One of my good friends mentioned once that she really liked when I had a theme on the blog, ‘yeah, you and me both’ is what I was thinking.  I know she really liked it when I did the week of digital magazines and I did too, it’s amazing how creative you can be if you are organized, knowing what I was going to write about made it a lot easier to come up with something semi-interesting for you. I know that this little pit stop on the information super highway can sometimes be a bit hodge podge. I decided that it just might be easier to dedicate these next few weeks to getting ready for my cross country move and the in’s and out’s of it all. My first little bit of wisdom is the Automotive  Association of America a.k.a. AAA. I have been a member since I first started driving (let’s not do the math and suffice to say that it’s been a long time). It’s a $50 investment a year and the membership more than pays for itself in both perks and peace of mind. I initially got it in case my car broke down, they come replace your tire, jumpstart your car, tow you for free (well, the $50 membership a year fee that makes it feel nearly free). AAA also gets you discounts on too many things to mention but if you insist you can get discounts on travel, hotels, restaurants, theme parks, mattresses, tutoring, flower delivery, junk pick-up, gym memberships and on and on. This is a good investment folks. The best thing I discovered is that AAA would help us plan our trip cross country–free. We called and told them where we were going, they asked us what route we wanted–most direct? scenic? etc. and how long we wanted to drive each day. We told them we had dogs and needed hotels that would allow them. While we were on the phone they gave us options for different cities–did we want to drive 7 hours one day and stay in Oklahoma City or were we up for driving 9 hours and staying in Little Rock? When we got off the phone we had our route created, the timeline for the trip, our hotels booked (with a AAA discount of course) and the directions and confirmations emailed to us. Talk about convenient!  Our first stop cross country will be Albuquerque, New Mexico. I would love to tell you that I would be spending the day there exploring, but we will get there in the evening and most likely leave at the crack of dawn. Did I mention my husband likes to keep to a schedule? Well, he does and if AAA told him it would take 7 hours to get somewhere you can darn guarantee he will be there in 7 hours.

P.S. I am going to be pushing the Virtual Moving Sale this month, so forgive me in advance. I want to pack as light as possible and would love for someone to bring home my goods. It seems like items are selling swiftly so if you peek in there and it’s light on inventory know I will be adding to it soon!

I am finally selling my SX-70, it’s not a camera I used often I was partial to another instant camera that died and I never was the same.  Last time I tried it work, so I am going to assume it still does. I am slowly adding items to the Virtual Moving Sale. I am removing items as they sell so it may look lean in there now, but I am trying to get more things up every hour, so keep checking back! Thank you to everyone that gave me the thumbs up for doing it here and thank you to everyone that is helping to make my moving truck weight go down, it is so appreciated!

I started going through my prized possessions today and taking photos of the one’s I am willing to part with.  I am not much of collector, but it seems I have kind of become a bit of camera and paper hoarder (head hanging in shame). I don’t know how it happened, but I have accumulated some ‘stuff’, but none of said stuff seems like it won’t come in handy one day.  Isn’t that how hoarding begins? I have just started adding items, so it may seem a little on the lean side as of this writing, but it will grow (for that you can be sure). We have to be out May 1st, so I want to be able to know what I will be packing way before then.  Please come visit my Moving Sale here!

I put in my 30 day notice for my apartment yesterday, it made me feel queasy.  I am not having second thoughts, my husband and I have been talking about moving away from Los Angeles since we met (seven years ago, long before he was my husband), so this re-location isn’t a spontaneous decision.  I was queasy because I really didn’t want to give up my our apartment (this whole halves-y’s on everything, sheesh).  Remember the awesome studio re-do I did, that I never showed you?  You know the one with the chalkboard painted wall and the beautiful wood built-in desk, shipping station and shelves? Well, there goes the security deposit (another reason to feel queasy).  I might think it’s the best thing ever, but I am sure my landlord won’t feel the same way. It is pretty awesome though.  This week after work (shipping and class), I am going to shoot everything for my virtual moving sale.  I am going to sell my Royal typewriter (above), the movers are going by weight and that thing has got to be 80lbs, it is a serious piece of equipment! It’s been a lot of pre-planning work thus far, I am already tired and the month has just begun.

Decisions they are so difficult for me.  I wish I could tell you that I make quick decisions and once I make up my mind it’s a done deal. Unfortunately, it takes me ions to make a decision and then once I do I agonize over whether I made the right one. It’s an affliction I tell you. The decision of where to move was a very difficult one. I love Northern California, love it, want to marry it.  I always have and I probably always will.  After writing out our laundry list of pros and cons, which surprisingly came up about even, it felt like a coin toss decision was in order (metaphorically speaking).  I felt like I was on one of those home shows where I get three choices and have 45 minutes to choose the biggest investment of my life. Oregon we loved, but more as a place to visit, I couldn’t see us living there (now Seattle where we didn’t visit, I could totally see myself living there, but I digress…). Napa Valley will always hold a special place in our hearts, we honeymooned there and it was pure magic.  After going through every scenario ten million times over we decided on North Carolina. We could live really nicely in North Carolina. We could have a beautiful home and I could have a mini farm and a studio. My husband thinks my decision was based solely on my desire to have a miniature cow and fainting goats, he’s partly right, he also promised me a pony. It’s hard not to be bribed by a pony, just sayin’. Things are full steam ahead, we sold his car today (a huge deal not to have a car in Los Angeles), we are selling mine next and getting a car with future kids in mind (I said no way to the mini van).  We will be off to drive cross country the first week of May. I would tell you that I am thoroughly looking forward to driving cross country and if you asked me a few months prior I would be doing a happy dance, but after driving with my husband these past few months around the country, well, the cross country trip does not seem as appealing.  No, he will not stop so I can shoot a once in a lifetime photo opportunity, nor will he allow me to drive, do we share the same taste in music? Absolutely not. Will he be obsessed with the GPS device? Why, yes indeed. Will I be able to close my eyes because driving long stretches makes me sleepy? Not a chance. This will be a challenge to be sure. Wish me luck…