I was unemployed for EXACTLY 60 days. At first having no job was very appealing. I thought..yep, I could do this forever! When visiting home for a little in Pennsylvania I always had things to do to keep me busy. I would hang out with the fam, go through my belongings, see my PA friends, etc.

Looking back to when I arrived to Los Angeles I had big plans. I had a mental schedule of all the exciting things I was going to do. I was going to explore, be adventurous, and get involved. I spent my first week going to the beaches everyday, putting together furniture, and driving around aimlessly and never getting lost (thanks to my GPS). It was soon after this, I guess you could say I hit a wall. The bliss of unemployment and being able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted started to fizzle.

I’ve consistently had a job since the age of if I am not mistaken 14. After college graduation I didn’t even take a week off. I started in the “real world” Monday after graduation. All through high school and college being busy with essentially a nonstop schedule kept me on task.

So after 9 years of a constant, strip it away and essentially, my motivation was gone. It would be 4 in the afternoon and I would think to myself “what the heck did I do today?!” And the answer was pretty often, nothing. Sure I’d apply for jobs for an hour or 2 everyday, then I’d look outside and say wow looks like a nice day and continue on doing not much of anything. I had places I could be, I had things I could do…but most of the next 2 weeks was spent putzing around the house.

Then, as my Dad would say…I had a weak moment.

Maybe it was a weak moment but either way I wanted a dog and don’t regret it.

Shortly after I somewhat surprised Connor with our little bundle of joy - I finally started to get many job interviews, which eventually turned into many job offers.

1^st offer : Marriott Residence Inn – Manhattan Beach. Reason to decline: Good title position but on the flipside, had low pay & the hotel was in need of a SERIOUS revamp. Old & not quite the “cool” hotel environment I was looking for.

2^nd Offer : Culver Hotel - Los Angeles. Reason to Decline: Possibly the most unorganized people I have ever dealt with. On the plus though it did have some great history. It was built by Charles Chaplin in 1924 & then sold to John Wayne for $1.00 in a poker game. Another fun fact: The cast of Wizard of Oz stayed there while filming the movie.

3^rd Offer : Sunset Marquis – Hollywood. Reason to Decline: Tough to say no because this was definitely one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever been in…but it had limited opportunity. Almost everyone working there had been there about 15 years and therefore, my chances of moving up were pretty slim.

4^th Offer : The Huntley Hotel – Santa Monica Beach. Reason to Decline: Another one that was tough to say no. Gorgeous hotel…but just didn’t see enough long term opportunity since it was a single owner property.

5^th Offer: Roosevelt Hollywood Hotel – Hollywood. Reason to Decline: Another great hotel with fun historical factoids. Built in 1927 and apparently haunted by Marilyn Monroe..but by this time I already had another offer that I wanted to go with.

6^th Offer : SLS Hotel – Beverly Hills. Reason to accept: Although it is not particularly the position I want ( it’s front desk ) There is plenty of opportunity with this hotel because it is a Starwood Hotel. If you’re not familiar with Starwood they have: St Regis, The Luxury Collection (which is SLS), W, Westin, Sheraton, and so on. It’s designed by Philippe Starck and has an amazing restaurant from Chef Jose Andes. It also, just so happens to be the Los Angeles hot spot of all elite & celebrities. Fun fact: Recently, after Christina Aguilera (maybe you've heard of her..duh) divorced her husband..she moved into the SLS presidential suite for a week or so. Anyways, this hotel seems to have great opportunity. Also, at one point when I am ready to move out of Los Angeles, I can easily transfer to one of their 4000 hotels across the WORLD and 95 countries.

I have been employed by SLS for 2 days and so far, I love it. 2 days is all it took for me to be back in my original state of mind and mental schedule of exploring, going on adventures and getting involved – all of which is coincidentally, because I have less time. I guess it’s just how I am programmed to function.

Top 10 Things I miss/love about NYC

I knew I'd be bad at updating this.

I've been in LA for I think 1 month exactly today.

The first 2 weeks I took my time getting situated..mainly just furnishing our place & going to the beach everyday.

The past 2 weeks I have been on the job hunt. So far, I have had 4 interviews & have a 5th on Wednesday. The first 3 places I interviewed at I got job offers on the spot. Now in this terrible California economy it probably would be a safe bet to take 1 of those 3 offers...However, I am not. (Maybe I will regret this later) They weren't positions that would help me move ahead in my career. So I am anxiously awaiting to hear back from the 4th interview..the only job I've interviewed for that I actually want. So we will see - to be continued I guess.

In other news, we got a puppy. She is an Australian Shepherd mix & about 2 months old. She is good about 90% of the time - which for a puppy is a good percentage I would say.

So since I've been in LA 1 month I've been doing a lot of comparing NYC & LA.

I thought I'd share with you my top 10 list of what I miss/love about NYC:

10. Instead of seeing "The Social Network" at AMC 25 in Times Square, you can go to the MET rooftop or MOMA.

9. 8 million people and NYC is actually still a small town...

8. Mani / Pedi's are incredibly cheap!!!!

7. Used clothes cost more than new ones. ( I just like the ironic-ness of this )

6. Every cute restaurant has a great unlimited mimosa or bloody mary brunch deal. And you could keep it going til 4AM. . . not that i've ever done that ;-)

5. You can get ANYTHING you want for cheap, on craigslist - not as easy or cheap in LA that is for sure.

4. Sometimes, it's just funny to point tourists in the wrong direction. ( ok, I never did this..but I was tempted to all the time! )

3. NYC Parks, they are just nicer! - Central Park, Ft Greene, Prospect, Madison Square etc.

2. No other way to say this other than...just look around!

1. You can walk everywhere, preferably in great shoes :)

Ok, that's all for now!

xoxo

Hello all,

Life update:
September 1st I am moving out of NY. I will be coming home to PA for a few weeks and then moving to LA end of Sept/early Oct.
I love New York. I have been very fortunate to have a good job & meet great people in the short year and a half I've been here. I really hope at some point I make it back here. But for now I am really excited to try out the West Coast :)

................

Last night Mandy, Connor & I saw the movie Inception. I have no idea how to describe it, you should just go see it. Not that I am a movie buff or anything but it's one of the best movies in a while.

Connor & I also ventured over to the Natural History Museum. It is free after 4:30 on Saturdays but what we didn't realize is that it closes at 5:45, so we were pretty rushed considering it's a huge museum. Basically, it's a bunch of animals & dinosaur bones.

whale


monkey


rhino

lion - rar

dino

This weekend my parents & sister came to NYC. We spent more time in Brooklyn this time. We did the flea market, farmers market, walked all the way through red hook & took the water taxi to south st seaport. Then walked all the way up to chinatown - LES.

South St Seaport

Art Show

Graffiti

Mojitos on our roof.

Every Sunday in the summer, my old neighborhood ( Williamsburg) has free concerts by the water. Coincidentally, I never went to them last year...

I am assuming because this was the last day of the World Cup that is why it wasn't crowded.

Also it rained a little, but considering it was about 100 degrees no one seemed to mind.

I often don't take advantage of the fact that I live in New York City. I spend 5 days a week at work, suggesting tourists from all over the world where to go & what fun things to do..However, I myself have not even done most of these activities. This summer I am going to TRY to do more of these things. I also know I can sometimes lack in the keeping in touch area with family & friends so I thought this was a nice way to connect the two...

4th of July
I worked in the morning but luckily had off for the evening. We spent the 4th at Connors sisters. She lives in Park Slope & has a great view of Manhattan. Unfortunately, the fireworks were being shot from the West side, but we still could see them.

New apartment

July 1st I moved to Connors apartment in Fort Greene. It's a great neigborhood close to Ft. Greene Park, farmers market & flea market on the weekends. Also, there are way too many good restaurants near by, which is probably bad for my wallet. My Dad seems very curious what it looks like, so these photos are particularly for him.

And that's all for now. :)

Jenn