Californiaitis

My friend Kristine told me that when her friend C, a hot-headed North Easterner who uses expletives between every other word, went to California, she returned reincarnated into someone who was relaxed and laid back. "Watch out," she warned me, "Cali's contagious." Yeah right. Me? Relaxed and laid back? Pffft. At first I was total city girl separated from her city. I was guilty of comments like, "LA is making me dumber by the minute," or starting sentences with, "Well in New York, we...." Yeah, I was a total NYC snob. Well! It seems, halfway through the trip, I was feeling myself relax a bit. I totally welcomed the sunshine, the open space, and the views. While it wasn't the tropical vacation I had hoped for (it was freezing!), it was definitely a much needed escape from my daily grind. And for once no one was invading my personal space, I didn't smell poo all around, and I wasn't grimacing at people. The past 3 days I've been extremely cheerful and positive. It was quite scary actually. I said things like, "What a beautiful day!" and "hella cool!" I smiled a lot, even at people. I was at a near skip on my walk home. I'm surprised this has gone on for so many consecutive days- could my Californiaitis last? I'm feeling rather optimistic so we'll see!