Thursday, February 28, 2013

Organizing....

Here area  few pictures of our place FILLED with boxes! We have made such amazing progress in a few days. We have SO much stuff put away and if we have boxes, oh wait, we have three bedrooms to put them in. Oh yah! We are absolutely loving the space we have here!!
 This is our kitchen which has this funky brick floor. When I first looked at this place, I thought that Erik would hate this floor but he said it gives the place "character."
 Here is our living room with Miss Evie posing on the couch
 Lots of STUFF
This is Erik's room for all of his beer stuff, surf stuff, computer stuff.....You can see our little fenced in area outside and we have a......GRILL. Wahoo!

Here is Evie lounging in the kitchen. She refused to stay put while I made dinner so I forced her to sit in this perch...

Wanted to leave you with one last photo. This is the last photo we took of Evie in her beloved window. The couch was up against this window and she would sit on the arm to watch the sidewalk traffic. She loved loved loved sitting there and we hated when she would jump up to bark at people. It was a bittersweet moment to show her this was the last look at her window....


I don't know how much she is missing the window in her new house though! I'm going to guess not much!



Props to Evie

giving credit where credit is due

Well, we have some updates and photos for everyone on our new place, how it's going, how the commute(s) are now, etc. But first....I want to give props to Evie. 

I owe her a big apology because I definitely underestimated her and how she would handle the move. Since we moved, she hasn't barked incessantly or lunged at any biker/walker/dog that we've passed by. It is hilarious because when she passes by one of the mentioned triggers and doesn't do anything, it's like she knows she behaved. She looks right up at me like, "See? I got this." haha. 
I set her up on this bed in the kitchen because she was walking around non-stop while I made dinner the other night!
 Things are a lot more calm in our new neighborhood. We can walk a few blocks and get to a TON of bars and restaurants but our street is pretty quiet which is amazing. We have heard about one siren in the past week rather than 5 per day, and no crazy car alarms going off, the trucks driving by, or the crazies on the street, etc. This greatly reduces the amount of things for Evie to bark about.

Yesterday, we took a walk to the UC Berkeley campus where there are tons of lush grass and yards for her to roll around in which are actually CLEAN and not littered with homeless pee and trash. She actually met a dog and they played together, running around. The owner said, What a great dog you have! Ahhhh just warms my heart. 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Manic Monday



On Monday, I was off from work to organize the house and spend time with Evie. I really wanted to see what she would be reacting to in terms of sounds, in the new house. I am interested in this because now we live in the bottom level of a duplex, not in a six unit apartment where most of the units have dogs living in them.

We definitely don't want her barking her head off all day while we aren't home and causing problems with the upstairs neighbors. We know she will need some time to get adjusted to new sounds, smells, etc, and yesterday she did pretty well. I think this is actually a great opportunity for us to stop her from barking, period. She barks when she wants attention, wants to play, etc. This is a good chance for us to change the behavior.
We unpacked a LOT yesterday but I still feel like there is so much to do! We also did a bunch of errands including the dreaded Home Depot, Costco, and Pet Food Express. We exchanged some blinds and got the correct ones cut. I didn't know you could get blinds cut until about two days ago. I figured all windows were standard sizes!

Evie and I also checked out a local park, Civic Center Park. She loved running around and having new smells!



We will soon have lots of pictures of new parks and things we find along our walks!

When Erik got home, we put the blinds up AND put the bed frame together so we slept in our regular bed last night which was awesome. Once again, all slept great. Yahoooooo!

I'll post some house pictures when the place is starting to look at little more put together.

Anyone do anything fun this weekend?



Goodbye SF Apartment



On Sunday, we went back to SF to pick up FINAL things in the apartment, do a quick clean, and drop off the keys. We had another FULL carload of plants, Erik's bike, the vacuum, and more clothes. FINALLY we were 100% done. We said goodbye to our place. We didn't feel sad one bit....We both said that this apartment served us well for over five years. We have so many memories of the apartment and neighborhood that we will never forget. Now, it's time to move on and let someone else have the time of their life in that place, on that corner, and across from Falletti's. We took one last picture in the apartment -

Please keep in mind that we are TIRED. haha


We dropped off the keys and a check for the cleaning lady to come through to clean out the place on Monday. Our very cool realtor gave us her info AND was going to let her into the place on Monday so we didn't have to come back into SF on Monday AM!

Before leaving, we stopped at The Mill for coffee. This place is BLOWING UP. Do you remember we went there a few months ago for coffee and it was literally a store front of plywood?



Now, it is a huge coffee shop with a LINE out the door. So chic and hip. Reminds me of when we used to go to Alpha Omega Winery when it was all plywood and no one went there. Now, it's a hot spot with VALET parking.

Anyyyyyway, we were so tired from all of the moving...Evie started to snooze in the car.


We drove back over to Berkeley and proceeded to unpack more boxes. We now have a hallway filled with empty boxes! We made a quick dinner from the Trader Joe's, just a few blocks away. We were so.freaking.tired. This is what Sunday night looked like - 

 Oscars, Lounging, and wine. 

The Oscars were pretty good this year but I didn't really care for the host. I just wish Neil Patrick Harris would host everything. He was great with the Tony's. 

So excited ARGO won! That movie was awesome. 

We went to bed that night (on the floor mattress again), in a quiet house(no trucks zooming past), and slept. Slept better than the night before, better than we have in awhile, all three of us until 7am. Man, it felt amazing! If this is suburban-ish living, I'll take it. 




MOVING DAY

Saturday started bright & early when I dropped Evie at her dog camp to get her out of the way to move. I had to make a stop at Home Depot to pick  up a tarp for the truck and a shower curtain for the new place. I also grabbed some blinds since we noticed three windows didn't have blinds. So strange. If I were a landlord, I would put blinds on every window not just some. Oh well!

I hate Home Depot. I think it's so confusing to find anything. You have to ask a million people for help and it is beyond annoying!!

This is my "I'm at Home Depot on a Saturday morning" face.. 

  We picked up our rental truck and got started on moving...

Our friends Greg and Amy graciously helped us move, which was amazing. We packed stuff & brought it over stuff daily but we still had SO much to move!! Our place was so small that we didn't have room to pack up and pile things up or dismantle things prior to Saturday. 

We moved and moved everything out until finally, hardly anything was in it. 


We packed up a 10' truck, Amy's car AND my car. How did we fit all of that stuff in our tiny place?!
Of course, unloading the truck & cars took no time at all once we got to the new house. We even had Comcast meet us at the new house to set up cable & internet right away, too. 

We were soon standing in a sea of boxes in our new place but then hopped in the car to back to SF. We had to pick up a few more things and also pick up Evie at camp. We all drove back to the new house to show Evie her new spot! She was following me around like crazy...She was exhausted from camp and just making herself even more tired by walking around.

We ordered pizza for dinner and finally had a BEER, which tasted soooooo divine after all of the hard work.


We finally ended the night and went to bed (aka the mattress on the floor because we didn't set up the bed fame yet). Ahhhhh moving!



Monday, February 25, 2013

Final Friday


Friday was our last night in the SF apartment. We didn't go crazy to say goodbye. We had dinner, packed more stuff, and watched Pitch Perfect. I've heard from a few people that this movie was hilarious. We thought it was  pretty funny but not dying laughing good. 
photo
The "Fat Amy" character was pretty funny and the Asian girl who whispered was ridiculous. It was a pretty good, predictable, Glee-like movie though.

In true H&E fashion, we fell asleep on the couch after watching the movie and rolled into bed late. We wouldn't want to end our stay in SF any other way. haha!

Saison & Surfboards

Last Thursday, we went out to get pizza at one of our fave neighborhood spots, Little Star. First, we all piled into the car to go pick up Erik's new surfboard. He shaped another surfboard and had Sunset Shapers glass it for him. 

 Oh yah, this shot is of Evie sitting with me IN the front seat since the surfboard was in the back. haha

Here is the board! Don't mind the crap in the background, it was stuff packed to move into the new place. 

 At dinner, I had a Saison and it was SO good. I loved how they served it in this wine glass. Maybe I will start drinking all of my beer out of wine glasses. haha. We also shared a deep dish pizza. Delish!

On our way home, we saw that this awesome concert taking place at the Independent. We, of course, starting singing her big hit, Stay. Glad we didn't get tickets to that show because we would've only known one song! ha


Also on our walk home, I said "See ya later" to certain spots in our neighborhood. This includes this poor mannequin girl who has been standing in this window for 5.5 years or longer!


Our neighborhood has changed so much over the years. New bars, restaurants, and people are moving in every week. I'm sure we will go back later this year and see it change even more! Last few days in our SF spot!

Friday, February 22, 2013

My Favorite Fast Food

Everyone knows what my favorite fast food place is....SUBWAY. I seriously eat it once a week since there is a Subway right next to my work building. Today, I got my usual and wondered how other people make their Subway sandwiches...


It might look sloppy but it is GOOD. I usually get:

  • Turkey on Wheat
  • Lettuce
  • Tomato
  • Cucumber
  • Green Peppers
  • EXTRA pickles
  • Vinegar
  • Mustard
  • Hot Sauce


So good.

Erik is NOT a Subway fan, can you believe it?

What do you get on your Subway sandwiches?

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Tres Amigas: Duende

Last night was our Tres Amigas dinner at the newest Oakland hotspot: Duende.


We shared a few tapas dishes - I will translate for you


ensalada de col= (Salad with shredded cabbage, cheese, chopped olives and pistachios)
savoy cabbage+mahón+
green olives+PISTACHIOS



PATAtas BRAVAS= (Crispy chunks of potato with a spicy sauce)
CRISPY POTATOES+SPICY ALLIOLI



MEMBRILLO Y QUESOS= (Cheese plate)
QUINCE+basseri+idiazabal+valdeón

canalones=porcini mushrooms+spinach+sunchokes+cream    (Tortillas wrapped up filled with mushrooms, spinach, sunchokes, cream) - Delish!

Dessert was a berry/apple crumble.

The girls shared a Tempranillo but I had a glass of the 2010 Paul Dolan Chardonnay (on tap)=pear + apple + vanilla.

Everything was very good and I loved the canalones, salad, and dessert. The cheese plate was Ok but we had to ask for bread to go with it. The potatoes were nothing special either.

Overall, it was a good dinner but I don't think I'd go back. I do keep thinking of that Wood Tavern and how amazing that place was. I cannot wait to check out more restaurants in Berkeley, too!

A proper send off

Today, I saw three things that made me say, Only in SF. It's like the city knows we're leaving and wants to give us the proper send off by reminding us of all of the crazies around here.

#1 - Walked outside our apartment today and saw a homeless dude sitting on a bucket, brushing his teeth.

#2 - I walked out of Falletti's(after getting more boxes) and saw a woman who sometimes comes around and asks for change. As I walked past her (not even looking at her), she says to me, "Don't try to Kiss me!" Hahaha

#3 - I saw Chihuahua Man today! Him and his partner were walking their 10+ Chihuahuas. They usually have some in a wagon and some in the baby carrier. I think they only had the baby carrier today. Too funny.


I can't wait to see what kind of nutties we encounter on the other side of the bay!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

SF HomeBrew Meeting

Erik did something fun for his SF HomeBrew Guild meeting yesterday. Their meeting spot will be at Anchor Brewing Company here in SF. He went to the meeting and they had FREE beer and a FREE tour!


 Here are some hops...
Here is the Tour Leader explaining the brew process
 Here are some open fermentation tanks...

Here is the Distillery where they make Gin. 

He had a great time learning about their brewing process and enjoying some beer. What a fun meeting place!





Regretting That Decision

Someone did something really wrong today and it wasn't me. Stupidly, I left the trash all tied up to go out but then left the house for awhile to get our windshield fixed on the car. I came home to one super wiggly dog and when I walked in the kitchen, I found out why she was acting that way.

She had knocked the trash over, ripped open the bag, and probably ate a pound of leftovers that I threw out. Disgusting. I am hoping she did not eat anything like a chicken bone that is now lodged in her intestines somewhere and just stuck to the stuff easy to eat. Ughhhhhhhhh!

Someone is NOT feeling well right now and will probably be pretty sick in a little while. For now, she is resting on the couch. Will she ever learn? Will I ever remember not to leave the trash out like that again!?

Time to Celebrate

NEW YEARS CELEBRATION | Quote BIRTHDAY WEEK Decor

We had the walk through with the Realtor yesterday and she was so great. She didn't say one thing about the holes we put in the walls. She said, don't try to fix them because I will have the painters do that. She said to just replace the top of the toilet (which I dropped & broke) and clean. She even said she would give us the phone number of a cleaner she uses that is cheap. How awesome!

She brought about seven people with her yesterday to look at our place. I don't know how we all fit in our tiny place but we did. haha. She jacked up the rent by $600 and all of them asked for applications. Unreal. 

Yahoo to the walk through going well, hopefully getting someone to do the cleaning for us, and one less thing to worry about for our move. 



Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Top 5 Tuesday

Under my umbrella


Top 5 Tuesday
(& it's a rainy one here in the Bay Area)

1. It's Tres Amigas dinner this week and we are checking out a new hot spot in Oakland - Duende. Can't wait!

2. Got a haircut at a NEW place this weekend. My last cut looked ok at first but as it grew out, it looked bad. I've never loved my past hairdresser and it was time to move on. This new place is a recommendation from a friend and the stylist really knew what she was doing. Still trying to grow out some super short layers so this is a middle ground haircut where it's trimmed up to blend everything, but still growing out. It doesn't look that short but it feels short to me. 

3. It's Taco Tuesday tonight in our house. 

4. The Rain - Even though it sucks to have to walk in, walk Evie in, drive in, we really need it. It is our rainy season and we have hardly had any rain this year so far. 

5. New Garden Space - Erik is already planning out new garden area, how he will set it up, and what he will plant. Should be nice to spread the plants out and have a real garden!


Rainy Tuesday



After two glorious 70 degree days, we are back to where we should be for this time of year...in the 50's and rainy. It was COLD out yesterday after work.and this AM. It started raining on the way to work and it is still raining here. 

Yesterday, I made another drop off at the Berkeley place. Evie has been following me around like crazy and looking nervous when we load the car up. I keep telling her that we are ALL going to move to a new place. This was her yesterday as I was packing things up. Resigning herself to hide behind the pillows and cry to herself. (not really, but it looks like she is upset). 

Today, the Realtor is coming over to do a walk through to see what has to get fixed before we move out. She is bringing three prospective tenants with her. Kinda weird to be there while people look at your place but oh well. She raised the rent $600 for these new people - just goes to show you how rent control can work in your favor and really screw you when you are looking for a new place in SF. I have heard of STUDIOS going for $1,800. Unreal....

Fingers crossed we don't have to do much to the place to get our full deposit back!


Monday, February 18, 2013

Decorating

Well despite the stress that ensued from the Sunday drop off, I started thinking about how we can decorate the new place. I think we are going to have to get a bunch of stuff for the house. Considering our SF place was SO small, we don't have a lot of things like an entertainment center, a kitchen table, bookshelves, etc. 

One thing I want to get set up right away is the bathroom. I want to change the colors of the bathroom to rich brown accessories. I found some ideas I like already...


Can't wait to organize the new place!




Evie in the New Place

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong...
I really need to think this right now...

Evie and I took a ride over to Berkeley this AM to drop off more stuff. I also wanted to show her the new place before moving into it. Just the two of us went and she was whimpering when we pulled out. I let her into the place and she was running around checking everything out. She almost didn't want to go down the hall at first. Crazy dog. 

She was panting and running around but wanted to stick right by my side. It was like she wanted to check things out but was nervous. I should've named her Nelly instead of Evie because she is a true Nervous Nelly all the time!

I went to unpack the car and she barked when I left her in the house. That high pitched, whiny bark like  she does when we try to make her sleep in another room. 

I let her sit in the fenced in area and watch me unload the car. She was quiet but she was not happy to be alone. I think she was just worked up, didn't know where we were, and didn't know what was going on. I think if Erik was with us,she would've felt better being in the house. 

She has gone to many vacation homes with us and is fine when we are there and leave her home. Of course, now I am nervous on how she will act. I think she will be OK once we have the house all set up and her stuff is there. My mind is wandering to what could go wrong but I have to reroute it to think about what could go right. 

It will be an adjustment period for all of us & will take time for ALL of us to get settled. 


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Last SF Sunday Walk

Each Sunday, I always try to take Evie on a good "Sunday Walk." We have explored a ton of parks, streets, neighborhoods, and hidden staircases. I have to thank her for making me explore my own neighborhood and finding so many cool things. The Saturn Steps and the house with the Tiger on it might be two of my favorite things we've found. I literally have figured out our area of the city by finding a spot on the map to "find" and walking to it! She also keeps me active by taking so many walks and moving our fannies. 

Today, we went out to Billy Goat Hill Park in the Glen Park/Diamond Heights area. The park had AWESOME views but not a lot of room to run around.






 Evie met a boy at the park. A big, black, four year old dog who was all up on her. She loved it though and was chasing him around. The dog's owner called her "adorable" which she loved. :-)

Since Billy Goat Hill wasn't doing it for us, we decided to end our walk with a bang. We went to the big mamber jamber of hikes --- Twin Peaks.

This is what the Peaks look like from a distance:


We parked at the base of one of the peaks and walked up. We did NOT get to the tippy top but we got pretty far up. There was a narrow staircase to get to the top(s) and it was winnnnnndy! I knew it would be hard to get up and down with other people on the stairs so we went as far as I felt comfortable taking us.

 More Amazing Views. 








We had a great time. It was chilly and windy, but we are so used to that type of weather. We will never get tired of the awesome parks and views here in San Francisco. We are so excited though, to see new places, new parks, and new smells!