Quiche, taxes & flowers

Hello everyone!

Just chillin' here in my apartment this calm Saturday night. What a gorgeous day - it reached 82 degrees today, and it was only about 64 yesterday... awesome!

I took Friday off of work, Mom, SD & Grand-Mere arrived around noon from the Inland Empire, we went to Manhattan Beach to walk around, visited the aquarium on the pier, tried a "rassi" chocolate croissant from Starbucks, and enjoyed the sunshine. We then went to Hermosa Beach and enjoyed walking in the sand, and I decided to take a drive in the Rancho Palos Verdes/Rolling Hills Estates area to see what the beach looks like from up there. It's quite a hill! I think that's where most of the rich people live who work in L.A. I saw some gorgeous homes! Here are some pictures from the view from the hill:

I bought some flowers to bring oxygen, beauty and fragrance to the apartment:

I love lavender!! It's the Provencal in me...

Saturday we had breakfast at "Creme De La Crepe," such a cute little French place with yummy food. So now, family is gone, Babe is gone, my brother's not coming next week... so it'll be just me again for... who knows, at least a month, either/and when Babe will come back, my brother comes to spend a week on the beach, when $teve comes to visit early April.

Well, I've got a few projects until then.

I bought some cool yet simple photo frames from Target today, and Mom brought over my 2007 Paris Calendar with lots of awesome black and white Paris pictures on there - I'm going to make a Paris collage in my bedroom. It's about time I put some art on the wall...

I would also love to have a piece of art above my couch. I saw a really cool canvas in an art store close to my house, but it's $700. I'll find something at Ikea... or maybe take a high res picture of the beach in my 'hood and have it blown up for $20? Sounds like a plan. I need the inner photographer in me to come out... or maybe just talk The Mad Scientist into coming over to take a gorgeous picture for me :)

So I've been doing a lot of thinking this week. I don't know how well everyone knows me, but basically I'm the kind of person whom if I don't have the next 5 years of my life planned out, then I feel lost. Well, just like for everyone, life throws you a curveball once in a while. Which means I have to re-plan my life, LoL. Well, when I got the job here, I imagined every different scenario that could have happened... be here forever, a year or two, eventually go to Newport Beach, raise a family in Orange County... Although I didn't have a set plan, I was surprisingly ok, because this is something I wanted to try out. If it didn't work out, then I'd come back to Utah, but at least I would've lived my Californian dream for a little while, and that's the satisfaction I wanted.

I've discovered... that whether I spend the rest of my life here or in Utah, I'd be happy. But with certain circumstances and realizations, I'm leaning towards Utah. Here are a few reasons why:

* Babe's going back to school in Utah for free. We're getting married (we're getting married!!), and if he can continue to go for free, then I totally support that and want to be there for him.

*HOW IS THERE STILL TRAFFIC IN CALI AT 6:20 PM????

*I love the beach. But as Boss Lady P would say, "Cancer is not sexy." Good point.

*With that said, I love the beach so much - but also because it's something I only get to see while on vacation. If I'm working 10-12 hour days, I don't see it. What's the point?

*I've actually gotten sick of the beach. WHAT?!?!? That's right. I get headaches if I stay in the sun too long and want to do nothing but sit on the couch for the next 2-3 hours. And I hate being a couch potato.

*Pollution. the beach is pretty, but that smog across the ocean... isn't very appealing to my sight or lungs.

*Cost of living is way too high. I can afford my apartment, but have barely enough money set aside for that downpayment on a house I'd like someday.

*Babe and I plan to be parents someday. Nothing thrills me more than the joy of knowing that I will be a mom at some point :). I would rather raise my children in Utah than L.A. Plus, grandparents would be in Utah (except mon Papa adoré, tear), and I would like them to see the grandkids as often as possible. Not just for baby-sitting favors. Family is important to me, and I want them to have a close connection. It's the Fritalian in me :)

*I never thought I'd say this... my I like my little city of Salt Lake. I'm not a mountain/ski person, yet I love the mountain landscape. People are friendly. Vegas is a 6 hr drive away. Cali only a 10 hr drive away. SLC-CDG just started last June with delta. I'm set :)

So, what's the plan for my next 5 years you ask?

Well, the ideal, perfect plan: I stick with my job for a year and gain some great experience. I find a comparable job back in Utah to start on Monday January 4th, 2010, and my last day at my current job will be on Friday, December 18th, 2009 (I like details, can you tell?). That way I will only have to file one state tax return (quite a pain to do my taxes this year, which Mom and I finished yesterday by the way, hurray!! ). I have a beautiful two weeks to relax for Christmas before I start my new job. I will live at my parents's for a few months to save money, then Babe and I will buy a house ready to go when we get married in August 2010 (I assume August during summer break with school, and so that the Frenchies can come when kids are out of school). We have a wild crazy wedding night. And the rest is... well, we'd like to have kids before we're 30, and I want to know the joys of being a mom before the world ends in 2012 according to the Mayan Calendar. Lol. Just kidding. Sorta...

Well, aside from the apocalypse, I love my plan.... and it's way too detailed and of course, in another 6 months another curveball will be thrown at me and everything will change again... but it's okay. Everything will work out anyway. Considering I love planning, if I have to re-plan my life in 6 months, I'm okay, it's kinda boring here by myself anyway... plenty of time for that. Ooh, and although I have a year and a half, I have a wedding to plan... sometime. How fun! I've been watching "Whose wedding is it anyway," and although I'm not going to have a $40k wedding (which believe me, I have no problem with that), I'm getting some fun ideas... and with my frugal abilities... it'll just be the best darn $2k wedding ever :)

Oh, before I forget, today I'm grateful that I spent an awesome day with my parents. I love company. What made me LoL today was an old angry guy with a pipe in his mouth in a small car yelling at the guy in front of him because he didn't see the green arrow to turn left. You really think he's going to hear you? Just honk nicely! Wow. It just looked like it was straight out of a cartoon. Ah, older people. Gotta love' em.

That's enough for tonight... Hope you were entertained, if not, then I'm sorry. I'll go back to talking about food and diets and work in my next post. Have a great Saturday night!!