My last days in Virginia and first day at Pink's!

After November ended I spent the first weeks of December applying to jobs and preparing for my trip home to Virginia! There were many Christmas parties to attend, secret santas to be bought and Anthropologie hours to be worked as the seasonal shoppers started to lined up around the store to purchase their goods. Finally! I was able to pack my things and head to the airport with my traveling companion, Alex who, because he was going to be a groomsman in a wedding and had bought his suit in California, was wearing a three piece suit complete with top-hat. We certainly got some interesting looks on the plane and our layover, not so much in LAX because, well, it's LA!

Birdhouse on the lake in VA Beach after canoeing

At home I did my best to see friends from high school and college as well as spend much needed time with my family. I ate a lot of good meals, was reminded how nice it is to sleep in full-size beds and have your laundry done for you, and traveled all over Virginia to visit folks. I went from DC to Reston to Annandale to Centreville to Charlottesville to Virginia Beach to Hampton to Amelia and everywhere in between.

On one of my last days in Virginia I was "hiking" (aka trail walking) with my mom and her best friend (like an Aunt to me) Elaine (who just got engaged! yay!) and we saw a bald eagle, a very appropriate symbol to end 2012, my year of traveling the country!

The picture to the right is a sunset over downtown LA. I took it from Echo Park, a little neighborhood right next to Silver Lake and Los Feliz (where I used to live)

Coming back to LA was like exiting a densely populated metro car after a long ride. I surged forward into a lot of people and noise and frenzied movement. As I said in my previous blog I spent my first week back applying and interviewing for jobs and visiting potential apartments. Thank God everything worked out wonderfully! PLUS I finally got to eat at Pink's, a hot-dog restaurant. I still can't get over how LA is the land of burgers, hot-dogs, milkshakes, and donuts and yet everybody looks so amazing.