All I need to know, I learned on the 405

Things I've Learned about California:

1) Radio is awful. There's a collection of about 50 songs, no matter what station is playing. I thought maybe I was making this up, but then I heard "I Want to Sex You Up" three times in one week on three different stations and...no. Color Me Bad, people. COLOR. ME. BAD.

2) No matter what time of day, month, day of the year, or season, there's traffic. I know it's a bad day when I'm stuck behind four cars and I haven't left the complex yet.

3) Even with all the cars, never has the concept of supply and demand been so well demonstrated by watching the guy at the Shell station down the hill raise the price of regular to $3.50.

4) Restaurant portions are huge. On the upside, hellooooo 2-for-1 dinners. I feel like we're in training for our wrinkly years in Miami with all the other Jews.

5) Speaking of food, this state has an afinity for the Arnold Palmer (iced tea-lemonade), which is fabulous. Also, oddly, they make a great potato salad. Seriously. Everywhere we go, the taters are top notch.

6) Summer sneaks up behind you, clonks you over the head and boom, it's July. Except its April. On the upside, our apartment is half underground, so it's like 20 degrees cooler in here. Come power bill time, that's going to be awesome.

7) I need to wear more sunscreen if I want to leave the house. A lot more. Like, say, a bottle a day.

8) There's no hands-free cell law. Considering how many merges are involved just to leave town, I can't see how this is practical in the least.

9) Flipflops are never not appropriate footwear. I adopted this look 30 seconds after getting off the plane, and know I'm in for a world of hurt and cold toes when we get back to New York. I don't miss socks at ALL.

10) I miss New York like crazy, but like this place a lot more than I thought I would.

Garden Stating

Thanks to jetlag, I'm wide away at 7:30am on Friday morning. I don't have anywhere to be until noon, but this actually works out well, because I was able to minimize the time between sleeping and getting some sweet, sweet Dunkin' Donuts. Bagels are for crap in Southern California, and the only reason I had to wait so long between getting off the plane and swathing myself in carb-y goodness was the lack of sleep. Our 9pm flight turned into an 11pm takeoff, with an unscheduled layover in Las Vegas, making our landing at 7:15am the 24-hours-awake mark. It took another two hours in transit get from JFK to WO, but thanks to the tri-state area's BIG, EASY, INEXPENSIVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION (are you listening, SoCal?), by the time we got home, showered and into jammies, it was 10am. Ouch. After all that, I felt no guilt at sleeping the day away.

(omg this bagel is awesome.)

Today's plan is to get a dress for the s'wedding and get my fill of all the goodies NJ has to offer. Tomorrow I'll hit up NYC, and the idea of visiting the city, rather than going home to 89th Street is a little odd. After a baby shower in Queens, we're going to cram ourselves full of Mexican food down at NYU, possibly followed by shakes. Sunday is visiting the other end of the family, capped off by Starlight.

(omg pizza. SoCal pizza sucks.)

Monday is acupuncture with Dr. Cupcake, followed by odds and ends, and then...sniff...back to the airport. Pleh. Fortunately, both she and Peckle* are scheduled for west coast appearances in the coming weeks. That'll be good, but I wish my time out here wasn't so limited. The tri-state is small, but mighty and there's just not enough time to get in all the good stuff. Oh, New Jersey, how I've missed thee.

(*omg maybe they'll bring me bagels and pizza.)

It hath risen

Mmmmm...leavened. Nothing says goodbye to Passover like yellow cake with chocolate frosting AND sprinkles.

Mmmmm bread

N: OMG OMG OMG OMG
N: It's almost not Passover.
L: This must be what xmas morning is like.
L: OMG IT'S SANTA AND HE'S MADE OF BREAD
N: Doughy Claus
L: It really IS the most wonderful time of the year.
N: I'm going to go buy a baguette after work and tie a bow around it.

Un. Leavened.

Five effing bucks for a box of matzoh.

Also, Safeway lady? Please don't look at me like I had anything to do with what went down back then.

Berry good

After yoga and some lunch, we headed over to Knott's Berry Farm for some quality time with the Scrambler and bumper cars. We hit the Snoopy store, but left empty hadded after determining that we could either spend nothing or everything, with no middle ground. It was harrowing, considering their dvd section, but for my emotional sanity, we had to leave it all behind. Anyone that can watch Snoopy Come Home without a total, crocodile-tears breakdown has a cold, black heart, with a soul made of carbon steel; I can't imagine what a wreck I'd be if it actually lived in my house.