Ya know...a year's past...nbd

Oops. I totally forgot I had this blog. My bad. So I guess I'll write an update for everything that's gone on in the past year.


Michigan:
I left LA and went straight over to Pier Cove (worst traveling experience of my life because I was SO hungover from celebrating Eric's birthday). It was so nice to be with my all my siblings and Susi again. I had been moving constantly and this was a week of relaxation and pure enjoyment.

Papa Razzi:
Well I returned home after a wonderful month in LA and a week with the fam. For all the distress being home caused me before, it was nice to return to Concord. Needing money quite badly, I ventured back into Papa Razzi, my old restaurant stomping grounds, seeing if they had any room for me. Needless to say, I started working 2 days after.

It was fun to be back. Unlike my first stab at being a waiter, everything came more naturally to me. A new crew was in, a much younger bunch of servers, who, like me, were using this opportunity to bide time. It was a social scene. In a pleasant turn of events, a group of people from high school, some who I were acquainted with before and others who I just barely knew, joined the Razzi, making everything more enjoyable. During my time there, I thrived. I worked hard, usually filling my schedule with 70+ hours a week, making great money and always taking on more responsibility. In October 2009, I was named "RGP of the Month" and in November, I was formally asked to be a Server Trainer. By January I was asked to be the Function server point-person, working with the kitchen and management to ensure that big events went smoothly. I worked well with Management, trying to keep myself positive, although not always succeeding. But I liked it there. The people I worked with became my social circle, keeping my spirits high and well alcoholed throughout the tough times. They weren't just co-workers, they were my real friends.

By Late Spring, I was getting restless. The 1-year anniversary of my return was looming in the distance, sending fears of being stuck throughout my spine. By this time, the crew had changed again, as many of my friends and co-workers left for "real jobs" and new people came in, full of excitement and energy towards the process. I was jaded, which sounds overly dramatic seeing as though I had worked for the company for less than a year. But I was jaded all the same. I had trained over 80% of the staff working there and really gotten everything I could out of the experience without moving further into the company. So I left, but not without some amazing goodbye parties.

Trips:
While working at Papa Razzi, I had cash disposable. This meant I was able to buy things and more importantly, travel.

Sydney:
It was late-October and I was catching up with Alex Curtis, still back in Sydney. As our conversation continued, the idea of visiting Oz came up and started to take shape. Needless to say, I convinced Charle to come with me (wasn't too hard) and we headed over to Sydney on Thanksgiving, leaving our dinner early and hopping on a plane.

We arrived in the Sydney Airport on Saturday morning, missing Friday completely while in transit. It so happened that this day was our American ex-Patriots' decided Thanksgiving day. With tables set up and food being cooked, oozy punch being made and guests arriving to the gorgeous Double Bay apartment where we stayed, we enjoyed our second Thanksgiving dinner of the week.

Our trip to Sydney was amazing. I was able to reconnect with my old "roommates," while also making stronger ties with newer members of the Sydney community whom I had known before. Charle and I shopped, hiked, lay on the beach, drank, and did everything in between while we were there. It was so nice to return to that land without the stress I felt before. And Charle loved it.

LA:
Yes, I went back...but only for a week in the end of April 2010. Staying with Eric again, this time in Santa Monica, I returned in order to re-evaluate my attraction to the city. While working at the Razzi, getting more restless by the day, I was debating whether or not to move out to the West Coast again. This time I went with some friends from Concord and explored more. It was fabulous.

Grad School:
During my time at home, I explored many different options to direct my future. One option that arose was to apply to Grad School. Now I wasn't looking to return to an academic setting but I decided to check out some schools. The only programs I was debating was BU, NYU, Syracuse and USC -- the big schools in communication. Well one program that stuck out, because of the weather and classes, was the USC program. Annenberg had the reputation as the top ranked communication school in the nation, while BU and Syracuse battled it out for numbers 2 and 3. It was a natural fit. I was only applying to this one school, this one program. This meant I had to take the GREs, find writing samples, write essays and get everything in order. The work I did for my application was hard, not because of its level of difficulty, but rather my brain was used to reciting specials and not remembering vocabulary or math from 6 years earlier.

But oh ya...I got in.

LA again...and Again:
I left Concord and the Razzi at the end of June. I had money saved up and was moving to Los Angeles, not really sure of anything. Yes, this was my third time with a blind move (San Francisco and Sydney were my previous attempts) and I knew it was a risk. I didn't have a job lined up and I hadn't heard back from grad school yet. But I moved out here anyways, got myself an apartment with Eric in West Hollywood (WeHo), bought myself a little 1996 BMW convertible, joined a gym, and began to reach out to people I knew here in LA.

Here in LA I've reconnected with people from home who moved out as well as a plethora of BU people, some of which I talked to everyday in school while others were from years ago. I've also began to slowly make my own social circles, mostly thanks to Eric. It's slowly starting to feel like home.

And now I've been accepted to grad school. This is huge. For the first time in 2 years I have stability for the next year or so. I'm going to be extremely busy with everything from school, a job hopefully and even an internship maybe, but it's going to be good. I'm excited.

Till next time.