Yay or Nay? Yay!

It has been a month (a little more, actually) since I've moved here and I thought I'd do some Pros and Cons of San Francisco:

• Pro: It is sunny and beautiful most of the time. Like, go to the park every day kind of sunny. And I know that there's this fog all the time and I've seen it creeping over the Twin Peaks but I haven't been affected by it too much. Those hills keep it out of the mission so it's sun sun sun for me.
• Con: When it does rain it's, like, impossible not to get soaked. It reminds me of, and this will sound totally nerdy, in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe when it is so rainy outside that they have to stay indoors and play hide and seek. I never got that when I was a kid- in the Northwest if it's raining you still go outside to play. If you didn't you would live your entire life indoors. But now I get it- it rains too crazy hard to play. Sorry I doubted you, CS Lewis.

• Pro: People are very friendly! When you walk down the street people will look you in the eye or maybe even say hello. When I first got here I was looking for the Rainbow Grocery Store and asked a random woman on the street if she knew where it was. She didn't know but was like, "Oh hang on, I'll look it up on my iPhone for you!" and actually took the time to look it up for me! So nice!
• Con: Catcalls. Harmless but annoying.

• Pro: Lots of fantastic fresh produce. Cheap avocados and the best asparagus I've ever eaten.
• Con: Yes, everyone, you were right: food is expensive here. Plus I have yet to find a good grocery store that's also affordable. Safeway is disgusting- really crowded and gross produce, although it's pretty cheap for pasta and bread and stuff. Rainbow is really great but very expensive (it's a worker-owned coop). There's tons of restaurants but that's expensive and I will get fat. Will I just have to make a few different stops for my shopping needs? I think so. Life change!

• Pro: San Francisco is huge. There's so much to see and do and I feel like every time I go somewhere new I'm pleasantly surprised by some new neighborhood or store or park. I can keep exploring forever!
• Con: San Francisco is huge. The other day there was a 10 cent lunch special in North Beach and I didn't even bother to go because I had to be back in the Mission by 3:30. Sigh. But a 10 cent lunch special! Make that a Pro!

Overall I would say that moving here has been one huge Pro. I am so, so much happier. Yeah, things are hard sometimes and I miss the comfort and familiarity of living in the same place for so long but it's worth it. When I first got here I was happy about 50% of the time. After a few weeks it bumped up to about 70% and now I would say I'm at 90-95%, no joke. How many people can say that?

Livin' for the Citaaaaay

It's been 3 weeks here in San Francisco and things are going well. I found a place to live, although the internet situation isn't quite worked out yet so I've taken another hiatus from blogging. Having a place to live really helps me feel more centered and settled, which might seem like a big 'duh' but I didn't realize how subconsciously stressed out I was until I wrote a giant check and breathed a giant sigh of relief.

Here's the view from my bedroom window:
Nice, right? Beautiful colors, great amount of sunlight but not enough to wake me up in the morning, the hills in the background (might they be Twin Peaks? I don't know yet)...it's wonderful. My new favorite thing to do is put on some music, drink some wine, eat some cheese, and read on my bed (aka foam mattress on the floor). Relaxing and restorative!

I've been spending some time in Napa also, which is GORGEOUS. A good friend from college lives out there and works at a winery so I can enjoy some of the Napa experience with her, minus the Napa price tag. Check out Whitehall Lane Winery in St Helena if you're ever out there. The girl in the tasting room is preeeeetty cute.

But when I'm within San Francisco city limits this is my favorite place so far. And this is my favorite place in that place:

It's the Poetry room at City Lights Books and it was made for me. It's my quiet little sunbathed spot in the middle of the city. Like, seriously, in the middle of it. The people that live next door are hanging their laundry from the railing and you can see skyscrapers. Or maybe just high rises. Either way, very urban. I sat in this chair and read Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl, which City Lights is famous for publishing. There was this giant, precedent setting trial surrounding it's publication and it is a big part of San Francisco history.

That's all the blog I have in me for now. I'll figure out the internet situation as soon as I can and hopefully be blogging every few days or so.