Settling in to California….

We arrived in the San Francisco area about two and a half weeks ago (it feels both much longer than that, but also much less than that). In that time we have done a whole lot and a whole lot of nothing. Most of all, we have taken our time settling into our new life out here.

For the first week in CA, we stayed an extended stay hotel near the Oakland Airport. I didn’t expect much from an extended stay place, but it was actually really great. It was wonderful to have a kitchen (even a small one) and the hotel provided any necessary kitchen utensils so we were finally able to cook for the first time on a stove since starting our adventure.

During the first week, I also had my first California birthday. After having a lazy morning, we took the BART into the city and traveled around on the MUNI streetcar system (I sound like a local already….). Meghan took me to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. We spent the day walking around, seeing the Sea Lions (!!!) and having delicious food.

I also got my first view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. I had a delicious birthday dinner at Lou’s Fish Shack as well as a birthday cupcake at a fancy cupcake place, Kara’s Cupcake in Ghiradelli Square. Overall, it was a great birthday and I loved being able to explore the first corner of San Francisco…. and definitely also all the food.

   

After my birthday, it was time to get down to business and find an apartment. So of course we spent the remainder of our week in the extended stay alternating between staying in bed all day eating anything and everything watching the Food Network for hours and searching for apartments. Before the end of our stay, we successfully found an apartment, signed a lease (after spending about 2-3 hours at the Post Office trying to get a money order…) and hired movers to move in! The move went pretty smooth except just about all of our furniture had a new ding or scratch from being in the PODS across the country.

 

Our apartment is pretty awesome. It’s 2 bedroom in a gated community in Alameda, near both the main shopping center as well as downtown Alameda. We have a pool that’s open year round and an awesome view of one of Alameda’s Lagoons. There’s a lot of families here so the pool can get a little rowdy, but otherwise we have fallen in love with this apartment.

How could you not when that’s your view?!

After the move in, we focused ourselves on unpacking and got most of the apartment unpacked in the next few days and began the decorating process which has begun to move a LOT slower. We also set out to acquire a new bed frame, box spring, sofa and bookcase as we got rid of our old bed support and couch and have far too many books to actually fit on one bookcase. I’m happy to report that we have successfully acquired all necessary furniture and we are sitting comfortably on a new sofa and sleeping in our new bed.

The other major undertaking we have taken on is a complete shift back to a healthy life. For most of the trip, we were pretty good about eating delicious, but healthy foods. Once we hit Seattle, however, we looked only for delicious food and that last week in the extended stay resulted in a lot of take out and unhealthiness. So we got back on the horse! Although it’s only been about 10 days in the new apartment, we have cooked ourselves delicious and healthy meals 3x a day! We have focused a lot of our time on building our recipe arsenal for once we are both working again and unable to try new things all the time.

 

Cooking and food prep has been probably my favorite part about our current routine. I look forward to all the healthy meals more than I ever have in the past and I love the new lunches I’ve been making such as my not so Cobb Salad and homemade burrito bowls.

We’ve also spent the past 6 days running every day. Although 6 days isn’t the most impressive, it is still a great start since we’ve never really been runners together. Our morning run routine is another piece of our day I look forward to since I have a great running partner, but I also get to run along the beach with an awesome view of the San Francisco skyline.

We run while the fog is still over the bay so that picture isn’t the best, but you can see the skyline and the bridge (I think) is on the right. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it right!

In other highlights: we got library cards, watched almost all 3 seasons of Hannibal, and have gone to the Alameda Farmer’s Market twice. The farmer’s market is small, but exactly what we need. We give ourselves a $20 limit and go to town! We’ve gotten two great hauls and I’m excited to make this a weekly routine.

While this reality can’t last forever since I’m currently searching for a job and Meghan will start her job in a month or so, it is still great for right now. When else will we both we off from work for an extended amount of time like this?! Who knows! So we’re enjoying the time that we have together and settling into life out here. The day to day isn’t as exciting as the road trip, but it’s still pretty great.