Life's a beach

As 2009 draws to an end, I've given my notice to Emily that I'm moving out of the cat-house, have started looking for new digs, and have hightailed it out of L.A. for a few days in Orange County.  Huntington Beach is a surf neighbourhood, where the view across the big blue Pacific is interrupted by oil rigs but is nonetheless beautiful.  Apparently HB has undergone a gentrification over the last 5 or 10 years; it used to be a wild party scene with regular rioting, to the extent that the police would conduct riot drills in the street on a regular basis.  It is now a much quieter neighbourhood, populated by townhouses topped with Spanish tiles and a tourist strip filled with surf labels, souvenir stores, bars and the usual fast food chains.  Like Torquay meets Surfers Paradise, without the high rise hotels.

I'm staying with Sarah, a woman I went to high school with but never really knew back then.  We were in the same year but never the same class, however thanks to Facebook we were reintroduced by a mutual former schoolfriend and have become friends; we have high school in common and now also the fact that we are single, childless women living a long way from Mentone!  Sarah has been in the States for the last 9 years and is relishing her life in HB.  Yesterday was an uncharacteristically rainy day, so while Sarah worked in the afternoon, I took myself off to a local day spa for a facial.  Bliss!  Today blue skies returned and we went for a leisurely bike ride along the foreshore.

Today is new year's eve and I know that it is already 2010 in Australia; an odd feeling.  Sarah is hosting a party at her house so this afternoon we went foraging for tasty treats and celebratory bubbles.  There is cheese on the kitchen bench, slowly relaxing to room temperature, and a pavlova in the oven!