The Move.

First of all, I must say I cannot get enough of my Frank Sinatra radio station on Pandora.com! For those of you not familiar with Pandora, it's an online radio site where you can design your own stations...I usually keep my playlist on a mix of different types of stations, but the past week or so, the vocal stylings of Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Fred Astaire and Harry Connick, Jr have been keeping my spirits alight. Their songs make me dance, which makes me smile, and the problems of the day dissolve to nothing.

This morning I got the keys to my new apartment. I loaded my car last night and this morning with the intent to take a load over to the new place when I picked up the keys...easy, right? My goal for the morning of unloading a car of stuff was impeded by these facts:

a) I helped my sister move on Sunday/Monday, so already my bones were weary and muscles sore

b) There's no easy parking situation... the "no parking" zone in the alley (right by the back door and quickest route to my new apartment) is best explored when you have someone to watch the car, and the meters demand $3 per HOUR (25 cents buys you a measly 5 minutes)

c) I was running very low on silver change, only had 2 dollars worth and kept having to refill the meter, realizing I would not have the hard currency to provide enough time to fully unload my car

d) It was a scorching 100 degrees in downtown LA...I was miserable and sweating profusely (my undershirt was damp the rest of the day, throughout my work day)

e) I was stubbornly doing all of this by myself.

I have no qualms about admitting I have a LOT of stuff. Here, see...

That is only a fraction of it. I have an abundance of art supplies (mostly for Golden), storage shelves on which to keep said supplies, plus loads of other art making tools and goodies. And I'm a girl, I have modest amount of clothes and shoes, bathroom supplies...and also storage devices that house these items. I have a big problem with burdening others with helping me move this stuff around... but can't really afford movers... so I try and move as much on my own as I can. I have a hard time accepting when I need to ask for help. But today was that day. After having a near meltdown, I knew I would not be able to tackle this obstacle alone.

My lovely friend Cecily gave me an hour of her time tonight and we finished emptying out my car... which really helped my sanity a lot, to see an empty car. It felt productive, things were looking up. Now it's almost 2am... I've packed up more things to prepare for more trips tomorrow. DWP is turning my power on tomorrow, so it's possible this night may be my last spent in this apartment. I can't say packing up my studio hasn't been a little sad... but I'm looking forward to the new change.

Leo has been really confused by all of his environmental changes... I'm pretty sure he's convinced I'm going to leave him here...

Many fun photos to share from my double wedding weekend in Minnesota... it's SO gorgeous there this time of year. Sunflower fields, little garden critters, warm sunshine and great company, the trip was too short! Images to come soon!!