Thursday, November 29, 2018

thanksgiving in LA

Look who came to visit us for Thanksgiving! Before we even found out we were moving to LA we had planned on celebrating in LA this year and it all just worked out hunky dory because they were able to see the new crib in all it's 500 square feet glory. 

Wednesday we braved the LAX traffic to pick up Meg and then had dinner at Lemonade and explored Abbott Kinney street in Venice. Sam was able to get off work at a decent hour and meet us there. Then while we waited for Sara's flight to arrive from DC at 1am we went to a movie.


Thursday morning we slept in, had breakfast in and chatted. Then we walked around Downtown Disney before our traditional Buckley Thanksgiving dinner out.

On Friday morning we visited the LA temple and then stopped at The Grove to brave the Black Friday crowds and eat at the Farmers Market. Then we went to watch the sunset at the Griffith Observatory in true LA LA Land style. 
Saturday we met up with Sam's fam at the Santa Monica pier and showed them our apartment and went out to dinner and prepared for our talks to give Sunday morning. 

It was a great time seeing both of our families and we're happy that people are still willing to visit us even though we don't live in San Diego heaven anymore.

Monday, November 5, 2018

the moving saga

Once upon a time on October 4th Sam applied for a job. On October 5th Sam had a phone interview for the job. October 9th, Sam drove up to LA for an in-person interview. October 10th, Sam got offered the job. October 11th, Sam started said job.. It all happened so fast! Sam lived in a hotel the 11th-19th. And that very first weekend I met up with Sam to look for apartments. We had 1 day to find something or else we would be paying for Sam to live in an apartment for another week. 

Our apartment hunt started out like any other. Drove to a little pool house we had an appointment at but didn't end up loving it. Then we proceeded to drive by places that we had saved but the neighborhoods were all too sketchy so we didn't even bother to go inside. Then we had an appointment at a place we were excited about and missed it because this happened...
WE GOT A FREAKING NAIL IN OUR TIRE!
Probably from driving around the sketchy neighborhoods tbh. Then we had to spend an hour of our precious apartment hunt time waiting for it to get fixed. Luckily it was lunchtime and we needed to stop and get food anyway so we ate a stressful lunch while waiting for our tire to get fixed. 

Inside the auto shop, exhausted, stressed out of our minds, probably the worst picture we've ever taken but totally accurate depiction of how we felt. 

We rescheduled the appointment we missed, showed up and fell in love with the neighborhood and the atmosphere of the apartment complex but didn't love the actual apartment or the price so we continued our hunt. We were running out of time, it was 4pm and most leasing offices close at 5pm and aren't open on Sunday so it was looking like I was going to have to miss work on Monday and keep looking. As the day went on and our price range kept going up, we actually found an apartment we liked but then the outside smelled like old people and the pool was dirty and the property manager was weird and was forcing us to sign papers so we left, even more down to the wire. Then we found a nice place but they wouldn't give us a tour but we were about to settle because we were DESPERATE! But then we decided to go back to place that we had felt so comfortable walking into and see if they had a studio instead of a 1 bedroom because it was out of our price range. This is where I had a mini breakdown because I was #stressed and panicked and feeling really bad about the move but I pulled it together and they did have an available studio! And even though it was 5:30 and they were closing, they gave us a tour and when we walked into the apartment we knew THIS WAS THE PLACE all 550 sq feet of it!

Here are some poor pictures because I was so happy we found something I totally forgot to take pictures until we were walking out. 


Also, if you've made it this far, claps for you bc this is probably really boring but I'm just writing it down for the mems. So long story short, we found an apartment and place we love, it's a little out of our price range but that's what you get living in the big city close to the Kardashians...

Now at the home front, I was left alone while Sam was working in LA to pack up our place and have it ready for the move in 2 weeks. Everyday after work, I brought home boxes we had leftover from supply orders and would just pack up a little bit every night. My friends also came over and helped me pack up the kitchen and my closet. I finished the packing in about a week and then spent the next week cleaning a little part of the apartment every night. But the real help came moving weekend when Mom and Cortney came and helped me deep clean the bathroom, kitchen, and baseboards. 
Look at these cutie matchers!
And then, just like, it was MOVING DAY! 
It went pretty smoothly and quickly (maybe less than an hour) because everything was already boxed up and we had lots of helpers! All my lovely friends showed up and Dr. Vasquez, a doctor from my work was super sweet and came to help as well! #MVP 
 So happy to have made the best of friends in San Diego but so sad to leave them!
They are my people! How rare is it to find couple friends that you and your spouse both get along with!? They are all GOLD! 

After we were all packed up and had said our goodbyes, we drove the long 2.5 hours up to Woodland Hills--Sam drove the Uhaul, I drove the Cruze, and Mom drove the Jeep. We arrived around 2pm and started unloading right away. Then unloading went surprising well too, our apartment is right off the parking lot which was nice and Sam's cousin in Valencia came to help with the big stuff and he even set up our bed #thanksSeth! We finished unloading the Uhaul in about an hour and then started unpacking some boxes to make room to fit our new couch which we picked up later that night in the Uhaul from the store. We did it! In one whole day, we packed up, drove, and got all moved in! 
I'm so thankful for all the help we got from our wonderful friends and family! We seriously couldn't have done it without them! 

Saturday, November 3, 2018

san diego to do list


We called San Diego home for 4 years and have loved exploring our city and the surrounding areas. Back when we first moved here and I didn't have a job/had hours on end of free time, I made a San Diego To Do List and I'm happy to say we've completed most of it!
Ps. The ones that are linked are blog posts about our visit to those places & 
this is mostly for records of our wonderful time in San Diego.


C O M P L E T E D
Belmont Park-- 20162017
Balboa Park-- 2014, 2016, 2018
Cabrillo National Monument & Point Loma Lighthouse-- 20152017
Topiary Gardens in Mission Hills
Suspension Bridge-- 2016
San Diego Zoo-- 2014
San Diego Safari Park
Mount Soledad Cross-- 2015, 2017, 2018
San Diego de Acala Mission
Juniperio Serra Museum-- 20142016
Old Town/Mormon Battalion Museum
Little Italy-- 2016, 2018
Seaport Village
San Diego County Fair--2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
ComicCon (we only walked around outside the convention center)
USS Midway-- 2014
San Diego Harbor Boat Tour-- 2015
Carlsbad Flower Fields-- 2015, 2016, 2018
Kayak Tour of La Jolla--2015, 2017
Sunny Jim's Sea Cave-- 2015
La Jolla Seal Beach-- 20152015, 20162018, 2018
Sunset Cliffs-- 2014, 2017, 2017, 2017, 2018
Mushroom Caves-- 20142016
Ho Chi Minh Trail Hike-- 2016, 2017
Potato Chip Rock Hike-- 2014, 2016
Torrey Pines State Reserve-- 2014, 2015, 2018
Julian-- 2015
Coronado-- 2018, 2018
LA trip-- 2015
Big Bear-- 2016
Knotts Berry Farm (sans Sam)
Disneyland-- 2014, 2016, 2018, 2018
Harry Potter Land (sans Sam)-- 2016
Padres Game-- 2016, 2018
Palm Springs-- 2018


T O  D O
Catalina Island
Joshua Tree
Mexico
Go sailing
Go clubbing downtown

Just a few things left on the To Do list and we can now do them here in LA. But I definitely need to get on researching things to do in LA. 

last bit of san diego

Once we found out we were moving away from San Diego it was go time! We needed to get in every last bit of fun with our friends before we left! Not that 2.5 hours is super far away but I seriously saw these people every day and I don't know what I'm going to do without them! We've been through law school together, struggles and successes, and they just get me!

BEACH BONFIRE
We had a beach fire which is super nostalgic because the first time we hung out with Cortney and Aaron we bought our portable fire pit. That first night I knew we were going to be best friends after all the disasters that happened and they still liked us. Our car got stuck on one of the parking curbs and all 4 of us had to literally lift the car up, we had to go to like 3 Walmart's to find the fire pit, and I don't think we even ended up doing a fire because it was too late after everything went wrong and we just went to In-N-Out instead. 

ROSE DONUTS
We went to Rosie's a last time for the best donuts and donut holes you'll ever eat! 
A very frequently visited spot a couple blocks from our house.

 BFF SLEEPOVER
Kinzie and Kevin invited us over to their condo for a conference sleepover. We even got some cuddles from Mia, which Sam was not a fan of...

RIO & GYM
My friends are great and came to help me pack up and clean my old place. And every Monday, they took me to Cafe Rio for the military 50% off discount and then to the gym. It was my first time ever at a real gym and Coach Kevin taught us how to dead lift (I'm can only lift the bar though, I'm not strong enough to add extra weight lol). 

 BEACH DAY
Sam and I went surfing as a goodbye to our beloved San Diego and then our friends came for a little beach hang. 

 PUMPKIN PATCH
We've been going to this exact spot for pumpkins and Christmas trees for the past 4 years and had to go one last time with our friends. It's just a little parking lot filled with pumpkins plus free apple cider. 

DENTIST APPOINTMENTS
I got to be a patient and then see my favorite patients at work before I left.
This boy impresses me at every visit with no cavities! And this was the exact day we found out Sam got the job and we were moving!

I got the works--my teeth whitened and impressions for new retainers.

 Lots of thumbs up coming your way lol...
It was so fun seeing Cortney as a patient because we have been talking about this day for years!!

Then said goodbye to my dental team. We've been featured on the news, I'm on the office yelp video, and we were voted best dental office in La Jolla 2017! 

SERIOUSLY GOING TO MISS SAN DIEGO SO MUCH! 
It's been a great 4 years here and I've loved making great friends, surfing, working, playing and having visitors! So now that just means people will have to come play in LA!
 

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