DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Sarah At The Brentwood Country Mart

Q: Hi Sarah! Let's start with the basics. How old are you and where do you live?

A: I'm 23 and I live in West L.A., kind of near the Brentwood Country Mart, actually.

Q: Do you come here often?

A: I do. I love the sorbet at Sweet Rose. It's so good!

Q: How did you get this car?

A: My dad got it for me. Gotta love mom and dad. I liked it because it's still kind of a cool car--a younger person car, but I love the station wagon. I can fit my surfboard and everything in there. It's kind of a mom car, but I'm OK with that.

Q: And you got it brand new?

A: I did, yeah. I bought a used car before I came to California. I moved here from Colorado and it died on me a couple times in the middle of the night in North Hollywood, so I opted to, you know, upgrade for safety reasons.

Q: It doesn't have that many miles on it for a 2007.

A: I try to walk when I can and stay in my little bubble. Actually, right now I'm going to school at Cal State Long Beach, so that's a big commute, but that's only two days a week. I drive to the beach a lot and surf. I'm also an actress, so driving to those auditions all over L.A. is always fun.

Q: What kind of acting do you want to do out here?

A: I love comedy. I actually just did a comedic web series about pageants, kind of making fun of pageants and pageant girls. I'm also kind of getting onto the production side of things. I'm co-directing and producing an independent film. I don't know, I kind of want to get my fingers in a bunch of different pies and experience it all.

Q: How is the commute to Long Beach like?

A: It's really awesome because if I leave before 7 a.m., it's only 40 minutes. But if I leave after like eight, it's an hour and 40 minutes. I wake up early and go down and hang out at the gym, kind of kill time in the morning. And then I wait until rush hour ends in the evening and just hang out on campus until like eight or nine in evening.

Q: What's your general philosophy about dealing with traffic in L.A.?

A: Audio books. That is a solution. I'm in the middle of one right now and then you get excited to get in the car, you know? Then you don't mind waiting. Right now I'm listening to "Deception Point" by Dan Brown. I'm getting towards the end and it's really exciting. We're about to figure out whodunit.

Q: Do you ever get caught rocking out behind the wheel?

A: Yes. I enjoy dancing at people, like at a stop light, instead of just dancing by myself. I try to get them involved. Sometimes I have success. Most of the time, it's kind of an awkward laugh. Then they try not to make eye contact. You gotta enjoy life!

Q: Is there anything else about this car you would like to share?

A: There is kind of this cool feature in the back. It's a stationwagon, so if you open the trunk, there's this whole hidden compartment area underneath. So you can like, put stuff in there. It's cool.