hi.. it’s me and Charlotte (and some macarons), we are work in progress living in downtown LA. Charlotte is a 7 month old French bulldog, aspiring downtown diva, who always steals the center stage from me. and I am a (recently former) bondgirl, who traded bond trading for fashion, freedom, humanity, art, and other things in life that are more important and inspiring. and don’t forget macarons. they are a lifestyle. I’m surprised they still haven’t came up with a macaron emoji. (when in doubt, always get salted caramel, you won’t be disappointed). also, you might occasionally see a handsome man, a.k.a. Tommy pie, a.k.a investment banker extraordinaire. but he’s already taken. sorry, I’m not sorry.
..plus, downtown LA views, local businesses, affordable fashion (no “must have” Celine bags, I promise!), things to do in LA that capture my attention (even though I don’t show up to most of them), coffee shops, beautiful things that are free, free things that are beautiful, something to talk about at cocktail parties, art galleries, street style, pictures of me taken by strangers and pictures of strangers taken by me. and whatever else I feel like.

as for one life stands, I had a total of 4 so far. number one was a bad idea from the beginning. blond long-haired part-time hippy, part-time crappy jobs survivor, from Neosho, MO (have you even heard of that? me neither, but that sounded so new and exciting), who used his change to buy gas, with no dad, a meth addict mom, a dream to become an actor and no plans or drive to make that happen (he joined the marines and went to Iraq after). but I was too young to realize that. and the proposal with a family ring which passed through generations, at McDonald’s drive-thru in Denton, TX, where I was working at that time, felt so romantic for 20-year old me (“would you like to supersize that?” “would you like to to marry me?”), that I said yes.
number two was a great idea. an architect with amazing eyes, perfect teeth, eyebrows that I’m still jealous of, incredible sense of style, art and anything visual, a desire to start a family, and now a great job at Gehry technologies. but I was too young and stupid to appreciate that. even after a proposal with a Tiffany ring and Eiffel Tower on a background, after a dinner at a three star Michelin rated restaurant in the heart of Paris. go figure.
number three was a questionable choice. I didn’t need that, but wanted it so bad. the time it took me to make him mine, oh god.. I’ll take it as a trophy. if ryan gosling and brad pitt could have a baby together, that would be him. that’s the face and the body you can’t say no to, even when he hasn’t texted you back for two days. but those nights of endless parties, tequila tastings, free meals with no reservations at the most exclusive restaurants in LA, no waiting in lines pretty much anywhere you can imagine. plus home made dinners, Detroit redwings, trips to Florida and Mexico, fueled by cocaine, cigarettes, and Lana del Rey.. a bad idea. but I don’t regret a second of it. he made me feel like the world was at my feet. but (almost) everything has an expiration date.
number four is the best thing that happened to me so far. you can think of this as “good on paper” with a footnote “amazing in reality also”. this is the man I want to introduce to my family, and I know for sure my mom will love him. she already does, based on what I told her. investment banker extraordinaire, muni star, Vice President of public finance, and best in the nation at prestigious company, with British citizenship, his own condo in downtown LA and washer and dryer (!!), zero body fat, healthy as hell (paleo and everything), plays the piano, collects art, a big fan of fish, mountain climbing, nice dinners, and cross fit. ok, the later is questionable. but other than that, basically a dream come true, whichever way you look at it. with no expiration or “consume by” date, as far as I’m aware. the only downside is that he concerns about increasing homelessness population in downtown LA, mostly because he thinks that it drives down his property value. but i just roll my eyes and get back to my sushi plate.

update 6.17.16: Charlotte is almost a year old, and I’m back to trading bonds