Spring in California

I've been meaning to check out Descanso Gardens for a while now and finally managed to get my act together. It's only about 15 minutes away from my place. In typical "Melanie" fashion... I manage to pick the busiest day of the year to check out the gardens. I get there and the queue is halfway to the overflow parking lot. Or course... not having done any research I had no idea what was going on. Eventually found out that weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival. I'm not really patient so the wait was a drag but on the other hand all the cherry trees were in bloom so that was cool. The gardens are beautiful and it's a good walk with lots of hills. The gardens were originally part of a wealthy publisher's estate which was sold to Los Angeles County and from there developed into Descanso gardens that can be viewed by the public. So many of you know I LOVE flowers and I love taking pictures of flowers. So this post wouldn't be complete without lots of pictures.

So not JUST Flowers.... some fruit as well....

a teeny train....

and one determined turtle - he was bound and determined to climb that rock but kept sliding back into the water. Again... patience not my strong point so after about 10 minutes of watching him try I moved on.

Whew! I did it!

So I don't know how many of you know this but on moving to California, in order to get a California driver's license I had to take a written and driven test. (not sure I understand the logic behind the whole process, I mean they'll let me drive on my Canadian license and even gave me a temporary license all without taking a test but I guess rules are rules) So I did the written test a couple of weeks ago and passed that (had to get all the miles and miles per hours sorted out). The driven test was scheduled for today. I've been monitoring my driving for the past two weeks to try and correct any bad habits that I've picked up over the past 20 years of driving. I really wasn't that nervous until last night - guess subconsiously I was more concerned about it than I thought 'cause I woke up every hour on the hour last night. Anyways, long story short... I took the test and whew... I passed. I think this is pretty much it... other than the Visa... and getting my banking sorted out once and for all, but effectively I think I have arrived and am settled.

"Stuck" in California

Okay... so I know I just moved here and I'm not really homesick or anything like that. But I found out on Friday that my company is working on getting me a work visa instead of a work permit. Not sure what difference this will bring but my understanding is it will make it easier for me to get a green card in the long run. Not a big deal only I'm not allowed to leave the US (even to go to Canada) until the process is done. This could take 4 -6 months and not that I was planning on going anywhere but all of a sudden I have this insatiable urge to fly home :) Funny how that is, heh?

Home sweet Home... during the storm...

So I was very fortunate... I got my apartment Friday night and all my stuff arrived on Monday.

As I didn't bring any dining room furniture with me I decided to use the dining room to house the majority of my boxes, giving me room to move around in the rooms while I organize. Mmm... how to make everything fit...

Well... the furniture is IN the living room which is a good thing...

Remember all those boxes in the dining room... almost all of them are going to have to fit in here... somehow... someway.... sigh... someday?

No problem with space here - just need a couple of book shelves and it should be good to go. So this is what the apartment looked like about 3 weeks ago. Most everything is unpacked but I won't be posting any final pictures until I get some final things worked out... need to buy some bookshelves, dining room furniture, get rid of all the boxes AND finish sorting out the craft room (that will be the real challenge ...) Melanie

Home Sweet Home... before the storm... take 2

Not sure why this didn't post with anything so I guess I'll have to go through the grand tour again.

When you first walk into the apartment - straight ahead is the dining room with patio doors leading out to a fairly large balcony.

There is a large area just oustide the patio doors that I'm hoping to set up a table and chairs. The patio extends past the doors from the living room and up to the bedroom.

Moving clockwise arount the apartment, next to the dining room is the living room. It's goning to be a tight fight for my furniture and the shape is a little awkward....

Next is the bedroom aka the "hobby/craft" room. As the largest room in the house it will need to house my extensive craft supply collection.

The bathroom is made up of two rooms - the first hold the vanity and the second a soaker tub (YES!) and toilet.

Next to the bathroom is a storage close under the stairs that lead up to the loft. the stairs are "part" of the living room and ar at an angle which contributes to that awkardness I mentioned earlier. Half way up the stairs is a large ledge...not easy to access (over waist high when standing on landing) but large enought that I need to come up with something to do with this... any suggestions?

The loft area is a pretty good size and I'm going to use this for my bedroom (love the bed, heh?) There is another patio door off the bedroom leading to a second balcony. Pretty nice, huh? this one is screaming for a hammock or lounger, I'm thinking.

this is the view looking down from the loft - kind of get a feel for the lay of the main floor.

The kitchen is right next to the stair and sort of looks onto the dining room. It is definitely not open concept but it's functional. Besides... you all know how much I love to cook so I'm sure this won't be an issue at all.

And that brings us back to the entrance. Right off the entrance is a set of close doors that open up to the insuite laundry. Definite bonus! So that's the grand tour... Melanie