Travelling Day went well, I only managed to write 20 pages of screenplay, read a few Flannery O'Connor stories, and apparently, my funny faces were not funny enough for any of the children in the waiting room...but! I did have myself a pretzel because "I got good grades this quarter." Nice!  The ride to SanFran was productive, the ride from SanFran to SNA was so short that immediately after they served us our drinks, it was time for us to land.  There was a yelling baby on the first flight, but once I got up to go the bathroom and saw how cute he was, I stopped being annoyed.  I sat next to a woman who had been up for like 25 hours flying from Sweeden, the land of her dual-citizenship.  She went to UCD and had never heard of Northwestern.  Sigh.


But today was: 
  
Move in Day!

But what's a move in day without you and your aunt working out at the JCC first?

Woke up at 7:50 to attend an 8:30 "Burn and Firm."  The woman leading the class was a kind no-nonsense woman with an accent who seemed rather used to some of the older women gossiping when they should have been keeping their heart rate up.


Class composition:
         30 women between 35-60, 
         three 20 year olds wearing sorority t-shirts


As a member of the latter category, I am willing to admit that some of these older women were kicking my ass.  It turns out the work-out routines I've been making up for myself at Spac and Blom don't exactly cut it when compared to a professional trainer's.  Not shocking, but definitely disheartening.  


Showered, lamented that I couldn't stay longer at the Miller's home, and then packed up the Ford focus to move into my apartment, which brings me to:

My first few encounters with LA driving: A Farce Part 1 

The first image: trying to follow Aunt Ellen down a street full of stop signs.  Four blocks in a row, she crossed the street, only to have other cars go in front of me, so so she swerved to the side and waited for me to get across.

Image 2: People mercilessly cutting me off on the freeway.

Image 3: A snipet of freeway with small white construction markings for the lanes instead of yellow lines, me turning right at 65 mph between a truck and a van yelling to myself "YOU'RE OKAY, LAURA!"

Finally got to the apartment, which is lovely and large! It's the size in between H&G and R&D for NU people, with a dining room, living room and hardwood floors.  Met one of my roommates who goes to UCLA and is very sweet.  


Then I was reunited with one Ms. Katherine Nopar, which was very surreal and amazing. Then out to Fat Sal's to lunch with Katie, Aunt Ellen, and one of Danny's friends from home.  Fat Sal's was an awesome sandwich place whose dining was all outdoors, something my Chicago-weather-sensibilities can still not fully grasp. 


At Fat Sal's, you can buy a 27" sandwich for $50, but if you finish it all in 40 minutes, you get the sandwich for free!  Needless to say...we all got something else.  


Came back and unpacked to some Eminem which was too angry for my mood and Sara Bareilles...which was a little too sad.  Turned off the music altogether when I decided to get my eyebrows done at the Benefit situated in a Bloomingdales at the Santa Monica  Mall...which leads me to:


My First Few Encounters with L.A. Traffic: A Farce Part 2


Image 4: Me trying to start the Ford, only to have the alarm go off and the steering wheel freeze up.  Me calling Danny, Aaron and then reaching Aunt Ellen to have her teach me how to turn off the alarm.  


Image 5: Backing out of the incredibly long drive way, and running over the 6 inch concrete wall on one side.   Screaming while picturing myself having to call for a tow truck, threw the car into drive and got back on the driveway.  Tried not to look at couple observing as I finally made it to the streets.

Image 6: Getting to the mall and being too far away from the parking ticket meter.  As I start to unbuckle, a kind gentlemen gets my ticket for me.

Enter: Bloomingdales.  All the sales associates wear black.  They smile at me as I walk by.  I pretend like I'm seriously contemplating the things on the sales rack, each still priced over $300.  But I do not go home empty handed.  The lady at Benefit gave me this:

if you can't read it.  The bottle says: Bloomingdales Water.  Ridiculous.  

Getting up early tomorrow to try and register as an extra!  We'll see how that goes

<3

Laura