AnnFrancisco the Destroyer

When I moved into my apartment I was really excited about the bed the previous tenant was leaving me. He had "built" a bed platform thing that was about three feet off the ground i.e. plenty of storage space underneath. So I was thrilled! Turns out he didn't so much "build" a bed as attach a queen sized bed frame to some posts made of 2x4s, put another post (support beam) in the middle and call it good. Here's the "before" picture:

See, there's little ladders and everything! Well the ladders were about 1/4 inch too short so they slid under the bed while I was climbing up them and crashed to the floor once I was aloft. And the "sturdy posts" turned out to be wiggly and creaky so every time I rolled over in my sleep I was awakened by the bed banging into the wall. Sorry neighbors, it's not what you think. Anyway, I decided to take apart the bed and just have a non-creaking, non-wiggling mattress on the floor. I bought a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench and had about three hours until I had to leave for work so I figured I was good to go.

After I got everything cleared off the bed frame and took a good look at it I realized that I could save the actual bed and just remove the stilts This became the new plan.

I started by unscrewing the small screws that held the 2x4 legs together and then moving on to the giant screws. By giant I really do mean giant- the looked like the kind of screws that hold playground equipment together. I was getting huge blisters but luckily ye olde tambourine gloves came to the rescue!

Preeeeetty badass and also blister free. It took forever and it was sweaty and tiring but I eventually got all the legs off the bed! The support beam was screwed in underneath the plywood platform so I ended up bracing myself against the wall and kicking it until it loosened, then the weight of the bed pushed it sideways until the screws popped out. I felt really awesome and strong. Here's the finished product:

A totally normal looking, normal height bed! Sturdy and kind of Scandinavian looking, which I love. And here's the defeated pile of former bed, which is now in my backyard next to the compost cans because I don't know how to recycle wood:

All in all it was a successful project, although I really do need to plan more, allow more time for roadblocks, and figure out some kind of support system bigger than texting a friend, "Hey are you busy? I have a question about tools." In the end I did it, though, and my room is a much better place!

New Apartment Update

The new apartment is so cute! It's so homey! Liz and I are settling in slowly, starting out with pretty much no home accessories (or furniture) between the two of us and gathering things piece by piece.

This is our bathroom sink, with built in toothbrush holder

Liz's coworker Heather got married a few weeks ago and consequently got a bunch of new kitchen stuff. So guess who got three Rubbermaid bins full of really nice kitchen stuff?! You guessed it: Us. Nice pots and frying pans, tons of plates, and Pyrex (omg).

Liz's pretty lady reading corner

At the Salvation Army we found a great kitchen table circa 1965-70 (I think. I wasn't around then but it looks like that era) that has a leaf for when guests come over. We've started with two chairs and will find more as we go along. I got a nightstand, the kind that has two levels where the top level is smaller than the bottom one. My grandma has one as an end table. I also got a combination dresser/desk! Maybe I'll start blogging from there.

The top of my dresser/desk. Graa white walls!

Ikea, as always, was heaven. I love love love going to Ikea and taking my time walking through the whole store, all the rooms and everything. Luckily my friend Julia does Ikea exactly the same way and is also shopping for a new apartment and has a truck! We had the best day! Plus the San Francisco (meaning Emeryville) Ikea has a way better food court than the Seattle one. I got some shelves that fit our records and dvds, shelves for the closet, shelves for the wall, a shelf for the kitchen...things are going on shelves ASAP. Lots of things.

So far the best thing about our new apartment is coming home to a friend. Super cheesy, I know, but after living so long with people I didn't really connect with it's so energizing and comfortable to be around someone I can share things with. Our home is a very very happy one.

Everybody's Free...

It seems like many people I've talked to lately are in transition. Some friends are moving to Portland, a friend is moving to San Francisco, people are starting school soon(ish), relationships are ending or beginng...everything's changing. So, for my friends who are at turning points, here's some things I've learned from shaking up my life so drastically 4 months ago:

1. Baaaaaaby steps. No matter how much you think you should be able to handle, trust me: only take on what you actually can handle. Don't judge yourself for what you can't do- you'll get there in time.

2. You can make new friends. People are great and they're just waiting for you. I'm so so happy with the friends I've made here and I'm really encouraged that I can care so much about people who I've known for such a short time.

3. Talk to your old friends. It's good have people know you.

4. Try something new. You'll learn a lot about yourself.

5. Remember to always wear sunscreen:

Fashion Forward Friday

Maybe I should retitle my blog 'Fashion Forward Friday' since that seems to be the only post I'm up to doing lately. Hope hope hopefully I'll have some quality blogging time coming up soon. I've just been so busy with visitors and work- I'm just so popular and professional, you know. Anyway, here's something else I wore:

It's Nautical Chic and it's so here in a big way. Braided belt, striped shirt from (really) Kohl's, skirt from my friend Liz, knee high socks, and the old brown standby shoes. Knee high socks are great when:

a) you forget to shave your legs

b) you run out of tights

c) it's cold out

I experienced the entire trifecta the day of this outfit and was a happy camper when I remembered my grey socks.

Ahoy, style!

Adventures in Bussing

So I did it: I had my bus adventure! Thursday was a beautiful day- sunny and warm (which means not hauling around a heavy sweater) and I got on the 22 bus in the Mission. I chose this bus because it goes across San Francisco, which is a way I don't normally go. Up and down (bay to beach) and diagonally (Mission to GG Park) I do a lot but not across, which I guess is South to North. Maybe.

The 22 shows you lots of different sides of San Francisco and I should have been taking pictures the whole time but I wasn't. I had this great book with me (which I'll blog about later) and couldn't stop reading it so the ride wasn't visually chronicled. But here's the general itinerary:

• Dolores Park (been there, seen that)
• The Castro (also familiar)
• Hayes Valley to Nopa (omg if anyone who actually knows San Francisco is reading this my lack of SF geographical knowledge is going to be really embarrassing)
• Past the hospital (colorful characters, like past any hospital)
• Japantown! (I've heard about Japantown but had no idea where it was. To be honest, I assumed it was near Chinatown. But I was wrong.)
• Swankier and swankier as we approach Pacific Heights. Maybe Lower Pacific Heights? (this area reminded me of NW 23rd st in Portland. Lots of little fancy shops and restaurants. And a Johnny Rockets.)
• Pacific Heights (big, big houses and lots of roadwork)
• Across Lombard (gross. Lombard is really gross, like, all fast food chains and gas stations)
• Down to the water!

The bus dumped me out here:

So nice, right? Lots of boats and apartment buildings and people riding bikes along the path. I think this is where Ali and Jake went on The Bachelor when she was showing him her stomping grounds. Don't judge me for watching The Bachelor! A friend told me last season that they went to San Francisco and so I watched it to find that episode and got hooked. You might have been hooked too, because the ratings were the highest they've been in years all thanks to Vienna vs. Ali. And, pop culture update, I just learned that Vienna and Jake have officially split (which shouldn't surprise anyone) but that Ali would never take Jake back. Yeah right. I'm betting he'll come on one of the last episodes of The Bachelorette and make a pretty convincing case for himself.

Anyway...I had a long and leisurely walk up from the water to North Beach, which still think is really cute even if other people think it's cheesy or fratty (sorry North Beach). Along the way I saw these guys:

Yep, there are Segway tours of San Francisco. I actually ran into these guys twice and yes, it was hilarious both times.

In North Beach I had a delicious tuna sandwich (at a table outside! Because it was sunny!) and then read at Washington Square Park for about three hours. Seriously, this book is so good. I can't wait to blog about it.

Washington Square Park is an interesting mix of people. There's always someone playing frisbee, always a group of stoners playing guitars, always cute little Asian ladies walking around exercising together, and always some old guys sitting on a bench and shooting the shit. Also, this park was where the cover photo of Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America was taken. Literary landmark alert!

By the time I was done in North Beach it was, like, five o'clock and I was ready to go home. Tired of walking! So I went back through the financial district and caught a bus home.

What a great adventure! There were no mishaps, which surprised me (and maybe you). I saw things I hadn't seen before, had some good snacks, read a lot, enjoyed the sun, and deepened my love for San Francisco. Good, good day!

Go to the mattresses

So today I'm walking home from having a fantastic breakfast (eggs, rice and refried beans, tortillas, and 'diner coffee') and thinking about how I should finally get around to finding a mattress. For the past 2 months I've been sleeping on a foam pad on the floor of my room, which is surprisingly comfortable but doesn't feel like 'real' sleeping. As I'm debating craigslist vs mattress store vs Ikea I come across a house where someone is moving out (thank you, Calendar, it is the 31st) and, behold, there are 2 box springs and a mattress FOR FREE on the steps. I came back in a few minutes with my very helpful roommate Neil and we carried my new mattress down one block and up two flights of stairs to my room. I'm sitting on it now and it's quite comfortable.

I've been reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami and so the first thing I thought as I walked away with my new mattress was Did I make this happen by just thinking about it? In Murakami's world that would be the case. Crazy things just keep happening to his characters but the way he writes them they seem normal until you're like, wait, what?!?! I guess it's kind of like Gabriel Garcia Marquez with magical realism. If my mattress turns out to be full of gold or I start having dreams about all the people who have slept on this mattress then I'll know that I'm living a life of magical realism. Until then I'm happy to know that I saved about $50-$200 (on the low end) today. Magical! Realism!

Bike, Don't Hike

See that cutie? That's my boyfriend. He's sooooo great- he takes me everywhere, moves just as fast or slow as I'm comfortable with...ok I can't keep this up without making a joke about riding so I'll just stop.

I did go for a fantastic bike ride the other day. I started in the Mission and rode up the 'wiggle' (a series of streets you switchback on to go up a giant hill without going on the actual giant hill) to Golden Gate Park. I rode all the way from the Haight end of the park to the beach! See?

That's the windmill right by the beach end of Golden Gate Park. I was curious about why there would be a windmill (officially called the Dutch Windmill) in the park so I did some interneting and this is what I found:

Originally the area of Golden Gate Park was arid, bare, and too windy for anything to grow. San Francisco decided to kill two birds with one stone, harnessing the wind with the windmill to pump water out of underground wells and water all of the trees and foliage planted in Golden Gate Park. It worked well and the park became the world's largest botanical garden at the time. Now the windmill is just a monument- it doesn't work or anything- but it still looks cool in an 'out of place' kind of way. If you want to read more you should go to http://www.dform.com/projects/windmill/index.html. Veeeeery interesting.

My long bike ride dumped me out at the beach where I ate a peanut butter sandwich and a banana and read until it got too cold and windy. The weather here is so diverse. When I started my ride in the Mission it was sunny and warm (because the Mission is perfect) and then as I rode up the hill it just got warmer. Halfway through the park it started to get cloudy, then windy, then cold...beachy, I guess. You need to dress in layers just to go across town. Weird.

I think biking around the city might be my new favorite thing, especially if I am able to upgrade my bike soon. It's so fun and liberating to just ride wherever, explore any street you can ride down, get lost and then find out that you're really close to somewhere you've been before. Kind of like life...

Home Again

Back in January my mom called me and asked if I wanted to go see James Taylor and Carole King in concert with her and my dad. "Yes, of course!" I replied, thinking that I could easily drive down from Seattle for the weekend, see James and Carole, rock out with my parents, have some Mothers' Day fun, and drive back.

Then I moved to San Francisco.

Still wanting to go to the concert I devised a new plan: I would drive up to Portland, leave my car at my parents' house indefinitely (because so far having a car here just sucks- see my post about parking), see James and Carole, rock out with my parents, have some Mothers' Day fun, and fly back.

I left early on Thursday morning and 13 hours, one audiobook (Blink, by Malcom Gladwell), a few stops for fast food (eew), and some headset-enabled phone conversations later I was in Portland.

The concert was amazing! Inspiring! Far out. All the hits and all played together, mostly with James on guitar and Carole on piano. They rocked so hard and everyone was so into it. There was this unique energy, like they were reliving something wonderful but this time with perspective. It made me wonder: do I enjoy this more than other concerts I've been to because of that perspective? Am I reliving the past even though I didn't live it the first time? What does that mean?

The rest of the weekend was great family time. We went out to dinner at this cute little Portland place, The Country Cat, and had some reeeeeally filling soul food. I watched a ton of OnDemand TV (mostly The Hills and The City, I know, I know...), had a great lunch with my dad, played cards with my mom, and chatted with my brother and sister. It was just what I needed after a long month adjusting to new circumstances and surroundings.

I flew home (sort of home? Is it home yet? Not quite but getting close) on Sunday feeling refreshed and ready to go back to work. Portland is great and so sleepy and quiet compared to San Francisco. I came back to sun and fog and a knitting project and friends and my little room. Ahh...

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.

It's Been One Week...

...And that toooootally reminds me of this:

So now that that Barenaked Ladies are part of the party, here's what I've been up to for the past week:

1. My aunt lives in Reno but has a boat in Sausalito and invited me to go sailing with her last Saturday. So I did! It was great- beautiful weather, fun companions, snacks...loved it. This was like a 60something foot, 2-masted sailboat made for cruising so it was a really smooth ride. There was a crew working so the only thing I had to do was tighten the jib once, which is my kind of sailing. I just want to be on the water but not doing any of the work.

We sailed out towards the Golden Gate Bridge at first and I got some great views of it (note the cloudless sky!) and then we headed over towards Alcatraz, hung out around there for a bit, and headed back. The whole time I could see lots of the San Francisco skyline and learned a lot from the other people onboard. Did you know that Koit Tower is supposed to look like a fireman's hose (no, not that kind of hose, sicko)? It's a monument to the firefighters that died fighting the fire in 1906. Or 1916. Or something. Betcha didn't know!

2. I joined the Jane Austen Book Club of San Francisco and went to my first meeting! I'm a very, very big Jane Austen fan and this first meeting was everything I wanted it to be. The book was Northanger Abbey, which I read sometime in the last 6 months so I got a Wikipedia refresher before I went. Catherine Moreland, Henry Tilney, John Thorpe...got it. It's all coming back to me. Basically the story is a playful mockery of a Gothic novel, which was a really popular style when Jane Austen was writing. Think Wuthering Heights. The main character, Catherine, is preoccupied with Gothic novels so much that she tries to make her life into one and hilarity insues. Anyway, me and about 10 other women (and one late arriving man in a beret) discussed the book AND they all made allusions to and comparisons with other Jane Austen books!

For example: "I mean, what if Isabella Thorpe had met Mr. Elton?! Now there's a couple who deserve each other." Hahaha sooooo true, Alex. So true

An Austen nerd's dream! I was so happy. I just went to the library and got a copy of Sense and Sensibility, our next book. So excited. Oh, and there were homemade scones. Yes please!

3. I started working and discovered that we have a Nintendo64 in the basement/hang out area. So far it's been pretty lame games like Perfect Dark (a ripoff of 007) and Madden (eew) but people keep saying they're going to bring 007 from home. I'm hoping for MarioKart.

Everything is so exciting and new! Every time I go somewhere it's an adventure! I'm happy and energized but really freaking exhausted at the same time. All the newness is wearing me out and I'm ready for bed by about 9 every night. But I think that just comes with the territory. New city, new life, new bedtime...for a while. Anyway I'm loving this city and so far it's loving me back!