Are you a lumberjack? Are you a hipster? What are you?!

So until I have time to write about something more meaningful I figured I would touch upon something I noticed about the Southbay.

It seems that flannel/plaid is one fashion which is still going strong in Southern California. Night after night, weekend or weekday, I have noticed an alarming percentage (it has to be around 50%) of men wearing these styles. When I think of either of these checkered patterns I only think of them in two contexts:

1. Lumberjacks
2. Hipsters

Allow me to demonstrate the difference: 

Lumberjacks: Often large bearded men identifiable by their manliness, their profession and the axe they are carrying. Think-The Brawny Man: 

Hipsters- Men who are also often bearded but lack a certain aspect of manliness because of their tight pants, thick rimmed glasses and inherent attitude of thinking that they are more enlightened than you because they watch TED talks, drink PBR and listen to all the best bands before you do.  

However, the strange thing is, Men (or boys) of the Southbay seem to fall into neither of these segments nor are they some hybrid breed of lumberjack-hipsters (hipster-jacks?). They are mostly normal guys(future post about Southbay "bros" to come) who just have flannel/plaid as a go-to fashion. It just struck me, I feel like LA never left the 90's....and maybe it never did. Afterall, Sizzler is still going strong here too. 

Why be inside...

....when you can be outside? Seriously, I know its obvious that weather here is beautiful but its crazy how much my lifestyle, at least on the weekends, has changed in such a short time. I have spent more time at the beach in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 3 years.  For those who live by the beach, it seems like a shame to waste sunny and beautiful weather. I sometimes even have trouble telling who is homeless and who just likes to spend all their time outside. At least at Venice beach this gets a little bit difficult to discern.

Last sunday I met some coworkers for day drinking at some bars in Manhattan beach. A ritzy beach side town which has a mix of college like bars, irish pubs, dives, and lounges. (Sidebar: Manhattan beach was also recently rated by CNN Money as the best place to find rich and single people. Interestingly enough, number 2 is my former home, Tysons Corner, VA. I never met any potential suitors while working in Tysons or getting my shop on at the mall so I don't know how accurate that is. But if I don't end up marrying rich after living/working/hanging out in the top two places to find rich and single people, then there probably is something wrong with me. Or rich people suck and don't know how to appreciate a witty, upbeat yet cynical, cat-loving brunette.)

Manhattan Beach Pier

Anyways I drove to meet up with my co-workers(don't worry mom, I didn't drink too much) but pretty much everyone else biked from their houses to the bar. Free parking and no hassle of having to operate a motorized vehicle. Even going drinking means being active! And as sunday fundays seem like a regular occurence, it seems that I will have to invest in a bike...and probably a helmet.

This past weekend was the epitome of what I want my time in California to be: active yet relaxing. Saturday I woke up early and went for a nice 5 mile run along the beach to Marina del Rey. I got back from my run and my roommate asked me if I wanted to play beach volleyball with her and a few of her co-workers. Despite my obvious lack of volleyball skill it was really fun, and I actually felt like beach volleyball is something I could do on a normal basis. After a couple hours of volleyball we lounged on the beach near Santa Monica for a bit. Unaware of the strength of the winter sun (uhh yes, technically it is still winter), I actually got quite sunburnt.

Sunday I went with one of my high school friends and her friends to lounge at the beach. Our original plan to go to Malibu for a few hours and hang by the beach and then go for a hike was foiled by the horrible traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway as a result of it being the first really warm weekend. Luckily coast is not hard to come by here in California.  We stayed until the sun started to go down...and more importantly we started to get hungry. Over the course of the day we also saw Kim Kardashian, Ziggy Marley, Justin Bobby and Zach Galifinakas. Not really, but we did see people who looked like all of them.

Will Rogers State Beach

Of course though, I have not been spending all of my time outside. Aside from working, I have also been out with friends and coworkers quite a bit. Between celebrations, pub trivia and concerts I've kept myself busy. Last wednesday I went with a couple of coworkers to the Echo to see a pretty decent band named Reptar. Going to more concerts is definitely something I want to do while I am here.

Reptar at the Echo-February 29, 2012. 

So that has been my past few weeks. I don't know if it feels like home yet, but I am lucky to have some awesome scenery and some awesome people in my life here.

Settling In

Well my first week consisted of running around like a crazy person. So much so that I ended up drinking an entire bottle of wine on monday night just because...well, I needed it. I decided not to take any time off of work and jump right in. It was a really busy and stressful week with a lot going on at work but I am very happy to be here. I spent most of my evenings finding furniture for my room and trying to find a car. I was extremely lucky and found some great (and cheap!) furniture thanks to Craigslist and my parents are helping me out with the car situation by having my beloved Honda Accord shipped out to LA. 

This weekend I had the chance to see some family and old friends. Driving around in the past 2 days I think I have been on every single freeway in the Los Angeles area and surprisingly feel completely comfortable driving here. Maybe the Mixing Bowl death trap in DC won't seem so intimidating anymore.

Some of you have asked about pictures of my place so here you go...enjoy!

View from my living room

Entering my apartment complex

Front Door

My room

Giant closet=essential

Living room

Kitchen

living room

In between El Segundo and Playa del Rey...running on the beach path

Westward Bound

Disclaimer: This blog is not about an Asian girl moving to America. This post is also much longer than what I foresee most posts being...

I've got a one way ticket from DC to LA in a few hours and I'm not really sure what to expect. I talked with some of my friends and decided I wanted to keep a blog about my time there. Mostly to keep people posted about my life, to keep track of interesting and funny things I come across and cultural differences or similarities between the East Coast and the West Coast. Oh yeah, and to make people jealous with pictures of the beach.

So when people ask me why I'm moving to LA I generally give one of two answers:

1. To break through in the adult entertainment industry;
2. Because my company happens to be based there and I just want to be closer to the beach.

The first has absolutely no truth to it(although you'd be surprised how many people take me seriously). The second is true but doesn't completely explain my desire to move. My professional development and my goal to be a part time beach bum are more peripheral reasons. So why does an east coast girl like me want to move out west?

I have been in the DC area for nearly 25 years. I was born in Northern Virginia, grew up there, went to college and grad school in DC and spent my first 1 and ½ years in the working world in the Virginia suburbs. I have started to notice more and more that I am a Washingtonian at my core. Like so many others in DC I speak about my graduate degree and use vague and generic terms to describe my job as an analyst. I talk about my time interning at the Australian Embassy, how the caps will definitely win the Stanley Cup one year, finding a new boozy brunch spot, hitting up a bar on U street, or how the DC Metro should increase advertising instead of raising fares yet again. There's no denying it, I am a Washingtonian for better or for worse.

While I've always had a fascination with California, I never though LA would be a city I would want to live in (how could I even compare to all the models and beautiful people there??) Up until about a year ago my conception of Los Angeles was limited and narrow. I imagined most to be like the vapid, do-anything-to-get-famous crew on “The Hills.” But it was about a year ago that someone who used to live in LA said to me “yeah that crowd of people definitely exists but it is a huge city full of people with a wide range of interests.” And it hit me, I myself was judging an entire city from the very superficial lens that I was ascribing to the people of the city. Was I no better than Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge and Kristin Cavallari? And why the hell did I watch “The Hills” so much?

When I thought about it LA is similar to one of my favorite cities in the world: Sydney. I studied in Sydney for six months and I didn't live in the city itself but in the eastern suburbs right by the beach. I loved the mix of beach and city. It was laid back and beautiful but bustling and exciting. The best of both worlds. So when I finished my masters degree this past year I started to seriously consider living in another city. Because my company is based there, LA seemed like the obvious choice.

Ultimately though, I think I am moving to LA as a challenge to myself. I feel too comfortable in DC. I know, a first world problem. But it comes down to psychology and Maslow: my hierarchy of needs have been mostly met but I am starting to realize that I need to self-actualize. Maybe its because I saw the ghost of Maslow himself or maybe it is because I decided that the Virginia suburbs are not where I want to be at 24. I love DC and Virginia and have loved my time here. I have made so many friends in the process and will forever consider DC my home and “my city.” But I don't want to be complacent. I want to be thrown into a sense of uncertainty, it always makes life more interesting and ultimately I think it makes me more interesting. I guess like those who travelled west in the early days of America in the midst of uncertainty, I want to be part of the westward expansion. So even if it is 2012 and the West is already quite densely populated and the gold rush is long over, it is time for me to settle the West.  

(The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, August 2011)