Coffee Shops

When you are bored, you do weird things.  I used to be able to accomplish so much and then I stopped working and now I can't get anything done.  I have all the time in the world to do things now, but am finding out that I can be extremely lazy.  Either that or I am more depressed than I realized.  I finally got out of the house at 2pm today, visited 3 more salons, dropped off more resumes, and went back to a salon I applied to earlier to find out if they had filled the position.  I filled out the paperwork for the transcript requests I needed for ASU, then went to a coffee shop to people-watch and write.  It's 'Pay it Forward' day so I tried to figure out a way to do just that.   These things in themselves are not too weird, but in the middle of all this activity, I realized my shoulders ached from yoga a few nights ago.  (My ex used to be a massage therapist and was good about giving massages...and now that I am living alone, I don't get that free service anymore)  I remembered a few months back I had bought a back massager from Brookstone.  And, NO, it wasn't a vibrator, it really was a back massager.  It's too big for a vibrator.  I realized I was too uncomfortable sitting in that chair at the coffee shop, and since I had all the time in the world...I actually drove back to my place to dig it out and massage my shoulders.  After about ten minutes of relief,  I went back to the coffee shop.  And here I sit.  Looking at a group of young girls in school uniforms flirt with the barista, while I type.  I know, weird.

I find Phoenix to be a really interesting place.  If you ask single 30 somethings what they think of Phoenix, they will tell you it's the worst place to be single.  It really is a divided place.  It is so sprawled out and huge.  I'm finally learning where places are and names of all the major roads.  I live, in the downtown area.  When I was looking for a place, I wanted urban living.  Phoenix downtown is unlike any downtown I've ever been to.  After a certain time, it is dead....or so it appears.  The business people go home to the suburbs and the hipsters come out.  There are new resturants and bars opening every week.  the people I've met and connected with are educated, smart and community oriented.  They also pretty much hate the Scottsdale area.  Maybe it is the stereotype of what it represents.  I understand it now, but at first I was confused.  I moved here from Washington and lived in a small conservative community, with friends and family in the Seattle area.  Where I come from, the South Hill is our Scottsdale.  In Western Washington, it's Bellevue.  I wanted urban, because in my town, I was the version of a "Scottsdale Wife" on a much smaller scale, of course.  But I get it.   I am adapting to this lifestyle in weird ways.  I let my hair be loose and wavy more often, I wear less makeup, I dress....well, I'm not sure, because I still like my expensive shoes, but I feel like I'm somehow, different...more urban.  I probably have too much time on my hands to think about this stuff.

My daughter told me I should go to the local "Coffee Stand" and apply for a job until a position in a salon opens up for me.  I told her drive through coffee stands don't really exist here in Phoenix.  There are a ton of boutique coffee shops where people spend time.  Starbucks isn't considered a very "hipster" place to hang, it being so corporate and all.  If you're from Phoenix, no one hangs at a Starbucks, but if you're from Scottsdale it's okay.  Crazy.  I'm not going to apply for a job at a coffee shop, because as 'downtown urban',  community oriented as I'm trying to be,  I can't quite make the hipster scene work for me to the degree of "hippie chic."  I will, however, experiment with different looks that bear in mind "aging gracefully" and still appear cool and not old.  It's all in attitude.  

I will keep pounding the pavement, looking for a cool place to work, believing the right position will open up for me.  One that is a different atmosphere than I'm used to.  One that makes me stretch my boundaries and open my mind to different experiences.  I'm much more open to change than I used to be. 
In the meantime, I will continue to be my own brand of weirdness...saying and doing the unexpected, living fully in the moment.  I changed my attitude today by being open to it.  I went from sad to glad, all it took was a back massager and a hip little coffee shop.  Maybe next time I should see how the vibrator works on attitude....