Wednesday, December 28, 2011

♪♫ It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year ♪♫

Faneuil Hall, Boston MA

LAX, Terminal 4
I generally love the holidays. The decorations, the wrapping of presents, overload of desserts and other good food... (yum!)

Few things give me greater satisfaction than finding the perfect gift, having the perfect box for said gift and wrapping presents.

I used to work at a jewelry store while I was in college. Christmas was such a fun time of year. People would splurge on gifts and usually had us wrap their presents. Even now, I am a bit neurotic about it. Only my brother takes me up on the offer of wrapping presents. A win-win for both of us.

Even though Christmas is over, I still have more presents to buy... I'm a little behind, but some people are just really difficult to shop for.

Happy Holidays!! I hope you didn't get a lump of coal in your stocking!!


Friday, December 9, 2011

"Newlywed or Nearly Dead..."

"Newlywed  or  nearly dead", that's the unofficial motto of where I currently live. As they always say, "Home is where the heart is" and in any case, I know I'm not in Kansas anymore! (Or Boston, San Diego, Garden Grove, or even Indianapolis for that matter!) Ok, ok, I'm done with the puns.

I had never been to Santa Barbara prior to the interview for my current job. I wanted to come to visit while I was living in San Diego, but it just never happened. I remember thinking, "Even if I don't get this job, at least I'll have gotten a glimpse of the place so many people have raved about."

Don't get me wrong, it's a great place. Beautiful, secluded, not too populated and was featured in the NY times in their travel section just last month! With the beach to the south (so weird!) and the surrounding Los Padres National Forest , it is a unique place.

It's definitely the smallest town I've ever lived in as an adult. (As a youth, I had a brief stint in Tequesta, FL which is by far the smallest town that I've been in... ever...) When people ask me what I think of it, it's almost a reflex that I exclaim, "They don't have a Target!!"

To drive the point home, I am where the green arrow is and the Target website so effectively reveals that the closest one to me is only about 40 miles away. (Only...) To the city's defense, there is a Kmart here (which to date I have not visited because I have strategically hit up a Target on my way back home from a weekend away), but man do I miss having one around!

The other place that most people know about is UCSB. Known as a party school, it also boasts some Nobel Laureates and one Field Medalist. One of my good friends visited me for Halloween weekend. We decided to venture into Isla Vista (or IV) where, according to Playboy, UCSB is a Top Party School. We strolled through the streets and one thing we both agreed upon was that they had a very "fit" student body. I had to ask my friend, "Is there a BMI maximum on their application form?!"

Yes, that does say "I <3 Boobz"
We saw and heard a lot of entertaining things. In addition to the window artwork here, we also saw a drawing on a filthy car. Instead of the familiar "wash me" sign, it was a picture of a particular body part. Enough said. Sorry, no pictures were taken.

The "inner hoes" came out in droves, although, some of them might have been themselves... something I'll never personally know. The quote of the night could have come from any of them, "Is my a$$ hanging out?" and we weren't sure if it was something they WANTED or didn't.

We also came across some guys that held up "DTF?" signs on cardboard. Let me be honest, I had no idea what that meant, although we were pretty close and definitely had the right context in mind. One thing was for sure, they were going to have some fun parties down there that night, even with the police in full force. (We saw a Cookie Monster in handcuffs on the sidewalk, so sad.) I was warned by several co-workers to avoid the area if I wanted to steer clear of debauchery, but as a good host, how could I refuse my first visitor?!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I'm guessing that's because of the SBPD.

Anyway, my temporary housing is coming to a close in about a month so I have to find a new place to live. Right now, I'm across the street from work, about 1.5 miles away from the local airport, and about 10-15 minutes away from downtown SB. Pretty darn convenient, but as a recent graduate with student loans, my current abode is just a wee (as in not at all, but actually a HUGE) bit too pricey for a gal like me. Wish me luck!


Let go of what is gone; be grateful for what remains; look forward to what is coming...

NOTE: Written on March 2, 2020: Pre knowing just how big Covid was... I decided not to rewrite it because it was a simpler time then.  Holy ...