I Run Like A Girl

Well it’s certainly been an interesting week.

Apartment hunting has definitely taken up most of my head space. I haven’t looked for a new apartment in almost 4 years and I forgot how stressful the process can be! I saw 7 places and applied for 1 last week…but I negotiated too hard and ended up losing the apartment. I was pretty disappointed, but not for long as I had to pick myself up and start the process over.

I always believe things work out for a reason, and luckily I found and even nicer apartment the next day! This one had everything the previous one had, but MORE. (It’s funny how quickly your mind rationalizes things…i.e. that previous spot went from “this is my dream apartment” to “I absolutely hate this”). I submitted my application so now it’s the waiting game…fingers crossed!!

I got a head start on packing and ended up with a HUGE pile of trash. It’s crazy how much stuff accumulates over 4 years…it made me sad to imagine everything in a landfill, so I ended up giving it all away for free on Craigslist. Let me tell you…the free section on Craigslist is absolutely nuts! I replied to over 100 emails to different people jumping on my free stuff. Most of the handoffs went smoothly and contactless – people seemed grateful I was giving away my appliances/paintings/furniture away for free.

But one bad seed ruined it all…one man showed up at my door uninvited for a free couch. He felt entitled to get the couch since he drove all the way from Sacramento, and when I told him the couch was taken, he got super angry and aggressive. I ended up calling the cops and he left…luckily I never made contact with the man as it was all on the phone. I guess you can say my Craigslist bubble burst after that.

Ok enough about apartment stuff. We had a 3-day weekend for MLK and there are lots of fun things to catch up on!

Saturday: Tennessee Valley Hike

Bright and early on Saturday, Joe and I headed up to Marin for a hike. It was sunny and gorgeous and we were both craving some steps in nature. This is also where we had our third date and when we discovered our shared love for hiking.

Our first photo together! 🙂

The hike was a flat 3-miler that ends on Tennessee Valley Beach. We chatted the whole way and it flew by. The beach was super gorgeous and it was so relaxing sitting down and taking in the views of the tall rocky cliffs and the vast ocean.

Winter in the bay means super aggressive waves. It was entertaining watching the large waves sneak up on people sitting on the beach and getting them wet. We felt a little mean laughing at these poor folks but I’ll take any entertainment these days 😉

After our refreshing hike, we ate Super Duper (just like our third date!) and relaxed at Joe’s apartment for the rest of the day. We had a movie night and watched Frost Nixon. I’ve been obsessed with learning about the 60s lately so I loved the movie.

Sunday: apartment planning + Baker Beach picnic

Sunday started off on the slow side. I did a yoga workout at home and went into a Pinterest hole brainstorming/planning for my new apartment. Meanwhile Joe worked on the garden. There is very little sunlight right now so most of the work is prep for the Spring. Joe trimmed back the trees which was a huge feat, and he also bought wine barrels and a small greenhouse for the new seeds. I can’t wait to see this come together!

In the afternoon, we were craving some sun but didn’t want to travel too far after our day trip yesterday. And so we went out for a short hike in the Presidio (that’s basically our backyard) that brought us to Baker Beach.

Baker Beach was probably my favorite part of the whole weekend. It was SO relaxing soaking in the warm sun rays; it always surprises me how easy it is to find beautiful scenery in SF. Funny story – there is an unspoken nude part of Baker Beach and we ended up RIGHT in it. So many people lying there completely naked…ha.

The evening included playing Codenames on Zoom with some of Joe’s friends, cooking dinner, and another movie night. 🙂

Monday: Picnic at Golden Gate Park

Thank god for the extra day off! Our morning was a productive one as we headed to Home Depot to pick up packing supplies for the big move (even though I don’t even have a place to live yet).

Then Joe did some work in the garden while I brought one of his cats outside. Joe has two cats – one is totally chill and sleeps all the time, while the other is curious and always wants to explore. So we brought the adventurous one outside on a leash – it’s a bit unusual to have a cat on a leash and he was a bit paralyzed at first, but eventually he got used to it and I could tell he was in cat-heaven exploring this whole new world. It was very entertaining.

In the afternoon, we met up with Joe’s friends in Golden Gate park. The weather was 75 and sunny – a pleasant surprise for SF especially in the winter. It was a great time as we shared stories about our quarantine experiences. It always makes me feel better hearing that no one has it together right now as we are all trying to make it through COVID in one piece!

Then onto our last evening of the weekend. Doesn’t the cat’s tail look like a headset microphone? We had a little too much fun playing with it. 😛

Stay safe and be well!! ❤