Here I Go Again On My Own...

Well, four years later, here I am again. One chapter closed, doing my best to figure out the next one. Having spent the last three years getting my Masters degree in Food Studies and working full-time at Maialino restaurant in NYC, I'm exhausted. I'm proud to have gotten my degree while working in an industry that is, arguably, one of the more challenging, both physically and emotionally. I come away from my time there with a stronger sense of how to manage people, as well as a continued love and passion for food, especially Italian. One of the greatest things that Maialino gave me, however, was a group of people who were both a joy to work with and to get to know individually. Leaving them was the hardest part of leaving the restaurant, but we had a baller going-away party and I look forward to crossing paths with them in the future. 

 What am I doing now? Having come out to California for my friend Tim and Erkia's wedding, I decided to stay on and explore this state that I don't know very well at all. Right now I'm in Los Angeles, staying with Allison. Oliver, Kinnon, Tee and Jess just left for the airport to go back to Boston, and I feel like my trip is really starting now. I look forward to seeing hopefully all the people I know and love in California, but I'm also excited to spend some time alone as I drive. 

 Los Angeles is like a foreign country to me. I speak the language, fortunately, but that's about as far as I can go. Shiny, happy people doesn't even begin to describe it. The one thing all of us were asking yesterday was, "don't these people ever work??" The East Coast is so career-driven, and people are almost defined first and foremost by what they do, where they went to school, etc. Not here. Allison confirmed my suspicion that a lot of friendships are forged by gauging what another person can do for the other, who do you know who can help me get ahead/get famous, and the like. This is certainly not to say that real, true friendships aren't forged here, but it seems to me that you have to work just a little bit harder to find the genuine ones. Also, coming from New York, the need to drive everywhere is insane to me. 

 I'm writing this from Allison's living room, sunshine pouring in from the sliding doors that overlook her pool, having just returned from a drive to go see the Hollywood sign, and even though I"m nervous about my time here, and I don't know what the future holds, I am convinced that I made the right choice. How could all this sunshine be wrong??