Lucky Valley Girl Gets Her Lake House

Good news! I am on track to return to the San Fernando Valley in the coming months as a new denizen of Toluca Lake. This has been a complicated time to be changing households when so many people not only have not had the choice, but had their homes brutally torn from them by the fires encircling Los Angeles. I continue to hold folks in my thoughts as they discover daily from city and county officials whether their homes are still standing or not. I can’t imagine being in that kind of disaster lottery but was thrilled to hear that two of the folks I’ve been worried about have homes that have survived. Of course pretty much everyone is still evacuated, so that’s rough.

In the meantime, I’ve found the home of my dreams, checking all the boxes from my wish list. So it’s not literally on a lake, but at this point in my life, staying in California supercedes that and also I’m not sure I want to decamp to the wilderness for lakeside living now. As my life coach, Nan, reminded me, it’s in a “lake” community. Fair enough. I feel so fortunate to have found what I was looking for, and haven’t yet had to call the Shit Guy.

In this disaster economy, I’ve been looking for homeowner’s insurance and moving services and beginning the slog through the list of changing home tasks which is large. I’ve been aided by my fearless realtor, Jenny Guthrie, and we accomplished photos of my condo in DTLA – should be listed by tomorrow if you are interested in taking a look. Let me know and I can share the link once listed. Today we did the home owner’s inspection at the new place and there weren’t any major hurdles. Everytime I get to see the place I am more enamored than the last.

Buying a home is a stressful event, even when you have an amazing team supporting you. I just want to shout out Jenny Guthrie of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Crest Real Estate. Jenny is a friend and former colleague of mine, and I would definitely recommend that as a selling feature because if your like the people you are working with, things go smoother, and you might have a few laughs along the way. For example, when she brought her amazing photographer to my condo to do the listing photos. I imagine a fully staged unit is easier to do this in but when you still have a denizen in the unit, their stuff is sometimes untidy. Jenny found really amazing places to stow unsightly things away. All this while I was at the dentist getting my teeth cleaned. I think I’ll be finding things for weeks as I pack for the move but she got the place looking amazing and I got a scavenger hunt when I got home.

Speaking of the efforts to make your home look its best. Take a look around your own home right now. I dare you to find the following:

• Flaccid pillows on your couch – smooshed from lounging over the years
• Flat pillows on your bed – stains under the pillow shams?
• Tchotchkes – the wooden animal collection is hiding in the closet.
• Photo albums with pictures of your children you haven’t cracked open in a decade (with apologies to those folks who have lost those photo albums)
• Umpteen bottles of half finished shampoos and lotions in your bathroom. Use it or lose it is my new motto.
• Towels in your guest bath that are grungy from newsprint

There are so many things we lose actual sight/appreciation of in our busy lives – that we put up with. The other night when I crawled into my pristeen, hotelified bed fresh with brand new pillows, I sighed with pleasure and drifted off to sleep.

I know that I will be out of my house a lot in the coming days for showings and that each time before I leave I will need to erase all traces of my existence. Moving is a delicate dance between the exhilaration of the new as of yet unrealized home, and the wistful sadness of leaving a home full of memories and joy. So many people in Los Angeles are doing this same journey, but unwillingly; they didn’t have the privilege I do of thinning down the photo albums and selecting what they want to carry forward. Most of them don’t know what the path forward even looks like, other than laced with administrative hassles. I know that I am leaving the last home I shared with my soul mate, the home that I worked remotely from for more than two years. This is a home I associate with love and productivity and so leaving it behind will be hard.

An interesting thing has happened since Jenny and I emptied my condo of the creature comforts like chairs you can put your socks on in, etc. My balance has gotten better because I’m dressing from a standing position (which I’m told is good for you). I’ve gravitated to my desk in my bedroom for writing and executing the many tasks that are involved in being in escrow. There, I am close to the printer, and the wide windows looking out at the Skyline of downtown Los Angeles, which is spectacular. Having a work place that isn’t my dining room table is outstanding, and one of the things I’m looking forward to most in my new home.

So, lots of changes in 2025. I will be meeting inspectors on Monday, January 20th, and assiduously avoiding looking at the television and the pomp and tromp that will be happening that day. I’ve taken action and am activating my life and encourage you to do so in the new year. By choice if not by circumstance. Los Angeles Strong is a powerful message and rebuilding is what we will all be called upon to do in the coming months and years.

On my 65th birthday which is all too soon, I’ll celebrate at a distribution center for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank where I’ve been volunteering since the middle of June. Last year for my birthday, I raised money for an Opioid Crisis group through FB, but I trust you all know where your individual donations are needed at this difficult time. Be careful to vet the go-fund-me links before sending your hard-earned money. And don’t be afraid to make your dreams come true. Hold positivity in your sight and heart. I’ve been going through old photos and came across this one taken at the “after party” of Jimmie’s and my wedding in September of 1984. Ostensibly a Princeton Alumni photo, what was striking when I came across it this week (aside from the adorably cherubic 25-year-old faces of my friends) was the fact that all of these folks (save the two who have shuffled off this mortal coil) are very much in my life and I treasure their friendships. I’m a lucky valley girl.