My apologies for the delay in posts... you know when you're woken up by a text message at 6:30 in the morning from your mother... calling you out for your lack of blogging.... that maybe it's been a little too long between posts. I have now been in LA for three weeks and am starting to get in the swing of things. I have found the best route to work... which has been major torture as I past by two malls, one being the Beverly Center. The Beverly Center is an eight story mall located on the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. In Lehman's terms, its most likely one of the coolest places on earth. The mall is home to D&G Dolce& Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Prada, Burberry, and Fendi just to name a few. There are also stores that I can actually afford such as H&M (Shout out to Michelle Obama). Needless to say I haven't actually made a visit to any of the malls here because I am living on a very, very, very, very, very tight budget.
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| The Beverly Center on the way home from work |
Not to toot my own horn... but these past couple weeks I have really grown up. I've run into more incidents that I could ever imagine that have caused me to play the role of an adult. The first incident happened after a very long Monday. I was driving home from work and my car was hit while being stuck in an intersection due to traffic. I pull into a Korean restaurants parking lot in order to exchange information... and to face the damage of my poor car (my family and friends know my car as Dwight). The last time I was in an accident.... it was with 3 Hispanics and their 5 kids they had strapped in the backseat back in Manhattan. They were not very friendly.... and in return I immediately called 911 out of fear for my own safety. Now that I was in LA I was sure I would face an even scarier person even though I was the one who was hit. Thankfully I was wrong and the man asked me if I was okay and seemed sincere. He turned around to look at the damages of his car and I notice he was wearing one of those jewish hats. "Oh great." I think to myself... "I've gotten in a wreck with one of God's chosen people" By the way, how do those hats stay on their heads? I've wondered this for quite sometime... I just don't get how they stay on their heads at that awkward angle. Anyways... of course the nice Jewish man was driving a Lexus... and both our cars had to be taken by Yiddish speaking towers... who set me up with cab (that I thankfully didn't have to pay for) to pick me up in the morning and also felt so bad for me that they offered to pay for my rental car the first couple days. So within 24 hours I had my car towed, filed an insurance claim, filled out a document and sent it to the California DMV, rented a car, and found a person with a license plate # "I <3 Yidden." (that being the man who hit me.) It has been a true learning experience. I now refuse to take Wilshire home because within two days I found myself at the same intersection in nearly the same situation. So now I surround myself with malls on my trip back home.
My UPS package is still MIA. I have been in my first official argument with the management of my apartment because they refuse to be cooperative in helping me find out what happened to the clothes I wasn't supposed to buy. I now find myself calling UPS every few days reopening my claim that they keep trying to close. I know there is probably some lesson here about how I would have been better off not buying the clothes at all... but lets face it... I can't change over night.
Speaking of changes I have been nearly a month clean of Mountain Dew or any other caffeine or soda. I have been regularly working out and have set a goal to hit 6 miles within the next couple months so that I can drive to Santa Monica and enjoy a good long run along the beach. I have also found that when it comes to my stuff.... which is all of my apartment... I have noticed a little bit of OCD. Its kept very clean and I try to keep it as perfect as possible. Especially since I am now very aware of how much everything costs. This does not keep me from still wanting a dog though. My desire for a puppy has worsen since I've gotten here and now that I know I can bring a small dog on my flight with me and to my office... a puppy is all I can think about. Though Cali is very laid back... my life does seem to revolve around work. Getting home between 7 or 7:30 every night makes it hard to form much of a social life. So I think having a dog would help keep me from being so lonely. I have never lived alone before and after living in a sorority with 70 other girls... the peace and quiet does at times drive me crazy. My sister and I have even resorted to watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" at the same time as Skyping so we could watch it together. For those of you who think I'm a loser... well you may be right.
I have been spending my weekends sleeping in, reading, watching movies, and most importantly laying out. I have also made enemies with the little boys who apparently live in the same apartment complex and we are constantly fighting over territory of the pool area. They are the "Sharks"and I am the "Jets" of our little West Side Story. They have won... every.... time. It would be easier if I wasn't the only one in my gang. Another reason I need a dog. So that I can have a sidekick. I have now been pushed away from the actual pool but I don't count this as a loss... it's somewhat of a victory. My new spot for laying out is by the hot tub... but this location gets better direct sunlight and I no longer have to open my eyes to a 12 year old taking a picture of me with his cell phone. I never thought I would relate to the celebrity lifestyle so early in my stay here in LA.
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| Laying out and reading, before I was forced to move away from the pool to avoid all the kids |
I love my job and find that I am more helpful each day I go. I am still given projects because I arrived in the middle of finalizing fits for the Holiday Season so it would be difficult to work me into the work flow. Lamb & Flag moved offices this week. We are now down the hall in the same building as the Kellwood office where Baby Phat used to reside. The office is decked out in white furniture and I have never seen so many chandeliers. It is VERY GAUDY. Kimora Simmons loved her BLING BLING. It is weird to be in an office that appeared on episodes of her reality TV series but it is nice to have more space for our fits and for us to actually spread out and work. The best part of our new office is that we now have windows... WITH A VIEW. You can see the Hollywood sign from my office... and I don't even have to squint. I wear my contacts every day to work... otherwise I would have never realized you could see the sign... I wouldn't have even been able to see the Hollywood Hills. We are to be temporarily placed in this office until Kellwood expands their office or they find a different location. So I make sure to look out the window... as much as possible. We are now moving into the photo shoot stages of our first season, so it's very exciting to see all the hard work we have been putting in, come to life and be worn by actual people!
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| My new office |
I got to sit in on a meeting with the owner of a fabric company that is out of Taiwan. They specialize in lace and work with companies such as Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch. I always knew I struggled with language barriers... it especially dawned on me 2 semesters ago when one of my teachers did not speak very good English and I was constantly looking around the classroom wondering how nobody else was struggling to understand what this dude was saying. I have come to realize that I am just a terrible listener. In my speech class last semester one of the guys from the mens basketball team informed me of this when I stunk at a game of "Telephone" that was used for a class exercise. You know the game where you tell a story and by the end the last person tells the story and you see how much it's changed. I couldn't even remember what the guy had said after 2 sentences. So being terrible at listening... does not help when your listening to someone who doesn't speak English as a first language. I wasn't really sure what was all discussed during the meeting... I took notes but by the time I walked out of there all I had written down was that they specialized in lace and the the dude was from Taiwan. Working with vendors from other countries will definitely be one of my biggest challenges. I also think if my parents hadn't moved me away from Southwest Kansas.... I wouldn't struggle with other languages as much. So this is obviously their fault.
I went out to eat with the girls who also work for Lamb & Flag this past week for lunch. We went to a cute cafe on Robinson Blvd. and shared stories and talked about work. It was nice to leave the office for a bit and actually get to enjoy Beverly Hills. The food was delicious and the California weather has been amazing this last week. It has mostly been in the 80's and hadn't reached the 90's until this past weekend. It's been sunny every day and I have yet to see an actual drop of rain and have yet to feel one GUST of wind. I did however see the most bizarre house on our walk to lunch... with statues of every animal you could think of. He had lions, elephants, giraffes, all kinds of things... just hanging out in his yard. I guess this is no different than those fake deer you see in people's yards back home... you know.. the fake deer that are out.... even when it's not Christmas. I guess this is just LA's version of yard decor.... I guess they just took it to a whole other level.
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| Strange house |
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| With strange yard decor |
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| Gotta love BEVERLY HILLS |
This past Thursday I got to spend some quality time with Benji as he hung out in the Lamb & Flag office because my coworkers brought their pets for a doggie day care day and Benji was supposed to be playing with them. Benji was considerably smaller than the other dogs and was somewhat ganged up on. Regardless, he still wanted to hang out... just on my desk as opposed to on the floor with the others.
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| Benji hanging out with me at work |
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| It's a rough life |
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| Benji hates PDM (the software we use) as much as I do |
Friday was pay day and so I went to office to pick up my check (we have every other Friday off in the summer) and decided to take my check to the nearest Bank of America. I located one on google maps that was only 2 blocks from work on the corner of Wilshire and Beverly Blvd. I turn up Beverly Blvd. and noticed there is no where to park... so I go another block up Beverly and park at a parking meter. I look at my surroundings and notice awesome shopping and very nice cars. I speed walk to the skye scrapper that was the BANK and deposit my checks and hurry back... take a quick walk through the Levi Store (I didn't buy anything I swear) and get in my car before the meter is up. I continue on up Beverly due to the large amounts of one way streets and casually turn left... and then right up a street called Rodeo Drive. I see a Ferrari to my right and then find myself laughing at the irony of everything. This would happen to me. I did NOT need to know how close Rodeo Drive was to my office. I did NOT need to find out it was only 3 blocks away. I am trapped in world of nice things. I quickly found 3rd street and headed away for Beverly Hills and away from all the nice things. I knew I was getting closer to home when I started to see signs I could not longer read due to the fact that they were written in Korean. I knew I was closer to home due to the fact that more and more people were actually sitting at the bus stops. I live in one of the most diverse parts of LA.... My dad has felt no need to keep this information from me.
I have had only one big scare for my safety since living here. I was getting ready to go work out and was putting my tennis shoes on when I hear a loud cracking sound that could be 1) fireworks 2) a car backfired or 3) a gunshot. (Ever since I started watching Law & Order I alway look at what time it is when I think I hear a gunshot... so that I will be a valuable witness in case of a murder) It was 8:30. My heart races a little bit and then I laugh to myself about how paranoid I am being and that I need to stop watching crime shows that are set in LA. My imagination was beginning to run wild. Ten minutes later I walk down the stairs and by the pool and I hear a helicopter flying over... it was so loud I felt like it was hovering right on top of me. I get to the rec room and get on the treadmill and look out the large windows that make up a majority of the room. I see a spotlight shinning down from the skye... and hear the helicopter make circles around the block. I start to panic and look around realizing I am in the only room that remains open all night... a room that is 50% windows... I grab my things and hurry back toward my apartment... I pass back by the pool and spotlight is shining down on me. I automatically feel guilty as though I had just broken out of prison and start RUNNING up the stairs to escape the helicopter... and sprint down the hall to my room... lock the door and peer out my patio window and see all my neighbors doing the same. I call my dad freaked out and he tells me to stay in for the night. The helicopter makes circles over my block for about 15 minutes. My dad checked the news and saw no reports of any crimes... though I am still skeptical.
I have ran into many adventures since my move to LA and am sure more and more are to come. I hope before long I will have a puppy in the mix and will no longer be a loan wolf here in my apartment. I am excited about all the things going on with Lamb & Flag and am so proud of our brand we have created. I do miss my family and friends. I miss seeing people wear K-State stuff and I am tired of seeing USC and UCLA stickers on vehicles in traffic. I miss working at Kites and all the fun I had with everyone there. I miss my cat more than anything and wish I could see her. Regardless of all those I miss... I am glad to have an opportunity to grow as a person and to find out who I am on my own. I hope you all know how much I appreciate everything you have done for me and I would love to have any visitors at ANY time! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!
Sending you my love from Cali!
Katie
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