One Year SFversary through Instagram

You guys, I made it. Today marks my first official year of living in San Francisco.

This time last year I was driving through Washington, Oregon and the first half of California with my sister and cat in my red VW Bug, arriving in San Francisco at 1 a.m. on May 13, 2011. I was *really* unsure of what was ahead of me. I was *really* unsure of leaving my friends and family behind. I was a bit anxious, and really emotional. I didn’t know what to expect – I was just making the leap, sans an official “job” or boyfriend to support my choice. But, I was thrilled to be embarking on the adventure I had talked about wanting to do my entire 20s.

A few people said to me, “Oh the first year is the hardest!” about moving away.

I don’t know if I am luckier than the average bear (oftentimes I think so), or if I’m stronger or more independent… I can’t answer that. But I can say I found little about my first year in San Francisco to be hard. Sure, it was challenging and sometimes I felt homesick or overwhelmed about not knowing anyone or anywhere. But overall, my year was sparkly, fun, magical and new. I laughed a lot; I met the people I’m meant to meet; I’ve eaten at more fabulous restaurants in one year than should be allowed. I’ve grown professionally; I’ve kissed cute boys; I’ve shared the most important pieces of me with new girl friends; I’ve reinvented my reality. I’ve seen more live music than any previous year of my life; I’ve lost weight (hello skinny jeans from 20-years-old!); I’ve tried so many new things and discovered new favorites; I’ve made a special little home for myself.

And to top it off, I feel like I’m just getting started. I feel like my life in San Francisco is really starting to rock and roll… I’m finding the heartbeat of the city, meeting new groups of people, filling out my calendar, and just simply loving life and those who I’ve made my family here.

I can’t wait to see what year two brings, and share those special moments with all of you, blog lovelies.

Here is my first year in San Francisco through my Instagram lens (you can click on each photo to find out details of what the picture is of or where it was taken in the city, if you feel so inclined)…

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What it is like to be a girl living in San Francisco

1. You own Toms, lululemon and a Mini Cooper (and notice, strangely, that millions of your clones are running around the city).
2. High heels are no longer a member of your fashion wardrobe, especially if they’re over 3″, and you start to lean more toward wanting to wear out those *less than stylish* nurse shoes in the name of walking comfort. If you do wear heels, you pair your outfit with an oversized bag to keep your flats to change into.
3. You plan an extra 30 minutes to get anywhere – via Muni (bus), walking or driving around in circles to find parking.
4. You finally understand the meaning of, and frequently use, the “California Stop.”
5. You channel your inner Cameron & Christina (from one of the best movies ever) while walking up hills.

To be continued…

Currently Feeling: It’s Friday – hip, hop hooray ho….!
Currently Anticipating: SANTACON tomorrow all day! It’s my first time participating in this popular tradition (that started in San Francisco), and this year is the 10 year anniversary, so it’s gonna get crazy!
Currently Loving (and Reading): Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels. Seriously good stuff about our food industry, all the chemicals in food, and how it effects your metabolism. Great stuff.

One phone call

*Alternatively titled, “What a difference a year makes,” but that makes me think of the horrible book by the same title written by the Bachelor, Bob Guiney that I bought in 2002 to get over a breakup, and it made me want to stab my eyeballs out

I thought I’d break this long silence to let you know I finally decided that I’m curbing my Bali yoga trip recap and post until I feel like I’ve fully decompressed from the trip. The whole thing was so beautiful, magical, inspiring, loving and spiritual, that’s it’s going to take me a bit to decide how I want to share it (and if that’s even possible)! I’ve been too bogged down with how to write about Bali, and miss sharing my every-day fun such as all the new recipes I’ve tried, my latest obsessions that I know you’d love too, the fun things I’m doing, and the thoughts swirling around in my head. So, here I am again.

Bali aside, I had something else entirely that caused me to login and write today.

I know I’ve talked a lot here about my transition to San Francisco from Seattle this past year, and what it’s all meant to me. I don’t want to harp over and over on the same topic, but I do want to commemorate a special moment before I move on again to writing about food, fashion, booze and fun. (The important things in life, obvs).

One year ago yesterday, 10/10/10, I was flying home from a food blogging conference I attended in San Francisco for work. I had stayed with my friend Caitlin, and it was while walking around together through the Pacific Heights neighborhood on a particularly warm October day that I had this overwhelming feeling that I just belonged in this city. It was the only logical next fork in my life path.

I had spent most of my 20s talking about wanting to move to SF, and I talked about it again that day to Caitlin. I’m sure to her that was just it – talk. Another person talking about their dreams. But it my mind, it was with even more conviction than I’d ever previously had. The City was calling me.

My conviction followed me thousands of feet above San Francisco in a plane back to Seattle. I was inspired to make the move in my 29th year and my mind was reeling from how I could make it happen when I ran across a quote in the book I was reading, Little Bee by Chris Cleave:

One phone call: I realized it was as simple as that. People wonder how they are ever going to change their lives, but really it is frighteningly easy.

Frighteningly easy.

Frighteningly.

Easy.

I bookmarked that quote in my Kindle. And instead of wondering how I’d do it, where I’d live, where I’d work and all the little details – I began to realize that I just needed to simply make the decision to move and the rest would follow.

Five months later, my phone rang. “I’m sorry, we went with another candidate,” said the voice on the other line.

The amazing position in Seattle at my dream company that I was one of two people in the running for went to the other person. I immediately hung up and called my parents:

I didn’t get the job, and I’m moving to San Francisco

One phone call, and I had changed my life.

And one year later exactly to the day, on October 10, 2011, I found myself flying home again. Except this time, it was to San Francisco.

What is the dream you have the decision to make into a frighteningly easy reality?

Currently Feeling: Sick from eating too much caramel popcorn. I’m WAY too obsessed with 479 Degrees organic popcorn company made in SF. It’s amazing!
Currently Anticipating: A big huge fun two-day music festival this weekend called Treasure Island Music Fest. I get to see my new favorite band live, Cut Copy!
Currently Needing: A good, long vinyasa class after a weekend home, eating junk and not working out.

Only thing separating me from cool is two straps of Velcro

//via *jbird* on Flickr

Today is my three month “Move to San Francisco” anniversary.

Moosfversary?!

I swear I’ll stop acting like a 16-year-old girl in love for the first time, counting every anniversary. “Happy eighth-month anniversary baby! Heart, heart, XOXO, heart heart heart. What!? You didn’t get me a dozen red roses for our eighth anniversary?! I hate you. We’re broken up. Until tomorrow.”

P.S. Girls are crazy.

Anyway, the significance of this three-month date is that I didn’t start feeling like myself, literally, until this week. You see, I’ve been posting a lot of fun, happy updates (because I am happy and having fun), but I want to share with you the hard part of my journey too. Less sugar coating, more reality, if you will.

There’s something about moving away to an unfamiliar place, away from all your friends and family, uprooting everything you’ve known for years, that just shakes you to your core. A good shake – not like a death, divorce or layoff might shake you, but challenging still. I knew that it was going to be a bit of a battle, but I didn’t know I’d be walking around feeling like half of Jeanna for three months.

See – a lot of your environment, including the people around you, defines who you are. How you spend your time is a big one – the people you go to dinner with, the fitness studios where you choose to push your body to its limits, the grocery and drug store employees you see every week, the work environment you spend eight hours a day (or more) in. Take that all away – take away all the people and places you’re familiar with – and it makes you feel like a part of how you define(d) yourself is stripped away.

Molly of Stratejoy wrote a great blog post this week (funny timing, I tell yah), about her struggles with moving away from Seattle also (to San Diego) this past month. She wrote about how she’s homesick and misses the creature comforts from her familiar city, and how she wants to “stop procrastinating on some healthy and creative habits … and let go of some unhealthy crutches.” You can just click through to read, but Molly’s struggles with taking part in passive leisure (things that feel “nice” but require little thought, ability, or skill such as watching TV or surfing the net, ie: FACEBOOK) rather than active leisure (things that require you to engage, learn and create such as sports, creative pursuits, cooking for pleasure, learning a new hobby) are SO ME in the last three months.

While I’ve been having lots of fun getting to know my new city the last three months, I haven’t pursued my yoga practice since here, which has really bothered me. I’ve been overindulging (in adult beverages and rich food) with visitors and new friends. I’m not as connected or comfortable in the tech and social media scene in San Francisco as I was in Seattle. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed about how to get places, or where to go for certain necessities, and the need to research everything feels like a chore. I’ve slept late and sometimes barely interacted with people for an entire day (or showered for two) since I work from home. Not to mention the whole move has felt surreal, and sometimes I still can’t believe I actually left Seattle, and think maybe I’m just on an extended vacation. All in all, I’ve just generally felt disconnected from the hot-yoga-doing, healthy-recipe-trying, happy-hour-going, new-hobby-trying, business-networking-social-butterfly girl I knew so well in Seattle (and was really getting to love).

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But Jeanna’s getting her groove back. And it didn’t take a hot black man to do so (although that would have been nice too).

I started my week, feeling like I’m finally fully settled into the swing of my new life, and my new environment is starting to define a new Jeanna, whose new skin I’m increasingly more comfortable in.

I love working from home and making my own schedule, but still visiting an office a couple days a week for coworker interaction. I also feel really lucky that working from home (WFH) allows me to make my food fresh every day from scratch, so I’m eating more “clean” than ever before, avoiding unhealthy lunches out and fast food. I’m learning my neighborhood too – the little specialty mart that sells amazing organic fruit and my favorite handmade tamales, the new salon I walk to for haircuts and colors, the coffee shop that sells addicting breakfast burritos, the park with an amazing view of the entire Bay that I love to walk through, the secret places to park, and the fitness center across the street from me that has the best Balletone class. I’m back to feeling healthy, eating right, and scheduling workouts into my day, which is a big part of me feeling like the best part of me that I can be. And I’m even getting to know the bus schedule, how to pronounce the street names, and my way around the city when driving (without Google Maps).

I’ve also finally completed all those little annoying idiosyncrasies of moving that have been on one long to-do list for the last three months, preventing me from feeling truly settled in – getting a new license, hooking up Internet and TV, getting an extra key made, buying a parking pass, meter card, bus pass, and one of those entirely too large plastic boxes you have to stick on your car window with two pieces of Velcro, so you can drive through the fast lane across the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge (so many bridges here) without stopping in long lines of cars to pay your toll.

Except one of my new friends got in my car yesterday and said, “You MOUNTED your FasTrak?! Only the dorks MOUNT it.”

San Francisco Jeanna – getting her groove back, but still so far away from being “San Francisco cool.”

Currently Feeling: A little weirded out that a friend of mine now has a dog that shares my name (albeit spelled differently). Not everyday that that happens. (Isn’t the double thats always so awkward! Couldn’t figure out my way around that one).
Currently Anticipating: A trip to Napa tomorrow to see one of my Seattle BFFs who will be there on a family vacation! Wahoo 80 degrees and wine tasting (again)! P.S. Two blogs on my Napa trip coming soon.
Currently Obsessed With: Kahlua Keurig singles.

A little peek inside

I thought it’d be fun to show my blog lovelies a peek inside my San Francisco apartment*! (Taken from my iPhone, which is the reason for the video shape):

Humble San Francisco Abode from Je on Vimeo.

After living with roommates my entire 20s (minus one year I first lived alone, post college), I knew I wanted to try living by myself again when I moved to SF. At first I was a bit nervous that I’d hate living alone as much as I did in my early 20s. I’m somewhat of a “social butterfly” and have always liked having someone around to chat with, make dinner and watch reality TV with, or be there if I’m sick or something goes wrong.

But over the past three months (!!!) I’ve been in San Francisco, I’m happy to report that I freakin’ love living on my own and am so glad with the decision I made. It’s not anything against my roommates in the past because I’ve had some great ones who I miss (minus the one absolute crazy roommate off Craigslist who owned more than 20 houseplants and a cat that rubbed its butt across the floor, collected antiques, left all the cupboards in the entire house open and only bought in bulk at Costco).

Ahem, tangent.

Anywho, there’s just something so nice about having your own apartment. I’ve loved decorating it just the way I want, and have gone on many “skies the limit” trips to Pier 1 (my favorite home store) and am constantly perusing Etsy for homemade decor.

I also love only worrying about my mess, and the couch and DVR is always mine! And I can buy flowers for my kitchen every week and play music loudly when I’m getting ready without worrying about someone sleeping, I never have to fight for the bathroom, or who’s cleaning it, and there’s no tempting bad food around to steal and then have to replace later.

My apartment just feels so special, and all mine, and is my own personal oasis to relax. Le sigh.

Do you live alone or with roommates? What do you like/dislike about it?

*You can see the before photos of my apartment here.

Currently Feeling: In love with lulu’s WunderUnder crops – I think I might love them better than the Groove pant now.
Currently Anticipating: A fresh new haircut, a meeting with a potential new (fitness) client, and the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah concert tonight. Great day!
Currently Loving: White peaches. Or summer fruit in general. Been devouring homemade fruit salads left and right.

One Month

Forgive me blog lovelies, for I have sinned. It’s been one month since my last post.

It should go without saying that I’ve spent the last month largely focused on settling into this new bright and shiny home of mine. While the first couple weeks were a bit overwhelming, the last couple weeks I feel like I’ve really hit my San Francisco stride.

A friend of mine told me she has a theory – those who move to San Francisco and are meant to be here, have everything fall in place. Those who are not meant to be here, struggle.

I had this feeling when I visited San Francisco last October that I was just meant to be in this city. And so the story goes, I made it my personal goal to get here one way or the other in 2011. Now that I’m finally here, I feel like I’m meant to be here more than ever. Everything has, for the most part, fallen right into place. From my job, my ‘hood, apartment and neighbors, to the new friends I’ve made and fun new things to do and places to go that I’ve discovered.

Every time I meet someone new and I tell them I’ve been in San Francisco for a little over a month, (which is pretty much daily), they ask me how I like it. So far my standard answer has been an upbeat, “I like it a lot!” I used to toss around the L word about SF before I actually moved here. Now I feel like I’m in a new relationship with someone, just getting to know them, and LOVE is far too strong when we’re in such an infantile part of our union.

It was easy for me to say “I LOOOOVEEE San Francisco!” as a tourist, but it’s a different ball game for me to say I love it as a resident. How could I, when I feel like I just scratched the surface of all this city has to offer… I’m slowly learning what it means to be a resident here, not a tourist.

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The epic San Francisco update

So – after a crazy long, harried, stressful 15-hour car ride with a cat that wouldn’t calm down or sit still, I made it to San Francisco last week (with my sister, and my parents driving the moving truck)!

My awesome, awesome dad unloaded the entire moving truck while my sister “wo-manned” the truck out front in case of looters, and my (awesome, awesome) mom and I unpacked. After it was all said and done, my dad passed out in the sun, and as you can see, Ashy had a tough time standing around watching the truck all day.

I’ve spent my first week in San Francisco unpacking, spending time with my family while they were here, unpacking, shopping for all that random stuff you need in a new apartment like shower organizers, waiting for my Internet to arrive in the mail (THAT sounds weird), navigating this new city with Google Maps NEVER leaving my hand, unpacking, unpacking, enjoying the SUNSHINE, unpacking, organizing…

I’m all set up in my new apartment now; there’s not even one box left to put away! I’ll be sharing pics and SO many more details from my first week here. Every day I learn something new, go somewhere new, meet someone new. It’s been very exciting, and very challenging.

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Everything is made better with mustaches

Last week this San Francisco thing started to feel REAL. I might have mentioned in this blog post that apartment searching felt REAL real. But now it’s REAL, real, REAL.

I’m sure I’ll come back to you after tomorrow and Wednesday – the pack the move truck and drive out of Seattle days – and then it’ll be REAL, real, REAL, real, REAL.

Um, yeah. This is happening.

I’ve been talking about the move and going through the motions for a month now, checking off my laundry list of to-dos. But, up until last week, I don’t know I really sat down to think that this all means I’m leaving Seattle, specifically the Queen Anne neighborhood – my home for the last eight years. Eight.years. How did THAT happen?!

I started off the week with packing up some of my apartment, which was the first moment that I was all, “Um, what am I DOING?!” I fought back a few tears only because my roommate was home. Otherwise I think I would have been blubbering with snot on my face in sweats, spooning cake frosting into my mouth ala Goldie Hawn in “Death Becomes Her.” Remember that part?! Love that movie.

After making it through the “packing up my entire life” hump, I ended the week with a Cinco de Mayo going away party with MUSTACHES. This is the third party I’ve thrown with fake mustaches. Some of you might think that’s weird. I think it’s awesome. Throw a mustache party, and I promise it’ll be the most you’ve laughed in a long time. And afterwards the photos are even more hilarious. Everything is made better with mustaches. Even moving away from your best friends and family.

So, this is where the move gets the hardest. The Space Needle view can be replaced. The 25 restaurants I was dying to try and never got a chance to can be visited when I’m home for Christmas or the summer. The fabulous Seattle summer weather will be replaced by fabulous San Francisco Indian summer weather. The festivals I love so much that I go to every year – Oktoberfest, Summer Solstice Festival, The Bite of Seattle – those will all be replaced with San Francisco’s version.

But the people – oh the people of Seattle. Those of you who have made me laugh daily, met me for brunches and happy hours and barbecues at Golden Gardens, shared cabins in Eastern Washington with me and the drive over with Sparks, attended birthday parties and dressed up for each and every one of them, eaten drunken nachos and fried macaroni triangles, sat next to me while I cried, cheered on my dreams and career moves (or lack there of during my summer of Funemployment), held my hand occasionally or ever loved me as much as I loved you, and worn mustaches for me every time I’ve asked. You know who you are. YOU can’t be replaced, my friend. And that is what makes this move to San Francisco to exciting, so freakin’ freakin’ exciting. But so bittersweet at the same time.

Currently Feeling: Pretty good with where I’m at timing wise – almost all packed up and ready to go.
Currently Anticipating: One last Peso’s visit tonight for happy hour. All roads lead to Peso’s. If you ever find yourself in Seattle – GO! Best happy hour in the city.
Currently Needing: A picture frame for my new San Francisco Ork Poster my BFF bought me!

Dinner for one

While I was in San Francisco last week looking for a new apartment, I stayed at a good friend’s place in the North Beach neighborhood near Fisherman’s Wharf in the northeastern corner of the city. She had tickets to a concert, so I headed out in her neighborhood for a solo dinner mission.

I ended up at the cutest restaurant in the whole world – Cafe Divine – and asked the extremely cute Indie waiter boy for a table for one. I settled down in the French cafe space to the sound of two gentlemen playing acoustic guitar and ordered a glass of wine to celebrate finding my new apartment. Of course I captured my moment via technology and posted a picture on Instagram with the following caption:

Dinner for 1. Have to get used to this!

To which a friend of mine responded, “Awww. ”

I, of course, came back with a response about how it wasn’t sad at all – it was actually really exciting, and a new challenge.

I’m going to have to get rather used to feeling okay with dinners for one, sitting at the bar top by myself, going to a move or concert alone, or working all day in a coffee shop by myself. And I can’t have none of ya’ll feeling sorry for me. See, I have really good friends and an even better family. My best friends and family will always be a text, phone call, GChat, Facebook post or two-hour plane ride away. How could a girl possibly feel lonely when surrounded by that much love and support. I don’t have to be in the same city, the same state, or even the same country to feel all that love.

I suppose one of the reasons I’m leaving the city I’ve grown up in my whole life is for the challenge of tackling a city without knowing anyone, without that comfort net. Of going out alone, a lot. Of putting myself out in the open, solo, to meet new people. I’ve never done it, see. I went away to college, sure, but with 60 people from my high school, many of them my best friends.

I’m not moving to San Francisco because a job is taking me there. I’m not moving because a boyfriend is taking me there. I’m moving because ME is taking me there. And me is planning on enjoying a lot of dinners for one.

Bon appetit.

Currently Feeling: The last rush of packing and getting everything done – 10 days!
Currently Anticipating: A going away dinner one of my best friend’s put together for me tonight at one of my Seattle favs, Black Bottle!
Currently Loving: This awesome black crackle nailpolish from OPI I just bought! Katy Perry eat your heart out.

And then she lived next to a little garden in the sun

On Wednesday I flew down to San Francisco to embark on the FIRST step that’s felt really real since I decided I was moving out of Seattle… the epic “I have three days to find an apartment” trip.

Since I’ve shared my news of moving to San Francisco, I’ve received a ton of questions – “What neighborhoods do you want to live in?” “Are you keeping your furniture?” “Are you flying or driving down?” “Are you keeping your car?” “Are you getting a one bedroom or a studio?” “Are you going to live alone?”

I haven’t felt like I could tackle any of these questions until I could visualize, myself, what this little life of mine would be like in San Francisco. What my apartment would look like, what kind of neighborhood I’d live in, the space in San Fran that my life would fill… I had just as many questions.

I’m not sure what apartment hunting is like in the (what I’m sure is fabulous) city or town you live in, but in Seattle it’s a rat race. It’s a refresh Craigslist every 15 minutes, call immediately, WIN the first scheduled appointment, never, ever walk away from an apartment you love without claiming it situation. In San Francisco – it’s that times 100. I don’t think my eyes left Craigslist for two full days. I was a scheduling macheen. I drove my rented little P.T. Cruiser (hawt) up and down and forward and back. I learned the streets quickly, the neighborhoods even quicker, and ran a stop sign or two before I realized they’re at every intersection, oftentimes hidden behind trees. Woopsie.

I dodged traffic, had my iPhone’s Google maps app glued to my hand and fought to park all over the damn place – moving my car every two hours, so I wouldn’t get a ticket. I drove by the water, screeched to a halt every time I saw a “For Rent” sign, continued through the fancy, expensive neighborhoods, and through some, uh, less fancy and expensive neighborhoods. I viewed apartments that, as soon as I stepped in their front entryway, I knew they weren’t for me. I walked into more than a couple $1,700 apartments that wouldn’t fit my queen sized bed and were rundown, chipped paint, dirty blinds, stained carpet, windowless places. Who gets away with charging $1,700 for that?!

Finally, I thought I found a place I was okay with, but I had one more apartment scheduled to view that I wasn’t thrilled about – it was a little further away from the “action” than I wanted to be, and I could barely understand the manager on the phone when I called. I thought I’d give it one last ditch effort, but when I arrived, I couldn’t even find the darn place. I walked up and down the street, trying to match the apartment address to the Craigslist posting and it.didn’t.exist! It skipped from one building higher than the address to one building lower than the address. Who knew I was supposed to be looking for this tiny iron gate, covered in ivy and squeezed between two larger buildings.

I thought the gate led to the backyard of one of the big buildings. What I didn’t know, is that behind that gate is a tree-lined walkway leading to the tiniest, private off-street community of 12 apartments with a shared garden that has a patio with barbecues, and a cute bright, updated one-bedroom apartment with built-in bookshelves and shutters looking out on the garden that is just perfect for my home office. My head said, “I think this is it…” and then after one sleep, my heart said, “That’s definitely it.”

So, I signed the lease and am traveling back to Seattle with three brass keys in my pocket and finally the VISUAL of what this little life of mine will be like in San Francisco.

I can’t wait to show it to you guys after it’s all decorated and moved in!

Currently Feeling: Exhausted and so happy to be back in my bed with my little fur-ball love.
Currently Anticipating: A bunny pub crawl tomorrow, dance party Saturday night and dinner with my girls on Sunday! Gotta squeeze all the best time friend in that I can.
Currently Loving: The “spring cleaning” of moving and simultaneously getting rid of unnecessary crap!