10 Things I Miss About New York!

I'll be honest, I'm in an L.A state of mind these days.

With weather in the mid 80's, sunshine, palm trees, 

 feel good vibes and PLENTY OF TIME on my hands

I'm kind of YOLO'ing 

through my days.

Sure, I've been out of work for almost 2 months

 (give or take) and fundage (I make up my own words, its fine!) 

is low, but when I land a good job,

these days of money worries will be far behind me

and I can say I enjoyed my time off.

And so did the banks I have credit cards with (HA!)

[More on my employment 'adventure' in the next post..

It's St. Patty's Day and I'm a little woozy with boozy

 - so lets save the pity party for another post 

so I can enjoy my beer-infused cocktail in good spirits.

We'll go to the dark side another day.]

However...there are of course things I miss about the East Coast,

some that are specific to New York (my home prior to 3 months ago).

Here are the TOP 10 things I miss about the Motherland:

10. Dairy Barn 

I miss the convenience of driving through to pick up milk or eggs,

and Godiva misses the free milk bones they gave her.

If you've never been through a Dairy Barn on Long Island,

you've missed out on the greatest Iced Tea...ever.

9. Dunkin Donuts

C'mon. You knew coffee was going to be on here somewhere.

Oddly enough -The Dunkin Donuts phenomenon has not made it out here

 to the City of Angels.

I'm shocked as there are tons of coffeehouses out here -

with Starbucks and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf amongst the top.

These people have not lived until they've had a DD Iced Coffee on a 

hot summers day (which is literally every day in Southern California).

Lucky for me they've recently opened a couple of locations - 

Santa Monica, Hollywood (closest to me, about a 7 minute drive)

North Hollywood, and Downtown 

... hopefully this trend continues.

Join us L.A - after all, America runs on Dunkin.

And P.S While we're on the topic of coffee,

why have drive thru's not spread here yet?

Especially with the lack of parking,

drive thru Starbucks and DD would be so much more convenient!!!

RANT OVER.

Ughhhh!

Ok, RANT REALLY OVER.

8. Bagels

Bagel places line the streets of New York.

I have not seen ANY here, 

however there are a ton of donut shops.

Seems my beloved bagels have been replaced 

by another carb heavy breakfast imposter with a hole.

My heart is a little heavy about this...

but my @$$ thanks you.

We can also add delis to #8 - there aren't any good delis either.
I know we owe many of these places to Jewish shop owners -
but are there no Jewish people out here?

What I would do for an everything bagel

with cream cheese OR
a maple turkey, munster cheese, lettuce, bacon,
and thousand island dressing on a fresh roll
- my classic go-to deli sandwich.
I can't even think about it...
I'm starting to drool.

7. Free Parking

You literally cannot go anywhere without having to 

pay for street parking, a parking garage, or valet.

You want to run into Dunkin Donuts for a coffee? Pay the meter.

You want to run into Marshalls for some home goods? Pay $3 to park in a garage.

You want to eat in a nice restaurant during the weekend? 

Forget street parking -you'll miss your dinner rez.

 Cough up $10 to valet.

Literally, you pay to park pretty much ANYWHERE.

And DON'T YOU DARE neglect to read the parking signs

if and when you do find street parking.

My first 2 weeks here I was blessed with 2 parking tickets.

$63 for parking more than 18" from the curb (what?! Go fight crime!)

and $73 for failing to move my car in time for "street cleaning". 

Thanks for the warm welcome, L.A.

P.S When I complained to friends about this...

they said it was a rights of passage. And to be thankful I didn't get 

towed to the nice tune of $250 to get your car back from the impound.

6. Pizza

Need I say more?

They. Just. Don't. Get. It.

5. Complimentary Grocery Bags

Everything is very earth conscious/earth friendly here,

which I'm 100% behind. 

However, I'm still not used to having to bring my

own grocery bags into the store WITH me.

If you want bags, you pay for bags.

I've been a little stubborn with this because I put

some of these reusable bags into my car for this very reason,
but in my haste --

I just always forget to bring them in with me.

So, yup. I'm the jerk juggling (and dropping)

10 items in my arms all the way to my car.
But HA - I cheated the system and saved .30 cents on 3 bags.
Which I'll use towards the parking meter
 for my coffee tomorrow morning! 

4. Pomegranate Seeds

I am kinda obsessed with them

and I purchased them with ease weekly from Best Yet,
a grocery store in New York.

On a sticker attached to said poms - read "Imported from California"

yet they are nowhere to be found here.

I've been looking for weeks, in numerous locations,
leaving no stone unturned. I've come up empty handed.

I am starting to think California ran out

because they literally sent them all to New York.

Cali, PLEASE.

Take care of YO PEOPLE first.

3. New York time DOES NOT EQUAL L.A time

I miss people/companies who say what they mean.

In New York, when I say I'll call you in 5 min...I call you at 4 min and 59 seconds.

In L.A when I say I'll call you - it means I'll email you. Maybe.

 In 3 weeks.

In New York, when an employer says you have the job --

You have the job. They send you the offer in a reasonable timeframe.

You're kept informed and their word is reliable.

In L.A, when an employer says you have the job,

it means they possibly liked you, but were smokin' something good

and forgot about your existence post interview.

 Or that they're not even a real company.

If I didn't know better, I would think there are hidden cameras on me

and I'm being punked.

Stay tuned for a JOB UPDATE Storytime on my YouTube

(Please subscribe while you're there:

 youtube.com/missyarmosh)

2. Gas Prices

When I was traveling from N.Y to L.A, I paid gas prices as low as $1.42 

in good 'ol Alabama - but even in New York they were under $2. 

I am paying almost $1 more per gallon here.

Now I know why everyone walks, runs, and bikes here.

It's too expensive to drive, especially due to the gas guzzling 

nature of the stop and go traffic in Los Angeles.

1. Family

You knew I was going to include at least one sappy/heart warming

reason. But in all seriousness, I miss being able to drive 

5 min away and meet my Mom and sister for coffee at Starbucks.

Or the warm nostalgic feeling I get driving through my cute little Village

on the water, with all its familiar faces and shops.

I miss popping in to visit family across the Island.

Or the short 55 min express train ride into Manhattan

to spend the day & explore.

I miss the 5 hour drive down to Washington D.C

to visit my 2 nephews, brother, and sister in law.

I miss it all.

If you want to make me feel a little closer to home...

I'm now accepting visitors!

Shoot me a text or give me a call...

just because I'm drenched in the California sun all day

doesn't mean I don't love to hear a familiar voice.

Its a little slice of home.

xo 

Risky Business.

It's kind of a weird story.

I find that the best outcomes often

come from these odd or bizarre instances or occurrences

that set people on a trajectory they didn't even see coming.

Here's one such occurrence,
the one that made me decide to move to Los Angeles.

I was leaving dance class on a beautiful September morning last year,

the kind of weather that just makes your heart feel happy

(or maybe it was the endorphins from exercise? Maybe a combo of both? Who knows!)

I always make a b-line for Dunkin Donuts after a particularly hard workout

because I feel like I've earned the half and half, which is how I prefer my coffee.

I order my iced coffee, turn on my radio,

and start driving home. 

I felt like I could conquer the world.

I had my windows down, my hair thrown up in a messy bun, 

these ridiculous teal sunnies on,

some r&b jams, and an iced coffee in hand.

I often like to think about things on the 20 minute ride home, 

and that day was no exception.

I have always dreamed of traveling more

and those days - I was thinking about it more and more.
The need to 'leave' was a constant fixation.
(Which is strange, because I really love New York so much!)

After plans of moving to Australia the year before fell through

(there were no working visas available at the time that would allow me to secure work)

I began to ponder other, more 'realistic' options. 

Miami? Dallas? Los Angeles?

Was it the right move to just uproot my life at 32 years old?

Could I find work and would I be able to support myself

so far from home with little to no support network?

Would I be able to make new friends?

Would I be happy or was this just a 'phase' 

and once I got "here" (wherever that someplace was)

would I instantly regret it?

There were so many unknowns.

I tossed the idea of travel around so many times 

and the ache to leave home and explore
a new part of the world never really went away.

It was deep, deep, deep.

I knew it wasn't a phase and
 I knew time wasn't going to make it just go away.

But that morning driving home I made my decision.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror in those

ridiculous, over the top 'almost famous' teal sunglasses 

and said to myself: 

'Rachel, you don't belong here.

You belong in L.A.'

And just like that
 -with one glance in the mirror at my reflection
 of blonde messy hair blowing in the rearview, 

I had made up my mind.

I was resolute in my decision.
This. Was. Happening.

When I announced I was moving, of course I was instantly met
with criticism, backlash, and negativity

that filled me with self doubt to the brink. And then some.

Everyone had something to say
(whether I asked for their opinion of not)

Here is the cliff notes version:

Blank stares. 'Why?'

'Such a dumb move. You don't even have a job!'

'You're having a mid-life crisis' (unless I'm dying at 60, I was sure this wasn't the case)

'What are you running from?'

'You just feel this way because you're not married and you're looking to fill a void'

(cause that's NOT insulting!)

'This is really risky. I thought you had a better head on your shoulders'

I could go on and on.

But I don't have time because I'm still working on proving them all wrong.

Fast forward 6 months.

I am living in Los Angeles, California

drinking coffee and looking at blue skies and palm trees outside my balcony.

It's a cooler morning than its been the last few weeks

(we've been experiencing a heat wave)

but I'll still take 72 degrees in March!

The sunglasses that made me decide to move to California!

I'm not going to preach it was easy to get here.

It wasn't. 

It took planning, saving, extreme organization, a lot of coordinating,
 and of course -there were setbacks.

 [That's a WHOLE other blog post - Cross Country Relocating 101.
If anyone is interested, let me know in the comments and I can share some tips!]

But I'm here. I'm happy.

And it's a beautiful sunny day in Los Feliz,

a humble little section of the universe I now call home.

This adventure doesn't end here.

There is much more work to be done
and the risk of relocating and taking a huge chance
 is not all together gone.

I need to find full-time work.

I need to set up my new apartment and buy furniture.

I need to put myself out there and make new friends.

And I need to continue to invest in goals and aspirations.
Check things off my bucket list.

Vision plan. Work hard. Keep dreaming big.

I wanted to share my story in hopes

it inspires or encourages EVEN one person 

on the verge of making a huge decision to follow through.

Take the risk.

I am living proof that all it takes is a teal pair of sunglasses,

an iced coffee, and a particularly beautiful September morning

to set your dreams on fire.

RY

P.S If you're interested in watching my Cross Country trip from N.Y to L.A,
I'll link the video for you!

Cross Country Roadtrip | MissYarmosh by missyarmosh

Happy Dreaming,