Goodbye, Europe. This was taken in Dublin outside our Airbnb right before we made our last trek to the airport to fly home.
Monday marked three weeks since Jeremy and I flew back to the States. I’ve been trying to process how it feels, but honestly it just feels like we never left. Europe already seems like a distant memory, and I have to look at the pictures to remind myself we were there for six months. The startup disk on my laptop is full so I can’t get the pictures off my camera just yet, which means I am unable to share pictures of Ireland at the moment, but that’ll happen at some point. I also want to do a whole wrap-up of the time we spent in Europe and all the places we went. In the meantime, there are apartments to be rented and jobs to be found. Back to reality.
Here are some pictures of what we’ve been up to the past few weeks:
First order of business as soon as possible: a big ol’ to go cup of coffee in Columbus, Georgia. So tired and jetlagged.
Publix sub, of course.
Walking around Columbus – this river is right downtown and you can kayak down it.
This place had very tasty Southern food.
Hung out with this dog for a minute while stopping to buy some meat from a farmer for Jeremy’s family.
I’m so sad this toothpaste we got in France is empty, it made me chuckle every time I used it.
We went to Athens and ate at Seabear Oyster Bar – highly recommended if you’re ever in Athens. That’s a Negroni slushy on the right.
My scallion pancake from Seabear.
Visited Athen’s newest brewery, Creature Comforts.
Is this not the saddest magazine cover you’ve ever seen?
One of my favorite corners in Athens; this is the exact spot where I started my runs way back in 2002.
Stopped at Jittery Joe’s for some coffee after a run in my new Mizuno Wave Prophecy 3s.
Visited my friend Liz (who we had just seen in France and Spain) in New Orleans. Donut flavors: red bean and rice, and peanut butter and honey.
Wandering around New Orleans.
Drove across the country again. I think that must have been the 20th or so time for me. Not exaggerating.
Of course we stopped at In-n-Out.
Got up early the morning after we got back to Santa Barbara to run by the beach. Oh how I missed it.
Another run, another beautiful view.
Beach walks with Pez the dog.
View from the top.
Trail ran a little bit.
The old stomping grounds.
We moved to Los Angeles.
Oh yeah, we moved to Los Angeles. As much as I love Santa Barbara, Jeremy and I were looking for a bit of a change, and settled on LA so we were still fairly close to SB. And now we’re closer to my grandma in San Diego! We’re even driving up to SB this weekend so I can run a 5k or 10k (haven’t decided yet).
For some reason I thought this tree would be a nice photo op.
This car is so cute it shouldn’t be allowed to exist.
Another view.
We’re in the middle of apartment hunting, which is very stressful. I don’t remember ever having this much trouble, but there is lots of competition, and it seems like you have to decide within five minutes of viewing a place if you want to live there for the next year because there are seven other people there filling applications for it on the spot. So much pressure! We rented an Airbnb for the month of October so we’d have time to look around and explore all the different areas of LA (there are so many, this place is huge) and not feel like we had to settle on something immediately, which is proving to be a very good decision. I’m also job hunting, and I have an interview tomorrow, so fingers crossed that goes well. All my clothes are still in storage so I had to do a little shopping, but I think the dress I bought was a good decision.
There’s a Madewell like ten minutes away from our Airbnb in Atwater Village. It’s dangerous.
My first run as an LA resident. The highway’s not too pretty, but the mountains are.
The LA River bike path is nearby, and I’m excited to explore it.
Driving around apartment hunting with the Hollywood sign right there.
Oh yeah there’s a heat wave.
As far as running goes, I’m feeling pretty blah about it. Shopping was a wake-up call; all those donuts, Southern food, In-n-Out, and everything I ate in Europe was bound to catch up with me, and it finally did. My pants don’t fit and my arms aren’t toned at all anymore. They’re big ol’ jelly sticks now. Plus I’ve been sick the past few days and haven’t exercised at all. I’m supposed to run a 10k this Sunday but may go down to the 5k since I’ve only run nine times since my last half at the beginning of September. I also have the Santa Barbara International Half Marathon in exactly a month, so not sure what’s going to happen there either. I really need to get my butt in gear and start training again, and I feel like my motivation is slowly creeping back, which is a good sign!
Lily Runs the World 
Wow, busy girl! Good luck with any and all job interviews 🙂 They’d be lucky to have you!
Thank you so much!
Can’t believe you both are back in the states! Looks like you had an amazing trip and are already getting settled into LA. Good luck with your apartment hunting and with your interview! I’m pretty sure they will fall in love with you, because seriously, who wouldn’t? You’ve inspired me to start training for a 5k myself, and Kevin and I are slowly making our way through the process. I’ve never been a runner, but so far I’m actually kind of enjoying it. Miss you guys so much but am so happy that you’re doing well! xoxo
Deanna!! You have NO IDEA how happy this makes me! Oh man, the beginning was the worst for me, I hated running for a while, but then it clicks one day and is the greatest thing ever. When is the 5k? I wish I could be there to cheer you on! Miss you!!! xoxoxo
I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts for the past 6 months+. So glad I found your blog. Welcome to LA!
That is so nice, thank you! Which area of LA do you live in? It’s so hard to decide where to live!
Good reading, as always.
Welcome back!
Thanks dad! It sure is nice to be home 🙂
So much going on! Good luck on your interview! PS – I’m still waiting on you to post pictures of you in your black and white dress from Paris!!! 🙂
oo yeah, I’ll have to wear it when I’m feeling less sausage-y!
Good luck on the interview! Excited to see where you end up in LA. I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much about your clothes not fitting: your trip to Europe was epic!
Hell yeah it was! That actually makes me feel better, thank you. I’ll get back in shape eventually.
It sounds like things are still busy and exciting for you! Glad that transition back has gone well so far!
It isn’t Europe, but sounds like a pretty good 5 weeks! 🙂 My boyfriend introduced me to the Publix sub when I was in Florida, we need them on the West Coast! Good luck with the job interview! More money to go back to Europe! 🙂