10 Years of California Dreamin'

Me and Mr. Mustard, outside my West Hollywood apartment, Fall 2000:



This month marks 10 years since I packed my car and moved to California in search of adventure. I never thought that 10 years later, I'd still be here! What began as a weekend roadtrip from Bloomington, Indiana has turned into a life.

When I left Indiana, I had $100 in my bank account and one credit card with a $600 limit. I had a friend of a friend who said I could stay at her place for a few weeks. I found a job, I applied to the Master's program at USC Film School...and the rest is history!

I started in San Francisco and got a job as a graphic designer for The Gap. Less than a year later, the house I was living in on curvy Lombard street burned down to the ground (mostly while I was asleep inside). I had already been accepted to Film School at USC, so I packed my bags during the hot summer of 2000 and headed south to Los Angeles.

Me and Ann, Spring 2001, Santa Monica Beach:



Mr. Mustard's graduation from USC Film, May 2001:



Me and Ann, Fall 2001, outside my apartment in West Hollywood:



Visiting San Diego for my birthday with my dad, September 2001:



The first week at USC, I met Mr. Mustard. By November, we were a couple. I lived in a little apartment in West Hollywood in the best location with dirt-cheap rent. I really lucked out with that place! Mr. Mustard lived in Pasadena and spent a lot on gas coming to visit me. I lived in West Hollywood til after graduation in 2002, and then headed to Berkeley for law school. Mr. Mustard and I got married in August 2003, and then I moved into his apartment in Hollywood while making the long drive up to school at Berkeley every week. In the meantime, Mr. Mustard won his first Emmy (and I got to go!), we bought a house in Pasadena, and the years kept ticking by.

Graduating from USC Film, Ron Howard presenting me with my diploma, May 2002:



Leo Carillo Beach, Malibu, Summer 2002:



On Vacation, Summer, 2003:



Governor's Ball at the Emmy's, the first year...Sept. 2005:



2006 brought law school graduation, Paprika, passing the Bar, and Mr. Mustard's second Emmy. That was a pretty incredible year...even if I didn't get to go to the Emmy's that year because I had given birth 48 hours prior.

In Labor with Paprika, August 16, 2006:



It's amazing to see how far I've come in these past 10 years, and how that fateful decision to roadtrip to California ten years ago transformed my life. I never imagined that my life would turn out this way. It has been incredibly rich, and exciting...full of the highest highs and some very deep lows. But I couldn't and wouldn't change the past ten years for anything. It's been one great adventure, which after all, is just what I was seeking.