A Tale of Two Coasts

I was born and raised in Everett, Massachusetts.  A rough and tumble city that borders Boston to the north.  It's cold in the winter, warm in the spring, hot in the summer and chilly in the fall.  From there, I can drive to the beach, the mountains, the whateverIwant within an hour or two and Boston is literally a ten minute drive away.  I can also get any drug I want at any hour!  It's the little things.

I didn't realize how different the rest of the country could be.  I had zero perspective when I lived on the east coast.  But now that I'm over here in the OLD WEST, I realize that things are incredibly different and weird.

I'm a fast-paced broad living in a casual town.  (I'll never say that again.)

Here's an East Coast Perspective On California: 

Sunshine.  The east coast is going nuts right now and Boston is covered in snow, so I'm going to get some shit for saying this.  But, sometimes, I hate the sun with a passion.  When I wake up hungover… or sick... or just in the mood to be lazy all day, there's the sun constantly shining its bright rays on my lazy face.  I swear to God if I looked out the window, I'd see a cartoon sun wearing sunglasses calling everyone who chooses to stay inside that day a FAT ASSHOLE.

Commuting.  Bostonians are bad, aggressive drivers.  Whatever, I get it.  What else do you expect from us when our streets are the way that they are?  California driving is incredibly streamlined and regulated due to the amount of cars on the road.  Rush "hour" is four hours long and during those hours, you are unable to turn left on some streets so you won't hold up traffic.  Driving on the freeways is basically impossible and surface roads are your (traffic light and stop sign ridden) friend.  I commute six to eight miles to and from work… and it takes just under an hour.  People honk their horns and are quick to scream at you for things that would be considered "good driving" in Boston.  It's a god damn nightmare.

There's also very little public transportation and the bus system is pretty insane.  My boyfriend lives 3 miles from his work.  It takes 8 minutes to drive there, 20 minutes to bike there, 45 minutes to walk there and about two hours to get there by bus.

Local Pride. Doesn't exist.  Everyone is from everywhere.  When the Patriots were in the Superbowl, the whole city was quiet and normal and you could barely tell there was a big game on.  You walk through Boston during a sports game (I love sports) and everyone is tense.  Everyone is decked out in their team's colors.  Everyone is excited and happy and they if they win, the city has the energy of Disney World the next day even when you don't care about sports.  If they lose, the city is somber and sad and nobody speaks.  Los Angeles is laid back, low key and California pride is shown very differently.  It's shown less through sports and more through graphic muscle tees and floppy sun hats.

Work.  I worked at a marketing agency in Boston that was pretty casual.  We considered the dress code "creative casual."  You certainly didn't need to wear suits or blazers, but it was a little controlled.  I thought I had hit the jackpot of casual work environments.  I got an hour lunch break!  I got to drink a beer in the afternoon sometimes when we had parties!  When we wanted to build our teams, there was usually a bar and some french fries involved.

My new agency in California has no dress code (I have seen girls in crop tops and loose tanks that show their bras… their BRAS!)  There are beer taps, wine taps and if we drink too much at work, the company will pay for us to Uber home.  People choose sitting on couches - or the hammocks outside - over working inside at their desks.  And just this morning, one team went to a SoulCycle class together for a bonding experience.  In the morning.  And strolled into the office at 10:30am.

Happy Hours.  They're the best thing about L.A.  Cheap drinks and cheap food everywhere!  Happy hours are against the law in Boston, so it's nice to be able to still be able to go out and drink for cheap.  Also BYOB is great and bottomless mimosas are too.  Los Angeles is full of amazing restaurants and fun bars.

Just don't be surprised when they're located in a random strip mall.

And there's only valet parking available (where the guy will take your car just to park it in the space directly in front of you.)  

And it takes 45 minutes to get there because even at 9pm, the 101 and the 10 and the 405 are packed.

L.A. is the city that I love to hate.  So basically, it's the healthiest relationship I've ever been in.

Last Week In California

Last week, I had the most California week.

It started last Sunday evening when my friend from Boston - we shall call her Danger... because that is her nickname -  was in town for work and was staying in Beverly Hills.  I met her on the rooftop of her hotel and we drank $16 margaritas by the pool (and in the pool) with her fabulously straight co-worker.  There were two pools, one for your feets and one for your swimmings.  It was the type of Los Angeles you see on reality shows, a pool with a DJ and young girls paired up in cabanas with really old men.  I loved it (for people watching.)  (I could never live like that.)

On Thursday, my company had its big ten year anniversary party.  I was pretty anxious about it all week because we were told to "pack a bathing suit, athletic shorts and come prepared for anything" and it was also starting at 9am and lasting until 9pm plus more hours of drinking afterwards.  I was freaking out about it, naturally, because I'm afraid of the unknown... specifically when it comes to socializing.  I'm an introvert, forever and always.

I carpooled with a friend and co-worker, SUPER CALIFORNIA, RIGHT?  I even got to use the carpool lane for the first time in my life!  When we showed up to work, there were party buses, limos, tour buses, etc. parked all over the lot.  I'm talking like 40+ different buses.  We were separated into groups of 10 (there's more than 400 of us.)  We basically were taken on a huge, real-live choose your own adventure.  We were texted clues, had to make a choice, and when we made the choice we were sent an address.  Our first adventure was surf lessons (with wetsuits and a board and everything!) and our next one was skateboarding (which was AWESOME.)  We then did a relay race back at our parking lot and ate food and socialized and did, you know, party things.  It actually felt a whole lot like the first day of a Real World / Road Rules challenge.

After a full day of company sponsored day drinking and hanging out in the sun (did I mention the bus I was in didn't have a roof?) - I left the party pretty early.  I was exhausted and couldn't even try to muster up the energy for more drinking or dancing or making out with strangers, whatever happens at those types of things.  I went home and spent the evening in the pool and hot tub to ease the pain of my sunburn.  Oh, side note, hot tubs do nothing but bad stuff for sun burns.  So, just know that.

On Saturday, I hopped on the 10 (super California) and went to Santa Monica for brunch with some of my co-workers (also super California.)  I walked around the mall afterwards and even stopped in Tiffany's with some of the girls I work with and let me tell you, I felt like I was in the movie Clueless.  Which, let's face it, is my dream.  I wanted to continue the Clueless feeling and stopped in Beverly Hills to do a little bit of shopping on my way home.  You're probably thinking Rodeo Drive and you'd be wrong.  I went to a strip mall of discount stores - Target, Marshall's, Ross Dress for Less.  I do everything right.  

Saturday night, Beau and I went to Umami Burger - which has the best burgers ever - and went record shopping at Amoeba Records.  I bought a Creedence Clearwater Revival record for $8 which we listened to while day drinking the next day.  I made a ghetto sangria, which is a mason jar full of Pinot Grigio with some nectarines and a little bit of Triple Sec thrown into it.  I drank that while lounging by the pool with a magazine.  BECAUSE I'M Super California! 

I'm really starting to like it here.  It has certainly taken me a few months to adjust to the totally different lifestyle and being 3,000 miles away from my family.  But, I'm slowly starting to build a life here and it's feeling pretty awesome.  There were days, oh boy were there days, and I'm sure there will be more days in the future - but right now, and especially after last week, California isn't treating me so bad.  Plus, I started drinking healthy green smoothies every morning.  So, I've changed.