent to cover Kesha’s tour kickoff in Vegas. And to be clear, we love Kesha. She hasn’t been able to perform or do new music in a while, and it’s horrifying and so sad that her career is slowly dying while she holds onto any shred of dignity and self worth. But anyway! We were going to Vegas!

We got a free room and oh my god was it nice. Definitely the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed at, and apparently Selena agrees! When we arrived it was around 110* and it was a nightmare. Not as bad as Morocco, but still pretty debilitating. Luckily, literally everywhere is air conditioned in Vegas, and not the kind that makes a dent but doesn’t stop the heat. I was cold as often as I was hot.

We went to the pools for a bit earlier in the day, though it was almost too hot to be outside, even in a pool. Eventually we gave up and went to dinner, and had the best buffet you can imagine. I didn’t know Vegas was also known for its food/buffets, or I might have made it a priority to come earlier. We stayed for a few hours and had I think four courses each, making sure to really get our money’s worth. We also had unlimited wine/beer, so we had a few drinks as well.

From there we headed to the Cosmopolitan Casino, where I lost $25 and Katie won $100. Ugh. We also got free drinks while gambling, which was very on theme. We arrived at the Kesha show and were given free drink passes, because we were with the ~press. Which was GREAT because a WATER BOTTLE was $10, I kid you not. So, I was forced, against my will, to drink more!

Kesha did Tik Tok, We R Who We R, Timber, and Your Love is My Drug, which was a favorite back in the day. She was great, though gone too soon. Maybe a good thing though, cause we were let into a roped off area that apparently a group of people had bought, and those girls were PISSED. Like, calm down.

Then I called Gareth and had an emotional heart to heart about how much long distance sucks. Because it does you guys, it really, really does. It also might have been fueled by some of the free alcohol I was forced to drink? But probably not. Anyway, that devolved into me listing all the reasons why we’re the best in the entire world, which is one of my favorite things to do when drunk. But also? We are the best in the entire world!

Then it was suddenly 4:00 am and all the bars were closed, so we went back to the room, watched New Adventures of the Old Christine, had a long, in depth conversation about the wonder that is Julia Louis-Dreyfus (but HONESTLY, she is amazing. Watch Veep, watch it now).

We woke up and things were looking pretty bleak, hangover wise, until my friend mentioned a secret, beautiful, lifesaving cure. Dramamine! Honestly, I’ve never felt so sick and then so fine before in my life. And thank god, cause the drive home took around nine hours including our breakfast stop and our stop at the Hoover Dam, which was a sight to behold but also potentially life threatening in the heat. Or so it felt. They had “cool down stations” that were just giant fans that you could walk up to–I honestly don’t know how locals live in that heat, but I certainly couldn’t do it.

It was the perfect way to do Vegas. The hotel was nice and very free. All my drinks were free. I spent $40 gambling, saw a concert for $25 and other than dinner and breakfast, didn’t pay for anything else. I don’t know that I’d ever want to go for two nights in a row–it doesn’t feel like you’re doing Vegas right unless you go out and dance and drink, but I am past the point of being able to manage that multiple nights in a row. I could barely handle it then. Kesha didn’t come on until 1:30 and I was SO proud for making it!

(source for feature photo)

SEATTLE

While I was surprised to be a little underwhelmed with Portland, Seattle was AMAZING. It was everything I thought Portland would be. It was clean and green and walkable and outdoorsy, and really technologically advanced. We stayed at the coolest hotel in Capitol Hill that is also long term housing (I looked it up and it’s over 2,000 a month for just a bedroom with a shared kitchen, otherwise I’d probably still be living there now). We walked basically the entire city and by the time we left we were planning our future return to buy a house in the city. I loved Seattle.

We got in a bit later than planned because of the train delay, but the day was perfect. It was LA weather, with clear blue skies and the city stretching out before us. We pulled in right next to Century Link Field, and I’m not going to lie, my love for Seattle has eased my dislike for the Seahawks (though the Super Bowl outcome probably helped with that as well). It was cool to see the stadium, and man is this town into football. I love it!

We went straight to the Link, which went from the Stadium to Capitol Hill. It was a super quick journey, and the neighborhood was amazing. So many great bars and restaurants. So many great houses. It felt a lot like the east coast, actually.

We stayed at Roy St Commons They gave us codes for the main entrance and our room, and we never had to talk to anyone else (I’m a fan of this, haha), but it still felt homey. We walked around checking out the different dinner options, before picking a random Italian place. Gareth got something delicious and I got a pasta thing and once again Gareth ordered better than me. I honestly need to start just copying his orders exactly. Then we considering doing a comedy show, but instead decided to bar hop. We went to Unicorn, which was pretty excellent. There was a wedding party there at the time, and they ordered every cocktail on the menu. I offered to help carry and they turned me down but gave me a unicorn jizz as a thank you, and that was a strong, sweet, fun drink. We took some terrible photobooth pictures (I’m really bad at photobooths!), and continued wandering around Seattle. The walk back home was really nice, and felt totally safe even though it was pretty late and we weren’t 100% sober. I love how the area felt like one big neighborhood. It felt really liveable.

Seattle, Washington   

We crashed pretty hard because of continued jetlag/the illness that would not end, but this room had a fan, which I have been trained since I was a baby to require for a good night’s sleep (thanks mom!).

We woke up the next morning and the clear blue skies of the first day had become gray clouds that every once in awhile let out a few drops of rain. The place had free homemade apple danishes (or some sort of apple baked good) for breakfast. Again we didn’t see another human, as we stuffed our faces and plotted where to hide my bag for the day. They didn’t have a lockbox but we didn’t want to carry our heavy bags during our hike around the city, so (thinking I was somehow doing us both a favor) I hid my bag in the main room and transported my valuables into Gareth’s bag, which he carried. I don’t know why I thought that was mutually beneficial, but Gareth never pointed out the huge flaw in my logic and quietly waited a few hours until I realized on my own. Oops. Thanks, buddy.

Then we headed out! We stopped at Portage Bay for brunch, where Gareth ate like he gave a damn, and I realized it was mother’s day and called my Momma. Then we walked over to the Center for Wooden Boats, where you can sail free every Sunday! However by the time we got there all the boats were signed up for except a canoe, and we decided that because it was freezing and we had both canoed before (I’ve never been sailing, take away any islander credibility I have right now), so we decided to skip it. That said, what a great way to spend a Sunday. And it’s all volunteer run. I’m a big fan.

From there we wandered to the Space Needle. Fun fact, I am terrified of heights. I honestly really didn’t think this would bother me much, BUT IT REALLY DID. I felt like I could really feel it swaying (though Gareth insists he couldn’t, I’m still sure I felt it!). I also hated that there was a line to get down, meaning I was temporarily trapped. So we walked/ran around the outside viewing area, took some pictures, and headed back down to the gift shop. I’m not usually about gift shops but Gareth and I are starting a magnet collection, and we needed to tick that off the list. And we got a pretty sweet one, I’m happy to report.

Seattle, Washington

From there we wandered to the Pike Place Market, which was amazing. I wanted to buy everything, but mostly the gorgeous handmade notebooks. Oh my god, they were great. After that we went into the Left Bank Book Collective, which was great and super independent. What a great bookstore run we had.

Seattle, Washington

From there we needed a break from all the walking, and popped into a coffee shop. This was such a nice part of the trip, because it was winding down, and we were tired and just wanted to sit and be together. Gareth got a big thing of pour over coffee, which I had never had before, and the bar area we were at was covered in a huge world map. We looked at the map and planned our future travels, and told stories about places we’ve been, and it was just a really nice moment.

After that we went on a mission to find me a bakery. We stopped into Le Panier, and a few other places, but kind of gave up and took an uber back to Capitol Hill. We finally had Dick’s Drive In burgers, and then on the way back to our place I realized we were close to Bakery Nouveau. I don’t even remember what I got, but I remember it being the most delicious thing in the entire world. It was some kind of chocolatey cake thing, and I still have dreams about it.

From there we walked back to our place, grabbed my bag (which was still there, thankfully), and took the link right from Capitol Hill all the way to the airport. SO easy. And once again, no one checked our ticket. Also, even though we didn’t HAVE to pay, it was SO cheap. It was around $2.50 to get from Capitol Hill, which is fairly north, all the way to the airport. It was just so insanely easy. And while we were waiting for a train, two of the guys who worked security there came over and chatted with us, and they were hilarious and friendly (and obviously a little bored). I can’t get over how much I loved Seattle and the people in it. That is my kind of city, for sure.

(source for feature photo)

PORTLAND

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The morning after Gareth arrived, we woke up bright (or not) and early at 4:15 am to make our way to LAX. With the happy discovery that an uber at that time would cost over $40, I decided to book parking last minute for about the same amount, but with the added convenience of having my car nearby. It was really quick and totally doable last minute, which allowed us to check the uber price and decide which way made more sense.

We got to the airport and immediately realized it was the first time we were at an airport together not doing a pick up or horribly depressing drop off. Once we both flew to London on the same day, but with different airlines at different terminals, so we got to Logan, had one last trip to Dunks, said goodbye for about 13 hours, and met back up at Heathrow. So we took a million pictures documenting our first plane journey together, and were probably pretty embarrassing.

The flight was only a bit over 2 hours, and I slept through pretty much all of it. (Though not before taking more pictures.) We arrived in Portland and tried to figure out if it was cheaper to rent a car there and drop it off at Seattle, or to take the train. We wanted a car to get around and not be tied to the train schedule, but it was going to be more than double our train tickets, so we went without. (This was definitely the right call, we were in the center of both cities and never went anywhere that wasn’t in walking distance.) Then we went to the metro at the airport which took us right to the center of the city/right by our hotel. And we started an amazing chain of train rides, where we never needed to buy our tickets. We always did buy them, because I fear authority and cause Gareth is the most moral person I’ve ever met, but not one of our trains in the PNW, including the Amtrak between Portland and Seattle, ever checked our tickets. It was crazy.

We arrived before check in, so we went straight for brunch. I tried to be fancy and celebratory and had a pomegranate mimosa, but it made me SO sleepy, so that was probably a mistake! The food was great and Portland was so cool. After breakfast we went to Powell’s Books, which was AMAZING. We could have spent our entire weekend in that store. Gareth found these old books he loves, and I picked up this book about anthropologists, which was fun though kind of dark and also it was kind of annoyingly predictable where if the main character had just stood up for herself once it might have all been avoided. But anyway! Powell’s was perfect.

After that we went and sat by the waterfront and read. To be honest I was already feeling a little weird, because we were the only people around who weren’t homeless. I know I live in LA where homelessness is a huge problem, but Portland seemed so much worse. It definitely could have been the area we were in (we stayed right in the middle of the city), but it was really shocking and not something I expected. We settled in reading and that was really lovely and great cause, in case this wasn’t already clear, this was our first day together! He had arrived in LA the night before, and it was the first time we’d seen each other since my birthday. So we were all cuddly reading by a tree, when all of a sudden these two groups of men started brawling RIGHT where we were. So we had to jump up and move out of the way, but our bags were still there and we kept having to dart back in to get our stuff. Luckily they all seemed nice (for having a brawl in the park), and tried to give us room/time to get our stuff before carrying on. It was super surreal. We hung around for a bit after that, but it continued to feel pretty sketchy to me, and eventually we decided to just head to the hotel.

Portland was so weird because there was a whole side of it I hadn’t expected at all. The amount of homeless people was shocking. Its crime rate is comparable to Los Angeles, but with WAY less people and in a much smaller city. It also has the most strip clubs per capita in the US. None of this was bad, it was just so different than what I expected! I will say, I’ve been to a lot of places, and definitely some considered relatively dangerous, and Portland was the place I’ve felt the least safe.

We stayed at The Society Hotel, which I definitely recommend. It was walkable to everything and had a great vibe. At this point we were pretty tired/jetlagged and I was (as always) sick, so we took a nap which was glorious. We wanted to go here for dinner, but the wait was over two hours(!), so instead we just walked around and found this SUPER weird, hole in the wall, dungeon looking restaurant. It was such a funny place–they seemed annoyed to have to seat us, our server was so strange, and there was a guy unaffiliated with the restaurant going from table to table doing magic tricks.

Then we went up to the rooftop bar, played cards (I won, obviously), before going to bed relatively early cause Gareth was still on London time and I was still sick.

The next morning we went to the Saturday market which was great. I almost bought a million things, but then didn’t buy any of them, which I was proud of. Gareth had a philly cheesesteak sub, and then another one cause it was SO GOOD. Then we wandered to Voodoo Donuts, but the line was insanely long and neither of us are big donut fans (I know this makes us monsters), so we skipped it. We walked to the train station which was really pretty. It looked like it hadn’t been changed much since it was first built, and I love old, historic buildings.

Our train was an hour late, which was annoying because they never announced that, so everyone got in line, and stayed in line for so long. I’m not sure why, because we all had assigned seats. It seems really illogical we waited in line for so long without just sitting back down, but, uh, we did. I think because it always seemed like the train was just about to pull in. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

The train ride was gorgeous. Again no one checked our tickets, though we did have assigned seats, so I guess there’s always the risk the train could be full, but ours definitely wasn’t. About 20 minutes in an alarm started going off, and happened off and on (mostly on) for about an hour while they tried to fix it. Gareth really loved that part of the trip. We mostly read our books and watched the landscape. I really love train rides, and this one was no different. Then we were in Seattle!!

(feature image source)

ANYONE UP FOR A TRIP TO ALASKA?

Two of the states I’m the most excited to visit are Alaska and Hawaii. I’m not sure if it’s because they feel so different from the continental US, or if I’m just intrigued by their distance the and perceived challenge of getting to them. I say perceived, because my personal travel philosophy is that you can get anywhere without spending much money if you’re determined enough.

And the trip to Alaska is becoming a real thing! Last week Katie and I applied for this credit card. After spending 2,000, you get 40,000 Alaska Airline miles. Which is more than enough miles for a RT flight from Los Angeles to Anchorage!

Our cards arrived last night and once we spend the minimum the miles should post to our accounts in 2-3 weeks. As of right now we’re aiming for a March trip, because that’s when the Northern lights are the easiest to see from Alaska, and man do we want to see the Northern lights.

I’m a little sad to go while it’s still predominantly dark, especially looking back on how cool the constant light in Iceland was this summer, but if the exchange is the Aurora Borealis, I am so down. Plus I love snow!

Also itching to see the Northern Lights? A big fan of The Proposal? Get the card and Alaska is well within reach for you too!

(source for feature photo)

Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, CA

Updates

Hey blog/blog readers (aka, Mom)!

I’ve decided to make some changes. I realize by updating only when I’ve crossed something off my list, I’m forced to wait ages between posts, and we’re missing loads of little but important things in between! It’s like when you see an old friend and they ask what you’ve been up to–because they don’t know any of the day to day stuff, the new recipe you found or the great book you’ve just read don’t matter, only the big life events. I want this blog to be like a day to day friend. So while I will continue making the big, milestone posts, I want to do smaller ones too.

For example, my amazing, wonderful, fill-in-your-complimentary-descriptor here, boyfriend just came to visit me! His first time in Los Angeles! We did really great things like see Florence and the Machine from VIP seats at the Hollywood Bowl, and road bikes from Venice to Santa Monica, and hiked the Hollywood sign, and took a quick trip to Santa Barbara, and watched A LOT of Parks & Rec. Confession: we may have spent our night in SB just hanging in our airBnB, drinking wine, eating chocolate and chips, and watching Netflix. And it may have been THE BEST.

Santa Barbara, California

This one is just to embarrass him. He was voted “best body” in high school, which is incredibly amusing and only a tiny bit obnoxious.

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Monica, California Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, CA I saw two of my best friends/old roommates from Boston in September. Jussie lives in Australia with her boyfriend, and Emily moved to Idaho to work at a school for kids with behavioral issues in Montana. I haven’t seen them since (surprising them at) their going away party two years ago. Jussie had to come back to the states for a wedding, and then planned to go to Emily and fly out of LA after staying with me. However, I have nothing but free time and loads of airline miles, so I flew to Emily too, and had one of the best experiences ever. I’d never been to the midwest, but WOW is it gorgeous, especially Glacier National Park. I tried to be selective, but WAY too many pictures below. It was like living in a painting.

Glacier National Park

Also we added an accent wall, and I think it has made our apartment SO much nicer. It’s just so homey and comfortable. And orange is my favorite color.

accent wall

Lastly, I’m unemployed, and that is kind of the worst. I knew it would be tough getting back and finding a job, but I didn’t know it would be THIS tough. I didn’t want to talk about this cause it stressed me out so much, but it’s also a pretty big thing going on in my world right now. I would never change anything, because living with my boyfriend and seeing more of the world meant so much to me, but I am really, really excited for when I can once more join the work force and feel a little less adrift.

And that’s it for now! Mostly because I am starving and am going to go home to make an incredibly cheap, very healthy meal that maybe I’ll blog about tomorrow!