The Weekend

One more week till my job starts, so its time to be a tourist. I am going to perfect the art of tourist on a budget seeing as rent is due and despite the fact that it is discounted, it is still $675 a piece for this month and then it goes up to $815 a piece. So despite the fact that it is nice and cool, and there are so many fun things to do, the costs are outrageous!

Friday we drove to Davis again to get a bunch of the stuff we still had at Ricks parents house and to bbq with Ricks friends. When we drove back Saturday morning it was 100 degrees and humid, it was awful. We then stopped at an outlet mall in Vacaville and it was even worse, 103 and sticky, now i know what they mean by Tucson being a dry heat. We drove back over the San Mateo bridge back into Foster city and I watched the temperature gage in my car go from 100, down to 90, to 80 and as we pulled into our complex it was a beautiful and breezy 78. I can get used to this.

After we got home Saturday I took a nap and then we went for a walk down to the water. Once out of our complex, the lagoon is a minute away and is beautiful. They have a place right on the water where they do wind surfing lessons and kayak and paddle boat rentals. Rick and I are going to go rent kayaks this week and save the wind surfing till the paychecks start to come in.

I am really enjoying my kitchen and am impressing Rick and myself with my cooking abilities. I even made guacamole to go with our chicken quesidillas!

Yesterday, it was really hot out and because our apartment has no air conditioning, we decided to drive down to the coast again. However, we were not the only people with this idea and ended up driving all the way to Santa Cruz (45 min. south of us) and cutting over to highway 1 from there. We ended up pulling off the road and hiking down to this hidden beach. People had their dogs and were just relaxing and it was beautiful. The water was freezing but it was nice and warm out so it felt good. Rick and I explored the beach for about an hour and got hungry so we got back in the car and drove up to Davenport. We stopped at this little inn where they were doing wine tasting from a local vinyard called Beauregard. So we got some food and the wine and enjoyed a great meal with the fog rolling in. On our way back we hit traffic in half moon bay, and waiting an hour and a half to go a mile.

Things I want to do before work starts:

1. Go golfing! (there is a course about 5 min. from our house and its $12 for 18 holes plus a cart!!!)
2. Go into the city and play tourist
3. Get chairs and a table for our back patio
4. Go kayaking in the lagoon
5. Go to a Giants game


Here are some pictures and videos:


Wine tasting in Davenport


Naked man on the beach :.(

The fog rolling in on our drive

Finally Settled!

EVERYTHING IS OFFICIALLY SET UP AND DONE ... almost :)The last thing that is going to be done is the 2 accent walls that are getting painted this weekend or monday, cant wait because I feel like the color on the walls are exactly what we need!

Where do I begin? Rick and I have been very productive these last 4 days! Everything is unpacked, the couch is here, $800 later (but financed at 0% for 6 months so thats nice), the satellite was installed, the installation guys had to bolt it into our wall on an extender pole and then run the wires under the carpet, they did a great job, but if we ever move out that is going to be a HUGE pain in the butt!

We got to explore a little bit the other day. We drove to Half Moon Bay and then up the coast to South SF and back down. On the drive there (which only took about 20 min to the beach!) there was vendors selling fresh honey and $5 for a dozen roses, so we are going back to get some of both this weekend. There was also a giant Christmas tree yard, growing trees that we can go cut down! We got some coffee and went down to the beach, it was absolutly amazing! There were huge waves and some surfers but there were only a handfull of people there. It was like a hidden gem that was all ours. It was very cold, about 60 degrees and the breeze made it a little more chilly. We then drove up the coast on these tiny windy roads and it was absolutly gorgous. We then went back through south SF and drove past Candlestick Park, then it only took us 15 min to get form Candlestick back to our apartment! Everything is so close here!

Wednesday night we got a text from Rick's friend Ryan (who lived with Rick down in Tucson for about 6 months 2 years ago), that his wife was in labor. So we drove into Sacramento and made it just in time to see baby Shalyn Rose. It is weird watching someone growup so fast. It was only 2 years ago that Ryan was sleeping on a air mattress in Ricks room, now he is married and has a beautiful baby girl. It makes me realize how fast 2 years go by and how much I need to live in these moments and love where I am, and what I am doing at this moment.

It is getting easier everyday to get used to not having family and friends around, and I am excited to spend another week exploring and then start work. Today we are going back to Davis to see Rick's friends and the baby. It will be nice to get out and have fun. So far living with Rick has been wonderful and I think I can get used to having someone here to kill all the spiders and hang up all the pictures without a ladder.

Here are some pictures of the adventures!



MY GARDEN: tomatos, strawberry, herbs and flowers :)
A little taste of Foster City :)
The new couch and the living room
Half Moon Bay - Venice Beach

here we go

So my first 24 hours in Foster City have been successful, and exhausting! We are making progress unpacking and setting up however the big couch purchase still needs to be made, and I think once that is taken care of it will feel a bit more put together. Our apartment is huge and I am very happy, it is a lot of space for the two of us. We are right next to the parking lot so there is no trek back into our new home. The playground and basketball courts are just steps away and their is a huge walking path that goes around the complex and down to the water just feet away. We also are allowed to get 2 accent walls so we picked out the colors and I think they are going to be painted by the end of the weekend, hopefully, then we can continue to hang stuff up on the walls.
The weather for the next week is a solid 75 and sunny every day and the breeze makes it wonderful. The nights really cool off and sweaters and blankets are a must!
Living with Rick is going great, taking some getting used to but all in all I think we are working things out. Because I am such an amazing person and girlfriend, i gave him the den to decorate. I let him put up some jerseys and UofA flags, he seemed pretty pleased with his room, however I am secretly plotting my attack to go in there and fix it all because i didn't have the heart to tell him almost everything is crooked.
We went shopping yesterday at Target, Bed Bath, and Home Depot. EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE and it is going to take some getting used to. Simple things like shampoo, and coffee are $4 more then they were in Tucson. We went grocery shopping, and I think the fact that it was 10pm and I was hungry and tired didn't help but I was amazed at the prices!!! $4 for a gallon of milk, $8 for a bag of 5 frozen chicken breasts and $5 for a box of cereal, it adds up QUICK! We are keeping all of our recipts and putting everything into our spreadsheet and being all big and adult about the whole thing, I feel so old!
I am having a lot of fun, but its so different having all this stuff going on and all these things I want to share with my family and friends and not having anyone to call and have them come see everything. Not having any family and friends around is going to take some getting used too. I was excited to make new friends here, however I feel like it is going to be a little difficult. I am the only white blond I have seen in 2 days! If you aren't Asian, or Indian, or old and Jewish, you don't really fit in. I was at costco today, because thats the only place with prices I recognize, and I felt like a complete outsider. I was the youngest one by 20 years, the only white person and by far the only one with blond hair and makeup on. VERY different from what I am used too.


TO DO:
Get a couch
Get walls painted
organize all my bathroom stuff (apparently I have "too much crap" - Rick)
organize the electronics
consolidate my student loans
put myself on the lease
open joint savings accounts (ahhhhhhh)
fax in my relocation papers and all reciepts
EXPLORE!!!