Home to Sacramento

In October I had two weddings in one weekend, and also had some time to kill! On the day I flew in, I went and visited my old apartment from college, and also got a pedicure at the nail salon across the street that my friends and I used to go to all the time. I saw a ton of friends that weekend doing shoots, and stayed with my friend Colette, which was wonderful and I was so grateful to not have to sleep in my car! It shouldn't be a big deal to have your friend sleep on your couch to save some money (I'm $65k in deep for school... I can't afford a hotel. I'm sleeping in my car or on someone's couch). For some reason I had a lot of trouble finding a couch to sleep on. Some friends have little babies, so of course I didn't ask them, and others said they didn't have time for me to stay... With Colette, it was wonderful because she just laid a blanket on the couch and a pillow and left me the code to her front door. A couple of trips I never saw her or her husband at all- I would just leave treats for them on the kitchen counter from weddings, or I brought donuts from Vooddoo Donut once too. We'd text and I'd let her know when I was coming and going but mostly never even saw them. Because we didn't get to visit I specifically made plans to come in early so we could hang out and talk. But truly, I was SO SO SO grateful to Colette and her family to opening their home to me! With a lot of my trips I flew in really late one day, was up before 5am for shoots or traveling to a wedding, and then flew home after the wedding. Or flew in very early, and out very early. My trips were very brief, but it was so good to have somewhere to stay!

 The tree that bloomed beautiful flowers and smelled like poop!

A Very long Drive...

My dad left with the moving truck a good couple hours before I did. He was anxious to get on the road before it got too late, and I was still cleaning up crap and loading the Corolla. I was also anxious about leaving, and when I'm anxious, I pee alot and I stall alot.

I think my dad left around 8 or 830pm, and I left way after 10pm. I took a few last pictures around the house (seen in the last post), stopped at a friend's house to have her return my cable box (which I then couldn't find in my tightly packed car and finally got the on the freeway. I definitely cried a few times as we pulled away and felt very sad to leave this city I have called my home for the last TWELVE YEARS and loved so dearly. On the flip side, each time I came back for work, I often faced a feeling of dread and fear of seeing Matt somewhere. It was definitely the best decision for me to leave. I have restored so much of my self confidence  since the move but I still miss home.

My dad drove until he was tired- about two hours out- and then got a hotel. His wife Andrea called me to coordinate as he figured out the stop and got me instructions on where to get off his her signal back in Southern California was much more stable than his out in the middle of nowhere driving a moving truck.

The dog and the cats all got to stay in the hotel, which was very exciting. My cats are seasoned travels and Amelia especially made herself at home right away, which was pretty funny!

You can see Tootie in the back seat next to my boxwood hedge that I smuggled over the OR border, and Charlie anxiously sitting in th front seat- obviously terrified that the car would leave me behind.
What do you think is the best way to smuggle my plants back into CA when I come back??

Also, my beloved Strawberry plant I mentioned? The six year old one? I came back and got it at the end of August. :) Sadly, it was totally fried, I guess the sprinklers weren't hitting it and it was burned to a crisp, but I smuggled it back with me anyway in a rental car. (I had a class Friday in OR, wedding in CA saturday, class on Sunday in OR, and if I missed a class, they were going to make me repeat the entire course, plus do extensive one on one meetings with the teacher, which wasn't fair. I couldn't get flights to work and they wouldn't let me miss even 10 minutes of the class to ensure I made a flight. Basically they were huge jerks about it, and I was exhausted at the end of the weekend, but I did get to go back to my complex ( I broke in! Rebel!) and look for my plants. My trees were gone but the strawberry was still there, and while it was burned, I took a chance on it and it actually GREW BACK after about a month. It got hit by the snow after that so I don't know if it will keep coming back but I'm hoping! I was also sad to see my unit had been vandalized in the three short weeks since I had left- someone had dumped garbage on the porch and sprayed ketchup everywhere. It made me so upset to see my so very nice house ripped up like that, but it was empty and there was no one to scream at the neighborhood kids like I always had!

 Amelia got comfy on the hotel bed right away! LOL

 Toulouse preferred the window.

 Seriously, Amelia almost got left behind because I couldn't find her. She didn't want to leave all of that plush luxury!

 Y'all know my cat walks on leash like a dog right?

 Tootie is totally cool in the car. Bathing on the freeway!

 Amelia spends her time in the cat carrier. She does NOT like the windows!

 Charlie Brown and his Linus dolly!

 That's my dad driving the Penske truck! It was super smoky right around the state border. Fires I guess, but we never saw any. The smoke was thick and chokey and last at least 40 miles.

Moving Out

These are the last pictures I took in Sacramento before I moved. I finally got my car fixed from when that lady bashed into it with a cable box a couple years ago and they gave me a cool little fiat to buzz around in for a couple weeks. (Dangerous car though, you really can't see out the back window- too small!) It was fun! Also our last trip to the dog park, dressing up for my last wedding in town, last dinner at Jack's Urban Eats (check out the Urban fries! Sweet potato fries, covered in blue cheese dressing, crumbled bleu cheese, spicy chilli oil, parsley! Amazing!) with our dog park friends, and cleaning up my house. I cried when I left. My house was in a crappy neighborhood but I lived there for SIX YEARS and it was home for me for a long time. (Until I got sad and it became a scary place, but as I packed up, it did feel like I was leaving home again.)

 I know these two shots look like I have a major bald spot (I swear it's MOSTLY just the light), but I love these shots, I think I look great! No idea why I look so good though. lol

 Charlie brought his old toys to the dog park and Opal gracious hoarded them all to take home.

 Sweet Potato Urban fries- my FAVORITE1

 The cat tree had to be moved around to clean- Amelia liked it!

 Amelia found a nice place to sleep away from the rukus!

 Saying goodbye to Mila, Charlie's beagle-chihuahua girlfriend.

 My plants were a sad story. There wasn't room in the truck for them all, and many had to be left behind. The two trees, my six year old strawberry plant among the left behinds. I tried to leave them in places where the sprinkler would get them, but I was very upset about this.

 Keys turned in, and the car all packed up and ready to go!