Beautifully lit moments.

My life happens in beautifully lit moments. Everything in LA is perfectly lit. It's the reason the movie industry moved here from New York in the days of silent film. It washes everything with a glow that makes it feel a little surreal.

Today, Mrs Martinez from the 3^rd floor told me it was 110 degrees in the courtyard of our apartment complex today. That is HOT, even for here. “I watched you jump in the pool and I wished I could still jump.” Then the elevator pinged and she smiled at me and wandered out with her laundry basket, the usual call of ‘have a nice evening’ trailing back to me.

One day I cried for a full hour because I had read a tweet plugging ‘The big fat quiz of the 80s’. I wanted to watch it SO MUCH. Not because it was funny or because I cared who was on it or even because I loved the 80s (I wasn’t born til a few years in), but I wanted to watch something that connected me to my history. I wanted effortless pop culture cues and shared collective experience. I always feel a few moments behind the joke here…

I was sitting beside the pool, sewing a cushion cover. The turtles that live in the pond were on the patio next me. The biggest one watched me the whole time. He jumped back in to the water as soon as I finished, he must’ve wanted to be sure I’d get it done.

I have not long arrived in the US, and I am determined to wear beautiful flowing clothes like a cool, calm and collected indie princess. I would swan around the house in a flowing striped maxi skirt and sparkly anthropologie belt. I felt like one of the girls you see on blogs, with red lipstick and perfect tortoise shell glasses. Unfortunately, life still happens when you are beautifully dressed. I’m not sure if you have ever tried to change king size bed sheets in a maxi skirt, but let me offer you this advice- don’t. Especially not in 30 degree heat. This will always be known as the day I changed the sheets in my underwear, unaware that the team of landscapers were at the window. Moving away does not, unfortunately, change who you are.