ALRIGHT. I’ve called my mom, she knows. Now you can know too.

Yesterday I was officially hired to be a graphic designer/photographer/illustrator/copy writer by a woman named Suzanne. She’s constantly saying she doesn’t want to grow up, and honestly, I LOVE THAT. She signs emails with “cheers.” She bought me a cupcake at our first meeting and we decided that it’s definitely the best signing bonus I’ve ever recieved (considering I’ve never gotten a signing bonus before, this one wins. Seriously though? A cupcake? That’s a pretty awesome signing bonus to this 24-year-old.)

The coolest part about this job is that I will get to work on projects that have a positive impact on the community on a regular basis. Projects for non-profits and organizations that help people.

I’m sure your next questions are: “What’s your office like? Is it totally swank?” Well, truth be told I’d have to say my office is amazing, because it’s my house. (It’s also this really great shared 24-hour co-work space down the street called The Hashtag, but that’s it’s own other thing altogether.) So, sometimes my office will be a photoshoot, sometimes it will be a coffee shop, and other times it will be my couch with gilmore girls in the background or turntable.fm in another tab.

I’ll still be interning with Picture Fresno and doing a bit of freelance, but I’m glad to be back to having a full-time schedule.

I’m pretty jazzed about all of this, if that wasn’t obvious.

(Source: icatchfoxes)

• Everyone here (almost) waits to shop for Christmas until THE WEEK BEFORE (in Ohio, a lot of people get crazy right around Thanksgiving because they are nervous the weather will prohibit efficient shopping at later dates, so it’s never like a high school right after the bell rang for 2 straight weeks at the mall…)
• It’s weird if Starbucks here don’t have a drive-thru. (In Ohio I can remember when we first got drive-thru stores, and they aren’t as common as cafe stores…)
• I can buy fruit right now. Really good fruit. Any kind. And it’s not marked up by 50% from 5 months ago.
• I live in the state with the largest economy in the United States (though it’s quite a mess, it’s still the largest) — California also has the 8th largest economy IN THE WORLD.
• All highways are referred to as if they were the only one. For example: The 41, The 99, The 1, The 5. “Oh, just take the 41 South toward downtown…”
• THERE ARE NO EAT N’ PARKS, WAFFLE HOUSES OR CRACKER BARRELS HERE.
• I now know what a hamburger is all about. On a regular basis.
• People do not understand roundabouts (or most of the laws and etiquette associated with driving an automobile.)
• When it rains, even just a mist, it’s called a “storm.”
• I was mistaken, it was never EVER foggy in Ohio when I was growing up.
• All backyards are fenced/gated with locked entry.
• More houses have carports than garages.
• Many intersections in my part of town have no stop signs in any direction.
• Sweet & Sour Chicken is very different in Fresno as compared to any Sweet & Sour Chicken I’ve ever had… including NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami & much of Ohio/Pennsylvania.
• The Mexican food in Ohio is disgusting. I now know why I didn’t really enjoy it prior to living in California: Nacho cheese should not even be available in a Mexican restaurant; it most certainly should never be a part of a quesadilla. 
• Trains are AWESOME. So is traveling by train within your own state…
• Food trucks are amazing, and more should exist in this town.
• It’s possible to have pride in where you live, even when you just got there.
• Art can sell. Really. Just apparently not on a regular basis in Akron, Ohio.
• It’s a lot cooler to be able to drive to see snow if you want to than to have it just show up and really get in your way for months at a time.

I’m sure there are more, but I will amend this list as necessary in the future, promise.

• SIDE NOTE: If you are currently in college and long for a time when you’re graduated and have “free time” when you have a “real job” — please CUT IT OUT that’s not true at all, you will still be busy, you will still be tired, it’s called BEING AN ADULT.

(Source: icatchfoxes)

Things that are different about my life in Fresno (as compared to my previous life in Akron, Ohio)

• I no longer have to dial area codes from landlines for local calls (there is only one area code in the local area, it’s nickle-nickle-nine)
• I live in a city that has an area of 104.8 sq mi (as opposed to Akron’s 62.4 sq mi)
• There are 505,479 people who live in this city with me (as opposed to 217,074 in Akron)
• I live in a valley at elevation 296 ft (as opposed to Akron’s 1,004 ft elevation)
• I live just down the road from the raisin capital of the world… and I used to live in the rubber capital of the world.
• U-turns are not only (almost) always legal, but mostly always necessary. (Akron doesn’t really have medians, so U-turns are legal, but rarely necessary…)
• I am now a Fresnan and no longer an Akronite… though I’ll always cherish my days spent as an Akronite…

This is just a small sampling and is mostly based on wikipedia facts — I will post a retrospect on the last 6 months of observations of differences I have made… so be on the lookout.