greetings from...

We're off on a little road trip for a couple of days, checking into a hotel as we glom onto M's business trip an hour south of here.

Hotel living means no cooking or cleaning and a whole lot of swimming and relaxing poolside.  I've got an educational field trip planned for Thursday morning, but other than that my itinerary reads something like this:  three cameras, two magazines and a book.

See you back here on Friday.

the corners of our (temporary) home

Welcome to our new home!

It's pretty here, with a lot of natural light and cross breezes. This is vertical living, a townhouse with the bedrooms on the main floor and the living/dining/family/kitchen is one big, loft-like room upstairs.  It's comfortable and familiar to me. When we lived in Brooklyn Heights our apartment was one big living space, (one wall was brick, which I adored), an open plan with the bedrooms on one side of a large room with a galley kitchen. That apartment was sweet and living here, I'm remembering all the good of that space: the high ceilings and natural light. Having the dining table close to the kitchen so it becomes a place to have meals again.

 The best part of the whole space I think, is the little deck on the front of the house. Ok, really the best part of the house is probably the private roof deck, but that's for another post. Because the small deck, (the sliding doors on the left side of the above photo),  is amazing. Hot pink flowers. A sliver of the ocean blue. White adirondack style chairs. It's where I envision myself studying this Fall and it's where I have my morning cup of tea.

And finally, there are stairs leading below ground to the garage, which we can enter from the house. Total suburban living, right?

Except we're totally urban, dude. We're a part of Los Angeles County and with that comes its own host of issues, but right now the pluses are that we're living in a house at the beach and we're in a thriving metropolis. Ok, there's traffic. And getting around to and from into the city proper  is no easy feat.

The beauty of this rental house is that we're close enough to the main hub of our little town, (and the beach!), and with that proximity, we can walk everywhere. There's groceries and a drugstore. Two different coffee places and tasty restaurants. The post office and the public library are on the way to miss A's new school.  We'll be able to walk to school and there's a farmer's market on the end of our block. I'm sure I'll eventually get sick of the time it takes to drive places, but right now, comparing it to the best of circumstances on NJ Transit, (it was always an hour door to door), this is pretty fantastic.

this might become a habit...

The words won't come when I sit down here, even though I'm busting at the seams to share.

The pull of experiencing our lives here, combined with trying to unpack and move into our new digs, leaves little time to sit down and write for any length of time.

I've taken photos of our new home which I'll share with you this week and with miss A at camp this week, I'm hoping to photo edit the memory cards from the last month since moving exactly one month ago today. (Holy balls we've done a lot in 31 days!!)

I went to see live music on Friday night and looked at beautiful art on Saturday, with a delicious meal in between. We hosted old friends here yesterday with a trip to the beach, champagne and Italian food.

I'm here to tell you that we're easing into our new life here fairly effortlessly. It feels right this place; both the town and our (rented) townhouse feels like home to me, much more than I'd anticipated. I haven't looked back, haven't missed a house that I love(d).  I'm even ok with not having my friends here, because it's a small sacrifice when I think about what I've gained.

these days

These days are blending into one another and turning into weeks. This is our third week in California and it still feels like vacation even though we have our belongings and drive in our own cars.

Today is the first day that it feels like summer. The sun is shining and there's a sweet ocean breeze from the west luring us down to the sand. I've organized the beach wagon left by our landlords for us to enjoy. The tires are large and will travel over sand; the perfect way to drag all the crap necessary for afternoons on the beach.

Speaking of the beach, we've found ours. Directly down the street is a busy part of our town, not necessarily friendly for sunbathing, although many do. The beach we've claimed as ours is a little south. There's a lifeguard station and a swing set; appealing to me, (safety), and my girl, (entertainment.)

We're enjoying real Mexican food with two terrific, local options: one is small with just a counter, a taco shack really, and the other is what you'd expect of California. On the beach, with a view of the ocean and sunsets, space heaters and delicious food.

We're happy here, slowly carving our niche and trying to make new friends. As always, infiltration is difficult, but I'm pushing my comfort zone and reaching out to the people I know here with children, trying to provide interaction for both mama and her girl.

Slowly, it's beginning to feel like home.

agro

Today I'm pissed off and I have no reason. Or maybe I do. I'm tired of unpacking, tired of having my things spread out and not in its place and I haven't worked out in at least six weeks.

Today my girl starts her swim team, conveniently located at my gym; affording me an hour to go sweat out this nasty, bitchy feeling that makes me feel agro and ready to take on anyone that steps into my path.

I hate myself when I'm like this and I'm trying my hardest not to snap at anyone and everyone, especially my sweet girl who deserves better.

I'm tired and I want this place to be settled. I want to take photos again and I want to be enjoying this beautiful beach town we've moved to.

Patience has never been my strong point and so today, I'm hoping to hear your stories. What do you do to make the agro go away?