I'm having a bit of suburban anxiety today. As in, I fear that our future is going to be filled with talk about mortgages, earthquake insurance, dishwashers, and ultimately...after-school activities.

There was a time not too long ago when I thought I would live in the middle of a city forever. I was all, I'd rather have a 2-bedroom apartment in the center of the city than a mansion in the suburbs. Well, right now we have neither. It's more like a small, single-family residence in the sort of 'burbs. For one thing, there's really no center of Los Angeles, and living in Valley will be no different than living Silverlake or Santa Monica...I j just won't have the same street cred.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Van Nuys. "Van Nuys is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley and home to about 100,000 people; the main thoroughfare, Van Nuys Boulevard, is noted for its car dealerships."

Oh god, what have we done?

We spent last evening at a friend's house in the serious 'burbs. Lovely time, but it was a scary little glimpse into our potential future. Like gallons of water being used to keep the natural desertland from creeping into the manicured subdivisions kind of scary. Like a future of never having any money, but paying off a giant house equipped with a NASA-worthy barbecue grill and a swimming pool that requires an army to maintain it. That kind of life.

I also just remembered and had to email my best friend and 90210 cohort...Van Nuys was where Andrea Zuckerman lived. She pretended to live with her grandmother in Beverly Hills so that she could get a decent education at West Beverly High. There was a whole episode about it.

In any case, our house is awfully cute and charming. If I ever feel isolated from city life, I'll pretend that it's our little country cottage getaway. Or I'll take the car and drive down the street to Target. Either way, it'll be a whimsical adventure.