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Never in my life
Never have I ever paid so much for a tank of gas!
Before I moved to California, people warned me that it's much more expensive to live here, but when I first got here there were no real noticeable differences in price; apartment prices were comparable to those in Austin (the most expensive city to live in in Texas besides Dallas), clothes and shoes were about the same, and even drinks often cost as little as $3.00 a pint. After living here for a month now, I've realized that grocery shopping is a bit more pricey (there ain't no HEBs here, that's for sure), and our fave past-time, eating out, is definitely more expensive - even for fast food! Not to mention that I took a pay-CUT to get closer to my dream-job, and Gui isn't exactly rolling in the dough as an intern. So, paying nearly $50 every week for gas is certainly a set-back and not something I'm looking forward to as gas prices are getting ready to sky-rocket for the summer! Even worse, starting mid-June I'll be driving 3x further than I am now!! It's all a bit scary, but definitely aroused my usually tepid interest in hybrids!
Before I moved to California, people warned me that it's much more expensive to live here, but when I first got here there were no real noticeable differences in price; apartment prices were comparable to those in Austin (the most expensive city to live in in Texas besides Dallas), clothes and shoes were about the same, and even drinks often cost as little as $3.00 a pint. After living here for a month now, I've realized that grocery shopping is a bit more pricey (there ain't no HEBs here, that's for sure), and our fave past-time, eating out, is definitely more expensive - even for fast food! Not to mention that I took a pay-CUT to get closer to my dream-job, and Gui isn't exactly rolling in the dough as an intern. So, paying nearly $50 every week for gas is certainly a set-back and not something I'm looking forward to as gas prices are getting ready to sky-rocket for the summer! Even worse, starting mid-June I'll be driving 3x further than I am now!! It's all a bit scary, but definitely aroused my usually tepid interest in hybrids!
Heading to the O.C.
For business and other reasons, my training for work will be relocating to the South Coast Plaza store in Costa Mesa. I'm excited about reducing my commute by half and training at a much smaller and less-hectic store, but I'll admit I'm a little sad to leave Beverly Hills after such a short stay. The Beverly Center has been a neat experience, though, and both Guillaume and I were able to exlplore Beverly Hills (including Melrose & Sunset Blvds) a bit, too. We'll definitely be back, especially when Irisa comes, to dabble in the abundant night-life and various eateries around there. I'm glad I've had the chance to get to know the place a little. Guillaume and I, however, share separate views on the people and community there; while I'd love to live in such a happening and bustling area of LA, he prefers the laid-back, slow-moving and easy-going environment in Long Beach. As much as I love Long Beach and living here, while I'm young, I think a place like Beverly Hills could offer the fun, entertainment and culture (not to mention shopping!) that I want to be a part of before I get too grown-up. Long Beach very much reminds me of Austin, which is really great, but before I left Austin I always pictured myself living in a bigger city before returning to settle in my hometown with a family (with or without kids). Although the LBC is much larger than Austin, it still has the same quaintness and charm that Austin has, so I feel like I'm still in a big-small, hip town. It'll be nice to finally get a chance to experience that hustle and bustle once I make the move to the Hollywood Hills in September, I just hope I'm not disappointed. For now, I'll enjoy my time near the beach and in walking-distance to my favorite coffee shop, bar and pizza joint. Oh, and this nice French wine that Gui picked up at Trader Joe's for a measly 6 bucks!
Back in business
I know it's been some time since I've posted anything. It's still taking some time to get into a routine. I had a day off yesterday, and expected to get back into the groove of blogging, but just didn't feel in the mood...so I read the book that I've been a little addicted to for the past few weeks. The play for the book is going on here in LA, so if I can afford it (yeah right), I'm going to try to get tickets for it...or maybe I'll add that to my birthday wish list. ;)
So, anyway, I started my 4-week training at The Beverly Center in downtown LA on Monday. It's been great so far, and I'm finding that working in that area definitely has its perks. Apparently, tons of celebs frequent the mall, and many celebs (mostly b-listers, but still) even shop at our store! From what I've heard, all the Road-Rulers, Real-Worlders, Ryan Cabrera, CW actors, etc. come in on a frequent basis, so maybe Irisa has a chance to see her celeb crush, afterall. Besides the high-profile clientele, the mall has a great food court and some of my fave restaurants on the first floor (i.e. PF Chang's & CPK)! I've also had the pleasure to meet a lot of really cool people who are from the area and have generously offered me tons of advice on where to go and what to see around LA and in Long Beach. In fact, 2 of the people I'm working with daily either live in Long Beach or have lived here before, which is really awesome, since they know the ins and outs of the area. I'm most excited about checking out Beauty Bar in LA, to compare it to the one in Austin. I've heard mixed reviews, so I'll be sure to provide an update when I do get around to visiting it.
Besides work, Gui and I have just been hanging out. We're both trying to spend conservatively right now, so it's mostly been dinners at home and not much else. We did get a chance to check out the Grand Prix in Long Beach when it was here; we didn't have tickets, but we hung out outside the gates and got a pretty good view of the events.We also managed to time our walk to the beach and discovered that from door to sand, we live a 12 minute walk to the beach. Niiice. It's not the best beach ever, but, hey, it's a beach!! Oh, and I almost forgot. As a little treat for our "one-year anniversary" (can you believe that we've been dating eachother for ONE YEAR?!!! I can't!!), Guillaume and I checked out this bar called The Yard House, that has the World's Largest Selection of Draft Beer. It was defnitely a treat, but we each only had one beer: I, of course, opted for my "usual" Strongbow (hey, it's NEVER on draft in the states...I couldn't resist!), and Gui tried something he'd never tried, but not something all that authentic - NOLA's Abita Purple Haze. We were both satisfied and definitely happy about the selection (check out those taps!!).
So, on that note....here's to beer and getting more of it! ;)
So, anyway, I started my 4-week training at The Beverly Center in downtown LA on Monday. It's been great so far, and I'm finding that working in that area definitely has its perks. Apparently, tons of celebs frequent the mall, and many celebs (mostly b-listers, but still) even shop at our store! From what I've heard, all the Road-Rulers, Real-Worlders, Ryan Cabrera, CW actors, etc. come in on a frequent basis, so maybe Irisa has a chance to see her celeb crush, afterall. Besides the high-profile clientele, the mall has a great food court and some of my fave restaurants on the first floor (i.e. PF Chang's & CPK)! I've also had the pleasure to meet a lot of really cool people who are from the area and have generously offered me tons of advice on where to go and what to see around LA and in Long Beach. In fact, 2 of the people I'm working with daily either live in Long Beach or have lived here before, which is really awesome, since they know the ins and outs of the area. I'm most excited about checking out Beauty Bar in LA, to compare it to the one in Austin. I've heard mixed reviews, so I'll be sure to provide an update when I do get around to visiting it.
Besides work, Gui and I have just been hanging out. We're both trying to spend conservatively right now, so it's mostly been dinners at home and not much else. We did get a chance to check out the Grand Prix in Long Beach when it was here; we didn't have tickets, but we hung out outside the gates and got a pretty good view of the events.We also managed to time our walk to the beach and discovered that from door to sand, we live a 12 minute walk to the beach. Niiice. It's not the best beach ever, but, hey, it's a beach!! Oh, and I almost forgot. As a little treat for our "one-year anniversary" (can you believe that we've been dating eachother for ONE YEAR?!!! I can't!!), Guillaume and I checked out this bar called The Yard House, that has the World's Largest Selection of Draft Beer. It was defnitely a treat, but we each only had one beer: I, of course, opted for my "usual" Strongbow (hey, it's NEVER on draft in the states...I couldn't resist!), and Gui tried something he'd never tried, but not something all that authentic - NOLA's Abita Purple Haze. We were both satisfied and definitely happy about the selection (check out those taps!!).
So, on that note....here's to beer and getting more of it! ;)
Busy little bumble bee
It's been a while since I posted, I know, but I've been working these very weird hours (no more 8-5 for me!), so when I get home at sometimes 12:30 am, I'm usually in no mood to re-hash my day in writing! Work's been great, though. Only one more week before I start my real training - that is, for the job that I'll be doing at my "home store," as we call it. That will be in Bevery Center, which is in the heart of Beverly Hills and has a nice view of the Hollywood sign from the rooftop foodcourt. So, I'm pretty excited about that. Right now I'm working in Arcadia, just near Pasadena, and it's pretty cool, too. It's very weird to drive to work from the beach and see mountains when I step out of my car.
This is where I work:
And this is the view from my work:
Pretty neato, huh?
I have been doing stuff (that doesn't cost money, as I'm broke as a joke - moving to this expensive city and being jobless for 2 weeks!) since the last post. Let's see...Last Friday night, after work, Guillaume and I saw the Clippers play the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center, which was pretty cool. The arena's not as large as I thought it would would've been (I think the Alamodome might be bigger, in fact), but it was still a very cool game, and every seat (even our nosebleed Section 300s) had a good view of the court.
We didn't do much for Easter. We had planned to make a quiche, but some work friends of Guillaume's invited us to a barbeque in the late afternoon, so we did that instead. It was very good, but I'm still waiting to try Melynda's delicious quiche recipe!! I'll let y'all know how that turns out! But, life on the west coast has been good so far. I met a girl at work that lived in Austin for 4 years with a friend, which was really cool! She said she needed to move away from LA for a while and chose Austin, which she said was a very good choice. I didn't ask her why she moved back home to LA, but I'm curious to find out, so maybe next time I see her I'll ask. Oh yeah, and Guillaume's dad booked a flight for the 25th of May to come visit us here in Long Beach, which is totally awesome! And, Gui's friends who visited in Austin, Anto, Sev & Bapty are all coming around the same time to visit, too, which is just marvelous news. Now, if Irisa decides to make the trip for my birthday, that'll just be icing on the cake! Anyone else?!!
This is where I work:
And this is the view from my work:
Pretty neato, huh?
I have been doing stuff (that doesn't cost money, as I'm broke as a joke - moving to this expensive city and being jobless for 2 weeks!) since the last post. Let's see...Last Friday night, after work, Guillaume and I saw the Clippers play the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center, which was pretty cool. The arena's not as large as I thought it would would've been (I think the Alamodome might be bigger, in fact), but it was still a very cool game, and every seat (even our nosebleed Section 300s) had a good view of the court.
We didn't do much for Easter. We had planned to make a quiche, but some work friends of Guillaume's invited us to a barbeque in the late afternoon, so we did that instead. It was very good, but I'm still waiting to try Melynda's delicious quiche recipe!! I'll let y'all know how that turns out! But, life on the west coast has been good so far. I met a girl at work that lived in Austin for 4 years with a friend, which was really cool! She said she needed to move away from LA for a while and chose Austin, which she said was a very good choice. I didn't ask her why she moved back home to LA, but I'm curious to find out, so maybe next time I see her I'll ask. Oh yeah, and Guillaume's dad booked a flight for the 25th of May to come visit us here in Long Beach, which is totally awesome! And, Gui's friends who visited in Austin, Anto, Sev & Bapty are all coming around the same time to visit, too, which is just marvelous news. Now, if Irisa decides to make the trip for my birthday, that'll just be icing on the cake! Anyone else?!!
My first day
Today was my first day of training for my new job. I was so excited about it and left 2 hours in advance to ensure an early arrival. Well, Mapquest screwed me over and I got lost for 30 minutes before actually realizing it, so ended up being late by 20 minutes...grrrrr. So, despite my late arrival, I got thrown right into the mix of things and could see that this was going to be the fast-paced environment I had really been craving! Everyone was cool and calm, but definitely busy - just like I like it! I had the typical admin stuff to sort out, but then we got down to the nitty-gritty. My first 2 weeks of training will be on the sales floor. I absolutely LOVE this idea...in my opinion, there's no better way to train someone than from the ground up, even if the position is management or the like. You've got to know what everyone does that contributes to your job, and this style of training is such an asset for attaining success in any position. Anyway, my trainer was trés cool and incredibly efficient with the training bit. She was definitely a better trainer than I think I would have been, and I totally give her kudos for that! It's hard to remember all the things that you need to teach someone who knows absolutely nothing about your daily routine. And, indeed, I learned so much. The best and worst part of training on the sales floor is seeing all the new clothes that you want to immediately buy for yourself or someone else. I couldn't help staring at this cute yellow dress hanging on the rack, and made it a point to walk by it every chance I could, just to sneak a peek. I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything from the store for the first 2 weeks, so short glances and subtle hand-grazing are all I'll have to appease my craving, for now.
The rest of the day was a blur, and it really flew by so quickly. I was told I'd have short, 6-hour work days instead of 8-hours since I'll be getting paid for my travel to and from work during the training sessions. That's such a cool benefit...and did I mention the others? I won't because they're so numerous, but anyone who's interested in working for an awesome retailer in SoCal, they are definitely hiring!
:)
The rest of the day was a blur, and it really flew by so quickly. I was told I'd have short, 6-hour work days instead of 8-hours since I'll be getting paid for my travel to and from work during the training sessions. That's such a cool benefit...and did I mention the others? I won't because they're so numerous, but anyone who's interested in working for an awesome retailer in SoCal, they are definitely hiring!
:)
Orientation
Today was orientation day for my new job. I had to go in to sign my offer and see what my training schedule was going to be, but they also had me get orientation out of the way while I was there. I'll be training for 7 full weeks before actually starting my job, which I'm really looking forward to. I've never been in a job that provided so much training and preparation beforehand, so it should be very interesting, and I'm really excited about it! At the start of the orientation, I was given a huge Bible of a Career Guide that I was told I would live and breathe by once all was said and done. It was very informative, indeed, and it definitely gives me something to do while I'm waiting to officially start my training on Tuesday. I'll be training for 2 weeks at a store in Arcadia (close to Pasadena), then 4+ weeks at the store in Beverly Hills, which is where my first interview took place. The new store that I'll be working at in Topanga/Canoga Park will open at the end of May. I'm becoming more and more impressed with the company and am totally pumped about starting a career there. I still can't help but feel like someone's going to tell me that this is all a joke, or that they'll change their minds about hiring me...it just seems unreal that I'm actually working for a company I set my sights on as soon as I started job-searching in the L.A. area. I'm hoping my dubious feelings will subside once I start getting my hands dirty and begin my training. So far, everyone's been incredibly helpful, positive and just all around cool. My hours will be a little wacky, though, and there's already a conflict with the Clippers game Gui and I have tickets for next Saturday (which is Irisa's bday, too) and my work schedule for that day, but it might work out. It will be hard to lose my weekends since those are the only days Guillaume and I get to spend entirely together. But, I'm hoping my schedule won't include too many weekends, and if it does, we'll have to deal with it, won't we? This is gonna be a whole new ball game, but I'm totally ready to play!
Back in the loop
Sorry about the lack of posts this past week. It's been an adventurous time with lots of exciting moments and some good news. First off, I had 2 interviews scheduled for early Tuesday the 27th, so my brother Albert and I set off for California on Sunday morning around 5:30 am...we had a few delays with the car trailer, but we were still able to avoid major traffic during the day. We had planned to stop to rest somewhere in Tucson before heading out again on Tuesday, but after driving past the city we decided to head towards Phoenix and look for a place to stop on the way. We attempted to stop at a shady hotel in the middle of nowhere, but made a quick u-turn after realizing it looked like one of those creepy places out of a hitchcock movie. After talking to mom on the phone, we made a determined decision to just drive the full way through. I wasn't too tired at the time, and when I began feeling a little drowsy, we pulled over to a truck stop for a quick nap. Just as I was setting my phone alarm for an hour later, Guillaume called in to let me know he was home from San Francisco. He also told me that someone had broken the back window of his car while it was parked at his office in Cerritos. I was pissed! Who does that?? It's obvious the person driving his 1995 P.O.S. Saturn isn't someone who has money to throw away on buying a new window! Grrrrrr. So, needless to say, I was no longer in the mood to sleep at this point and we headed back out on the road. We finally made it to LA after a nice traffic-filled freeway commute from the north at 4 AM!!! Yes, even at 4 AM, LA has freakin' traffic! When we finally made it home, our truck and trailer were too big to fit down our little one-way street, which resulted in another adventure that took us around the neighborhood, down alley-ways and finally in our driveway to unload the junk from the truck. Phew!! What a day! At 9 AM Albert and I were finally able to catch some zees, but I couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours before I had to get up to organize the new mess in our living room and kitchen. Fun, fun!
Since our arrival, we've found a nice restaurant and bar that serves amazing seafood just down the street, we've done some grocery shopping at the famous Ralph's (not my favorite place; I think we'll try Trader Joe's next time), completely organized our new living space, and done a bit of exploration around the 'hood - including a stop at Carl's ,Jr. Today, I'm taking my little bro to the beach that's a few blocks from our apt. I'll give a full report of that later.
As for my interviews....they both went really well. My first interview was with my preferred job, and I was really stoked about it. It was a pretty informal conversation, with typical questions about past experiences and such. It ended well, and a 2nd interview was scheduled for Wed. My other interview on Tuesday was with an asset management company, which went unexpectedly well, too. It was a very laid-back interview, and the job seemed to be much cooler than I had originally thought it would be. They told me they'd defintely be in touch for a second interview and thought I was the best candidate that they'd seen so far. I was really excited for both jobs!! But, yesterday I had the 2nd interview with my preferred job and it seemed to really go well. While I was making dinner with Guillaume last night, I got a phone call from my interviewer who offered me the job (which I readily accepted)! It's such a great feeling to be employed again and in the job that I had set my hopes on attaining when I moved here! It's sure to be a company I'll grow with and one that I expect to be very happy working for. So, I'll start with orientation tomorrow and begin training for the next 7 weeks on Tuesday. The store will be opening in the Westfield Mall in Topanga, and will be a 2-story store with over 100 employees. It's not very close to where we're living now, but I plan to be closer to that area after a few months. Exciting times are ahead!
Since our arrival, we've found a nice restaurant and bar that serves amazing seafood just down the street, we've done some grocery shopping at the famous Ralph's (not my favorite place; I think we'll try Trader Joe's next time), completely organized our new living space, and done a bit of exploration around the 'hood - including a stop at Carl's ,Jr. Today, I'm taking my little bro to the beach that's a few blocks from our apt. I'll give a full report of that later.
As for my interviews....they both went really well. My first interview was with my preferred job, and I was really stoked about it. It was a pretty informal conversation, with typical questions about past experiences and such. It ended well, and a 2nd interview was scheduled for Wed. My other interview on Tuesday was with an asset management company, which went unexpectedly well, too. It was a very laid-back interview, and the job seemed to be much cooler than I had originally thought it would be. They told me they'd defintely be in touch for a second interview and thought I was the best candidate that they'd seen so far. I was really excited for both jobs!! But, yesterday I had the 2nd interview with my preferred job and it seemed to really go well. While I was making dinner with Guillaume last night, I got a phone call from my interviewer who offered me the job (which I readily accepted)! It's such a great feeling to be employed again and in the job that I had set my hopes on attaining when I moved here! It's sure to be a company I'll grow with and one that I expect to be very happy working for. So, I'll start with orientation tomorrow and begin training for the next 7 weeks on Tuesday. The store will be opening in the Westfield Mall in Topanga, and will be a 2-story store with over 100 employees. It's not very close to where we're living now, but I plan to be closer to that area after a few months. Exciting times are ahead!
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