Graduation Goggles

"Graduation goggles is the nostalgic feeling one has about a time or someone in their life when it is about to end, even if the time was completely miserable." -How I Met Your Mother Wiki

Sweeping declaration: How I Met Your Mother IS the show of our generation.  It is just SO relate-able!  There have been more than a handful of times when I have felt that the show is portraying events that have happened in my life or could be applied to situations in my life.  This is no mere TV sitcom my friends, this is a guide for living life in your mid 20s-30s.  Sometimes a "what to do", and sometimes a "what not to do".  From "nothing good happens after 2AM" to "the mermaid effect" life lessons abound in HIMYM.

Today, we focus on the concept of "Graduation Goggles," defined above. And per HIMYM, it looks a little something like this:



Click here if the video doesn't show... sorry...

 Lately, I have been having Graduation Googgles ALLLLL over Santa Monica.  And honestly, I would not describe my time here as completely miserable (not even close), but there have been frustrating and difficult circumstances. For example, LA traffic, something I have complained bitterly about in the past, had me nostalgic the other day.  I was exiting the 10 on to Lincoln after work and was stopped on the exit ramp in a line of cars.  Right outside my window was the "Welcome to Santa Monica" sign, and as I sat there looking at it, Sarah McLachlan began playing in my head to accompany a sepia toned slide show of the good times in Santa Monica. Riding bikes down the beach, drinking wine with friends, splashing in the ocean after midnight, gatherings on my back patio... all interrupted by honking when I failed to see that I could move forward.  Whoops.

The marine layer has made me nostalgic lately as well.  Which is truly bizarre because this weather phenomena occurs in San Diego as well.  My June has not seemed so gloomy, despite a lack of morning sunshine.  It appears that I have made my peace with the gloom, possibly because after enduring a tropical storm in NYC at Kendall's graduation, I realized that a cloudy sky with no rain is pretty great in comparison.

And graduation goggles for my job?  Not so much honestly.  Maybe that will happen in these next few weeks?  Who knows.

Anyway, my point is that my time here in Santa Monica/Los Angeles is winding down, and perhaps my biggest disappointment is my LA Bucket List.  Whenever I am about to move or leave a place that I have been for a good portion of time, I like to make a bucket list of things to do in order to maximize my time.  I actually started this tradition when I was studying abroad in Australia. It was a wonderful tool, because in my last 1-2 months in Sydney, anytime I found myself in my room with nothing to do, I would pick something off the list and have a mini-adventure.  The bucket list I made for LA is simple and relatively short.  As I have stated before, I feel like I have most of the things I wanted to so since moving here. Regardless, here it is...

The next chapter...

As I alluded in my last post, it's time for a new adventure. And of course I have had something in the works, but, ya know, don't count your chickens before they hatch.  However, today the chickens hatched and I accepted an official offer to work at the Navy Medical Center in San Diego!  I'll be starting my new job on July 15th, and I will be providing all the genetic counseling for the entire hospital from my wonderful office complete with a table and chairs for guests!  I will be losing all the research time that I have at my current job, but I will be gaining a TON of clinic time with patients, which is my favorite part of my job anyway. I could not be more excited for this challenge and for a move to a new city that should be a bit more my speed than LA. 

So tonight, I skipped yoga and am indulging in two of my favorite things, champagne and red velvet cake. I believe in celebrating our victories in life, small or large. And after getting the tentative job offer back at the very beginning of April, I am ready to finally get excited and share the news!

 

 

As I gear up to head a little bit further South, I will have an LA bucket list to check off and plenty of moving action to share.  So here we go, let the next chapter commence!

 

 

Hindsight

March was a crazy busy month, all ending with a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina for the American College of Medical Genetics Annual Conference.  ACMG was a really great experience: I presented a poster, learned about new and interesting things in genetics, and got to catch up with many of the Chicago area GCs that I haven't seen in quite a while.

I also had the most delicious red velvet cake I have ever had in my life.  And lots of southern style mac and cheese.

Anyway, ACMG also gave me a chance to do a bit of reflection on how much my life had changed in a year and how everything thing that has happened has absolutely been for the best.  Even though, if you had asked me a year ago where I would be today, Santa Monica is probably one of the last places I would have guessed.

Bedroom for One

One of the biggest decisions I made when moving out to LA was about my living situation.  Aside from deciding where I was going to live, I was also deciding between living alone and living with roommates.  After weighing the pros and cons and realizing that no matter what choice I made, there were going to be days that I would regret it, as you all probably know, I decided to take the plunge and live alone.

After three months in my current living situation I feel like I have had enough time to settle in and that I can now assess the situation with clear eyes and officially say that I LOVE LIVING ALONE!!!  Seriously, I can watch whatever I want on the TV, I don't have to share the bathroom and there is soooooo much room in the fridge!  Seriously- look at all the Lean Cuisines I can have!

And there is still sooooo much more room!  I have seriously never regretted my choice for even a second though there are a few tiny things that make me miss having another person around the house...

Urban Jungle

Moving from the 3rd largest city in the US to the 2nd largest, I expected that I would be getting more of a lot of things.  More traffic, more smog, more people, more money (earned and spent), more sunshine, more professional basketball teams, more celebrities, more homeless people, and well, you get the picture.  One thing I was not expecting more of was nature.  I was actually expecting to move to a larger city and get less nature to account for the more of everything else.  LA has pleasantly surprised me by being a place that is FULL of natural beauty and outdoorsy activities.  Who knew?

The Backstory

Moving to a new place gives you a chance to start over, potentially even reinvent yourself if you so choose.  And it all starts with how you present yourself when you meet new people.  Lately I've been thinking a lot about my "backstory"- what I tell people when they ask about what I do, where I'm from etc.  I noticed a while ago back in Chicago that I tend to alter my story based on where I am, who I am meeting, or how long of a conversation I wish to be in.  Now when I say alter, I don't mean lie.  I never say anything that isn't the truth, I just tend to leave things out or frame things in a way that fits the conversation I wish to have.  For example:

Question:
Where are you from?

Potential answers: 
1. I grew up in Iowa.
2. I went to school in Colorado
3. I just moved here from Chicago

All of these are true- but they all lead to very different conversations.  Unless specifically pressed, I tend to shy away from telling people I grew up in Iowa.  This isn't to say I'm not proud of Iowa, I just tend to find the conversations that follow to be... well... annoying.

Answer #1:
I grew up in Iowa.

Sample Responses:
1. Wow, I've never met a farmer!
2. You must really like potatoes!  (Yep, I've had people think it's IDAHO)
3. I don't even know where that is...
4. Heh heh, ever go cow tipping?
5. My [insert random relative] is from Iowa!  Do you know them?

Swimmin' pools and movie stars...

That right!  I finally loaded up The Duchess and moved to Santa Monica!  My apartment in Chicago was the only place I have lived in for more than a year since I went off to college.  I wouldn't say I'm a moving pro, but it has definitely become somewhat routine for me.  Except for this move.  NOTHING about this has been routine.

After being told that my original move-in date was October 1st, it then got pushed to October 5th.  My U-Box couldn't get delivered until the 8th so I got everything arranged for Saturday and would get the keys from my landlord on Thursday the 6th.  On the 6th, surrogate mom Sara and I drove up to Santa Monica with some of my stuff in The Duchess only to find that the house was still being worked on...sigh.  They promised it would be finished and cleaned by Saturday.  Sara, The Duchess, my stuff and I all drove back to Huntington Beach and ate Chinese food.

At this point, I'm supremely anxious.  All of the back and forth: alleged house, alleged job.  It's a lot.  And don't get me wrong, it's not like I've been living in a cardboard box on Hollywood or anything- my surrogate parents and housing were wonderful- I'm just so ready to start my life and get settled in.  In a way, I feel like I have been in transition since March...

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!

California here we come!

Greeting from a Starbucks in The Valley!  All I can think about right now is Cher from Clueless ("Eww!  The Valley!") so I'm not really sure how I am supposed to feel about his place...

There are about a million things I should be doing while I have internet access-- but I'm choosing to blog-- in a very cliche' manner non the less.  Courtesy of my sister's excellent Googling, I'll be relocating to Cabo Cantina in Santa Monica later this afternoon.  Free WiFi + Margs= win.  Also, much less cliche' and potentially less productive.  So let me get you up to speed on my cross-country trek and my first 36 hours on the coast:

After shoving my life into the U-Box:

Mom and I set off for our 28 hour drive--

It's all happening.

It began with an ice scraper...

...and my heart has been pounding ever since.  I'll do my best to keep from word-vomiting my way through this entire post.  (By the way, that is seriously my ice scraper in a different pattern).

Out with a bang

Alright, so you know when you were a kid and you would get a new toy and play with it all day, everyday for like a week and then never again??  I find that as an adult-ish person, I still have this quality though now it mostly applies to workout plans and guys I attempt to date.  I'm also concerned that this may happen to my blog.  So my first 5 posts were all consecutive (*cough* excited child) and then followed by about 5 days of radio silence however, I feel that I have a perfectly good excuse for my lapse: playing in Chicago!

Before I head out to California, I really wanted to make one more visit to the city I love enough to consider one of my three homes (Iowa and Colorado would be the other two) and soak in all of my favorite things.  It seems logical that I should have memories of having fun, knowing my way around a place and spending time with people I love before I'm lost, confused and friendless on the coast.

Growing up...again.

Well folks, while the month of August has left me feeling like a freeloader on my parents couch, this first week in September has skyrocketed me towards my new independent life in LA.  Here's the progress:

1. I finally have something in my name other than debt

Ok, so we are actually celebrating a successful tire change.
This does accurately capture my emotions about the ownership
of said vehicle though.

While The Duchess (long story) and I have been together for several years now, she technically belonged to my parents.  Now, she is truly and legally mine- along with two blown-out front speakers and a faint smell of squid from a transport malfunction for an AP Bio project (don't say I never did anything for you children of STL).  And the speakers hadn't crossed my mind for YEARS (I know, I suck) until I saw my Dad type "As Is" on our "contract" (and I probably just got myself in trouble with PaulSale).  Regardless, I own a car, I'm excited, and yes, you will have trouble conversing with others if you sit in my back seat.  No, that smell is not my car, it's you.  Just smile and enjoy the music.


2. I've been put to the test
My time in Iowa has left me both bored and board- as in studying for my genetic counseling certification exam. Mom and I trekked to the Quad Cities this morning so that I could sit for my 3 hour exam while she shopped and did other productive things.  I will not know if I passed the test for a few months (gaaa, I know) but it was an important step in my career and now leaves me with time to focus on other endeavors.  Which is important because....

Photo pulled from Google Image Search

3. I see movement
That's right, a plan for the big move is falling into place.  I've been told to get out to California as soon as I can- and the week after next is the target!  So while I'm fitting all the pieces to transition me and my stuff occupying the 'rents 3rd stall garage out to LaLa land, I'm making one final trip to Chicago this weekend to toast the previous milestone with some of my classmates and enjoy what may be my final days with a real social life for some time.  Once I'm in LA, I'm pretty much starting from scratch.  More on that later of course :)

Everybody's doing it....

I don't think that my life is particularly blog-worthy nor am I one to succumb to peer pressure. That said, a few of my friends have blogs that I really enjoy reading and I am getting ready to embark on a new adventure that could have potential blogability. Mostly, I'm bored while I'm living at my parents house in Iowa waiting for my "grown-up life" to begin. So here goes nothing-- I wish you all the best of luck in entering my world. I'll try to keep the nerdy science talk to a minimum (to keep you all from being bored to death) and I will hopefully have some interesting and witty things to say. If nothing else, I do like to cook a lot so you might get some pretty sweet recipes out of the deal!

PS: I still won't join Twitter.

PPS: Happy Birthday to my sister. She is 23 today.