There's No Place Like Home

It's sooo good to be back. Drove back to San Francisco from LA this past Sunday. Picked Beans up from my aunt's place and was relieved to find that he still recognizes me! I'm a horrible Mama. Left him in the care of others for an entire month. 10% of his life! But anyhow, like I said, he still recognizes me. *Whew*

So I've got news to share. I think I know where I'll be living for the next two years in Los Angeles! Went apartment shopping on Saturday (yes the morning after I landed in LA from Taiwan) and drove around for 10 freakin' hours in search of a pet-friendly, no wait, I must be more specific, LARGE-DOG-friendly rental within the surrounding neighborhoods of UCLA. A truly frustrating experience. Anyhow, after driving around all day with little luck, I dropped off but one measley application. (I viewed 20 units, and only one was pet-friendly without weight limitations. The unit that I ultimately applied for did not specify yes/no pets, so I went ahead and filled out an app (with my neatest possible handwriting), left messages on the landlord's machine (both super-friendly and ridiculously earnest sounding), crossed my fingers (over and over) and prayed.

The effort paid off... I heard back from the landlord Sunday evening. Turns out she likes labs! Lucky me. Lucky Beans! Photos of our new place can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/debrachow/DevonAveApartment?authkey=UlmYq8c1gs8

It's a unit within a four-plex. Really charming, no?!