Only in California

We have now been residents of California for just under four months. I have been creating this post in my mind for about three months and now is the time to post it - before it gets too long!

CELEBRITY

We are in the land of celebrities, plastic surgery, chihuahuas (more on that in a second), overly-tanned bodies, Baywatch, palm trees (though I've heard these were actually imported here) and great restaurants. I have not hidden the fact that I'd love to chat with Jennifer Garner whilst our children run around at a park - no, that hasn't happened yet. However, we have had a select few celebrity run-ins. They have not been glamourous at all, instead, they have proved to us that stars still have to:

1. Buy Groceries - Rich saw Henry "The Fonz" Winkler at the local Ralph's grocery store next to the apartment we lived in for six weeks in Santa Monica.

2. Take out the Trash - Rich witnessed Donald Sutherland rolling out his green bin to the end of his driveway on PCH one morning

3. Fill Prescriptions - why Donald is our celebrity-of-the-year is beyond me, but I literally bumped into him at Rite-Aid last night. I was walking down an aisle and went blindly around the corner and bumped into him. He said "excuse me" and I said "no, excuse me, my fault" and then after he walked away I realised who it was. Had I figured it out earlier I would have told him I loved his work in Backdraft.

FAST CARS, SMALL DOGS

The first few weeks whenever we saw a Ferrari, a Carrera, a mint-condition Shelby or some other amazing piece of vehicular machinery we gawked, oohed, ahed, and yeah, got a little bit jealous. How cool would I look driving a Shelby with two carseats in the back - wait, they wouldn't fit! But we soon realised they are a dime a dozen here, which kind of doesn't make them all that special after all.

What else is a dime a dozen here are small dogs - I'm talking Shitzus, Chinese Pugs and the ever-present Chihuahua. In fact, Disney has just released a movie called "Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I think it may have been Paris Hilton who "introduced" us to the dog-as-accessory fashion, but I've gotta tell you, it's (unfortunately) caught on. I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond the other day and I had to do a double-take, I thought this woman had one hairy toddler. It turns out it was her pedigree froo-froo something-or-other dog, get this: sitting on it's doggy bed in the child-seat at the front of shopping cart; and yes, we were in the linen department, so the dog was shopping IN the store with her. 

Then a few days later I'm driving down PCH behind a gorgeous, yellow Porsche (okay, so maybe it doesn't get old admiring them), we pull up to a red light and I see the driver fiddling with something in the passenger seat. Next thing I see, he's lifting this skinny, rat of a dog chihuahua into the back seat - it must have gotten in the way of the gear shift. I have to admit, I was a bit deflated - I thought, great car, ugh dog - get yourself a German Shepard or something with as much guts as your car!

 

The New 90210 - Just Not the Same

I'm not sure if my friends in Australia are aware that they have re-done 90210. Same concept (Midwestern family moves to BH), new cast (though Kelly and Brenda are back) and updated technology (blogs, PDAs and cell phones). I was really looking forward to this one - a bit of a walk down memory lane. I must say it was a huge disappointment. I didn't think the actors were all that great, the characters weren't that exciting and neither were the plot lines. OK, so perhaps 18 years ago (yes, the "real" 90210 started 18 years ago) my mother was probably saying the same thing about the original 90210, so all it means is that I've grown up a bit, but I was still hopeful.

At least the New Kids on the Block are making a comeback - perhaps there is some hope there!

THE "GREEN" STATE

Lastly, if any Californian tries to tell me that this is a "Green" state, I am simply going to tell them to visit the parking lot of a high-income-area private school at the end of the school day and then try and convince me (and themselves) that this state is "Green". I was laughing out-loud to myself all the way to the car on Wednesday, the first day of school for Sydney. People who saw me perhaps even wondered what was so funny. I tried to get a photo, but I thought it would be way too obvious (and strange) that I was photographing a line of cars and heck, I don't have many friends around here, I don't want to turn people off before they've met me.

Anyway, I digress. What was before me when I pulled up to Sydney's school was a double-wide line about 12 cars long, with a single-file line another 12+ cars long (I couldn't see the end as it wound up a hill) and EVERY car but two was an SUV. Hmmmm - and people are complaining about the price of gas, amount of smog in LA and "Global Warming" allegedly caused by "Emissions"? To tell you the truth, I felt part of the club. I'm a mommy with an SUV and loving it - the difference? I don't for a second pretend that I'm "Green". Yes, I do believe in conservation, doing what we can to reduce our environmental footprint (I am a turn-off-the-light-if-you're-not-using-it advocate), etc, etc, but I don't go around toting one thing and doing another.

OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.