moving to LA updates! (regrets? neighbors? and more!)
(upbeat music) - Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome back to another vlog - *burps/hiccups* Excuse me, I would normally edit that out, maybe, but it's just real life. Hi, welcome, thanks for being here. I went on a nice little hot girl walk this morning, I made my favorite salad for lunch, I just hopped on a meeting with my YouTube Partner Manager, who is probably my favorite person in the entire world, it's literally like therapy for my YouTube channel, and I just love her so much.
Anyways, I am wearing a new shirt and I've been obsessed with it. I'm pretty sure it's still available, and I just kinda wanna show my outfit. Oh, also! *laughs* when I haven't vlogged in like two days, I feel like there's a million things I need to talk about. I did my hair a little bit differently, it totally fell out. I tried something with a curling iron and it didn't work, so I'm gonna try it again with the Dyson Airwrap. It still looks cute, but, yeah, need to work on it.
But I did that sort of trendy brown eyeshadow eyeliner instead of like my typical solid black cat eye, and I think it's kind of cute. I'm also wearing a new lip stain. It's the, hold on, let's just go find it.
I can show you my shirt later. The stain itself... Oh, Drew's on a work call, I need to be cautious here. Hold on, let's just set you down here. We hung up that photo on the wall.
Please don't fall. It's a painting actually from my friend Dena Jones and she made that painting. I unboxed it like I probably got it what? Close to a year ago, or maybe at the beginning of this year.
And it is this gorgeous painting of Moo and Layla inside of Out of the Box, like inside the box. Anyway, the lip stain is called the Fenty Beauty Poutsicle in the color Mai Type and it's like, got a doe foot applicator, it's kind of like a liquid lipstick. Oh, Drew's out of his meeting, and it's also supposedly a stain and then I put one of the Fenty Beauty like gloss bomb, I think it's called. Let's find out together. It is called the Fenty, I use like all Fenty lip products and actually the face, like the foundation as well.
Yeah, it's called the Fenty Gloss Bomb and the color Fenty Glow. So that's my lip combo for today. Should I just show you the rest of the stuff that I've been using? Is that kind of thing interesting? I don't know, we'll see.
Okay, so I also used, I did like a little bit of Ulta and Sephora damage recently. I do it like once a year, I used the Olaplex number 7 oil in my hair today. My hair is just so stringy right now and is in desperate need of a haircut.
I need to find a good hair stylist here in LA. I also got this benefit 24-hour brow setter gel. So I'm kind of trying to do like the fluffier laminated look.
Today for my face instead of doing just straight foundation, I mixed it with this really expensive tinted moisturizer that Ingrid Nilsen recommended and if you are like me and have been obsessed with Ingrid, back since the Missglamorazzi days, I'll pretty much buy anything she recommends still. This brand is called Saie, I think, Saie? I'm not sure how to say it, but this is the slip tint and it's a little bit light coverage and it's not very long lasting, but I wore to the pool the other day and it was great, but I mixed it with the Fenty Beauty Pro Filter Foundation today and I liked the way it turned out, so, okay. Anyways, back to the shirt that I'm wearing, it's from Abercrombie and it's one of their little corset tank tops and it's so cute, I love, love, love it. Let me move this.
This is what comes with making fashion videos online. What is this? These were lamps that we ordered that don't work. So that's my chair of returns. So anyway, here is my little casual outfit of the day. This top is just so cute and what I really wanna do with it is throw a blazer over it and some kinda baggier jeans for like a nighttime look, and I just think it's so simple, but it just cuts the way that I would really want it to.
And these are just like my favorite thrifted denim shorts, they used to be jeans and I cut them a couple years ago, but, yeah, loving this look today, very simple. But anyway, what I thought I would do actually for today's vlog is something that I've put off for a while, and not because I don't want to, but just because I've been busy doing other things, but like, I don't know, a couple weeks ago I was like, "hey, now that we're moved in and settled and stuff, I feel like it would be a good time for you to send me your questions so we can catch up and just sort of see where I'm at with the whole moving process and stuff." So I posted on Instagram and I just realized that this morning I was like, ah, I never answered any of these questions! We'll just start right at the top and it says, favorite part of your new place and least favorite part. Also, I'm right by the road, so if you can hear cars, I'm sorry.
That would probably be my least favorite part actually now that I think about it. So this office that I film in, it's not a busy street at all. It's just, you can hear cars when they drive by and I'm not like super close to the road either, it just kind of is the position of the room. So that's probably my least favorite part. As far as my favorite part, there are so many.
I love this room. I love hanging out in this room so much. I love our kitchen, our kitchen is amazing.
I love the back patio. We've been doing some work, obviously, as you saw, there's just so many cute little parts of this apartment that I love. So like pros are the outdoor space, so much space in the apartment itself, there's tons of storage. The cons are like limited outlets because it's an old apartment. The crows are really going at it out there.
Limited outlets. It's old, so there's things that are definitely falling apart. I feel like if there was a really bad earthquake, we would definitely be pancakes in here. But overall, it's a fantastic apartment. It's probably one of the better apartments we've ever lived in.
And people that are from here that come visit this place are like, "You better hold onto this place like it's a gem." Anything you regret about moving back to LA? Ooh, interesting. Regret. No, not really. This whole thing has been very serendipitous and it truly just happened I think the way it was supposed to happen. We went into it, when I found this listing online, I wasn't even really that in love with it, if you remember, if you watched my apartment touring video, this place was just sort of a place that I wanted to come look at, 'cause it was like a filler to fill up space while we were here in LA, we were like, we might as well look at at least a couple places and this was the only other place that got back to me about a viewing on such short notice.
And then when we saw it in person, I don't know, just the more I was here, the more I was like, I could see myself living here, like I really could. So like regrets, no, I don't think that there are any, I really do love living here. I love this apartment, I love being in LA. I'm happy with this chapter of my life for sure. How have you been doing with feeling like you're at home rather than somewhere else? Ooh, that's actually a really good topic. So I've never really lived in the same place long enough even growing up to have that, oh, I feel like I'm at home type of thing.
I'm just constantly, I'm used to living in a bunch of different places, if that makes sense. So it usually... (machine beeping) So it usually does take, I don't know, probably a few weeks to a month to really feel like, oh, okay, this is my house, I live here and it takes a lot of going to your local grocery store, finding your favorite coffee shop, driving out to see people and then driving home, getting into a routine, getting into work, walking the neighborhood, things like that. So it has taken a little bit, but I would say probably by like, it's the end of July now, we moved in like mid-June, it's probably like this week that I started feeling like, oh, okay, this is my home, I live here, this isn't just like an Airbnb with my stuff in it. You know what I mean? But I genuinely, like I have started to feel at home here. It definitely still feels like someone else's apartment, but it also feels like I live here if that makes sense.
I would say honestly, when we lived in our old house, it took like a year for that. It just didn't feel homey to me for some reason, but eventually in the end it did, and now I'm like, oh, that's my house, I wonder who's living in my house these days. "What has been your favorite thing since moving back to LA? Love you." Love you too. My favorite thing is probably being closer to friends and the weather.
Those are like my two top things and there's just so much to do. But like, you know, I have decade plus, going on two decade plus long friendships of people who live here and it's just so nice to be able to be like, hey, do you wanna come watch "Love Island" this weekend or whatever? It's really nice. "My partner and I are thinking about moving to LA from the East Coast. Any tips?" That's a good question. So fun fact, I did live on the East Coast for a year and a half.
I lived in Maine from 2012 to 2014. And it was a different experience for me because I am not a winter girly. So that was really difficult.
I was in a relationship at the time and like wonderful person, have nothing but good things to say, but it just wasn't the right fit at the right time in life, you know? So I don't have a ton of experience to compare it, but like, I mean, tips as far, I would say, vet your sources. Honestly, do the most research possible for like movers, read every single review, only pick maybe Google recommended places. Google does a thing where if you book through them or something like that, there's a guarantee, if something goes wrong, definitely pick good movers unless you're moving yourself, which like go for it. And when you move to LA itself, definitely make sure you research the neighborhood that you're looking into. You really wanna live in like a good neighborhood that fits in with the vibe that you're going for. Factoring in where it is you're working, if you're working from home, then don't worry as much about that, but if you have a commute, I would definitely recommend living within like five miles of where you work, maybe less.
Definitely plan where you live around where you work because the traffic here is insane. It can take you an hour to go a couple of miles. So yeah, those are like my top tips. Those were just off the top of my head. I probably should have thought about that better, but good luck.
I got a lot of questions of like, do you prefer LA over Arizona type of thing? And you can't even compare them, they're two totally different places. Also I only can speak for Phoenix and the Phoenix Metro area, because that's the only places that I've lived in Arizona, but they're just so different. They're totally different vibes. And Phoenix has just so many people that are moving there, that it is changing a lot too. I was born there, I lived over half of my life there.
So I definitely feel like I have somewhat of a grasp of what's going on. But yeah, it totally depends on what you like more. If you're into more of like a suburban type of vibe, Phoenix is much less of like a walkable city.
You kind of have to drive to go everywhere, the weather is totally different. The political climate is totally different, not what I would necessarily prefer, although it is getting better. And LA is different in its own ways as well. There's a shit ton more traffic.
There's a lot more people, people drive differently out here, there's so many different things, but which place would I prefer? I honestly, I mean, sure for this chapter in my life, I would say LA, but I love both places for different reasons. "How are Moo and Layla adjusting to the new place in LA? By the way, I just love you." Oh, my god, I love you too. They're doing great, they're thriving. Layla is, well, I just brought her inside, but she lays out on the patio, we go for our walk in the morning and then she sits out there for hours until the direct sunlight hits the patio and she just loves it, she loves life. She just lays out there and she naps and she's just an outdoor girly, she loves being outside.
She was the same way in Arizona, but for half of the year, she couldn't do that in Arizona. So she's really happy. And honestly, I think Moo is happier here because with the old house and having two stories and stuff, I don't know if it was just his age or him just being a cat, I don't know, but he would get really like, he would cry a lot. He would wander the halls at night and cry out for us.
If were upstairs he would cry for us to come downstairs and vice versa. And so like, I think being in a smaller space, he genuinely is happier, like he loves life. "Do you notice a difference in spending money on gas since you are walking distance now?" I think that just means like, 'cause I can walk more places.
Yes and no, I mean Drew and I both work from home, so we don't really drive that, that much. So like for example, I think I lived here for almost a month before I got gas and I think I've gotten gas like two times since I've lived here in like a month and a half. So that's just kind of like, it kind of evens itself out, but yeah, gas is way more expensive here obviously. But I think more than like having things be walking distance, which I love, I think it's more like, we don't use our cars as often. So yeah, we are saving on gas, but it was the same in Arizona too. "How did you find your LA apartment? Realtor or apps? Any app recommendations?" So I used the same traditional ones that I use for everything, I used Zillow, Trulia.
Those were like the two main ones. Occasionally I would look on like apartment list, apartment finder, all those different ones, but I don't really use those. I literally just use Zillow and Trulia. Way more people prefer Zillow, but I actually prefer the format of Trulia. I think I'm just like more familiar with it.
So that's actually what I used to find this place. And I love that you can look at the street view and see what the actual street looks like, 'cause sometimes you'll see an address and you're like, oh, this place looks so cute. and you'll look at a map and it looks fine, but then when you do the street view and you can get a good feel of what's around, you can be like, oh, it's right next to like a drive through that's open 24 hours or whatever.
So it gives you, I just like the option of being able to look at that. I think they have that on Zillow as well, but I just prefer the layout of Trulia. Oh, my memory card is running out. "Is it great no longer having stairs with Layla's health issues?" Yes.
Oh my God, it's so amazing. She's just so much happier. It's such a relief for us to not have to think every time we bring her down the stairs, is she gonna tear her other ACL type of thing? So yes, it's made a huge difference. "Did the old house inspection go okay? How was reverse making over the dark academia paint?" It was fine.
No notes, they were completely fine with it. We low key didn't ask if we could paint that room, but we painted it back to its original paint and there was no problems with it. So yeah, everything's good, got our deposit back. Kind of a headache getting out of that situation because actually our landlord, I'll maybe do a story time about it. Honestly, nicest lady ever, but such a bizarre experience leaving because she was out of the country for the entire month leading up to us moving and her husband took over and I had never met or talked to her husband before and so he was like who our point of contact was and he kept asking questions like, hey, I heard you have a YouTube channel.
Can I send your videos to like prospective tenants so that they can see what the inside of the house looks like? And I was just like, when did I tell you I had a YouTube channel? It was just bizarre and I was like, no, can you please not send my videos to people while I still live in the house. Anyways, so that was kind of bizarre, but other than that, it was fine, it worked out, we got out of there. Someone said, "Your true thoughts on moving back to LA." I give my true thoughts no matter what, like whatever I'm saying, that's how I'm feeling.
That's the true thoughts. So there isn't some sort of secret, oh, I secretly hated or I secretly regret it. I genuinely am loving life, I love being here. Do I see myself being here forever? I don't know. As of right now, we only have a lease that goes until what? The end of May of next year and we're just gonna enjoy it while we can.
It's not like a fairy tale by any means. There are adjustments and driving is harder and we're far away from family and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, it's been awesome, I'm loving it. I will end it because I've already been blabbing long enough. I will end it on this question that said...
(car revving) I will end it on this question that said, "How is your mental health since moving? In the last blog you were glowing!" That's so nice. And this was posted before, this question was posted before I opened up about what I was going through and I kind of wanted to touch on that again, where a lot of times you can focus on what other people are showing online and think that their entire life is like that, and think that, oh my God, they have their dream apartment and they have the relationship and they're living in their dream city, so their life is perfect. And there's a lot of privilege in that first of all, let me just say. So that aside, you're not immune from mental health problems. And so with this weird thing that I had pop up over the last month or so has been weird, it's been just that, it's been freaking weird and it totally knocked me on my ass.
I'm not gonna lie, I did not expect this, I did not expect to be so deeply affected and on top of that, I did not expect the just overwhelming positive response to me talking about it, and just the amount of messages I got from people who are like, I go through the same thing, this is what I've been diagnosed with, or these are the exact specifics of what I do when I'm going through a cycle like this. And they're like exactly what I did. It made me feel so validated, like I instantly started feeling better and I was like, wow, why didn't I open up about this like a couple weeks ago? Because I felt so much relief in knowing that other people were feeling the same way. So now my mental health is exponentially better. I'm feeling pretty much a 100% better, but I just wanna make sure that we normalize the fact that what you're watching online of someone's life is what they're choosing to show.
So even though I am gonna update and stuff, I've seen comments of people being like, you're glowing. I am very much glowing and I'm very happy to be here, but that last little sort dip that I took with my mental health, it really shook me, it really shook me up, it knocked me on my ass for a while. So I just wanna also make sure that I note that so you don't compare your low points to my high points and then think like, ugh, my life doesn't look like that or whatever. I'm sitting down to edit this now and I just realized, I didn't answer one of the most asked questions, which was how is your neighbor's situation? How is the guy who lives above you? How is the building? Et cetera.
And honestly, 10 out of 10, no complaints. Our neighbor upstairs is a guy who lives by himself. He's literally gone 12-plus hours a day. He's quite literally never home. We hear him, of course, but it's not disruptive at all.
No parties at 02:30 in the morning. The only noise we have now is really just from the street that you probably heard throughout this entire video. When I was editing it, I was just like, oh my God. It sounds so much louder in this video than it is in person. But like, honestly, we've had no problems, we've met a couple of the other neighbors in the building briefly by just being like, hi.
But truly like no complaints. I hope that our upstairs neighbor lives there for the length of time that we live here as well. No notes, fantastic neighbor so far.
Couldn't be happier about that. So anyways, that's gonna do it. This is a lot of chatting. I hope you enjoyed because I love videos like this, it makes me feel really connected to you all. Thank you so much for being here and I will see you in the next vlog. Bye.
(upbeat music)
2022-08-05 06:40
