Appropriate title as there was a 5.4 earthquake in Chino today which practically shook me off the couch earlier today as I watched the ship that sits on the mantle of the fireplace practically sail into my head but also appropriate to mark all the changes since being back home in LA. Feeling a bit nostalgic as I read all the old posts about wanting to start my own company, I have very wonderful news to share. After 4 months of intensive work, I have officially launched my new company. Yay... I have put a lot of effort into this and am very excited about what's to come:)
Cheers.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Eat Pray Love
I finished reading Eat, Pray, Love last week. Caroline bought it for me a few weeks ago while we were out at dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in the IE (as in the Inland Empire, not Ireland) and afterwards she walked me over to the bookstore and bought me the book and said "Read it, she's you."
It was quite inspiring for me because as it turns out I am very similar to Elizabeth Gilbert and her viewpoints on life and children and travelling and priorities. She takes a different course than the usual on her path of self-discovery, leaving her home after a painful divorce and travelling to Italy, India and Indonesia on a journey of self-recovery, very similar to my trip to Ireland and I found myself laughing, crying, smiling and relating to so many things that she went through on her journey.
It reminded me that I am not alone, not the only one who wasn't jumping to have children and settle down but instead wanted to travel and explore, not the only one who needed to heal from a lifetime of heartbreak, not the only one who loves and lives her life in her own unique way a bit off the beaten path, not conforming to everything that society says I should be as a woman... and by that I mean being 32 and not being a wife or a mother, with a house and a white picket fence who cooks every meal and cleans after her children and has a very routine life that revolves around these roles in her life.
Not that there is anything wrong with those who choose the role of wife or mother or both in any way shape or form. In fact, I admire those that choose the role of mother and have the discipline to do so even more because of my inability to be that committed to that lifestyle. It's just not been of my greatest desires to do so myself, and I've never felt that "biological time clock" that most women talk about and at this point I don't know if I ever will have that overwhelming desire to be a mother.
Strangely enough, I would love being married as long as I felt I was marrying the "right" person for me, not a perfect person but my perfect companion. I enjoy the idea of the love and companionship and sharing that would come with marriage and maybe then my viewpoint on children would change. But that's not the only thing the book is about, just one of the first of many things I related to while reading... and so all that said, read the book, it's fantastic!
It was quite inspiring for me because as it turns out I am very similar to Elizabeth Gilbert and her viewpoints on life and children and travelling and priorities. She takes a different course than the usual on her path of self-discovery, leaving her home after a painful divorce and travelling to Italy, India and Indonesia on a journey of self-recovery, very similar to my trip to Ireland and I found myself laughing, crying, smiling and relating to so many things that she went through on her journey.
It reminded me that I am not alone, not the only one who wasn't jumping to have children and settle down but instead wanted to travel and explore, not the only one who needed to heal from a lifetime of heartbreak, not the only one who loves and lives her life in her own unique way a bit off the beaten path, not conforming to everything that society says I should be as a woman... and by that I mean being 32 and not being a wife or a mother, with a house and a white picket fence who cooks every meal and cleans after her children and has a very routine life that revolves around these roles in her life.
Not that there is anything wrong with those who choose the role of wife or mother or both in any way shape or form. In fact, I admire those that choose the role of mother and have the discipline to do so even more because of my inability to be that committed to that lifestyle. It's just not been of my greatest desires to do so myself, and I've never felt that "biological time clock" that most women talk about and at this point I don't know if I ever will have that overwhelming desire to be a mother.
Strangely enough, I would love being married as long as I felt I was marrying the "right" person for me, not a perfect person but my perfect companion. I enjoy the idea of the love and companionship and sharing that would come with marriage and maybe then my viewpoint on children would change. But that's not the only thing the book is about, just one of the first of many things I related to while reading... and so all that said, read the book, it's fantastic!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Coachella 2008
Coachella is always worthy of a blog so I thought I would sit down and share my adentures. I wasn't even sure I would be at Coachella this year given that I was still scheduled to be in Ireland until September but given that I am home in LA, I couldn't miss it although all evidence pointed to the contrary until right before hand. Also I haven't really explained how I ended up back in LA but I promise to save that story for a later date... for now COACHELLA!!!
Because I didn't know I would be here, I didn't really make a big attempt to partner in with the Boonville crew on the RV and just assumed it would work out, but by the time I realized I would be able to attend the RV was fully booked. Hmmm, now what? I finally was able to reach Jude regarding the house she has there and that was also already rented... hmmm... maybe this just isn't meant to be. Then Alex who I had planned to go to Coachella with almost backed out... It's not looking good. But at the last minute, Even Steven worked his magic and hooked Alex and I up with Khan who I had met at The Beat Beach party a few weeks before and said that we could stay at his condo for the weekend, which we did not actually finalize until the week of Coachella and of course everything else in the area was already booked. Talk about taking it close to the wire. But everything as it turns out worked out exactly as it was supposed to.
Alex and I left LA for Coachella on Friday morning, had no traffic. Jude hooked me up with tickets for all 3 days and an extra ticket for Sunday and we were packed in Alex's very full with Sleeping bags and airbeds Audi TT and we were off to our adventure with music beating the whole way there.
Khan had rented a condo at the PGA West through VRBO which is the same company that we used in Barcelona (the one that we were broken into by someone with a key) but this was a much better experience. It was a lovely condo on a golf course with a pool and jacuzzi right outside our patio, with a lake surrounding the area. We met what I now refer to as the PGA West Crew including Khan, Sophie, Sara & Marcus and Brian, said our hello's and headed to day one of the festivities.
Coachella really outdid themselves this year with the artwork. There were huge art displays that were apparently from last year's Burning Man and it was simply indescribably amazing. We spent the first part of the day wandering around the grounds checking out the displays and artwork and playing in the water fixtures and then headed to the Sahara tent to see Adam Freeland. Great way to start the festival:) We then saw Goldfrapp and The Verve and a headed back to Sahara to see Fat Boy Slim. Now I normally would have preferred to see Jack Johnson because I know he would have been amazing, but mellow, live. However, I am so glad that Khan headed us back to Fatboy Slim because he took us on an amazing DJ journey that was one of the best live DJ sets I have ever seen, hands down!!! I was literally on Cloud 9 from the experience. Throughout the day, I felt the tension in my shoulders begin to relax as I was around these great people all there to experience a weekend of good music and fun and by the end of the day, I literally felt for the first time since returning back to LA, at HOME. It was phenomenal and euphoric and exhilarating!
We then headed back to the house to reminisce on our favorite things for the day and snack on chips and salsa before heading to bed, and by that I mean passing out in a sleeping bag on the couch, at around 2:30am.
Day two, I met our new Portland friends that were staying in one of the rooms of the condo. Alex and I went to the grocery store and picked up fresh meat and eggs and fruit and champagne and beer and came back to the house and I boiled eggs. Not many know this but I am actually the perfect hard-boiled egg maker;) We had a nice cooked chicken lunch and then headed in the afternoon to the festival and literally ran to the Sahara tent to catch James Zabiela. We ran into the Boonville crew right after that and spent the rest of the day tossing between Saraha and the beer garden. We got to see Boyz Noize, Erol Alkan, Hot Chip, Junkie XL (amazing),M.I.A., Sasha & John Digweed and then headed to Prince at the main stage which I have to admit was a bit disappointing considering how much I LOVE Prince and after three songs I decided to stop torturing the boys and we went back to the RV for an after party which lasted until 4am in the camping area with at least 20 people coming in and out of the party and Rasmus and Even Steven DJ'ing all my favorite songs. It was wonderful.
We had to catch a cab back to the condo so we walked back to the now very empty road and some guy tried to "give us a ride", creepy in a truck, to which I politely declined and then fate stepped in as one of the VIP carts came by, picked us up and drove us to the main road where a real cab pulled up behind him and gave us a ride back to the condo. He was very nice and telling stories about growing up in Indio and gave us his business card if we needed another cab. The condo crew was still partying by the pool so we poured another drink and joined them where we also met a young French Canadian who was there VJing for Sasha & Digweed that night and stayed up until around 6am.
Sunday was a slow day to start so we barbecued the steaks I had marinated on Saturday and ate amazing food during the day and then headed to Coachella around 4pm. We saw Booka Shade and Danny Tenaglia, Sia, Modeselektor and then headed to Roger Waters where he did a 3 hour set including the entire Dark Side of the Moon album and was mindblowingly talented. After that was the wind down so we ran back to Sahara to catch Justice and dance dance danced until the end of the evening, so much fun... but not over yet:) We then ran to the funky drum circle and played there and got food at the yummy Japanese restaurant and had massages and played until the cops came and politely kicked us out at about 2am.
We then headed back to the condo, threw on bathing suits and hit the jacuzzi with champagne until the security guards shut us down for noise at about 4am at which point the party just moved back into the condo, first ours, and then the condo of the French Canadians a few doors down. It was so much fun. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt over the events of the evening, 6 people were in the bathtub making their own jacuzzi at our condo while the rest of us lounged at the other condo, laughing, listening to music and just having a wonderfully fun and relaxing time. I think we went to bed around 6:30am after the sun was rising and then woke up Monday at around 9:30am from the heat and just chilled and ate and finally left the adventure after cleaning up the mess at around 3pm.
It was one of the best Coachella experiences ever. My favorite music of the weekend was Fatboy Slim, Roger Waters, Junkie XL, Justice and Sia. I left feeling revived and rejuvenated and peaceful and energized all in the same moments. I absolutely love everyone I met while I was there and we are already keeping in touch and I am already excited in anticipation for next year!!!
Cheers,
Ness
Because I didn't know I would be here, I didn't really make a big attempt to partner in with the Boonville crew on the RV and just assumed it would work out, but by the time I realized I would be able to attend the RV was fully booked. Hmmm, now what? I finally was able to reach Jude regarding the house she has there and that was also already rented... hmmm... maybe this just isn't meant to be. Then Alex who I had planned to go to Coachella with almost backed out... It's not looking good. But at the last minute, Even Steven worked his magic and hooked Alex and I up with Khan who I had met at The Beat Beach party a few weeks before and said that we could stay at his condo for the weekend, which we did not actually finalize until the week of Coachella and of course everything else in the area was already booked. Talk about taking it close to the wire. But everything as it turns out worked out exactly as it was supposed to.
Alex and I left LA for Coachella on Friday morning, had no traffic. Jude hooked me up with tickets for all 3 days and an extra ticket for Sunday and we were packed in Alex's very full with Sleeping bags and airbeds Audi TT and we were off to our adventure with music beating the whole way there.
Khan had rented a condo at the PGA West through VRBO which is the same company that we used in Barcelona (the one that we were broken into by someone with a key) but this was a much better experience. It was a lovely condo on a golf course with a pool and jacuzzi right outside our patio, with a lake surrounding the area. We met what I now refer to as the PGA West Crew including Khan, Sophie, Sara & Marcus and Brian, said our hello's and headed to day one of the festivities.
Coachella really outdid themselves this year with the artwork. There were huge art displays that were apparently from last year's Burning Man and it was simply indescribably amazing. We spent the first part of the day wandering around the grounds checking out the displays and artwork and playing in the water fixtures and then headed to the Sahara tent to see Adam Freeland. Great way to start the festival:) We then saw Goldfrapp and The Verve and a headed back to Sahara to see Fat Boy Slim. Now I normally would have preferred to see Jack Johnson because I know he would have been amazing, but mellow, live. However, I am so glad that Khan headed us back to Fatboy Slim because he took us on an amazing DJ journey that was one of the best live DJ sets I have ever seen, hands down!!! I was literally on Cloud 9 from the experience. Throughout the day, I felt the tension in my shoulders begin to relax as I was around these great people all there to experience a weekend of good music and fun and by the end of the day, I literally felt for the first time since returning back to LA, at HOME. It was phenomenal and euphoric and exhilarating!
We then headed back to the house to reminisce on our favorite things for the day and snack on chips and salsa before heading to bed, and by that I mean passing out in a sleeping bag on the couch, at around 2:30am.
Day two, I met our new Portland friends that were staying in one of the rooms of the condo. Alex and I went to the grocery store and picked up fresh meat and eggs and fruit and champagne and beer and came back to the house and I boiled eggs. Not many know this but I am actually the perfect hard-boiled egg maker;) We had a nice cooked chicken lunch and then headed in the afternoon to the festival and literally ran to the Sahara tent to catch James Zabiela. We ran into the Boonville crew right after that and spent the rest of the day tossing between Saraha and the beer garden. We got to see Boyz Noize, Erol Alkan, Hot Chip, Junkie XL (amazing),M.I.A., Sasha & John Digweed and then headed to Prince at the main stage which I have to admit was a bit disappointing considering how much I LOVE Prince and after three songs I decided to stop torturing the boys and we went back to the RV for an after party which lasted until 4am in the camping area with at least 20 people coming in and out of the party and Rasmus and Even Steven DJ'ing all my favorite songs. It was wonderful.
We had to catch a cab back to the condo so we walked back to the now very empty road and some guy tried to "give us a ride", creepy in a truck, to which I politely declined and then fate stepped in as one of the VIP carts came by, picked us up and drove us to the main road where a real cab pulled up behind him and gave us a ride back to the condo. He was very nice and telling stories about growing up in Indio and gave us his business card if we needed another cab. The condo crew was still partying by the pool so we poured another drink and joined them where we also met a young French Canadian who was there VJing for Sasha & Digweed that night and stayed up until around 6am.
Sunday was a slow day to start so we barbecued the steaks I had marinated on Saturday and ate amazing food during the day and then headed to Coachella around 4pm. We saw Booka Shade and Danny Tenaglia, Sia, Modeselektor and then headed to Roger Waters where he did a 3 hour set including the entire Dark Side of the Moon album and was mindblowingly talented. After that was the wind down so we ran back to Sahara to catch Justice and dance dance danced until the end of the evening, so much fun... but not over yet:) We then ran to the funky drum circle and played there and got food at the yummy Japanese restaurant and had massages and played until the cops came and politely kicked us out at about 2am.
We then headed back to the condo, threw on bathing suits and hit the jacuzzi with champagne until the security guards shut us down for noise at about 4am at which point the party just moved back into the condo, first ours, and then the condo of the French Canadians a few doors down. It was so much fun. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt over the events of the evening, 6 people were in the bathtub making their own jacuzzi at our condo while the rest of us lounged at the other condo, laughing, listening to music and just having a wonderfully fun and relaxing time. I think we went to bed around 6:30am after the sun was rising and then woke up Monday at around 9:30am from the heat and just chilled and ate and finally left the adventure after cleaning up the mess at around 3pm.
It was one of the best Coachella experiences ever. My favorite music of the weekend was Fatboy Slim, Roger Waters, Junkie XL, Justice and Sia. I left feeling revived and rejuvenated and peaceful and energized all in the same moments. I absolutely love everyone I met while I was there and we are already keeping in touch and I am already excited in anticipation for next year!!!
Cheers,
Ness
Monday, March 10, 2008
Home Sweet Home.
Well it's official I am back in LA for good. I am no longer working for Pocket Kings and have relocated back to the states. The experience of relocating back has been surreal to say the least. I never realized that with moving home for such an extended period of time, that my routines and lifestyle would grow to reflect the adjustments to the new culture and now that I am back home, I feel I am somewhere in between what my life used to be and what it is now. It takes a bit of adjustment.
I had a nice going away dinner before leaving Ireland. It was great to have one last night out with my "Ireland family" before returning home. When I was driving to the airport, I found myself humming "Everything's gonna be alright" by Bob Marley. Interesting...
There was so much to do to prepare to move in such a short period of time, that I have found myself overly exhausted since my return. That combined with jet lag has led to what feels like an excessive amount of sleep although it must be necessary because I am still tired and it's been a week.
Other than that I am just adjusting to new routines, job searching, and getting my life back on an LA track... more to come...
I had a nice going away dinner before leaving Ireland. It was great to have one last night out with my "Ireland family" before returning home. When I was driving to the airport, I found myself humming "Everything's gonna be alright" by Bob Marley. Interesting...
There was so much to do to prepare to move in such a short period of time, that I have found myself overly exhausted since my return. That combined with jet lag has led to what feels like an excessive amount of sleep although it must be necessary because I am still tired and it's been a week.
Other than that I am just adjusting to new routines, job searching, and getting my life back on an LA track... more to come...
Monday, November 5, 2007
I hate it when...
I hate it when...you haven't checked your email in a while and you see you have a new message and you are all excited to hear from someone you know...and it's spam from a credit card company...or some internet mailing list you ended up on...I really hate that!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Party Weekend in Stockholm, Sweden
Ok, I have been a very bad blogger so I have decided to try and catch up on all the experiences and travel weekends I've had over the past few months so that I don't forget all the good memories.
After my last post I took a trip to Stockholm to visit my friend Marie for a long weekend. I landed in Stockholm on a Thursday night late and since I was very tired, Marie and I went back to her apartment in Solna and caught up since we hadn't seen each other in over 2 years. It was a really nice evening.
We awoke Friday and decided to spend the day doing one of my favorite activities... Shopping:) So we browsed the mall near her house for most of the day and came home that night full of shopping bags and decided to head to the clubs.
We started the evening at The Soap Bar, where we ran into some of Marie's old friends and had a few drinks there with them. After a few hours of partying there, we went to a club a few blocks away called Hell's Kitchen. We ended up with a group of new friends there who had a table with a huge magnum of champagne. We had a great party evening that turned into an afterparty that lasted well into the next afternoon.
On Saturday, after a quick nap, we had decided to take a cruise from Stockholm to Finland, supposedly a "party cruise". We decided to get massages when we got there and we were so tired after our all night party the night before that we ended up eating the cruise ship dinner and going back to the cabin where we slept all night. Swedish massages are THAT GOOD, lol. We missed all the club activities and spent the next morning having a buffet breakfast and shopping at the cruise's duty free.
We then took a mini walking tour of Stockholm for a few hours before it was time to head back to Marie's for an evening of cooked mushrooms (different than LA mushrooms - they're wild and dried) with toast and had a nice evening at the house before going to bed early to catch a very early flight the next morning back to Dublin and straight into work.
Unfortunately, my luggage didn't make the connecting flight so I had another travelling lesson learned... Never put your keys in your luggage. My luggage landed in Dublin at 11pm at night, much later than I did and I had no way to get into my apt after a very long party weekend. Gavin and Fran, my neighbors/co-workers were kind enough to let me stay at their house until my luggage arrived.
All in all, it was a great trip, I loved Stockholm and would definitely go back. I would love to go in the summer for mid-summer and spend some time in the rural areas of the country as well. Good times.
After my last post I took a trip to Stockholm to visit my friend Marie for a long weekend. I landed in Stockholm on a Thursday night late and since I was very tired, Marie and I went back to her apartment in Solna and caught up since we hadn't seen each other in over 2 years. It was a really nice evening.
We awoke Friday and decided to spend the day doing one of my favorite activities... Shopping:) So we browsed the mall near her house for most of the day and came home that night full of shopping bags and decided to head to the clubs.
We started the evening at The Soap Bar, where we ran into some of Marie's old friends and had a few drinks there with them. After a few hours of partying there, we went to a club a few blocks away called Hell's Kitchen. We ended up with a group of new friends there who had a table with a huge magnum of champagne. We had a great party evening that turned into an afterparty that lasted well into the next afternoon.
On Saturday, after a quick nap, we had decided to take a cruise from Stockholm to Finland, supposedly a "party cruise". We decided to get massages when we got there and we were so tired after our all night party the night before that we ended up eating the cruise ship dinner and going back to the cabin where we slept all night. Swedish massages are THAT GOOD, lol. We missed all the club activities and spent the next morning having a buffet breakfast and shopping at the cruise's duty free.
We then took a mini walking tour of Stockholm for a few hours before it was time to head back to Marie's for an evening of cooked mushrooms (different than LA mushrooms - they're wild and dried) with toast and had a nice evening at the house before going to bed early to catch a very early flight the next morning back to Dublin and straight into work.
Unfortunately, my luggage didn't make the connecting flight so I had another travelling lesson learned... Never put your keys in your luggage. My luggage landed in Dublin at 11pm at night, much later than I did and I had no way to get into my apt after a very long party weekend. Gavin and Fran, my neighbors/co-workers were kind enough to let me stay at their house until my luggage arrived.
All in all, it was a great trip, I loved Stockholm and would definitely go back. I would love to go in the summer for mid-summer and spend some time in the rural areas of the country as well. Good times.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
One Year In Dublin
It's a sleepy morning and I am drinking my first cup of coffee for the morning and thought I would write a little bit. Alot of people have been asking why I made my blog private...mostly I just decided that I didn't want the entire world wide web to have access to my private thoughts, pictures and life. I also realized that I was really sensoring my blog and I shouldn't have to do that so this was the better option. I hope you all continue to log in and read and enjoy it.
I went out with my friend from work Rena last night. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was out all day yesterday and so we headed into town right after work for dinner and a few drinks. We had a lot of fun hanging out in the outdoor beer gardens at Crawdaddy, made friends with a few of the guys of this really good Irish band that had played there last night and eventually called it an early night since she was heading south for a day of massage today after her triathalon last weekend.
I am finally finishing my medicine from being sick and I have to admit that it has put me a bit on edge. The medicine had steroids in it so you have to come off it slowly to allow your body time to adjust and I've noticed that I'm really cranky and irritable and even irrational for no reason. I hate feeling that way but today is the last day that I have to take it so hopefully it will even out soon. So I've been trying to stay low key to avoid any more dramatic situations because even though I know I have been way over-sensitive to everything, I can't tell what is from the medicine and what is from reality.
Yesterday marked the one year date from when I arrived in Ireland. I cannot believe that an entire year has gone by. Sometimes it feels like it has flown by. At other times, it feels like it has been forever - too long. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I am glad that I came here and tried to shake things up in a bit. I have learned alot from the experience. I have tried to accomplish things while I was here, travel goals, long-term career goals, but I have to admit that I don't know if given the opportunity, I would do it again.
I am definitely an LA girl. I love sunshine and the beach and outdoor activities and the social and cultural variety that comes with living in such a big city. My friends and my family are all there as well so of course that makes a big difference too. I notice that my experiences are so different here even when I have only a few friends in town. It becomes an entirely different experience, than when I am in my daily routine which is primarily spent at work or alone. But given the choice right now, I would come home at first opportunity to be back in the City of Angels with the people I love most.
I think I will continue to travel for the rest of my life. I absolutely love visiting new places and seeing the culture of each environment be so different from place to place. I do think it is different to spend a few weeks on vacation than to actually relocate your life and it has been good for me to experience some of the challenges that come with completely changing your environment. But one of the biggest lessons learned is that I want to spend my life with my family and friends and have travel as something I can do on vacation, not spend long lengths of time away from them.
So the ultimate unanswered question becomes, will I survive another year in Dublin? And is it worth it? I ponder that thought daily and I don't have an answer yet. I take things in baby steps now. I am meeting a friend in Sweden at the end of this month. I will be hopefully heading to Italy for a weekend in October. My birthday weekend, I will probably go to London with one of the girls from work. The weekend after my birthday, I will come home for a week into Thanksgiving. I will also come home for Christmas into New Year's.
Most of you already know that when I return I will hopefully be starting my own recruitment firm. I work on the business plan weekly while I am here. That keeps me very busy and keeps me focused on the long-term reason that I moved here in the first place. I saw this as an opportunity to not only get outside of my "comfort zone" in LA where I was way too comfortable...ie. not growing or learning but also to financially put me in a position to take the next step career wise.
There are several reasons that this is important to me. First, I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for several successful companies, both large and start-up and I would like to take what I have learned over the years and actually create something that is as successful for me as it is for the people I work with and for. I want to do something different and better than the current standard of recruiting as it is something I am passionate about. I enjoy finding people good jobs that will further their lives and careers. At the same time, I would like to also benefit more of the rewards of that as well.
I also want to eventually be in a position that if I ever have a family of my own, I will be able to make them my priority but continue to contribute to the financial security of my family. Recruitment is ideal for that because I can do most of my work from home and still balance that with the other areas of my life. It is extremely important for me to be able to have that balance and hopefully not have to sacrifice the lifestyle I have become accustomed to. I have worked hard to get myself to this point and I would love to see it all come to fruition where I am doing work that actually helps others but also helps my own life as well.
So even though I don't have a family of my own now, the things I do now will ultimately affect in a positive way, the things that I can offer in the future. So for all of these reasons and more, it was important that I take this step and moved here a year ago because had I not, I may have continued to stay in my daily LA routine and not made the efforts required to take the next step. Being here has definitely put my focus on creating these things for my life so that my time here was not a waste and that when I return it will be to something better.
All that said, it is easy to get discouraged when you don't have your family and friend network close by to support and encourage you which is where I struggle most with being here. I find that I have more energy when I am around the constantly energizing people in my life. Most of these people are in LA and I crave that constantly while I am here. I am trying to make the most of it while I am here though and stay positive in what can sometimes be a very draining situation to be in.
OK, enough truths for now.
To be continued...
I went out with my friend from work Rena last night. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was out all day yesterday and so we headed into town right after work for dinner and a few drinks. We had a lot of fun hanging out in the outdoor beer gardens at Crawdaddy, made friends with a few of the guys of this really good Irish band that had played there last night and eventually called it an early night since she was heading south for a day of massage today after her triathalon last weekend.
I am finally finishing my medicine from being sick and I have to admit that it has put me a bit on edge. The medicine had steroids in it so you have to come off it slowly to allow your body time to adjust and I've noticed that I'm really cranky and irritable and even irrational for no reason. I hate feeling that way but today is the last day that I have to take it so hopefully it will even out soon. So I've been trying to stay low key to avoid any more dramatic situations because even though I know I have been way over-sensitive to everything, I can't tell what is from the medicine and what is from reality.
Yesterday marked the one year date from when I arrived in Ireland. I cannot believe that an entire year has gone by. Sometimes it feels like it has flown by. At other times, it feels like it has been forever - too long. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I am glad that I came here and tried to shake things up in a bit. I have learned alot from the experience. I have tried to accomplish things while I was here, travel goals, long-term career goals, but I have to admit that I don't know if given the opportunity, I would do it again.
I am definitely an LA girl. I love sunshine and the beach and outdoor activities and the social and cultural variety that comes with living in such a big city. My friends and my family are all there as well so of course that makes a big difference too. I notice that my experiences are so different here even when I have only a few friends in town. It becomes an entirely different experience, than when I am in my daily routine which is primarily spent at work or alone. But given the choice right now, I would come home at first opportunity to be back in the City of Angels with the people I love most.
I think I will continue to travel for the rest of my life. I absolutely love visiting new places and seeing the culture of each environment be so different from place to place. I do think it is different to spend a few weeks on vacation than to actually relocate your life and it has been good for me to experience some of the challenges that come with completely changing your environment. But one of the biggest lessons learned is that I want to spend my life with my family and friends and have travel as something I can do on vacation, not spend long lengths of time away from them.
So the ultimate unanswered question becomes, will I survive another year in Dublin? And is it worth it? I ponder that thought daily and I don't have an answer yet. I take things in baby steps now. I am meeting a friend in Sweden at the end of this month. I will be hopefully heading to Italy for a weekend in October. My birthday weekend, I will probably go to London with one of the girls from work. The weekend after my birthday, I will come home for a week into Thanksgiving. I will also come home for Christmas into New Year's.
Most of you already know that when I return I will hopefully be starting my own recruitment firm. I work on the business plan weekly while I am here. That keeps me very busy and keeps me focused on the long-term reason that I moved here in the first place. I saw this as an opportunity to not only get outside of my "comfort zone" in LA where I was way too comfortable...ie. not growing or learning but also to financially put me in a position to take the next step career wise.
There are several reasons that this is important to me. First, I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for several successful companies, both large and start-up and I would like to take what I have learned over the years and actually create something that is as successful for me as it is for the people I work with and for. I want to do something different and better than the current standard of recruiting as it is something I am passionate about. I enjoy finding people good jobs that will further their lives and careers. At the same time, I would like to also benefit more of the rewards of that as well.
I also want to eventually be in a position that if I ever have a family of my own, I will be able to make them my priority but continue to contribute to the financial security of my family. Recruitment is ideal for that because I can do most of my work from home and still balance that with the other areas of my life. It is extremely important for me to be able to have that balance and hopefully not have to sacrifice the lifestyle I have become accustomed to. I have worked hard to get myself to this point and I would love to see it all come to fruition where I am doing work that actually helps others but also helps my own life as well.
So even though I don't have a family of my own now, the things I do now will ultimately affect in a positive way, the things that I can offer in the future. So for all of these reasons and more, it was important that I take this step and moved here a year ago because had I not, I may have continued to stay in my daily LA routine and not made the efforts required to take the next step. Being here has definitely put my focus on creating these things for my life so that my time here was not a waste and that when I return it will be to something better.
All that said, it is easy to get discouraged when you don't have your family and friend network close by to support and encourage you which is where I struggle most with being here. I find that I have more energy when I am around the constantly energizing people in my life. Most of these people are in LA and I crave that constantly while I am here. I am trying to make the most of it while I am here though and stay positive in what can sometimes be a very draining situation to be in.
OK, enough truths for now.
To be continued...
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