You're Not in Nashville Anymore

Over the past month +, I have been noticing a lot of things that make California very different from Nashville. Thought you might be as surprised as I was by some of these:

• Pedestrians rule. There is apparently no such thing as jay-walking here. People cross the street whenever they want, and for the most part, the cars are happy to stop for them!
• 80% of women over 40 here could kick my @*$ and wear cuter clothes than me (hard, right?). It really does match the SoCal stereotype -- All the girls (scratch that-- women) have fake boobs, wear lululemon, and are ridiculously in shape. And they are everywhere!
• Everyone owns a dog. Dogs are allowed in any stores/restaurants, you name it. If not, there's a post outside for them to hang out. Also note, dog-walking is an entirely acceptable career path here. 
• Country is not a real genre of music that people admit listening to. It is merely something you suggest to mock people.
• There are a lot of people who work in "labs" out here. I think half the people I have met (being modest) are engineers/scientists/geneticists, etc.
• The roads here are awful. Potholes and uneven-ness everywhere. On the flip-side, there are more ridiculously nice cars than anywhere I have ever been. This is probably thanks to the Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls Royce, Lambhorgini, and Bentley dealerships that are within a mile of my house. Not kidding...and that's not even all of them.
• You find yourself constantly and accidentally being active. It is so pretty here, I am tempted to walk peanut daily (whoa!), would rather walk to the grocery store, go on a hikes when I have a spare hour, or find some excuse to be outside at all times. (I can't wait for Summer!)
• When it rained twice in a week, people were all gushing about how terrible the weather was. Mind you, rain here is more like drizzle and wind...and only for very short periods of time. A rainy day = 1 hour of rain and 23 of sunshine (minus night). It has pretty much been between 60-70 and sunny everyday since I got here. (Supposed to hit 80 this week!)
• People say "bro" - in all seriousness.
• No one has heard of LocalEats...Absurd, huh!?!  I'm working on changing that ;)
• Boys wear bright colors. Think: neon pink. I don't know if all boys want to and just don't have the courage, or if it's just a trend here that boys feel they must follow. I'm okay with it. 
• You can't use your cell phone while driving, unless with a headset. You WILL get a ticket. 
• Working for an iPhone "app" isn't that uncommon. 
• Rush hour is at 3pm. I'm not sure if these people actually have jobs...but the trafficky time of day is definitely around 3 (the only real logic I have for this is that people are working with the west coast).
• You can meet someone with a tattoo sleeve up their arm, and then they will tell you they teach kindergarten.
• Casual attire is acceptable for anything. (woohoo!!!) And all girls wear Toms.
• The gov't takes a lot more of your paycheck. 
• It's always the perfect day to fly a kite. 
• Their carwashes are um...confusing -- see sidestory from my facebook status earlier this week: Just bought a car wash at the gas station pump. When I pulled around back to the pull through machine, there was a man standing with rags. Now I'm sitting in my car right next to the car wash machine while someone hand cleans my car. The automatic is only for at night. Only in la jolla...10 minutes later...so the man starts cleaning my car...tells me to roll up my window. i don't realize the right front window is cracked, i just roll up mine. he sprays water all into my car (clearly, my fault). THEN, he tells me ...to pull forward. i ask "all the way?" i dont guess he understands me, because he says yes. i drive through the auto car-wash, and he is waving his hands for me to stop. apparently he soaps me first, then rinses the car, and the auto car wash does a 2nd job of both, in case the first time didn't get it. i am now stuck halfway out of the autowash, and halfway almost into a main road. i am trying to reverse back INTO the car wash, nearly hitting all the signs and metal tracks. Pulling back, fwd, back, fwd, until i finally (thank god!) got back into the car wash -- without hitting anything, i must add. but now i am sweating. after the rinse, i pull forward, and the man towel dries my car. how incredibly awkward. he thinks i'm an idiot. and i do too.
•  There are like 7 interstates here and 25 neighborhoods to remember ie: We may have East Nashville, West End, Brentwood, and Cool Springs...but they have a name for every 4 blocks or so...and each one has its own identity. 
• People are pretty passionate about burritos and locally grown food. Locally brewed beer is also extremely popular here -- and there are TONS of breweries to choose from.
• Not knowing English is entirely acceptable and common here (and gives me motivation to be fluent in Spanish!!) - Did you realize I'm only a 20 minute drive to Mexico?
• And last, my favorite -- Boys here don't watch or seemingly care about sports. They want to know what the waves are like today and watch "surf films" instead.