Uninspired, Busy, Tired

So, why the sudden absence in my blog? Well, I'm sorry but I've been feeling uninspired, busy and too tired to blog lately.

First things first, why oh why, do I feel like I have to apologize for being inactive on here?! Is this normal to feel bad about not blogging? Like borderline guilty even? Geesh! What's wrong with me? Do other bloggers out there feel this way when they haven't blogged in awhile? Are we really letting anyone seriously down if we don't blog all the time?

1. Uninspired- Two things here, one, I haven't felt very inspired to write about anything.. And two, while I have a ton of cool things going on in my life right now, for the first time in awhile, I don't have this incredible urge to put it all out there on the internet for the world to read about. I want to keep it private for awhile.. at least for a little bit longer. : )

2. Busy and Tired- Life has gotten busier and blogging is the first to get knocked off my list of things to do. In the past, I've used my nights to blog but lately I'm so tired at the end of the night that the last thing I want to do is sit in front of my computer for another hour and create a post. I can't even tell you the last time I read my book. Before turning off the light at night, I barely have time to take off my glasses! I guess we are all always tired, huh? It's the never-ending quest for more sleep that everyone seems to be searching for. Will we catch it? Probably not...

While I'm on the topic of blogging woes, can I just say how frustrating it can be sometimes when I see most of my fellow bloggers getting these amazing and insightful posts out each and everyday! How do they do that?! Where do they/you find the time?

I guess that I have officially decided that from now on, I'm only going to post when something neat or interesting happens to me. That's totally fair, right?

Can we say 'blogging burnout' or what?!

Project Smile-March

The challenge is to find something to smile about every single day of the month. Thanks to Project Alicia for creating this sweet meme. Now it can be found over at Kristi's blog at Live and Love...out Loud. I've really enjoyed doing this the past two months. : )

Here's what I had to smile about this month:

1st- Back at Bikram Yoga after 4 missed days and it felt amazing!
2nd- I had a dentist appointment to check the progress of my Invisalign and I am right on track to be finished by the middle of next month!!
3rd- An easy drive to Las Vegas!
4th- An amazing night out with new and old friends for a friends Bachelorette Party!
5th- Several hours spent at our hotel pool! Aww, pure bliss!
6th- Another painless drive back home to LA from Vegas.
7th- My 27th Birthday! What's not to be happy about today?!
8th- A sweet trip to Babies R Us for two baby shower gifts.
9th- Finally mailing several Thank-You cards out! I have so much to be thankful for in life.
10- There's nothing better than a nice long run!
11- Went to a Bikram Yoga class with a friend!
12- A busy but very filling day of physical activity and work.
13- Another busy day filled with so much love. My family visited me in LA and took me out for my birthday dinner.
14- This was a fun/productive/busy day ending with nannying for a super sweet little boy.
15- A fabulous night out to a glitzy fashion show in downtown LA
16- I enjoyed a nice long walk around my cute neighborhood.
17- A fun afternoon alone with my nephew sans any green beer!
18- Yet another fun afternoon alone with my nephew.
19- I met some new running friends at a yummy Carbo-load dinner.
20- I ran and finished the LA MARATHON!!
21- Very sore but I'm happy I have no blisters and I can stay home all day to recover from the run.
22- A painless and inexpensive trip to the car dealership to get the oil changed in my car. I also started the vegetarian diet which I'm excited about.
23- Got a new iPod!
24- An hour long massage in the afternoon!!! Aaaahhh!!!
25- Helped out a friend in need.
26- Long fun Saturday filled with an intense basketball game, good friends, beer and this city.
27- Happy to not be hungover! ;)
28- Celebrated a friends birthday at a new restaurant.
29- Two big signs today..
30- Had the courage to text first. : )
31- My roommate Gina's 2nd amazing Pin-Ups For Vets fundraising event. I enjoy any excuse to dress up and put a flower in my hair.

13 Different Houses Built Me

This week's Mama Kat's writing prompt that I chose to write about is: The house that built me.

Before moving to Arizona for college I lived in roughly 13 houses in 7 different countries!

To most people, this sounds totally crazy, but not to me. I can't imagine my life any other way. It's literally impossible for me to imagine growing up in one house my whole life. That just wasn't how I was raised. Somehow I got used to moving. It was fairly normal for us to move to a different house that had better electricity, better plumbing, less cockroaches, and really less problems in general. In the last country I lived in, Myanmar, we moved a whopping 4 times in my 6 years there.

I always knew in the back of my mind that my parents teaching contracts in these countries wouldn't last forever and I was prepared to make the move. It was simply part of this life. Of course, saying goodbye to my friends was always difficult and dramatic but we promised to keep in touch. It is because of this that I'm good at staying connected to my friends now. Facebook and email definitely make that a whole lot easier. I still do enjoy snail mail though. My parents would always make promises of a new and exciting country, a great new school to attend and a brand new batch of neat friends to make. Of course, this would all came true. : )

So, honestly, I didn't have ONE house that built me but many houses throughout my childhood that helped shape the person I am today. I remember bits and pieces from just about all the 13 houses. Oh wow, I just had an epiphany mid-post, I think the reason that I like moving the furniture around in my bedroom so much is because of this nomadic lifestyle that I had growing up. Does that make sense? When I move the furniture around, it becomes a whole new room. How interesting that I just now figured this out....

These houses really did build me.

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!

Confession Time

A part of me feels like a failure. I moved to LA to pursue the music business. I've wanted to work at a record label forever and music is my passion. I moved here back in January with a few contacts and a couple potential job leads. Yet, here I am 9 months later and no music job to speak of. There are just no open paid positions in the music industry right now. Trust me, I've looked everywhere and asked everyone that I know here.

Here comes my confession; I've decided to put the music business job search on hold and I've taken on a full time nannying and babysitting gig. Perhaps if I call myself an 'Au-Pair', it will sound fancier. Anyway, as I've mentioned before in my blog, I started babysitting shortly after I moved here. I have always at one time in my life or another worked with children. I guess it's no surprise that a teacher's daughter would enjoy being with kids. Plus, I'm really just a big kid at heart so that attributes to it as well. : )

Despite the the fact that I really enjoy nannying and it's pretty good money and I'm not stuck behind a desk all day, I still cannot help but feel like a failure. This was certainly NOT my plan. I had much higher musical hopes for my life here in LA. So, now what? Do I stop searching for music biz jobs altogether and focus on this nannying gig? I'm not sure. I guess what's important now is if I'm happy and have a steady income, check and check to that. Life has definitely thrown me harder curve balls in the past.

So, the family that I'm working for has an adorable 16 month old boy named Jake and a little Maltese-Shitzu named Chloe, that I look after during the day as well.


Jake is a super lovable and easy-going kid. I really couldn't have asked for a better behaved or happier child to nanny for. My favorite thing to do (now, that I've gotten the hang of it) is to go on walks around their neighborhood with the two of them. Jake sits happily in his red wagon picking up leaves and Chloe trots ahead of us, on a leash of course. The family lives very close to me which saves me the headache of dealing with awful LA morning traffic. I've been working for this family for only two weeks but I can already tell it's going be a very rewarding experience.

Life really is all about adjusting your plan and being flexible enough to change it accordingly. I suppose that's exactly what I'm doing. Recently, I watched an old episode of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", and in one particular moving Buffy speech, she says, "I'm like cookie dough, I'm not done baking. I'm not done being who I'm going to be." This line really spoke to me. When are we ever really done "baking"? 30? 40? 50 even?

I still want to eventually work at a record label but for now, I'll do the nannying thing. Perhaps my big confession shouldn't be that I took this nannying job, but rather, I confess that I'm still trying to figure out who I am and what career path I want to follow. Geesh, is this what 27 is supposed to feel like?

Live a Longer Life

I heard about this list from a friend and thought it was too interesting not to share on my blog. What do you think about it? Do you agree? There are certainly a few that I don't agree with.

Check it out: Life a Longer Life: 15 Signs

1 Month Left

This week's question for my blog was what five things would you do if you found out that you only had a month left to live. I got most of the traditional answers but there were a few interesting ones. Now instead of waiting to do these incredible things, why not try getting to some now?!

• Quit my job in a very dramatic and movie-like way
• Make amends
• Arrange all my final affairs, make sure I had a will set up and all debts were paid off
• Go to Confession
• Travel Tons: India, South of France, Countryside in UK, Russia, Latin America, Maldives, Go back home - Go on an unforgettable trip to somewhere exotic for a week
• Gamble all my money away in Las Vegas
• Have a threesome- My friend gave a few more details but I'll leave those out here : )
• Watch the sunrise and the sunset everyday to remember how beautiful life is
• Do good deeds, give a lot of my time and/or money to those in need
• Make lots of phone calls
• Write letters and look through all my old pictures
• Throw a big party where everyone I know could eat, drink and dance altogether
• Try to fall in love/Get married in Hawaii and have entire family and all my friends be there for it
• Go surfing, swim with sea turtles, visit the Green Sand Beach- Courtney has Hawaii on the brain! : )
• Laugh endlessly
• Do any and all drugs-Ecstasy, Cocaine, Hallucinogens
• Spend time with my family and close friends
• Go home on the next flight to live with my family
• Kiss my family, boyfriend and dog everyday and try to spend most of my time in their embrace
• Go out to eat all the time and eat something exciting for every meal no matter the cost
• Make sure my pets had a good home

"I have already accomplished a large number of things on my bucket list. That is the reason I travel so much and do so many adventurous things (skydiving, scuba diving, white water rafting, etc). At the end of the day my conscious is the only person I have to answer to and if I have not lived my life in accordance with my principles then I can not say I am living a good life. I feel that is something I need to strive for daily. If I were to drastically change one thing I would remove myself from the remote location I am in and spend as much time with those I love as possible." -Courtney

This is why we are friends. She goes out and does the things that most of us talk about doing. I wish I was as courageous and as brave as her. Courtney has an incredible passion for life and I am proud to call her a friend. She maybe this super fun party chick but she is also one of my smartest friends. Not many people can balance the two and she manages to do them both.

At the end of the day, I think we all just want to be able to say that we lived a good life and we made the most of our time here. I want to be able to say that I loved endlessly and I enjoyed everyone in my life. I want to die old and gray and be absolutely content with my life.