The time has come for Audrey to go away to college. She had to leave the security of her cozy Irvine FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) campus for the big city. Audrey was required to take all her second-year classes in Los Angeles. Since she doesn't yet have her driver's license, Audrey plans to commute by train to L.A., like most of her Orange County classmates.
Exterior, FIDM Los Angeles Campus
Virtual tour of FIDM's Orange County campus
Virtual tour of FIDM's Los Angeles campus
Just by coincidence, before Audrey's enrollment at FIDM, we moved to a new development in Columbus Square, where the train station is just a block away from our neighborhood's entrance. Audrey could even walk there to catch the early morning train to L.A. Unfortunately, she has a 6-hour class this quarter that runs from 3 to 9 PM. There are no trains back to our station at that time, so Audrey has to travel the subway at night to board an Amtrak train going home. It's almost midnight every time I drive her home from the Amtrak station. I'm glad we only have to do this for 10 weeks before Audrey signs up for her new fall schedule!
Audrey wasn't thrilled about the commute, but I was more worried about safety issues. Being directionally challenged like me, Audrey needed help in navigating the big city. Her close friends, now off to their own different colleges, offered to take her on a personalized orientation tour (or maybe she'd begged them!). We pre-purchased a "Friends and Family pack" of tickets at the Tustin station the day before the Fourth of July, signaling Audrey's impending independence.
Audrey's friends picked her up at Avant Garde studio after her Saturday ballroom dancing class and they all went off without me.
As usual, Jaron was the designated driver... but only to the Tustin station this time, where all of them took the train to L.A.
The four friends touring L.A. together
Jen, always the fashionista!
Jen the city mouse & Audrey the country mouse (wearing her Superman T-shirt for luck on her first day in L.A.)
Note to Grandma: Please don't freak out... the scribbles on Audrey's calf are from washable markers and not a tattoo!
Note to Grandma: Please don't freak out... the scribbles on Audrey's calf are from washable markers and not a tattoo!
Good luck, Audrey! Try to graduate on time for Mom's sake!
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