California - Find Yourself Here

Remember a month ago I posted about my organizing projects? I'm happy to report that I've made some progress! I took "before" pictures, so hopefully later this month I'll take some "after" pictures and you can see for yourself. I've been trying to get rid of old magazines, but it's so hard. I subscribe to many and can't read them all, so I keep thinking that one day I'll have time to read them at my leisure, but life is not quite so leisurely all the time. Anyways, one of my favorite magazines that I've subscribed to for years is Budget Travel. It is an awesome magazine for ordinary (note: not rich) people who like to travel. It tells ya how to get the best deals, where to stay and eat for a good price when you get there, etc. I have back issues dating back to like 2002, so I really needed to get rid of some of them. So I spent some time yesterday evening finding my favorite articles at their website and then ditching the magazine. In one of the issues, I saw some very pretty ads for California. Ads for California you say? What's that? Well, apparently the tourism board here has had this slogan for a few years, and they put out print and TV ads to attract visitors to our great state. The slogan is, "California. Find yourself here."


I love this ad because the details and the slogan are on the surfboard, then in the background there's the Coronado Beach and the famous landmark Hotel del Coronado. For those of you who don't know, we have an "island" offshore called Coronado, even though it's really an isthmus. It is beautiful there: small town charm mixed with incredible views of the ocean on one side and the San Diego skyline on the other side. You can get there via the Coronado Bay Bridge from San Diego, or take the ferry boats.

Anyways, finding this ad reminds me of why I live here again and made me all happy. So I started doing the math in my head and realized that San Diego is the longest I've ever lived in ANY city! I've lived here 7.5 years!

Tainan, Taiwan: 3 years
Taipei, Taiwan: 6 years
Berkeley, CA: 3 years
Walnut Creek, CA: 6 years
Columbus, OH: 5 years
Dayton, OH: 6.5 years
San Diego, CA: 7.5 years!

Whoo hoo! I'm a San Diegan! And what's more, California is my home state. I've lived here 16.5 years versus 11.5 in Ohio, and 9 years in Taiwan.

So, to celebrate those facts, here's a link to my great state: www.visitcalifornia.com. I like the description of San Diego here, even though it's not true that it's 85 degrees year-round! But it IS true that people visit here and end up moving here all the time! Here's a link to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Here's the cool "Find Yourself Here" commercial:



Ignore the "skate and annoy" part.

Here's a cute video tour of our three major cities: