I'm HUGE in Hollywood!

Groupon puts up an offer for 3 months at a gym for $50.00 so I snag it. On my first day at the gym they put me with a personal trainer who takes me through a FREE hour long orientation that ends with an exciting Fat Test! That's what they call it, "The Fat Test". It was the first test I'd ever had where someone else did all the writing. The trainer, Brett, scribbled down a bunch of numbers, did some quick math, then started shaking his head as he told me, "We need to start working on this right away."
According to Brett, being 5’7”and weighing 172 is technically “obese”.

I learn something new every day in L.A. 

(not actual personal trainer)

Aside from "The Fat Test", the past couple weeks have been a blast! Getting to see The Avengers on the Disney Studio LOT, going to see a play, and, oh yeah, I got a parking space! Okay, so a parking space may not sound all that exciting to most people, but here it means you can go driving around. Explore! Go hiking, go to the beach, go find the best burritos (not necessarily in that order).

One of the surprising things about L.A. is just how quickly it changes. Ten minutes in a car heading West and you’re in Beverly Hills. Five minutes past that you’re on campus at UCLA. From Hollywood to the beach is only a thirty minutes!

Yes, you find out all kinds of things driving around, so much that I made a list. So, here it is...

3 Things to Know About Living In Hollywood

1. Furniture’s Up For Grabs!

Lots of people load up the U-Haul and drive to L.A. They bring beds, couches, coffee tables. Then they get to the place where they’ll be living and find there’s already a bed. Already a couch. Already four coffee tables. While hopping onto a used mattress may not sound hygienic...well, it’s good to have options. And if you happen to show up without any furniture, not to worry. Just go for a walk around the block.

You can find just about anything. Like a couch…

Or, how about a couch AND bed…

But, if you're going to be walking around looking for furniture, you'll want to have a few things on hand. Which brings me to the next item...

2. ALWAYS Carry a Pen

(Self Defense Inking Device)

These things are amazing!! Not only can you use these for scribbling down phone numbers, story ideas, potential furniture locations, but they’re also great to hang onto if you run into screaming bums (…and in L.A., you WILL run into them). For some reason, street people don't stop you as much when you've got a pen in hand. My guess is they don't want to hassle you because you look like you've got somewhere to be. Which brings me to the next item...

3. Hollywood Happy Hour

If you’re in Hollywood and are short on cash, not to worry. Plan on eating dinner between 5-7 when everyone competes for your Happy Hour dollar. Restaurants in downtown Austin had some really great deals to try and keep the after work folks downtown until the late night 9 o’clock crowd would roll in. Hollywood Blvd is no different, offering $3.00 corn-dog bites, 45¢ boneless buffalo wings, half price chips and guacamole, $1.00 Taco Tuesdays and—Oh yeah, cheap drinks.

It's easy to get a meal and a drink for under ten bucks. Just be careful. Too many of these happy hours and you may end up having to go through The Fat Test.