Up the river without a paddle

Now I am convinced that I am insane. I will be leaving Chicago somewhere between August 27th and September 1. Come hell or high water. Or since it's Chicago sleet or snow or golf ball sized hail.  I am at that point where everything is snowballing. There is much to do and very little time to do it. And I am learning who the truly important people in my life are. I am stressed out and overwhelmed to say the least. I am most occupied by sorting out the car situation. Both the licensing and the buying sides of the equations. And my tribe of girls is helping me organize my apartment sale on August 12 (Please mark your calendars!) so I am continually going through my stuff and sorting out the have and have nots. My apartment is a a claustrophobic mess of boxes and piles. But there are moments of stress relief like when Giddings randomly decides to curl up on my lap to remind me to take a break, when I get excited about visitors because I already have people specific places to show them or when I get my copy of the  Not For Tourists Guide to Los Angeles in the mail. If you have never seen a NFT Guide you should check them out. They consider Farmers Markets and Public Libraries as essentials. They make me very happy. So here are some fun facts for you:

• Los Angeles averages 329 days of sunshine a year. (This bodes well for me)
• The city boasts more stage theaters (80+) and museums (300) than any other city in the U.S. (including New York!) (and this also bodes well for me)
• Annually, LA residents consume over one billion pounds of red meat, over 300 billion pounds of ice cream, and absolutely no carbs whatsoever. (This might not go so well)
• The Hollywood sign was erected in 1923. (It originally said Hollywoodland) And restored in 1978 (at $27,000 a letter).  It is approximately a 3 mile hike round trip to the top of Mt. Lee and there are rattlesnakes. (This is at the top of my to-do list)
• You can never really get lost in LA as long as you know where the hills are. (Sort of like always knowing where Lake Michigan is.)
• You can purchase chessik aka loquat at the Hollywood Farmers Market. (See the third picture below Jimmy Stewart in the previous post.)
• The Parlour Room offers happy hour until 10pm.
• I will be arriving just in time for the Lobster Festival, the Silverlake Film Festival and the birthday of the City itself. (That would be September 4th) (Good thing I like lobster, movies and birthday parties)

Facts taken from NFT LA 2012 and from my own knowledge and experience.