I got a job!

Yep, its true. I found a job in one week from arriving. I still can hardly believe it myself. Yesterday I signed up with a temp agency and they called me this morning with a temp to hire assignment that started immediately. I had my first day today. Its at an advertising agency and everyone was very nice. As far as a temp position goes, the money is good and if they'd hire me on full time it goes up drastically. I wasn't really looking into this field, but I had such an awesome day I do plan to stick it out and see how I'm feeling in a few weeks. One of the girls that was helping to train me said that its a really great company to work for and there is a lot of room to grow. That definitely sounds appealing!

I never did get a chance to write about my first week here, so let's do it. The first full day in town Erin and I decided the beach was the only place to be. It was in the upper 90s in the city and was absolutely sweltering. We cruised out to Venice and lounged all day long out there. It was actually the first time I had ever put my head under water in the ocean! We headed back home and decided to check out this bar called La Cita. Pretty fun actually. Huge outdoor patio, djs and dancing. Very mixed, cool crowd. We met some folks and were invited to this amazing loft apartment downtown with a beautiful rooftop pool and observation deck. The night got late and we called it.

Friday morning was rough on both of us. We got going around 3:00, but still managed to get a lot done. We visited a dance studio for Erin, really cool. Then we drove around and I tried to show her some stuff I knew of. We ended up in Santa Monica on the 3rd St Promenade. We walked around, giggled at some of the street performers and grabbed some nummy sushi. I'd only had sushi twice prior and it was amazing. I think I've found a new vice. At night we decided to hit up this bar that a couple friends had been telling me I'd love, called the Bigfoot Lodge. They were right. Immediately upon walking in and hearing punk rock being played and PBR on tap, I felt at home. We met some funny people who kept us entertained. 

Saturday was more exploring and then ended up back in Venice. Had dinner out there and then hit up the beach before sunset. It was amazing watching the sun fall behind the Santa Monica mountains with my feet in the ocean. Definitely a first for this kid. We packed it up and headed to El Segundo to this tiki bar called The Purple Orchid. My friend Jerry brought me there and since it was close to the airport, I figured what better place to go! I was stoked because they had surf bands performing so we drank tiki drinks, listened to surf and relived our adventures before heading to the airport.

We said our good-byes and I headed for Jerry's house. On the way, I get a call from Erin saying that her flight was actually on FRIDAY night. We booked it wrong and she missed it! The person at the counter said its a frequent mistake and that as long as you show up within 3 days you don't get any penalty fees. How nuts is that! Best part is that she had to fly standby for Sat night's flight and got first class which included free drinks the whole ride. So my little mistake ended up working in her favor!

Until next time!

Travels

Well, here I am in Los Angeles. I have decided to keep this blog, in order to keep everyone updated on my whereabouts and happenings in this crazy place. This entry is about all the fun we had just in getting here.

As many of you know, my friend Erin came along with me for the ride. We left Minneapolis Monday, June 16th bright and early. Southern MN, Iowa, Nebraska...need I say more?? We arrived in Denver that evening, made it in 13 hours. We stayed with my good friend Andre there and went out for some Vietnamese right when we got into town. Over dinner, Erin and I decided that we didn't want to rush our trip and we actually wanted to see some of the beautiful country we were traveling through. Tuesday morning came we all arose and nabbed breakfast at the Breakfast King. Great place with bright orange booths and chairs, good food for cheap and waitresses straight out of 1985. Andre then drove us out to Red Rocks Amphitheatre. This place is amazingly beautiful. I have pictures of it in the link at the end of this entry. Check them out!

We said our good-byes to Andre and hit the road around noon. We drove through Colorado in gorgeous, sunny conditions and it was the most amazing scenery. We hit Utah with much of the same. Unfortunately we tried to find a bar/grill to get a burger and a beer in Utah. Yeah, don't try that! We drove aimlessly around this town only to find out they don't serve alcohol in Utah and if you do find it somewhere its generally 3-2. Complete bumout. So we just  hit up a drive through and got our butts out of that state as quick as we could! As night fell we went through the northeastern corner of Arizona. This part of the drive was just insane. The cliffs jutted straight up from the sides of the road. It was a huge full moon and the light from it was bouncing off the mountains. It felt as though we were entering a new world. We crossed the Nevada border and called it a night in Mesquite. The hotel we stayed at was called the Virgin River Hotel and Casino and our room was $33. Score! On top of that the bar had $.75 taps. Double score!!

Wednesday morning we left bright and early and headed toward Vegas. Neither of us had seen the Hoover Dam so we detoured slightly and checked it out. Its incredible if you haven't seen it. We didn't have time to take the tour, but just viewing it was worth it. Erin had never seen the Strip in Vegas so I figured she needed to see it. Plus I never need an excuse to go to Vegas! We drove down the strip and ended it with both our first ever In and Out Burgers. All the hype is absolutely right! Andre told us to get them "animal style" and man, was he right. After our tummies were satisfied we made the long trek across the Mojave Desert and soon we arrived at our destination...Rampart Blvd. 

Here's a link to pictures from our travels across country.

http://gallery.mac.com/shellyvoss#100261

Until next time...