Los Angeles/Minnesota Connections

Lately, I have had a few people write me and say that they actually check this blog to see if I update it. I'm stoked that my friends and family actually take the time!! Therefore, I will attempt to update a little more frequently.

Looks like I will not be coming home over Christmas for sure. The prices just never went down. Once I heard what the weather is like in Minnesota, though, I'm sure I will be okay with that. ;) Man, it has been ridiculously cold there. I guess that means that everyone should be looking at flights to come visit Shelly where it is slightly warmer!! To warn you, it does get chilly in L.A. In fact, I made a trip to Lowe's tonight to buy a space heater for my room! You see, since it doesn't get bitterly cold, they don't feel it necessary to put central heating systems or even floorboard heat in apartments. Crazy, if you ask me.

Last week I finished a big project at work and the G.M. gave me Friday off as a reward.  Pretty rad, huh?! I decided I should take advantage of this by going out Thursday night. Met up with a friend from high school, who lives in Venice. We also partied the weekend before. Small world. Then on top of that, I went out in Hollywood on Friday night and as I was giving this guy my number he looks and says, "wait, where are you from?" The 612 area code gave it away and he was originally from Hastings!! I swear I meet more Minnesotans out here... 

I spent my actual day off at furniture stores and exploring my neighborhood of Silver Lake. This place is home. Reminds me quite a bit of the Lyn-Lake area where I lived in Minneapolis. Very eclectic, very hip and busy! I checked out a bunch of wonderful shops and boutiques and talked to some fun people. It feels like a community, which some might think would be hard to find in Los Angeles. 

One sad note from home is that my grandfather is in the hospital. I do believe he will be discharged tomorrow or soon, but keep him in your thoughts for me. They aren't quite sure what the issue is, but he's been having trouble breathing, getting dizzy and such. Let's hope it isn't anything serious! 

Have a great holiday everyone!! Ahem...is it January yet?

Until next time...

So Far Away

In trying to come up with a title for this blog entry, the Social Distortion song, "So Far Away" came up on my i-Tunes shuffle. Seemed rather appropriate, so I'm going with it. :)

Upon request from Michon, I need to update you all with my happenings. It has certainly been quite some time!!!

To start off, my car is fixed. It took 2 whole weeks and $750 out of my pocket for my deductible. The repair shop I used, Western Auto Body, were absolutely amazing. I've had to stop in for small things twice since and they always remember me and the owner comes out and small talks with me while I wait. I HIGHLY recommend them if you live in Los Angeles!! Unfortunately, my insurance informed me that I probably will not see any money back from the city as they find any excuse they can to deny claims like mine. I'm at peace with that. At least it is fixed and done with.

Big news!! I have a new apartment!! Jess and I had a little difficulty finding a place we liked, but came upon a wonderful spot. Strangely, it is about a mile from the old place, but feels like a world away. There are 2 homes on the property and we are in the back house, which is a duplex. Ours is the lower unit and we have a cute little yard and everything!! It is so calming and feels like home. Jess and I both have been sleeping an excessive amount and I attribute that to the fact that we are both finally comfortable in our own house. ;)

For Thanksgiving, Jess wanted to make us the full dinner. She put the turkey in the roaster and we headed off the L.A. Auto Show for the afternoon. After viewing dream cars that will never be in our budget, we headed back to a house that smelled absolutely amazing. We finished making all the sides and indulged in an amazing Thanksgiving feast, after which a crazy turkey coma overtook us both. Our plans of hitting the bar afterwards were tossed out the window in exchange for more snoozing and watching movies. Can't say that I would have had it any other way, though. 

Life at Lamar Advertising is still trucking along. I have been working on a tedious project for the past few weeks and I hope to finish it up this week. Once that is finished, I believe I will start to see what my actual position of Proof of Performance Coordinator will be. Somewhat looking forward to that. I am still keeping my eyes open for other job opportunities, but overall I feel thankful to have work in this economy. I know it is bad everywhere, but here in California the unemployment rate is nearing 11%. Very, very scary. 

Speaking of a crappy economy, I had actually started considering coming home for Xmas. My company is giving us off the 24, 25, and 26, plus the weekend. Seeing that I'd have that much paid time off, I thought it foolish to not even look into tickets. Can someone explain to me how it is possible that fuel has dropped by $3 per gallon, but airfare has only gotten more costly?! I looked today and a roundtrip ticket from LAX to Mpls is over $700!!! That is absolute insanity. I guess I picked a bad year to move away from home. 

Halloween was a blast...check out the pics:

http://gallery.me.com/shellyvoss#100314

Until next time...