Welcome New followers!!

Since I have so fabulously acquired so many new followers this week (THANK YOU!!), I thought it might be nice to give a little recap of what this blog is all about and a little information about moi!

Hi! My name is Leah and this blog is about my relatively new life here in Los Angeles, California. I moved here in January from Phoenix, Arizona. I wonder how much longer I can keep saying that I'm new here. I get at least a year, right? I am passionate about all things music so I talk about it a lot. I also love going to new restaurants, doing all the LA touristy type things, spending time with my friends and new roommates, reading, dancing, running, going to see movies and now BLOGGING has become one of my new favorite hobbies.

I started this blog right when I moved here and it has quickly turned into one of the most therapeutic things for me. It seriously is like free therapy. Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would have my own blog. I've never thought of myself as a writer but it's certainly fun for me now.

Why did I move to LA? Glad you asked. : ) I've been wanting to live here for a long time for a few reasons. The biggest one is that my sister and her family live in San Diego. She has a 16 month old son that I absolutely adore and just had to be closer to. I also want to work in the music industry and this is definitely the city for that business. Specifically, I would like to work in the A & R department at a record label, that is, the artist and repertoire department. So far, I haven't had any luck finding a job in the music biz but I'm still very hopeful. So in the meantime, I've been nannying and babysitting a lot. I also work as my roommate's assistant for her Pin Ups For Vets calendar project, traveling and attending events. Please check out the link, it's an amazing project doing wonderful things for VETS all over the world.

So, there ya go. This is me thus far! I really really appreciate all the new followers that I've gotten recently. I love that people are stopping by my blog and actually reading my posts and commenting. Recently, I have found a lot of new fun blogs too so I know that there are a lot of interesting blogs out there. So, thank you so much for making mine one to follow. Reaching 50 followers was super neat!

Stay tuned for more of my adventures here in La La land!

So You Think You Can Dance

I love dancing! I really do. I'm definitely not the best dancer by far but I think I've got some rhythm and coordination and I'm always up for some impromptu dancing. I've been to two weddings recently and I honestly think the dancing at the reception is the best part of the whole thing. Most people are loosened up with a few drinks under their belts, the bride and groom have said their hello's and thank-you's to most guests and can finally unwind on the dance floor for a bit.

Tonight, I watched the newest episode of So You Think You Can Dance and I swear every time I watch an episode of this show, I'm reminded of how much I enjoy dancing and how much more I wish my friends and I went out and danced. Geez, I live in LA now... there are dancing clubs everywhere in this city and I haven't been to one yet! I need to fix that asap! LA friends, help a girl out!

But, back to the show, these people on it are so talented. They turn dance into this amazingly beautiful art form. It's so smooth and fluid when these guys do it. I'm not fishing for compliments or anything when I say this, but damn, can I be that gifted at just one thing? Ugh! It's just not fair! I'll take anything...whistling, tap dancing, holding my breath, hair styling, cooking, etc.. You get the picture.. Hmmm, maybe, I haven't found my great talent yet.... What's yours? Dancing, perhaps?

His Stamp Collection

This week I chose the following writing prompt from Mama Kat's workshop, "Write about a collector you know..."

My dad was a huge collector. He collected pretty much everything: coins, foreign money, unique beer bottles, state quarters, jazz CDS, interesting containers and many more. However, his all time favorite was his stamp collection.

He had hundreds and hundreds of them and sadly now my sister and I own them all. We still have yet to decide what to do with them all. My dad took such pleasure in searching for stamps, removing the sticky paper from them (this was a long detailed process involving tubs of water and using tweezers, he would delicately remove the sticky film from the stamps), organizing them into albums labeled by their country of origin, and of course trading and purchasing them. Since we lived overseas most of my life, my dad had stamps from all over the world. It's seriously quite the international collection.

I've never seen someone take such pride in their collection as my dad did with his stamp collection. When I close my eyes, I can see him sitting at his card table in front of the TV "playing with his stamps" as we liked to call it. The table is covered with a few of those albums and using tweezers, he is putting a few stamps in their proper homes in these albums. He looks up occasionally to check out what's on the TV and take a sip of his Diet Dr. Pepper. But, besides that, he is focused on the job at hand. He would spend hours sitting like this. This was certainly one way my dad relaxed in the summers.

His collection was on our mind so much that whenever any of us saw a stamp, we had to give it to him, even if that meant tearing it off a perfectly good postcard. He had me doing that for him even after I graduated high school and lived on my own at college. I couldn't help myself, I had piles all over my apartment of stamps to give to him later. Then, anytime a friend of mine would go to a new country that my dad had never been to, they would have to stop by the post office to get a few stamps for him. We were all constantly helping feed his stamp collection. I'm not complaining though. It was a way for me to be apart of it and that was fun for me.

I still think about ripping the stamp off mail I receive but catch myself before I actually do it. Stamps will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope that someone in my future family will pick up the hobby in honor of my dad. : )

Put on a Happy Face!

This week I chose the following writing prompt from Mama Kat's workshop, What are 10 Things That Are Sure to Put a Smile on My Face When I'm Not Happy:

1. Brightly colored toenails- My mom always told me that whenever I'm feeling sad, I should paint each toenail a different color. I don't that anymore because I think it looks kinda silly but I do always have to have my toenails painted.

2. Waking up before my alarm clock- Then, seeing that I have a whole more hour left to sleep! No explanation necessary here, right?

3. Mail- I don't mean e-mail, I mean serious real handwritten letters in envelopes and everything! People just don't it enough nowadays... Friends, take a hint here! I think I'm still old fashioned in this sense.. I still send greeting cards, postcards and an occasional letter in the mail pretty often.

4. Dreams- When I dream about my mom and dad, I can't help but cheer up. I miss them very much and if I get to see them again, even if it's just a dream, I treasure those moments.

5. A Build a Bear Monkey- Yes, I know, I'm a big dork but these darn monkeys have a special significance in my family. Right T? : ) Below is a picture of Clementine (my mom's), Diego (my sister's) and Leo (mine).

6. Pictures- As you've probably been able to tell from this blog, I adore pictures. I have them up all over my room and I've put a bunch up around the house for my roommates to enjoy as well. I'm always taking pictures when I'm out with friends or family and I figure, why take them if you aren't going to admire them later? I also feel like I'm constantly missing people in my life so having pictures of them around makes them feel a little closer to me.

7. Mac & Cheese & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches- Again, I know I'm a big dork/big kid but these two are serious comfort food for me. No matter what is wrong, I always feel better after eating either of these. I don't have them very often at all though so they are really meant for those really dark days.

8. Butterflies- I'm not sure why exactly but I love butterflies. In fact, I love them so much, I got a butterfly tattoo on my right ankle on my 18th birthday. Yes, I know, it's a tad cliché but I love it so whatever! So, butterflies are a symbol of change, joy, and color. When they fly, it appears as dancing, and apparently, a reminder not to take things too seriously. They have a sense of lightness. The butterfly is also a powerful symbol for transformation.

9. Fireworks- Of course I rarely see them but whenever I do, I instantly feel as bright as the fireworks themselves. How could anyone not feel that way after watching an amazing firework show? Hopefully, I'll be somewhere cool to watch the fireworks this July 4th!

10. Musicians- I can't help but feel incredibly happy every time I see a musician do their thing up on a stage. Whether they are playing the guitar, the piano or just singing, it's such an amazing scene to witness.

Interior Design

Since I can remember, I've enjoyed rearranging my bedroom. I literally move every piece of furniture from one wall to the other. I love how drastically different I can make the room look. It's also a good time for some serious cleaning. In high school, my mom would always joke that she would come in and say good night to me from one side of the room and then I would be the exact opposite side of the room when she would come in and wake me up in the morning.

In fact for a time in college, I was seriously considering going into interior design or architecture. Unfortunately, there is way too much math in both of those areas for me to handle. I still think about it from to time but I enjoy the music industry much more.

Well, today I moved all the furniture around in my room. I hadn't done that since I first moved in so it felt totally therapeutic. I am happy to report that it looks totally awesome now. I'm not sure if I prefer this set up then what it was like before but it's different, so that's cool for now.

I can't help but wonder why do I enjoy moving my furniture around so much? Do I really like change this much? Can I really not handle things staying the same for too long in my life? Perhaps I'm getting a little too deep, I mean, I am just talking about furniture, but could it be my subconscious talking? Or maybe this is just one of my many hobbies...