from raleighwood to hollywood

first and foremost, i'd like to apologize for my brief absence. i woke up yesterday morning feeling like "death warmed up" (as my best friend would say). let's get you caught up, shall we?

yes, it's true...

i haven't done my laundry yet.

oh wait, the getting fired thing? yeah. about that. well, as you all know, i've had a trip home for the holidays planned. turns out that plane tickets home around christmas are EXTREMELY expensive (big surprise). however, the plane tickets the week BEFORE christmas are hundreds of dollars less. that being said, my plans to come home are on the 15th. i gave my boss a full two weeks notice (which is what you'd give if you were actually leaving a job) and at first he seemed okay with it. however, when we finished up work on wednesday night, he explained to me that since his office doesn't close until the 23rd, he couldn't afford to have me gone for that long. he explained to me that because i'm still pretty new at this job, my absence would most likely cause me to forget things i had learned at the office.

it's really not that hard to light incense.

but that's beside the point. i was a little surprised at his decision to let me go that very night and not let me continue to finish out my two weeks here, but that was his decision, not mine. at the end of the day, it comes down to this: was it my dream job? absolutely not. was it supposed to happen for a reason? well duh. nobody likes to be "fired", but i'm the kind of person who believes that everything happens on purpose.

when one door closes, another one opens. not to get too cliche on you, but it's the truth and i believe it with all of my heart. by the time i come home in two weeks, it will have been THREE MONTHS since i'll have been home. coming home and being with my family and best friends is what's right for me, and if losing my job is the consequence of that, well then i guess that's what's right for me as well. letting go of this job will give me the opportunity to come back in january and find something new. something better. there is a reason that it all worked out like this. i guess we'll just have to wait and see what it is.

1. think outside the takeout box

not like i have to worry about this any more, but wednesday afternoon it occured to me that the more meals i can prepare ahead of time, the less money i'll spend on takeout when i come home late from work. i had a package of chicken in my freezer that was begging to be used. i decided to roast it in the oven (pretty simply with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and roasted garlic and herb seasoning) and then use it in a salad when i got home from work.

one empty tummy, one less job, and a few hours later...

after being fired, what else goes better with a delicious salad than an extremely uplifting movie?

well...wine of course. but this movie was exactly what i needed.

i went to bed feeling as if tomorrow i would wake up with a clear head and a new outlook on life.

instead...i woke up with the stomach flu.

i know all of you are cringing at the thought of "the stomach flu", but my worst symptoms have been a fever, chills, and an extremely achy body. not like any of those things are a walk in the park, but i'm just saying, it could be worse.

2. happy hanukkah to ME!

after re-watching eat pray love yesterday afternoon (yes i watched it twice), a knock on my door came from stella who took one look at me and said "whoa. are you sick?" she told me she had something that would make me feel MUCH better and to follow her upstairs. i grabbed my pink blanky and inched up the stairs behind her. while my los angeles social network consists of a number of friends i can count on both hands, stella happens to know TONS of people in all different areas of work. her designer friends have stuffed her closets and storage spaces full of clothes, and stella being the wonderful generous person that she is, decided to share the love. about a week ago, she gave me a pile of clothes. everything from vintage t-shirts to hipster scarves to couture sweaters that probably cost more than my first car. (rip chevy blazer)

as stella piled more clothes on the couch next to me, handed me a protein shake, a mug of her famous homemade green tea, a book, AND a netflix movie to borrow. i looked around and said, "look at everything you've just given me!" and of course, she knelt down....and took a picture.  

if you look carefully, you can kind of make out the protein shake in my lap. stella put two bananas in that protein shake. if the first day that i had moved in, she had come downstairs and said, "hey! i'm your neighbor and i just wanted to welcome you to the apartment. here's two bananas!", i would have been in awe that someone gave me something for no reason. well..stella has given me FAR more than two bananas, and i'm so lucky to have such a kind person living right upstairs.

a kickass pair of ripped skinny jeans and and an argyle sweater....yet the first thing i try on are these sweatpants.

this was yesterday. and i'm STILL wearing them. also, if you look carefully in the above picture of the piles of clothes, you can see my fuzzy socks in the mirror. kinda looks like i have grinch feet.

just wanted to share that with you.

3. half baked

my parents said that i need to be eating things right now that are easy to digest. in my twenty five years, i've made hashbrows, french fries, latkes, sweet potato fries, and mashed potatoes...but tonight, for the first time....i baked a potato.

it's still in the oven...wish me luck.

highlight of the day:

tucked inside my mailbox yesterday along with bed bath and beyond coupons and a newsletter from trader joes was a cute little red package from north carolina. inside i found AWESOME candy necklaces, a little decorative hanging that says "peace", and a sweet card from my friend dallas. aside from the fact that mail in general is exciting, knowing that someone took the time to send you a package is one of the best feelings in the world. dallas could have sent me pebbles or paperclips and i still would have been just as delighted. it meant the world to me that she took time aside from her day to send me something and let me know she was thinking about me. also, after being fired and then waking up with the flu, there's really nothing better than getting a surprise package from a friend. i'm so lucky to have such amazing people in my life :)