D life

I have a new baby. No, there was no 14 hour labor, leaving me in so much pain I wanted to throw myself from the 5th floor of the hospital, or freaked out and tripping on dose after dose of Stadol because the hospital wont give the epidural until 4cm. F*@k. Yeah, all that and I wasn’t even to 4cm.

No, this is my new gal, my big bucket of steel that’s to take me safelty to work, transport my family around and save me $$ on gas.

Her name is Séverine.
Hey girrrrrrl!
Waiting patiently for me outside in lovely Van Nuys (not)? So sorry I’ve got to work, er, blog, instead of driving you around town.

FYI, if you are not familiar with the beautiful, charismatic, mature vixen that is THE Catherine Deneuve….then you wont know where the heck I got my new car’s name. I’ve held an obsession for Ms. Deneuve since I first laid eyes on her as Séverine in Belle de Jour. (Thank you, thank you Art of Film class!) As a lover of foreign film, it has been no sweat to catch her in many of her other films, and she has done quite a number, never failing to disappoint. And as she’s aged, naturally and gracefully I might add, she remains stunning and well poised, even with a few extra healthy pounds. So, to pay homage to Ms. Deneuve,

I bestow the name Séverine (more like save-reen than sever-ine) on my beautiful new baby.

She’s young, she’s beautiful…and she’s got a sexy secret.

P.S. R.I.P. my little white Mazda Protegé. We had some pretty good times, and you brought me to Los Angeles, and held on to that ice scraper that confused most of my Cali friends. You bounced back from 2 major accidents that weren’t your fault, and got great gas mileage. But, my little party machine, it was time for me to move on. Cheers.

I wanted to hate Atlanta.

Before our trip there to see Rice’s younger sister’s family, I was actually narrowing my mind a bit and prejudging a city I had never been to. (I know, very shame on me!) It’s on the east coast, I told myself. It’s hot there. It’s in the *gulp* south! Come on, I had an excuse! We were supposed to really “check out” this city as a possible move, if we decided to get ourselves back to the east. I mean, when we had first thought of moving to Florida, I nixed that idea in my mind right before our trip there. After arriving, all my reasons for not wanting to ever live there were confirmed. So, because of that, I pretty much made up my mind that there was no way I was going to like this city of Atlanta, and that no matter how insane L.A. living becomes, we were just gonna have to find a way to make it work. Because we LOVE L.A.

Well, Los Angeles, I’ve had an affair, and fell head over heels for the city of Atlanta, GA. I’m sorry, I’m really really sorry, but, well, she was just so damn charming. She was cute and spacious, yet nothing but short jaunts from this dashing little neighborhood to that one. From the old to the brand spanking new houses and condos, everything had character. The city is expanding rapidly, and there are tons of delightful little restaurants and shops, but easy to find big guys, like Home Depot, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. Decatur is right next door and even it looks like a fun place to live, and compared to L.A. drive times, it’s sooooo not a far car ride away. And there are parks galore! Lots of open spaces to run, jump, and twirl around with your arms held out like you’re on some mountain side singing your heart out! Yeah, they’ve got their share of crazies too, but it’s a city, for heaven’s sake. A real city! Not this “City of Lock Haven” business I just don’t understand.

One thing that did jump out at me was the diversity seemed much more limited to Black & White. That might be new thing for me. I went from pretty much ALL white to EVERYBODY. The place is still expanding, and I believe it’s going to become yet another melding pot. I mean, with the prices they’ve got on housing? And all the independent shops and restaurants? And the way they’ve really done a great job with setting up these new neighborhoods, complete with everything you need right next door but without a sense of insanity? Shoot, I see many peoples moving into this place in the coming years.

Who knows. Maybe even us die-hard L.A. lovers.