I’m typing this week’s column from the air…

Photo | Leslie Gracie Photography

29,000 feet high to be exact. Soaring over bumpy terrain and rolling Midwest fields, I’m aboard Delta flight 3680 from Detroit to Norfolk, and the irony of writing about this topic from an airplane isn’t lost on me. After spending a fantastic and relaxing week back in my hometown, celebrating Thanksgiving and eating all the tofurky I could muster, my mind is now settling back into work mode as I prepare for the weeks ahead and my recent vacation becomes far less recent than I’d like.

This time, though, is a bit different. While the daily grind of the coming work days is surely in my head, there’s much more to it today. Change is in the air. Last week, it was announced that the marketing department at PETA, which I am a part of, will be relocating to Los Angeles starting this summer (along with the international grassroots campaigns department and our youth outreach campaigns department). You could’ve scooped my jaw up from the floor when I heard the news. Visibly shaken and shocked from the depth of it all, it took at least 24 hours for the news to sink in. My job is relocating to Los Angeles. I am moving to Los Angeles (!!!).

Millions of questions began circulating in my head…most importantly, how will I survive without Yorgo’s?!

I feel more panicked every time I think about moving; getting my furniture, my cats, my car, my life, from one coast to another. But even despite the nerves creeping their ugly way through my body, I can’t help but get giddy when I think about the glam life that LA has to offer. When I realized that “a source from inside the restaurant saw Angie and Brad canoodling in the back booth” could be me, my skin began to crawl with anticipation. You’ll never meet a more celebrity-obsessed person than me…and I’m not sure PETA knows what they’re getting themselves into, because if they think I won’t tackle Leonardo DiCaprio in the grocery store, they are suuuuurely mistaken. Just kidding (kinda). ;-)

Also, as a vegan, I’m sure that LA is going to open my palette up to worlds of new tastes and cultures. However, through the excitement of Hollywood, delectable meals, a thrilling career opportunity, and countless other things to add to the “pro” list for moving across the country, I can’t help but feel a serious pang of sadness to leave behind Norfolk, a city I’ve grown fond of for the last two and a half years. A place that welcomed me when I was 21 years old and terrified to be on my own. Norfolk is where I got my first real apartment, where I had my first (of what turned into many) disastrous blind date, where I ate my first (which also turned into many) piece of sushi, and where I began my life and career as an independent woman. I will miss the eclectic draw of Ghent, the exquisite vegan dining, the beautiful Virginia Beach, and so much more.

So, city of mine, while I may be trading in the Atlantic for the Pacific and swapping out my daily workout at the Blocker Family YMCA for a soon-to-be inappropriate stalking of Robert Pattinson, we’ve had an excellent run and I promise to take everything you’ve taught me to heart when I’m big city living. Be sure to pick up a People magazine every once in a while to see if I’ve been able to finagle myself into the background of a paparazzi shoot (oh, don’t worry, it’ll happen).

I’m still here until the summer, so amidst packing, moving, and preparing for this life change, I’ll be sure to soak up every ounce of Hampton Roads I can until me and my cats Howdy and Francis are thousands of miles west.

But I already know, Hampton Roads…I’ll miss you.