Tag: california

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California

I’m Moving to Los Angeles

So I left New York. Again. Except this time it will be a bit more permanent.

When I went back to the city in June I only intended on sticking around for a few weeks—long enough to earn enough cash to get me to LA. Thanks to a consistent flow of freelance work and some incredibly hospitable friends, I ended up staying until November and living out of a backpack while I figured things out.

Now, five months later, I’m excited to say that I’ve accepted a full time job offer in Los Angeles and I’m finally moving to California! I’m still amazed at how perfectly this all worked out, but I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and when you follow your gut and make decisions in line with your ultimate goal, you’ll get to where you’re supposed to be eventually.

Olivia LA

A brief backstory about my journey to LA:
During the summer of 2014 when I was trying to decide whether or not I should stay in advertising or take a break and travel South America, I actually interviewed for this same company. I knew they had an LA office so I pursued it in hopes that I could eventually transfer. But I didn’t get the job, so I took that as a sign to follow my gut and pursue my South American adventure. Best decision ever.

Fast forward to this past summer, a year later and post-trip. I was applying for countless jobs in LA when I started picking up shitty freelance gigs in New York. In August I signed on to a job that lasted two months, and I also immediately booked a random one-way ticket to Los Angeles on October 6th to avoid being sucked back into New York.

When I was about three weeks from my LA move date that job made me take a mandatory leave while they sorted freelance budgets. I called my recruiter and asked if there were any short-term projects she could move me onto that could guarantee some sort of income for the next couple of weeks. That evening she got me in at that same company I’d interviewed with a year prior.

I started the new gig the next morning and immediately loved it. The team was incredibly smart, super friendly, doing awesome stuff, and everyone there seemed to genuinely love what they do. It was supposed to last 1-2 weeks but it remained open-ended, and conversations started happening about whether or not I might be interested in full-time.

October 6th came and I made the decision to cancel my flight to LA. It was a tough call, but I felt I had to see this opportunity through and see where it leads. At the very least I would keep working through the end of the year, save as much money as possible, and get some great new work for my portfolio. Then I could spend the holidays with my family and move to California with a decent amount of money in my pocket at the start of the new year.

After nine weeks the company’s creative recruiter pulled me aside and asked if I was interested in full time. I told her I’m more interested in the Los Angeles office than New York and her face lit up. Apparently they had been searching for someone at my level for a while but hadn’t found the right fit, so she set up an interview. A few Google Hangout interviews later, I got an offer.

The verbal offer came through on 11/20, and on 11/25 I had signed the paperwork, packed up and bid farewell to my life in New York (again), and was sitting on a bus back to Ohio. It all happened so incredibly fast that I didn’t even get to squeeze in my goodbyes. But when you’re living out of a backpack and subletting a bedroom, it makes it easier to pack up and leave at a moment’s notice.

Venice Beach

I still cannot believe how perfectly this all worked out. Some people may think I’m crazy when I do things like sell all my belongings to travel an entire continent for five months, then spend six months looking for contract work in New York City just to get back on my feet. But I think I’m just extremely lucky to know what I want in life, and I’m not afraid to do what it takes to make those things happen. I knew over a year ago that I wanted to move to LA eventually. But I knew that I also wanted to travel South America in the immediate future, and that’s exactly what I did.

New York will always be home to me. It’s the place where I branched out on my own, spent my twenties learning and growing into someone I’m actually pretty proud of, and finally learned the value of having amazing people in my life. But I’m ready to gain a better work/life balance. I’m ready to spend more time being active outdoors, more time exploring and taking photographs, less time drinking, and overall just living a simpler, less chaotic life that’s more in touch with nature. I don’t know how long I’ll live in Los Angeles before I move on, but I think this will be a great transition to the West Coast. I’m excited to explore more of this country’s mountains and national parks. And with LA as a home base, hopefully I’ll be making more trips across the Pacific.

I’ve got about a week in Ohio to pack up my stuff before I fly to LA on 12/3. I’ll have a few weeks to start my job and look for an apartment before flying back for Christmas, then my parents and I are loading up the U-Haul to road trip west. It’s going to be a busy month!

Oh yeah, on top of this exciting life change, my trip to South America has also kickstarted my travel writing career. The day before I landed my LA interview I was commissioned to write a piece that I’m super excited about. It will be going live in late December, so stay tuned!

Cheers to kicking off my thirties in the only way that I know how: with an awesome life change.

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 19: Last Day in The Bay

I spent the majority of Saturday packing for Jamaica, and resting up. I did manage to make it out of the house for a quick bite to eat with Terazia, an extended family member I haven’t seen since she was like 7 years old. Now she’s 18 and going to college in San Francisco. Crazy how fast kids grow up!

We went to a cheap Taqueria, that I’ve actually eaten at before. It’s not the best Mexican food, but it’s cheap and quick. I ordered the nachos this time instead of a 90 pound burrito. They were great at first, until they got all soggy and it looked like baby diarrhea.

I packed and made the trek to the BART around 7p for my 1030p flight. It’s a damn good thing I looked at the flight information again at 6p, because I thought my flight was at 1130p. Next stop, Montego Bay, Jamaica!

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All You Can Jet

Day 18: Strolling and Eating Through North Beach

Friday was quite possibly the perfect day pretending to be a San Francisco local. Not to mention the weather was warm- a rarity in the bay area. After enjoying my usual oatmeal and tea, I went for a walk around the North Beach neighborhood. I spotted an awesome name for a cafe. If you don’t get it then sorry, but maybe you should expand your musical horizons.

Another sign for the cool people out there. I hope this street is named after Chris Osgood!

I ended up down on The Embarcadero, which is probably my favorite word ever. It was about 800 degrees outside, so I stopped in The Plant Cafe for an extremely overpriced, disgusting lemonade. The drink was so tart and sour, it was hardly refreshing. I think it was close to $4 or $5 for about 10oz of what tasted like pure lemon juice. But I’m not one to waste food or drinks, so I sat on the pier sipping on it, people and boat watching near the Bay Bridge.

The heat was really kicking my ass since I was already nearly dehydrated, and the lemonade was soaking up what little water was in my body, so I made my way back to the apartment for some free, and satisfying water.

I found myself at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid, so I snapped this photo looking up.

Then a quick stroll through Chinatown for some souvenir shopping,

and I found myself standing outside of Goodby Silverstein & Partners again. If I were ever randomly offered a job there, I think this is the only agency in the world that I would pack up my things without hesitation and leave New York for. Maybe some day.

I got back to the apartment and soloed on a bottle of pre-dinner red wine from Trader Joe’s. I’ve got an obsession of trying cheap, local wines whenever I travel. This one was decent. Nothing great but definitely satisfactory for the $5 I paid. It was perfect though; watching the sun set on San Francisco as the fog rolled into the bay, enjoying a relaxing beverage while waiting for my friends to arrive for dinner.

Back in the spring, two friends of mine, Jim and Karen, left New York to move to San Mateo. As soon as I knew I was visiting San Francisco, they were two of the first people I asked to meet up. They drove into the city, and we went out to an Italian restaurant called Colosseo. It was absolutely incredible. Service was a bit slow, but the food more than made up for it. At first we were all disappointed by the size of the portions, but then we reminded ourselves that we’re just fat Americans who need to learn portion control. We all left stuffed, after licking our plates completely clean. I ordered the ravioli al formaggio, which was a cheese ravioli in a cheese sauce. The flavor of the different cheeses in the sauce melted together perfectly, and was even better when I dipped bread into it.

Then we went for some tea to help us digest the amazing meal we had just consumed. I ordered a raspberry herbal tea, which had a horrible aftertaste similar to vomit. We managed to snap this semi decent photo of the three of us at the coffee shop, thanks to Jim’s long arms. Well, at least longer than mine.

The digestive tea didn’t really help, so we took a little hike up a hill to look 0ut at the city before calling it a night. Overall, it was the perfect day in San Francisco, and a great evening with friends. I can’t wait to visit again!

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All You Can Jet

Day 15: Leaving La-La Land

Tuesday was my last full day in Los Angeles. I was ready to leave the minute I woke up. LA is okay, and actually pretty awesome when you’re with the right people, but definitely not a place I want to spend too many days without a car. I left Ty’s by foot in order to meet up with Chris in Hollywood. It took me 45 minutes to walk to the bus, then another 25 waiting for the bus, and an hour and a half on the bus. When I finally got off, I met with Chris and we waited an hour for yet another bus. Forty minutes later we were starving as we got off the bus at the Cheese Store in Silverlake in search of some supposedly incredible panini. Of course, just as you’d expect to see after any four hour commute, they were sold out. At least we got a few free samples of cheese and crackers out of it.

I could’ve eaten everything in the entire Cheese Store, but instead I ended up eating Mexican food for the 80th time this trip. I ordered cheese enchiladas, chips, guacamole and orange Fanta, randomly. Chris had the fajitas, and we ate in this little canopied jungle in back of the place, where I’m pretty sure Chris spotted a Mexican lemur or something.

After stopping for some coffee and tea, we walked faster than any form of LA transportation could take us, over to Chris’s friend’s house in some random neighborhood. Rumor has it that the housing complex has been some sort of musician’s haven for years. Bands practice, hang out and record there to this day, all around a center courtyard that looked like it could be used for a tropical swimsuit shoot. Cue Chris’s fierce swimsuit pose:

We made it over to Second City on Hollywood Boulevard to see a hilarious improv comedy show for $5, then on to Dillion’s for my last night in LA. I got a nice little glimpse of Capitol Records on the way.

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All You Can Jet

Day 14: Playing Tourist in LA

Monday was a bit overcast in LA, and definitely much cooler than I’d expected. I went down to Santa Monica for the first time, and enjoyed the sites of vomiting dinosaurs in front of all of the shops.

Trivomitops
Barfasaurus

After a brief reminder of how much I hate shopping, we walked down to the Santa Monica Pier. To me, a pier is a pier. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve kind of seen them all. If you’re not fishing, they’re like a cheesy date idea, or a place you wander when you’ve got absolutely nothing else to do. But to me, the Santa Monica Pier felt more like a much cleaner Coney Island.

It was a little chilly on the beach that day, so we got back into the car and headed over to Beverly Hills for some Sprinkles Cupcakes. As you can tell by my body type, I’m no stranger to cupcakes. In New York, most everyone is obsessed with Magnolia. I think they’re the most overrated cupcake I’ve ever had. I think Crumbs beats Magnolia hands down, not only because the cupcakes are gigantic and they offer more varieties, but because they’re moist and fresh. Every time I’ve gotten a cupcake at Magnolia it’s been small, and extremely dry. Their icing is good, but not worth a special trip. But Sprinkles. Oh my. I ordered the Black and White cupcake- a dark chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting. It was such an amazing combination, and such a moist, delicious, flavorful cupcake! I wanted to order another, but at $3.56 a piece, I held back. But definitely, Sprinkles trumps Magnolia any day. Crumbs is a completely different class of cupcakes (and oddly enough, there is a crumbs just down the road from Sprinkles) so I can’t really compare the two.

While digesting the deliciousness we just ate, we went for a drive through the hills, over to the valley. It was an entirely new part of LA that I never knew existed, geographically speaking. If I’ve learned one thing about LA this trip, it’s that it’s enormous. That and public transportation sucks. But we’ll get to that later.


After cruising past the million dollar houses up there, we came back into Hollywood so I could remember what a dump I thought it was the last time I was here. Luckily it was a pretty clear day, so I was able to see out to the Hollywood sign from the Kodak Theatre.

Then I got in touch with an old friend from Toledo that I haven’t seen since or spoken a word to since I moved to New York. I had no idea he was living in LA, but of course, the power of Facebook clued us both in. Turns out, he’s living just a couple of streets over from where I was on Hollywood Boulevard. We met up at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and since Chris used to work there, we got to take a quick (free) sneak peak inside. Honestly I’m not really into all the Hollywood/celebrity stuff, but apparently it’s a pretty hot tourist destination since it’s the site of movie premieres and award ceremonies.

Then we went on to a place called Big Wang’s to watch some Monday night football and eat some tots and wings.

I needed the total combined score for the game to be 41 or over to win the $130 weekly pool that I participate in. After a strong island iced tea and a beer, the combined score was only 16 at half time so we left the bar. By the time we got back to Ty’s each team had scored and the combined scored was somewhere around 30. We watched the rest of the game, play by play via an iPhone app. It looked like the guy I was tied with (who chose 40 as his tie-breaker number) was going to win as the score neared 40 right on the nose. But then, as if they knew I needed the money, some major scoring started happening and I won the pool with a combined score of 47. I may or may not have screamed and jumped around a bit, followed by a celebratory shot and a few bragging phonecalls. That $130 definitely helped me out on this trip!

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 13: Greyhound San Diego to LA

Not really an eventful day. I woke up and made my way to the bus since both Sam and JJ were still in jail. The Greyhound station in San Diego is so much nicer than the stations I’ve been to in Toledo and Las Vegas. Plus, with such a short trip, it was $15 for a 2 hour, non-stop ride from San Diego to LA.

Once I got to LA I didn’t do a whole lot. I am staying with an “acquaintance” from back when I was about 16 years old. We never really hung out, but I was friends with a lot of his friends, and we went to the same high school together. Luckily he was nice enough to not only let a stranger crash with him for a few nights, but to agree to drive me up to San Francisco as well!

After I got settled in, we went over to Don Antonio’s for some Mexican food (of course, what else). I ordered the cheese and onion enchilada plate, and the xango for dessert. I’d never heard of xango before, but apparently it was some sort of fried cheesecake, with cinnamon and sugar and vanilla ice cream. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

After dinner we went to a pretty cool place called Q’s Billiard Club on Wilshire Blvd and watched the battle of the Mannings (Giants v Colts football game). Not a very eventful day, but it was a nice welcome to Los Angeles.

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All You Can Jet

Day 12: Surfers and Kamikaze Pelicans at Ocean Beach

Saturday was my first time ever at a Southern California beach. I was easily engulfed into the SoCal beach culture— except for the fact that I still reek of the East coast. I was rocking the Sublime, RHCP and Deftones playlist, wandering along the shore checking out all the surfers for a few hours.

I took a bus from North Park to Ocean Beach. It took a little over an hour, and an uncomfortable conversation or two with some seedy individuals. After living in New York for four years, you learn to deal with strange people. We definitely have our share of crazies in the city. But the difference between New York’s nut jobs and San Diego’s: New York’s nut jobs tend to keep to themselves- for the most part. Sure, they’ll shout weird obscenities at you, or maybe even spit on you, but they don’t open up  and tell you their life stories to try and become friends. This guy on the bus yesterday pulled out a knife and started waving it around to the guy next to me. After showing off a plethora of weapons, he saw that I had my headphones on and proceeded to wave at me until I took them off. Then he said “that’s a great shirt. My girl would love it, where’d you get it?” Apparently my poser SoCal-style tank top was fitting right in. But when I told him I got it in New York, he asked me if he could buy it from me. Then he continued to tell me about how he was in jail in New Orleans, how he’d been shot twice (and showed me the scars to prove it), and then showed me a few more weapons. At this point a fellow Southerner had joined in the conversation as I kept trying to ignore him. Apparently these two had been in the same jail at the same time. Then he tried to offer me some socks with peace signs on them, and some “welcome to San Diego” weed. After I refused about 15 times, I finally had to tell him that I don’t wear socks ever, I only wear flip flops. For a second I thought he’d realized I was lying as he questioned me, “even in the winter? That’s awesome dude, I wish I could do that but my feet are too soft.” Thankfully, on that note, it was my stop. I wanted to snap a picture of him but I was a little scared of what sort of suggestive pose he might try out, so I just got this shot of his socks.

As soon as I saw the jaw-dropping sight of those humungous Pacific Ocean waves, it literally took my breath away. I caught myself talking out loud a few times, saying “wow, now that’s a beach!” I think I’ve become pretty spoiled when it comes to beaches. After seeing the crystal-clear water and pure white sands of the Caribbean, and the enormous waves of the Pacific, east coast beaches just don’t do it for me anymore. Any time I visit an east coast beach I can’t help but think, “that’s it?” But Ocean Beach was definitely a real beach in my book. This was my first time ever seeing surfers too. As I sat on the pier listening to 40 oz to Freedom, I was so tempted to walk over and buy a surfboard and a wetsuit and give it a shot. I probably would have if I had health insurance.

I took a walk out on the pier where a ton of people were fishing, but not catching much.

I think the Pelicans had better luck fishing. Or should I say kamikaze dive-bombing for fish.

I started to get a little chilly, so I enjoyed a late lunch at a place called Shades, where I ordered an orange spice tea, grilled cheese and french fries. Grilled cheese is always my go-to meal when I’m on a budget, because it’s usually no more than $2 or $3, as opposed to a $9 burger or sandwich. And that usually includes fries. Tea is almost always a cheaper option than any other drink also. I was a little confused as to why they served me with 5 tea bags of different flavors when I specifically ordered the orange, but I threw them in my purse and was on my way. Probably shouldn’t have done that. But, not bad for a $6 meal.

I climbed up on some rocks and sat and watched the waves splashing around me.

Finally when the marine clouds started rolling in around 6 I decided to head over to a friend of a friend’s house who lives on the beach and wait for JJ to pick me up. I sat there for a bit while their band practiced, and eventually made my way back to JJ’s. By the time people showed up at his house to pregame before heading out on the town, I was exhausted. I laid down for “only an hour,” which turned into me staying in all night while they went out partying. I spent some time updating the blog while watching Wedding Crashers. What a way to spend my last night in San Diego, eh?

As if that weren’t awesome enough, I received a text message at 130a. It was JJ. It said “call Mike for a ride to the Greyhound station tomorrow. I’m in jail for trying to break up a fight.” And that was it. Apparently both of the guys I was staying with, JJ and Sam, got in some trouble for being drunk and disorderly. Maybe it was for the best that I didn’t go out with them last night. They didn’t get released until I was already in LA.

You can check out all of my pictures and videos from San Diego on Flickr.

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All You Can Jet

Day 11: A Day in Downtown San Diego

Friday was my first day in San Diego. I spent the morning browsing thrift stores on University Avenue in the North Park area, which I noticed has a ton of thrift stores and psychics.

This is the hood that I got my delicious grilled cheese, at Marie’s Cafe, 3016 University Ave. The cheese fries were pretty delicious too- perfectly crunchy and cheesy.

When I was bored with walking around North Park, I jumped on the first bus I saw that was heading downtown, and got off at the first sign of tall buildings. I’m usually the type of person who plans every last detail of everything, but lately I’ve been trying to just go with it and see where that takes me. Turns out, you can have just as much fun when you wing it, rather than stress out and spend so much time planning everything.

I ended up down near Petco Park where the Padres play, which was a pleasant surprise since I like checking out new stadiums whenever possible. The tourist area of the park was pretty awesome. I was able to walk down and look into the park at field level. They even had this sand sculpture that I feel like I should’ve seen outside of an NFL stadium in Cleveland or Detroit.

I took a walk down Fifth Avenue near the Gaslamp District…

…before meeting up at Ra Sushi for my first ever sake bomb. One bad thing about having a D-SLR camera, not everyone knows how to use it, so the pictures always come out a bit blurry in someone else’s hands.

I checked in on Foursquare and took advantage of the free edamame dish offer, and snacked on some of these fried rice balls.

Then we went on to Altitude Sky Lounge at the Marriott hotel, which was a great place for seeing parts of San Diego from the air. Especially Petco Park.

I ran into this couple, who were enjoying a rare evening out without their kids. They asked me to take a photo with their iPhone, but in my drunken state I also offered to take a “professional” picture with my camera and post it on my blog. Problem is, I was a bit intoxicated, so I didn’t get the best photo, but here it is! I gave them my business card and told them to check out the blog in the next few days and grab the photo. I hope you two like it!

We went on to a couple of bars downtown, and passed Tommy Lee on the street. Unfortunately, after chasing him for two blocks he wouldn’t let me take a picture with him. Actually, it was more his girlfriend who literally couldn’t  be detached from his side that said no at first. His whole crew was a little rude, but I’m sure it gets annoying having drunk people asking to take pictures with you all the time.

Since it was only like 830pm, we went back to JJ’s and the guys jammed out for a little bit. I started singing a song about Tommy Lee that went something like “Tommy Lee… has HIV…”

I probably should’ve stopped drinking after all of the spiteful songs started flowing, but instead I went on to Bluefoot with some people and proceeded to have a few too many drinks. At one point I remember seeing a helicopter overhead, and since I was still angry, I started yelling, “It’s the cops! I wonder if they’re looking for Tommy Lee too!” And then I knew it was time to go home. I went and had some subpar Mexican food, at some no-name place (or a place not worthy of remembering) before heading back in for the evening. Thus concludes my first, busy day in San Diego!

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 11: Cheesy Lunch in North Park

Sorry New York, but I think I found a better diner. One of my favorite, fatty things to order at any diner is a grilled cheese sandwich, cheese fries, and a chocolate malt or shake. Most diners in New York don’t even have malts, and the grilled cheese is on two, tiny pieces of thin bread, and the cheese fries are made with a slice of Singles American cheese. Not at Marie’s Cafe in the North Park area of San Diego! I got a deliciously thick, crunchy, cheesy sandwich, along with shredded cheese melted on my fries. And of course, a real diner staple, the malt came with the authentic refill-tumbler which I’m always glad to see although I can never finish it.