In which, for possibly the first time in my life, I sound like an optimist

When I sat down to write this post at about 4:15, it occurred to me that in Boston, the sun would have set by now. I, on the other hand, had just gotten back from a two-hour walk on the beach and the sun was still shining brightly through my picture window.

Today was lovely, because it was the first day I've had in what seems like ever that was just for me. No errands to run, to planes to catch, no gifts to get, no parties to plan for. Well, that's not entirely true - I did go to three supermarkets this morning in search of ingredients for tomorrow night's New Years shindig. But at 10 AM, on a Sunday morning when many people are already out of town, it was mostly enjoyable. I say mostly, because none of the three supermarkets carried one ingredient that seems integral to the dish: rice wine vinegar. There was red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, brown rice vinegar, and about 40 other versions that aren't what I need. I finally came across a regular rice vinegar and asked two people at the store if that was the same thing; neither of them knew. So I came home and Googled it and still couldn't get a straight answer, but the overall conclusion seems to be that, yes, they are equivalent, and how is it that I can live in California within a one-mile radius of three gourmet supermarkets and none can carry this not-exactly-exotic product that my mom buys every week at Shaws? Yeah, I dunno.

Anyway. After my grocery store tour I met my friend Miya for lunch and then we walked for nearly two hours along the beach from Santa Monica to Venice and back. It was so nice to just catch up, and nice to know that when it over, I didn't have to be anywhere else. Nice to not have the nagging feeling I should be at the gym or - since my cell battery conveniently died - returning phone calls from loser dates or long-distance friends. More than nice to be alongside the beach, taking it all in, reminding me just how much I absolutely love it here.

The last few months have been insane. In fact, my last real solid memory of My Life in Los Angeles was my birthday back in June. I have no idea where the rest of the summer went. Fall was all about travel and work and more travel. I have a work trip coming up at the end of January, but until then, I am so looking forward to just having more time for me, a few more Sundays without structure where I can actually spend time with my friends rather than feeling guilty for not doing so. Where I can feel rested and at peace and even energized, as I did today. I can't remember the last time I have felt anything but exhausted.

And even though I hate that time seems to pass so quickly these days, I'm really looking forward to the year ahead. For some reason, I can't stop thinking of it as "200GR8!"