Well, here we are. We’re guessing you’ve already said goodbye to your bodega man, and the chorus line of trash bags on your street. New York City will always hold a stinky, gorgeous, humid place in your heart, but now it’s time to move on [clears throat in Joni Mitchell] to California. I lived in Southern California for the first two decades of my life, and have been on the East Coast for the past three years. I’m obsessed with both. I’m not into coast wars. But [rips bong] where else can you surf and ski in the same day? Drive through jumbo trees? Go to a private social club for magicians, or find yourself amongst the desert Yucca trees? I know they probably call this place the Golden Coast because of our shiny brown chaparral and prospecting past, but it really is the land of milk and honey. And Juvederm.
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There’s a kind of pipeline between Los Angeles and New York; more friends than I can count have shuffled between the two for years, for whatever reason(s), and had to adapt to life not only on the West Coast, but SoCal. To the total newcomers: Get ready to hug everyone (though maybe that’s chilled out in COVID-19 times?), be half-an-hour late to everything, and make hiking a regular part of your social calendar. Think of all the efficiency and curt gusto you perfected in your New York personality, then stretch it out like Laffy Taffy, and bring it to Venice Beach to chill. Embrace the personality expansion, baby, and outfit your buns and your abode in true Angeleno fashion; you are now a Nalgene-toting, farmers-market-going, pool-slide-wearing fuckboy with a heart of gold and a solid sunscreen rotation. Granted, this is also stuff I use in New York (although many would say sandals on the subway is a psychologically damaging combo), but I think it’s easier to forget your SPF when you’re schlepping through foggy Brooklyn on a baconeggncheese mission than when you’re driving up the Santa Monica Boulevard like Sheryl. (She really was the queen of LA back then, wasn’t she?) Anyways. The clichés cometh. But you know what? They’re not unfounded. Consider the following your self starter check-list for life in LA, from earthquake preparedness to beach picnic accessories; plus, doggy streetwear and Hard Chiller outfits that will have your friends in Bushwick gossiping, “IDK, man. They look a little *too* happy.”
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Slides
Sandals you can hike in
A short sweatsuit
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The classic button-up-cargo-short combo
Be equipped to eat (and hydrate) anywhere
Breathe easy during fire season
Protect your neck (and the rest of your skin)
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Your car is baby
.... And yes, fire and earthquake prep is real
Get ready for picnics by land (and sea)
Because you’ll finally have outdoor space
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You might get a dog
Don’t forget the space saving bags, and see you on the Golden Coast.
The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story.