Maya Eats Cake

There are several things I’d like to say about living in California

1. Oh My God.

2. It is so beautiful.

3. I love my neighborhood.

Now, I’m from NYC so I will be the first to tell you that outside appearances and first impressions are hardly representative of what is contained within the depths of a city. For example– the upper east side is hardly an accurate cross section of the style, atmosphere, attitude, and general well-being of the rest of Manhattan. Especially not the rest of New York.  So obviously, my take on California has nothing too substantive but my personal 360 degrees of “take” on Mountain View.

Mountain View– clean, friendly, safe (for now?), lovely!

I love my neighborhood, and I don’t have a car, so I stroll around whenever I can exploring it. I LOVE that I can walk to two supermarkets and one produce shop, I LOVE that I have a Marshall’s not too far away for a girly clothes fix, I LOVE that I walked to a Japanese supermarket and found the yam noodles Leo loves so much. All on foot!  When I was living in LA, I was endlessly frustrated by the fact that I had to get in my car to get a gallon of water or a pint of milk. HATED it. (Loved the beaches though…)

Last weekend Leo and I drove down to Santa Cruz, which is a little under one hour away, and went to the cliffs by the beach to watch the people surfing and wake boarding, and watch all the dogs romping and playing in the sand. More things to love– the beach, the dogs in the water, the cliffs, the beautiful drive between MTV and SC, and the weather.

I’m not trying to get on my high horse and expound all the virtues of my living situation right now, but I just want to say, as a born (in a different place but a city no less) and bred city girl, I am absolutely enchanted, a la Cinderella, by my surroundings.

The caveat– I wish I could share them with my family. Every time I walk down the street and see the pretty flowers people have planted up and down the sidewalk, I think how much my mom would enjoy doing the same thing with me. Or how my brother would love having the pool right outside the front door. Or how my dad would enjoy riding his new bike up and down my ‘hood.

I miss my folks but I love this place. Bah, I wish the two were reconciled in an easy manner!

…but you can’t always get what you want.