First Few Days in LA

It's been a very busy, although not always the most exciting, first few days in Los Angeles.  I've been trying to balance the time between showing Tom around town while also taking care of some of the more important items on my continually growing To-Do List before Orientation begins in a couple weeks.  Getting fully unpacked and setting up the apartment has been a slow process that I don't think will be close to completion until next week after my Pre-Orientation trip.  Pictures will have to wait until then when things are more set up.

A summary of the activities so far with the first bullet being boring school/apartment related things and the second bullet being more fun LA activities:

Monday
- Unpacked the car; got my apartment keycard, parking keycard, and parking pass; 
- Throughout the day walked around Westwood Village, Hollywood, La Brea Tar Pits and some outdoor modern art exhibits; lunch at In N Out Burger; met up with Adam Reich for dinner at the Grove and then drinks at Little Bar, which was hosting a karaoke night and gay birthday party

Resting up after a hike to Griffith Observatory

Tuesday
- Got my Bruincard; did laundry; extensive shopping trip at Target for some essentials
- Finally made it all the way to the West Coast when we went to Venice Beach for lunch and an afternoon of sunbathing and dipping in the Pacific Ocean; dinner at the Chipotle in Westwood

The building holding the telescope at Griffith Observator

Wednesday
- Took my Debt Management Session/Entrance Exam online so I could complete the Financial Aid process (probably should have been done a long time ago). Also spent 1.5 hours on the phone between FedEx and AT&T to sort out why my iPhone never arrived.  Finally they put a new order in and said it should be here in 3-4 days.  We shall see.
- Sockos for lunch.  Went to Griffith Observatory with Adam and Tom, including a hike from the bottom.  We watched a movie in the planetarium, walked around the exhibits briefly, and took in some of the nice views. Afterward we went to happy hour at Cabo Cantina in Brentwood to meet up with some of the people going on my Pre-Orientation kayaking trip this weekend.  The happy hour was followed by a larger UCLA gathering at Westwood Brewery, where Tom put on his best grad student disguise and networked like crazy. 

Thursday

Santa Monica Pier

- Took my career assessment online tests which were due tomorrow; had a pre-orientation trip meeting at noon on campus, where it became obvious some of the girls in the group did not realize what camping entailed;
- Went to Santa Monica Pier where a 3-day Beatles tribute festival was beginning; walked around the 3rd Street Promenade, an area of Santa Monica that is closed off to traffic with a lot of higher end restaurants and stores, with a lot of street performers outside; had a delicious ice cream sandwich at the famous Westwood eatery Diddy Riese.

Eventually it was time for Tom and I to drive down to Laguna Hills (of MTV The Hills' fame), to meet up with Mark at BJ's Brewery for dinner and a farewell beer.  Tom left with Mark to head back to San Diego area and I made it back to Los Angeles a little after 10, where I had to start my career assessment assignments before heading to bed.  6 am wake up tomorrow for the trip.