my moral standing is lying down

Ahahaha, I got laid off.

My last day is this coming Friday, though my boss let me know this past Friday. I went home a little early and told my roomies and quietly freaked out a little. Went to the gym. Then I relaxed because whatevs, I just had to figure out what I should do about it: look up California Unemployment, see if I'm eligible; look up jobs on Craigslist and other sites, start sending resumes out.

I did those things.

I can't even remember what the context was when I jokingly said "I should just move to Philly", but then the thought just got stuck in my mind. The more I thought about it, the more seriously appealing it became. Several weeks ago I'd decided that I was going to stay in LA for only another year before going back to NYC. Mostly because of Rich. So my thinking is: if I've got only a year to sow my wild wanderlust-oats, I need to make the best of it; if I was going to struggle with finding a job (for who knows how long) and maybe not be able to do things because of making only enough money to survive rather than go out and doing fun stuff, I'd rather spend a year doing that in a place I've never lived before, experiencing something completely new and different.

You probably think I'm crazy. I don't blame you; I kind of do, too. But I talked it out with a few people who've got good, rational heads on their shoulders, and I think this is actually going to work out.

I'll be going back to NYC first, for a couple of months, to work and save up some money for the cost of moving to Philly (rent/security/furniture/etc.) where I plan to live for about a year before returning. I'm ridiculously sad I'm going to miss all of the new friends I made here, though. And most especially, my two awesome roomies elipie and likeaglass. This past year just couldn't have been as fucking awesome as it was without them!

But I'm not gonna lie -- though it wasn't the motivating, or even the tipping factor -- it's a huge plus that Philly's only 2.5 hours away from Rich, and my family, and so many of my closest friends. (And also the NY Rangers.)

So here's the fun part: ROAD TRIP 2: EAST COAST BOOGALOO!

LOS ANGELES >> ALBUQUERQUE >> OKLAHOMA CITY >> ST LOUIS >> CHICAGO >> PITTSBURGH >> NYC

I HAVE ARRIVED IN LOS ANGELES SAFE AND SOUND!

That was Sunday, actually. Earlier today (Monday) Liz and I drove around, had lunch with one of her coworkers who telecommutes, went window shopping for beds, picked up a few things at Ikea, then had dinner with a friend of Liz's coworkers who had previously given me some LA-neighborhood advice. Her name is Amy and I'll be meeting up with her again on Saturday! (YAY NEW FRIENDS!!!)

All in all a very busy day, and I'm pretty exhausted now at the end of it.

Liz is leaving tomorrow afternoon so we're going for a ride on Mulholland Drive for the view, then stopping at some ridiculous place we saw in Burbank for 5 chili burgers for $5, and then going on to LAX where she will leave me all alone in my new home-- to return to NYC, where all the fun stuff is happening (I just know it).

If you've missed out on all my pic posting from the road trip, check them out on my tumblr. I think I did a pretty good job at updating and documenting some of the highlights.

Start with the bottom of page 2 and work your way "backwards" to the top of page 1.

SINTE signups are officially closed and prompts have been assigned!
I'll definitely be accepting late requests, though, since I'd like to encourage as many sign-ups as possible.

Pic? URL: http://i41.tinypic.com/17qwbd.png
Link to post? URL: http://osaraba.livejournal.com/431536.html

--

UM UM UM so I think I'm leaving on my "trip to the West" on Sunday 1/22. IT'S TOO SOON! I feel like I don't have enough time to see everyone I want to see and also finish cleaning out my parents' basement.

Happy New Year! This is the first time when huge changes have actually coincided with the start of the new year and saying "goodbye" to the old one actually has significance for me.

You may recall that I'm moving to LA at the end of January, but I may have neglected to mention that I was moving out of my apartment with thedreamerworld, well, by yesterday. So yesterday was moving day for me, though I'd already made several trips over the last week to move stuff into my parents' basement. But it was pretty surreal to be moving everything out from just my own room while everything in the living room and all the other rooms remained. It was especially eerie to make a last trip while Judy's new roomie, Ana, and her movers showed up and had already started filling up my room with her furniture and boxes and stuff.

I've never moved out while my roomie stayed behind! It was weird!!! /o\

I came back later that night to pick up a couple of things I'd left and it seemed so wrong saying goodbye to Judy when I left, knowing I'd never be back there to sleep in my own room, in my own bed (which Ana bought from me, since I can't bring it with me to LA).

I was pretty sad about it.

I had a sleepover last night at Liz's place. Which, in theory, was supposed to be funtimes!, but in reality I was so tired I just crashed within an hour of arriving.

The next few weeks are going to be so very odd. I'm technically staying at my parents' place, but in reality I'm going to be staying at Liz's and other people's places at least 3 nights out of the week. I do have to continue cleaning out my parents' basement while I'm there, but that's a daytime thing anyway.

Did I mention that my parents bought a new (used) car and gave me their old one? I packed a duffle of clothes to keep in the trunk, so I feel like I'm sort of living out my car, which is quite an interesting feeling. It's not really that, of course, but it feels a lot more nomadic and loafer-ish than I'm used to.

Oh, my bed, how I miss you so already~!

So. You may have heard by now: I'm moving to Los Angeles!

...I'm used to having a strong reaction to respond to at right about this point in the conversation so I now find myself at somewhat of a loss!

WHY?, you may have asked. Well, I realized back in July, when I experienced a huge upheaval in my life, that I kind of want a change -- a big one -- and that change of jobs wasn't really going to cut it. I want to not see the same thing I see every day, the same subway, the same places to hang out, etc., etc. I've never ever before in my life felt the need to leave NYC because I love it way way more than I should, but I guess I reached that point. I can't imagine actually leaving NYC for good, though, so I'll likely be back in a few years.

But I totally need this right now.

I contacted likeaglass who I knew was sort of vaguely planning to move to LA and asked her whether she was still going and if she'd like a roommate. Aaaaaand here we are, along with a third fangirl friend, Eli, planning a February 1st move-in.

So guess what that means? Cross-country road tripppppp! What a huge fucking opportunity! Similar to how I've wanted to go to Indonesia but never really wanted to use my vacation days to do so, I've wanted to do a cross-country road trip. NOW IS MY CHANCE! I'll be leaving probably between January 22-25; my parents have bought a new car (2009 Toyota Rav4, which is awesome and I'm so jealous I won't be able to drive it around much), which they've been thinking about doing for a while anyway, and will be giving me their 2005 Toyota Camry.

One of my really close friends from work, Maura, is taking the trip with me because she loves road trips and driving (and it'll be a big help to have another driver at hand)! We've planned to sort of go from NYC >> New Orleans >> Austin >> LA, so if anyone at/near any of those places -- or anywhere along the way -- wants to meet up, just let me know! I'd love to combine this with fangirl lunch-dates across the country! And, OMG if any of you actually live in/near LA, I'd love to meet up with you and chat and get some tips on the ins and outs and things to know about LA!

I still haven't read my flist for a good 8 weeks now, and I-- alsjdflasjlfs what is my freaking block on it? =/

In the meantime, if I haven't seen you since I got back from Indonesia, WE HAVE TO HANG OUT BEFORE I LEAVE! I will miss all of you guys SO SO SO MUCH, you don't even know! <3333