UPDATE: I am alive and I am thrive.

Hey Gram!

We've talked a few times on the phone since I last wrote, and every time, you say I loved that 'Hey Gram' blog! and I say Thanks! I'm going to add a new post soon!

So, I thought it would be a good time to follow through on that.

I moved into a new apartment the Monday before Thanksgiving! I was fortunate enough to get a job doing accounting work at a wealth management company in downtown Los Angeles, so I signed a lease. I started the job last Monday and I can already tell that it's going to be better than a lot of my past work experiences. The people are all great and the commute from the new apartment is ten, maybe twenty minutes on the worst of days.

Echo Park, with a view of downtown Los Angeles

The new apartment is my favorite thing in the world. It's in Echo Park, which is a tiny little neighborhood on the East side of Los Angeles off Sunset Boulevard. I can walk to Dodger Stadium!

I'm on the top floor of a triplex that sits on the top of a hill. When you first pull in the driveway, my level looks like its a one story ranch house, but theres a staircase that leads to the next two floors down the hill. I have two roommates on my floor. One is Kris, who acts and sings and dances in musicals. I'm going to see a show of his sometime soon. Freza is the second roommate. She's at a small company in Santa Monica that takes on startup artists (painters, sculptors, etc.) and works with them to develop their professional careers. They're both great people.

I went to an awesome furniture store called Zentiques. They had a lot of unique options, and I ended up with a dresser, two side tables, a lamp, a mirror, a tiki totem pole, a buddah statue, and an asian box. I ordered a large tapestry with a neat persian looking design on it that I hung above my bed. I also hung a roadmap of the U.S. above my desk with highlights of all of the routes I've driven. I'm looking forward to highlighting a lot more!

Upper right corner: Hummingbird Tree

I have a balcony off of my room that overlooks the interstate. The road is far enough away that it kind of sounds like the ocean, with its own tides of light and heavy traffic. Following the patterns of the traffic is fun - especially at night when it's all lit up. I bought a bird house yesterday, and I'm working on getting some humming birds to come take a drink of sugar water. There are four or five of them that I can see every morning around 7:30 in a tree just outside my window, but they haven't ventured over yet. I'm afraid that it's because the feeder isn't getting direct sunlight so that they don't notice it, but I have a few tricks to try out.

My roommate Kris is hosting his parents for Christmas at my apartment. He said that they celebrate on Christmas night with some Norwegian songs and dancing around a tree and then warm wine and great food. I'm planning to join them. Then, I'm planning to take the next day off and spend an extended weekend in San Diego with a good friend from college.

Everything is great out here! I'm leaving a lot out, but I won't wait as long before writing you again! I love you very much. I think that the next time I'll be in New Jersey will be June - for Long Beach Island and the 4th of July! I hope to have some visitors from the east coast shortly.

Talk to you soon,

Mikey