The lives of boxes

Most of our moving boxes are now on their third or fourth use! Just had to post this because someone came to pick up our TV box today and I can't believe how fun I have found this whole box exchange process to be. Let me tell you a bit about it...

[Roger leaps into box]

Our friends Erica and Steve got married. People sent them gifts in boxes, and we got to use all of the boxes and sweet packing material. We also got some amazing computer boxes for free from a kind NYC guy on Craigslist, and scavenged a TV box from the curb in Sunnyside on recycling day.

Our boxes made it to Cali. Now most of them (plus packing material) are on their way to Seattle with a nice couple about to have a baby girl and our TV box is on the way to Boston.

I was so satisfied (like, to the point of being giddy; I have issues) to see these things being reused, and there was something about making that human connection while exchanging the boxes, too—just interacting with someone who knows what it's like to box up your life and schlep it to another apartment; someone who made it to the other side just fine and now chooses to bestow their good will and wishes upon you in the form of free boxes. And once you make it to your destination, you get to keep the moving karma going, feeling that you're making someone else's journey a tiny bit easier and that you're living proof that it will all work out okay.

Franklin Canyon

What do you do if you're city folk craving trees? As New Yorkers, Beth and I were used to the up-at-dawn + subway ride + 2hr train-ride (or rental car drive) to finally get out to the New York State forests and hikes. Sure, there were the wonderful city parks to get us by, but it always seemed like a fight to get to a place where we could be truly taken in by nature.

L.A. is different. When we were visiting six months ago, a friend of mine had told us this -- that L.A. was integrated into nature the way few other cities were. And though we knew about the beaches and the wine valleys, I kind of assumed he meant that you could drive *out* of L.A. to get to the really good stuff.

Apparently not. Franklin Canyon is a mere 30-40 minute drive from our apartment, and it's spectacular. It's difficult to believe, but it's actually somehow tucked between Beverly Hills and Studio City -- two of the least 'natural' parts of Los Angeles imaginable. Beth and I spent most of this last Saturday there, and saw perhaps 1/10th of the whole park.

Alright, L.A; I have to admit, I'm kind of liking you so far. (I wish I had a better camera, but until I buy my dream SLR I'll have to post a few snapshots from the ol' iPhone).

Apartment preview

You guys, we have some furniture! A little sneak peek...Wooden coffee table from Pepe's Thrifty Shop (yes, that is the real name, and California has the BEST thrift shops). Blue couch via craigslist, Anthropologie geode-esque coasters from Aunt Patti, Chris's glasses by Warby Parker, beige-tastic carpet and walls by our management company.

New snapshots

I finally uploaded some more shots from my iPhone, so here are some new scenes of life in CA.

I scored this little desk at the Santa Monica Antiques Market. I love writing in this space every day. (The chair belongs to the kitchen table, and is a little low for working, but I'm determined to find a good chair for the study.)
We may have gotten a little overexcited at the sight of fresh fruit at the Culver City farmer's market today. Exhibit A, fridge full of berries:And here are a few parting shots of Culver City at night:

Paper, plastic, glass, cans

I thought California would be a little more full of hippies, but I guess we are in SoCal and not in San Francisco or anything. We recently discovered that our building has no recycling. This is something I have taken completely for granted in my life, because everywhere I've ever lived has had really easy systems in place for recycling (especially the system on High Street, where dad does all the sorting. No sweat.).

So, once a week, we carry our milk crate full of recyclables down to the car and drive into town to visit the little "recycling center", which is located in a church parking lot and consists of 3 blue dumpsters ALL labeled "paper, plastic, glass, cans". This makes me nervous because I'm making the effort (and using the gas) to get to the recycling place, and then am not really sure that the system works. Who is sorting this stuff??

On another note....
mango salsa!! We made this last night and served it over fish. I think this was the first time in my life that I was ever able to buy an actual RIPE mango. Delicious!

LA jam

Pumped Up Kicks, by Foster the People. For some reason, they played this on the radio about every 15 minutes during our entire apartment hunt, so we deemed it our "LA jam." It seems to have disappeared from the airwaves now, so I had to get my fix via YouTube. I don't know why the lyrics are so violent while the tune is so bouncy. I don't know what any of this has to do with the dudes surfing in the music video. I don't know why there are like, 12 words to this song other than the chorus, but it's a catchy one!

The Great California Cutting Board Mystery

I'm currently showing my writing partner around the Culver City area, looking at potential apartments for him (he's moving to the neighborhood May 1st).

It reminded me to post about a particular 'L.A. weirdness' Beth and I noticed when we were searching for a place: integrated cutting boards. Nearly every place we saw in L.A. had some sort of sliding wooden slat built into its kitchen counters (no wonder Apartment Therapy L.A. has an article about what to do with your built-in board).

I'm trying to figure out why this might be the case -- according to this, I can surmise that maybe a lot of West L.A. buildings were built in the 1970s when built-in cutting boards were all the rage...but I'm not sure. For now it will just have to be another great Cali mystery.

California perk

Another little California perk: Virtually no humidity, so you can actually use the cute little Anthropologie sugar dish that your aunt gave you.

Seriously, it's LOUSY with them

Seen at our local Subway sandwich place:

I'm assuming this is commonplace for West Coasters, but it blows our little New England-y minds.

Travels with cat

I was so worried about traveling with the cat. I mean, SO worried. To the point that I worried that it was a serious form of animal cruelty to extract the bunny from his comfy little apartment and stick him on a plane. I worried that his affectionate, curious personality would change; that he would become fearful or suspicious.

Boy, was I wrong. The most cruel part of the whole thing was having to stuff Roger in his cat bag, which all 13 or so pounds of him resisted firmly. He went through security in Chris's arms, looking around like his normal, curious self and didn't try to escape. He sat through the plane ride like a champ (he did exactly what he does when he goes to the vet: put his head down as if to say, "Wake me up when this is over."). He didn't yowl or have an accident or anything. I doubt anyone even knew there was a cat in the cabin. We reached down every so often to give him a little water from a medicine dropper.

We decided not to sedate the cat. We heard mixed things about this and decided that it probably wasn't worth trying out on Roger. We gave him a little herbal stuff (Bach's flower Pet Rescue Remedy) to calm him, but he wouldn't take any as the plane ride got closer. It didn't seem to matter in his case, because he just remained very much himself the whole time.

When we got to the new place, we put his food, water, litter, and mousie toys down immediately and showed him where everything was. He was slinking around for about 20 minutes, then, seeing that all of his needs were met, decided that he was totally and completely fine. He smelled every nook and cranny, jumped into the cupboards, looked out of the windows. Now our stuff is here, so he's jumping in every box (again).

I can't believe I was worried! He now has daily window face-offs with a dog that lives across the apartment complex and I can tell that he feels totally "in charge" of his new place (we had to baby lock all the cupboards because he's such a fan of exploring them). He's scared of the ceiling fan and the dishwasher, but keeps watching them to try to figure out whether he *should* be scared. And he seems to love rolling around on the carpet (guess who will be vacuuming more...).

Anyway, this is to say that cat travel was a success. Such a relief. I hope we don't have to transport him too much, but it's great to know that he can hack it.

Snapshots

Beth is a proud and incredibly happy cardholder! (The local branch still uses Dewey decimal. YEAH, take that, Library of Congress! I can find stuff with my eyes closed!)

Products we never realized existed. Thanks, Home Depot, for making Beth paranoid.

First post

Welcome, friends! Chris and Beth here, a married couple who just moved to LA from New York City on April 1, 2011. We're settling into the sunshine and thought we'd share some scenes with you on this here blog.

"Lousy With Avocados" comes from something I (Beth) said to Chris on our first visit to Culver City, our new home. We popped into Trader Joe's to buy a few snacks (California observation #1: You can't spit without hitting a Trader Joe's), and I saw bulging bags of avocados hanging from the shelves. I turned to Chris and said, "This place is lousy with avocados!"

Hope you enjoy the posts to come.