Nearly there

Ahhh. I am finally catching my breath, after a whirlwind of events. There have been friends to dance with (exuberantly!) at Cat Club, a half marathon to run, a bevy of fantastic last meals at Range, Bar Jules, and Citizen Cake, and a beautiful wedding to attend. All in addition to the packing, shipping, and moving involved with relocating to another city. I haven't had a chance to even really get excited about the thought of living in NYC, until now. I'm feeling disheveled, nervous, sad, and happy all at the same time.

I've started to become known to my friends as the friend who likes to leave town every other year or so. I swear I don't do it for the free meals, attention, and City Walk cards from Krissy. (Although I would love to get the one for Paris and Barcelona one day, ha.) I get antsy in one place. But if the past is any indication of future behavior, I will return.

To all my family and friends who continue to let me be antsy: thanks for all the hullabaloo. :-) I do love and appreciate it all. The next time I post, I'll be in NYC. Crazy.

Link of the Day

From Shouts & Murmurs, "Fourteen Passive Agressive Appetizers":

"3. Steal Cheryl’s famous potato-salad recipe. When Cheryl asks, “Why did you steal my recipe?,” say, “I don’t know, Cheryl, why did you break my heart?” Then laugh so she knows you’re just kidding."

Things found this weekend

Hot salty beef!!! (Vegetarians, avert eyes now.)

An Edenic grocery store

A Zagat Award of Distinction bagel shop

And a home! :-)

More details soon. xoxo

Hot time, summer in the city*

How foolish is it to move to a city that you've never really visited in the summer? As a child of parents who could be considered positively British with their constant preoccupation with the weather (do not let that richly caramel colored Filipino skin fool you), this may not be one of my most well-crafted ideas.

In any case, I'll find out tomorrow morning. I'm off for 5 days to hoof it around town in search of a neighborhood, an apartment and possibly, a job to support the whole process. Among other things, I'm equipped with a book that's à propos for a trip to NYC and, er, nylons. (Thanks goodness for East Coast friends to help you stay professionally polished.)

Updates forthcoming. xoxo

*If you can complete that lyric without mumbling or inventing words, I'll bake you a fresh batch of these.

On early retirement

"It is said: San Francisco is where young people go to retire." Or, so says Cal Stephanides.

While I haven't exactly been basking in the glow of my "golden years"* (and the idea of actual retirement in San Francisco is pretty much absurd, unless you are independently wealthy), for some reason, this quote has always rung true to me. San Francisco is an often breathtaking city, bountiful in its opportunities for contented living, play, and mostly organic food. I could happily live here forever, playing the young person's equivalent of shuffle board (whatever that is), but I don't know if I'm ready to be set out to pasture quite yet.

So, in a little over a month, I'll be leaving my hometown and moving to New York City (!). I hear it's where young people go to have their midlife crisis...

Readers, will you welcome me back? (You know who you are!)

*If I were Golden Girl, I think I'd be Sophia. Et toi?