girl at large

it's six months down the road, but now is the time to start thinking about it and planning ahead—the big move back to regular work, back to the States. working on my pros and cons sheet now for possible locations. i'd love to return to Savannah for the warm weather and friends, the familiarity, but it's time to move on and the job possibilities in what i want to do are nil there.
Chicago has jobs in the field (did i mention i want to get into the Buying department for a modern furniture/housewares retailer? time to get out from behind the counter and into the headquarters. or, failing that, i'd manage a larger, established, PAYING retail studio). but those long, cold, dark, MISERABLE winters?-no way.
my research is leading me time and again to California. either Los Angeles or San Francisco areas—my concerns are the drawbacks of depending on a car all the time (that traffic and smog!!!) and the exorbanantly high cost of living. but, there's that warm, sunny climate i'm insisting on and the job market is very strong in the area i want to work in, especially considering the 'recession' attitude so many seem to have. is there really a huge recession? is it really that bad? or is it just that we had such an extraordinary fairy tale boom before it leveled out?
and then there are all the people i know in California–Aunt Anna, Affable Dan, Miss Kristan, my brother Thomas and even The Custard are all living out with the fruits and nuts and botox-addicts. am i next?