I still call Australia home

So it’s a tough gig being my husband and he does a pretty good job.  We both work, and with 2 kids, a house and a fish our family just doesn’t function unless he’s doing his share (or as he likes to point out, more than his share).  So sure, he does most of the cooking and yes, and he does most of the shopping, and some of the laundry, and does the garden…you get my drift, he’s a fully evolved and super-involved husband.

There’s a lot of things as a full-time working mum in LA I just can’t get to right now.  Sleep.  Regular eye-brow waxing.  Reading Sunday’s NY Times.  Going to the gym.  Updating my iPod.

So it’s in that context that my husband has upped the ante with his new role in our family - my media concierge.  For my birthday right before xmas he got me the new iTouch (ie iPhone without the phone bit).  That in itself was a great present (he’d forgotten my birthday the year before in an uncharacteristic move so it was doubly appreciated).  But the best part was that he’d loaded all my photos, all my favorite music (he’d even sucked it up and included Kelly Clarkson and the Dixie Chicks which he has no time for), plus some Aussie faves (Sneaky Sound System) and other things he thought I’d like, including movies and tv shows.   And the best part was he signed up for keeping it updated on an ongoing basis.  BEST PRESENT EVER! 

 I mentioned this to a friend who had heard of a small company in LA who had just started providing media concierge services to people like me who consume lots of entertainment but don’t have the time or inclination to get the electronic shit together.  So maybe this is the start of a new trend in business.  Or maybe just husbands?

I have been 15 months in LA now and I each time I leave I feel more and more settled as I return. I can’t put my finger on what beyond time has made me fall in love with this metropolis. It could be the laid back attitude of beach side Venice in the winter sunshine, recent drinks with neighbours or the knowledge that having a new job means I can stay.

LA in winter is a treat, with few cars on the road a batch of awesome new films in the cinemas and the late morning sunshine.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2008 is your year.

This photo was taken in our garden on 31 December 2007

It took me a while to work out where I wanted to live in Los Angeles. One of the deciding factors in my choice of Venice (by the beach on the Westside) was that the beach suburbs are 10 - 15 degrees cooler than the Eastside and Valleys. I love Venice as a local cafe says “where art meets crime”. There no sense of it being a cookie cutter Los Angeles suburb there a great mix of people, cafes, second hand shops, bars and all by a fabulous beach.

Now if I was to move again, I would think about Culver City, Mid- Wilshire/ Fairfax area or West Hollywood. I would love to live near Sunset Boulevard in Silverlake but it is just too far from the beach and airport. I am not brave enough to live downtown and the amenities just aren’t there. I don’t get Santa Monica - too many people and too many high street shops.

So down to business- where to find a house:

I found our first house on craigs list I think a lot of agents put houses there as well as other places. Be quick the places go fast. I was lucky to meet the owner and she accepted my application without US references.

We found our current house via  Sabbatical homes  - the advantage of this site is that the houses are often are furnished which meant we could get a bigger joint. It is pretty hit and miss.

Local estate agents are worth speaking to as they can act as a broker and find you a house here is one for Venice.

The other site I like is the multiple listing services which has a watered down version of the site that the agents use. The other advantage is that it is a good way to get to know the rental market in various suburbs.

Good luck!

Last year I wanted to go but was overwhelmed by the thought of the drive. This happens a lot to me in LA, I think about driving downtown or to Pasadena and then I think about facing the traffic - will it be worth it?

But this year I was determined brave the journey to experience this annual event. I roped in six others and with military planning and hand drawn maps we headed to the Day of the Dead celebrations in Hollywood - and it was most definitely worth the effort.

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican festival to honour and celebrate of the lives of the deceased. The celebration in Los Angeles is one of the bigger ones outside of Mexico. It was one of the most original and vibrant events I have ever seen. I loved the Mexican iconography and I was very moved to see the beautiful altars that had been created to celebrate heroes and family members.

The main stage

Two family members created an altar of all the things their lost ones had loved.

one of the altars

As we left the road was blocked by this car - I am not sure he will be quite so pleased he made the effort. (no one was seriously hurt)

One of the best things about living in LA is the number of fabulous places you can escape to on weekends. And boy I need to escape regularly - the longer I stay without a break the more I believe I should do an hour of cardio a day, that carbs after 3pm are a disaster and $10 for a sandwich is the going rate.

Last weekend we went to the desert and stayed in Josuha Tree (’Josh’ to the locals) . I can throughly recommend Spin and Margie’s hideaway for easy pleasant accommodation near the National Park. On Saturday we took a guided walk though the park with local guide Cal. The guided walk was one of my SoCal highlights.

Here are some of the photos:

The Joshua Trees only grow 10 cm a year

Take the ancient ink blot test - a porpoise?

I see a tortoise here…

This was the view from my bedroom window this morning.

I have a good feeling about today.

I have been in the US for ten years.  I came to get my MBA and stayed.  At least for a while.  I have roots here now - a husband, two small kids, and a small house on the westside of LA (a visiting family member once referred to it as a ‘lovely bungalow’), a job which I love.   Returning to live in Melbourne is always 2-3 years away - but it actually seems within striking distance now…maybe in 2-3 years…

I get excited when I think about returning to my family and don’t even get me started about the free baby-sitting.  I crave Melbourne coffee, empty beaches, bright stars, and decent mixed lollies.

But I tell you, there are things I would really miss about life in the US and LA.  Here are a few of them

1. You can pretty much get anything.  Picture this:  AFL Grand Final and the Cats are playing (I am a Geelong girl tried and true).  There’s a bar in Hollywood (a good hours drive on Friday night from Westside of LA) showing the game starting at 8pm.  We organize a sitter and plan to go.  I arrive home from work at 7pm and my 18 month old is sick and my sitter (an actress) is running late, really late.  So I do what any well-trained US consumer does…I call my satellite TV provider and ask how much I have to pay to get a feed of the game into my living room.  10 seconds and $25 dollars later (that’s it?), I am drinking a Mexican beer and eating a meat pie which my husband found at our local deli.

2. National Public Radio.  It’s the best.  “This American Life” (a weekly show) is perfect.

3. Mexican Food: From $1 tacos at my local Taqueria Sanchez, to gourmet street-food at Loteria Grill at the Farmer’s Market to the new high-end Mexican place a block from my house with a full-time 10 piece Mariachi Band, there’s nothing like good Mexican food.  Even ’slop on a plate’ Mexican food tastes better in LA.

4. Mothering as a Sport: Now don’t get me wrong, there are highly committed mothers everywhere, but LA seems to have more than it’s fair share.  These are the ones that spend 2 years working on getting their kids into the ‘right’ pre-school, have birthday parties that are more elaborate than my wedding, create incredible baby scrapbooks, who run themselves ragged darting from music classes to Japanese classes and still look like a million dollars.  I don’t want to be one, but like any good sport, it’s really amazing to watch.  (and OK, so some days I do wish I looked like they do in jeans).

 There’s a lot more too, but this is a start.  And all this talk of Mexican food has made me hungry - I am going to get lunch.

Before I moved to Los Angeles last year I had never been here, not even to hang at LAX. So in the three months between being offered a job and turning up I read and spoke to everyone who had lived in or visited the City of Angels.

No amount of advice prepared me for my first freeway interchange. I thought I was going to die as I merged from the 10 west to the 405 south all I could see was a sea of traffic lights with six lanes of traffic and I confess I let out a shriek of terror….

So anyway this advice helped me in my first few weeks:

1. Start driving it is true LA is a car town so get behind the wheel. Mapquest everything (check the box to avoid highways).

2. Listen to KCRW radio station, it makes those miles you will drive so much easier and Nick Harcourt’s morning becomes eclectic is simply the best music selection I have ever heard. If you join the station they have great ticket give aways and local business discounts.

3. Set up a postal address (I used my work address) and start working on your credit history as soon as you can it seems to impact everything - including gas bills, leases and banking. The simplest way to get credit is to apply for an AMEX card in Australia before you leave then call AMEX as you arrive and they will issue you a US one. Also many newcomers swear by Macy’s store cards. They will give them to anyone (and there is a discount on the day you sign up, great for bedding, etc)

4. Sign up for a cell phone. The plans are pretty good, look for lots of minutes and texts included. Watch the rates to OZ. All the plans make you sign up for two years so also check the penalties for breaking a plan.

5. Sit for your driver’s license. Having a license gives you some US identification and significantly reduces your car insurance costs. The handbook has an introduction from our illustrious Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger which gave me a thrill during an otherwise totally uninspiring experience. Nothing like reliving the horror of a driving test in my 30’s.

Good luck!

Next - 5 tips for Finding a place to live.

About a year ago I left Melbourne to work and live in a new city - Los Angeles. It has been a fabulous year, there is nothing like uprooting your world to make you re-evaluate what is important in life and to experience the highs of new discoveries.

As I head into the next year of being a Southern Californian I thought it was time to reflect on what it means to be an Australian so far away from home living in the city of angels and blogging seems like the natural progression.

I came to LA to follow a dream (someone else’s dream) to start Moonlight Cinema in ten or so cities across the US. For nearly a year I buzzed around the States taking meetings and speaking in school halls with the aim of securing five or so parks to screen movies in this summer.

I had a ball doing business in a new place, without a doubt the Australian accent helped. At the end of a major presentation in Philly I was asked to ‘say G’day’ to the assembled crowd. I have also been asked by my chiropractor to say ‘a dingo stole my baby’. Often the crowd think I am British.

I love the new vocab I am now peppering my sentences with - “I circle back to you” and the great respect for process in business. I love the openness and curiosity of the people I meet, so quick to offer help and advice. Always keen to know what brought you to the US and what you think.

One of my favourite views of LA the 405 freeway on a Friday night from the Getty.