Where did we leave off?

Oh yeah. It was Thanksgiving and I had not passed the bar exam.

Please excuse the following detour into personal diary-land with various foodie highlights but I feel like it’s necessary to catch everyone up. We want to be on the same page, right?

So in the past month since I got my bar exam results many things have happened.

• I moved out of my apartment that I lived in alone and I loved in Brentwood. It had to be done. Living alone is expensive. The location was no longer conducive to my lifestyle. Most of my friends had left the Westside after law school and I was not working anywhere near Brentwood. Traffic is West Los Angeles makes me question the existence of God and karma. I miss my old kitchen but it was time to move on.

• The good news? I’ve relocated to Manhattan Beach and thus far I love it! I live a 15 minute walk from the water and I’m close to my new job, several other friends, and the boy. I’ve always liked moving and exploring new areas and so far I’ve scouted some good spots I am excited to explore. I have awesome roommates I really like and my rent is far, far more affordable. Plus, like I said already, I’m 15 mins from the beach which is really winning.

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• So far in Manhattan Beach I’ve discovered Two Guns Espresso and Manhattan Bread and Bagel. Obviously, my first 24 hours as a Manhattan Beach resident required me finding a bagel place and a coffee spot. I love the bagel and lox at Manhattan Bread and Bagel and the flat white (and uh everything else I’ve tried) at Two Guns were on par with places like The Refinery in Santa Monica and Café Luxe! I also had a cocktail at Manhattan Beach Post and I KNOW I will be back there again. And I had dinner at Tin Roof Bistro in Manhattan Beach. I didn’t take any photos but the food was delicious and I would highly recommend to anyone in the area!

  

  

• I ate at Baco Mercat downtown. I needed to be rolled from the restaurant. Seriously, go and order the oxtail. You will not be disappointed.

  

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• I’ve started studying for the bar again. It is as un-fun as you would expect it to be but it is also less stressful the second time around (so far) and the information is coming back easily.

  

• I left my legal non-profit job but I continue to work part-time at my other job which I love. I’ve been coy on the blog about this and I don’t want to really write about my workplace at all but I will say that I work at Susie Cakes. Me and Susie Cakes? That’s a match made in heaven.

  

• I went to Chicago for Christmas. It snowed every day I was there. It was pretty and cold. I tried to dress slightly like a hipster (or not? A J Crew hipster? Can such a thing exist?) While in Chicago I ate at Walker Brothers Pancake House which you MAY remember from the end of Mean Girls (Spring Fling Queen wins two gift certificates to the Walker Brothers Pancake House). I ate silver dollars and hash browns and texted this photo to a friend to inspire some jealousy. I also stole some boots from the 1980’s from my mom. I put together a cute outfit and the girls in Madewell only complimented the boots. Typical.

  

  I got my glasses prescription updated for the first time since I got my braces removed. Clearly, this demands numerous selfies.

  

  O’Hare Airport, the greatest place to fly into at 11 pm on Christmas Eve. Also, total Home Alone 2: Lost in New York moment.

  

  This is for you, Jessica Rudis.

  

  The aforementioned pancakes and hash brown. These pancakes are perfection on a plate. Just the right amount of softness and the whipped butter topping adds to an already buttery taste. Buttery really is the only word I have in this situation. Please don’t be grossed out by the amount of ketchup on my hash brown. Obviously, my taste for carbs is insatiable.

• On my way out of town my mom asked if there was any food I needed that I hadn’t had yet. I asked if it would be piggish to eat an entire deep dish pizza after housing sushi. She declined to reply but we went to Lou Malnati’s and I picked up 3 deep dish pizzas which I carried on to the plane frozen. I would have bought more but I was out of room in my bag. One of the pizzas is already gone.

  

• I like eggs now! Sunnyside up with runny yoke. I’ve been eating an unreasonable amount of potato, spinach, egg hash and I will blog the recipe soon!

  

• I decided not to run the half I was planning to run in January. Honestly, my training wasn’t there, especially after I didn’t pass the bar. I was busy moving, working, traveling and I got sick for a week. I don’t want to half ass it. I signed up for the Rock n Roll Pasadena half a year ago (it is in February) so that is my new goal race. I’m not training for time (its two weeks before the bar, let’s not kill ourselves) but I do want to do 13.1 again. It’s been a while.
• I’m really excited for the new year. 2012 had some really awesome moments and some really not so awesome moments. Hope you all have a great weekend and an awesome new year!