Hurry up and wait...

Today is one of those days were I do everything I can to move a process forward and them am left to rely on others to finish their part before real progress is actually made.  Thank goodness it's sunny and nice here or I would be going crazy right now.  These past few months has been a total exercise in patience for me, something I am not very good at.. on with the life updates!



HOUSING
The progress: I signed a lease today!!!!  After going back and forth about living with 2 girls who are friends of a friend's friend or living by myself I decided I am ready to get my own place.  I met with my landlord today and signed on a 1 bedroom cottage in Santa Monica 8 blocks from the beach with a private back patio and a fresh remodel.

Row of cottages

Home Sweet Home!

The holdup:  Yeah... remember how I just said fresh remodel?  That's still in progress.  I am supposed to be moving in on Saturday but right now my kitchen looks like this:

On a more positive note my bathroom looks like this:

But that is really the only thing that looks drastically more different (other than more messy...) than when I saw the place last Wednesday.

So I don't think I'm moving in on Saturday... but we will see...

JOB
The progress:  Today I met with HR for 30 min.  They looked at the papers I filled out and said I did a good job.  I still have those papers.  I have 2 future appointments scheduled.

The holdup: Typical bureaucracy red tape.  I'm getting a TB test on Thursday and once that is complete I should be able to turn in my papers.  And once those are turned in I SHOULD be able to start working.  I also have a background check that I need to fill out online.  Why I couldn't have been doing that a month ago... I have no idea.  I'm scheduled for security clearance in mid-October.  I mean, I like the beach and all but I kinda need to have an income relatively soon due to the aforementioned lease signing...

SOCIAL
Joni and Sean came up from San Diego this weekend so I got to hang out with them in the OC.  We enjoyed Friday night dinner at the Borzcik house, CU football, pedicures and a... colorful... Teppan dinner experience were Joni informed them that it was my birthday, despite the fact that my b-day is in July.  A truly entertaining night was had.

This was the tamest thing that happened all night...

I'm also working on getting in contact with friends from college, study abroad, and friends of friends to start hanging out and meeting others.  I bought a ticket to the CU/UCLA game in November and am pretty pumped to see my Buffs play at the Rose Bowl and hang out with a sorority sister who is also getting me connected with the LA Kappa alum association.  So this part of my life definitely has promise!

Semi-unrelated: I went to IKEA today for the first time.  I thought that my first trip to IKEA would merit its own blog post but either it was surprisingly underwhelming or I was just much less fun than normal.  Maybe my spirits were broken down from the seriously overpriced antique stores rampant in Santa Monica?  Anyway, in a nutshell the store is big, they have good, cheap meatballs, their soda cups are tiny (seriously, I need so much more diet coke when shopping)

Lies!  Mine was the size of a tall Starbucks! (Photo from IKEA.com)

and I bought a down comforter and a lint roller.  I may return depending on my furnishing needs when I am finally able to move into the cottage... so shopping ventures are also in purgatory for the time-being.

At least my temporary purgatory housing includes a comfy bed, home cooked meals and two of my favorite surrogate parents.  I should definitely smile, relax and enjoy this while it lasts ;)