Claytin Goss - First Blog Post for Jan. 20th

Hey pals!

I apologize for my late first post. I’ve had company the first three weeks I’ve been working so I haven’t had the time or wanted to blog. I’ll talk about where I live and my first two weeks of work in this blog and my last two weeks in another one!

Getting moved to California was a process. My mom, my dad, and I drove my car to California with a tiny UHUAL. 

The trip consisted of lots of naps, snacks, and Stuff You Should Know podcast episodes. (Listen to “The Disappearance of Flight MH370” episodes. Insane!)

We took the food stops very seriously. I was in charge of finding restaurants that ONLY had been on Diner’s, Driver’s, and Dive’s, per my dad’s request.

After three days of traveling, we finally arrived in California, and after one day of unloading the UHAUL, I was moved in! My dad left a few days later, and my mom stayed with me another week.

I live in a little beach town outside of San Diego called Solana Beach. It has a very active, outdoor centered community, always with people strolling, jogging, riding bikes, and walking their dogs from sunrise to sunset. Outside tables at restaurants are guaranteed the first to go and the beach is constantly full of surfers, volleyball players, and dog owners. It’s a nice change of pace to see people out and about.

Solana Beach. I did not take this picture, it's from the internet.

Design District in Solana (also from internet. I'm bad at taking pictures) 

While it's full of active people, the atmosphere and character of Solana Beach is very laid-back. My apartment is on Cedros Avenue, home to Solana Beach’s design district. It’s lined with unique interior decor stores, boutiques, coffee shops, a really good winery, a hipster-y brewery, and a pet store called Muttropolis (lol). There’s also a live music venue called the Belly Up with vibes very similar to the Varsity. It’s not a party town, but there are a ton of low-key spots to unwind after work or on the weekends. I’m also lucky enough to live down the road from my Aunt and Uncle, who are some of the coolest people I know.

Dis my mom. We took a trip to Little Italy in San Diego one night

Moody OJB pic 

OJB is a 5-minute drive from my apartment.  It's a very bright and open office, with a nice rooftop lounge space and a great view of the sunset from the balcony. There’s also a killer snack closet.  There are close to 30 people in the office and they are divided into design teams that tackle different projects.

Dogs at work (:

My mom framed the poster the office made
me and put it above my bathroom

My first day was January 20^th, and when I arrived I was greeted with a cute welcome poster that put my nerves at ease. I’m on a design team with Jim (the big man), Troy, Katie, and Drew. We’re working on a huge mixed-use development project in Santa Clara, CA.

For the first week, I was doing tutorials in Vectorworks, Lumion, and LandFX. The second week I really started working. I edited design documents in Vectorworks and LandFX, worked on a lot of Lumion renderings, and created plant pallets for some city presentations. I also sat in meetings with different consultants and met with the other OJB offices. I even got to talk to Kaylin at a meeting! (:

It's been a pretty easy adjustment and I think I'm going to end up loving this place. But I miss yall and Louisiana. I hope everyone is happy and is learning a lot about themselves.

Until the next blog (which I'm about to write immediately after I finish this one),

Claytin