Thanking good graces in cold and rainy places

So every year, my Thanksgiving reflections are a little bit different - this year I'm thankful for the people in my life and the good luck I've been blessed with these past few months.

The transition from the city that I've always known and loved, to the new and exciting city that I'm quickly discovering, has been nothing short of flawless.  I'm most thankful for Victor, who has introduced me to almost everyone I know here in Seattle and has been key in the foundation of this new chapter of my life. I'm also thankful for my room mate Matt, who is another form or variation of myself, and probably better qualifies than anyone else I could have found to live with. His consideration, respect, and welcoming nature are far more than I could have asked for.  I'm very thankful for my new friends in Seattle, who have accepted me and shown me nothing but kindness.

Secondly, but more importantly, I'm thankful for my friends and family in SF. When I first moved I was prepared to fade into the backs of everyones minds, and I thought I'd need to return shortly to vacate my room at my moms place. I'm very grateful that she hasn't asked me to clear out yet and continues to let me stay at home when I visit! Her support and love is invaluable, and I truly cherish the random emails she sends me with updates of thoughts about her everyday life.  My friends, another extension of what I consider my family, have not forgotten me! And I'm SO glad to know it. I love being included in happenings and drama even though I'm not physically there. I appreciate so much that they made the trip to visit recently and I always look forward to spending time with them when I get back, especially my beloved Al pals.  I miss them so!

Lastly I'm thankful for not one, but two sources of income during such a financially risky time in my life. First, for the awesome boss who took a chance on a girl out of California and pays me double what she was expecting to when she originally posted to the listing. She's really the nicest boss ever and its a whole different experience from the jobs I've had in the bay.  Second, for my last employer who liked me so much they gave me a laptop and invited me to work remotely around my own schedule. This is probably the best situation possible for someone moving two states away and is still undecided on a permanent career.  I truly am lucky in all regards.

There are so many things for me to be thankful for, and words couldn't describe how lucky I feel. Considering that everything could have fallen apart when I moved, or worse yet I could have stayed in SF and continued to live with the same demons that were consuming my happiness, life has been excellent recently.  I've grown emotionally in this experience in so many ways, and in this different environment I'm learning more about myself every day. I even made yams for Thanksgiving dinner this year! :)

Happy as a clam, no complaints here - I wish everyone I know this very same feeling. Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

Gypsy Souls

As pop music makes a painfully slow and awkward transition from hip-pop to house-pop and dubstep mashups, I find myself only able to enjoy the lyrics of country songs. They are so sweet, simple, sad, and basic. I love the raw emotion and the references to a more humble life than so many artists out there try to project.

But yeah, I do love me some of the high energy house. And the Old School Lunch on Kube93, during which Matt and I text each other selections from our fave high school jams (that ghetto shit). Though, at the end of the day, a little bit of country helps me unwind.



Speaking of colder weather, the Seattle temperatures are dropping and the end is nowhere in sight. It's exciting! The other day I was driving and got caught in traffic during the hailstorm, and I was thinking -- if it starts snowing I'm screwed, why didn't I get 4wd again? LOL. It's okay, heated seats and 10+ settings on my windshield wipers have helped tremendously thus far.

Come on winter, GET AT ME BRO!

Halloween: A San Francisco Treat!

Last weekend was such a shit show.

Thursday afternoon, Charles and I flew into San Francisco with no delays or anything - great start to a trip! Ryan picked us up at SFO and we headed back to my place to drop off luggage, then downtown so Charles could check into the W. By the time we got to dinner it was already getting late, maybe 8 something? We ended up at San Tung. WORTH THE WAIT. And since it was the first time for Charles in San Francisco (and California) we had to take him to the best Chinese place we know. Duh. Later at night we went to see Shiny Toy Guns perform at the Rickshaw Stop. It was pretty good, but I liked the show at Ruby Skye the first time I saw them better. Anyway, super packed and very exciting! We stopped by at Holy Cow afterward but everyone was too exhausted to enjoy. We did see Latina fight though, pretty awesome.

Friday afternoon, Charles and I sort of slept through lunch time. We did wake up in time, though, to get ramen at Himawari! I had to get my ramen fix, since there isn't any good ramen in Seattle. We went to Blue Bottle Coffee for a pick-me-up and mmm mm that New Orleans Iced Coffee surely hit the spot. Charles got to see the Octavia/Hayes way of life also. Everyone just hanging out on the sidewalks, chillin'. Gorgeous weather. We picked up some viet sandwiches for dinner, then we went home to get ready for SKRILLEX!!!

Chad drove his van and picked us up at my place. When Charles came over that night I was laughing so hard at his joker costume, he looked freakin' homeless. I was literally in tears, clutching my stomach. It was a great moment. Our costume theme was a hit, we got lots of compliments! The concert was fantastic when Skrillex came on, his visuals just blew my mind. Hearts galore. I had tons of fun! Maybe not as much fun as Tiesto or Kaskade, but still lots and lots of fun. OH, THE ENERGY! After the concert, we migrated to Sugar Cafe and continued on dancing. As we were leaving, I made a special request to be dropped off before everyone headed to Brian's. Thank goodness I did, I couldn't wait to get to bed - so exhausted!

On Saturday, we explored Haight with Alex and Ryan (after first driving around Sunset to pick up Alex's ticket and viet sandwiches/boba!!). We saw the Painted Ladies, but honestly we didn't even know which house was the Full House house. LOL. On the corner of the block there was the remains of a haunted house party and we somehow wandered in uninvited. Luckily the people inside didn't mind us peeking around. The house was very spookily decorated. It looked like they'd had one hell of a party!

For dinner, Charles wanted to have sushi, so I took him to the second best spot I know - Ryoko! We waited over an hour but it was worth it, of course. We had a pretty interesting and random conversation over dinner, and the music as always was a compilation of all of my favorite songs. How do they always know! We headed back to my place to meet up with Cindy, Albert, and Calvin. By the time we all were ready to go to Polk street, it was super packed at all of the bars with ridiculously long lines out the door. We decided to go to Rendezvous instead! I saw a bunch of the old DNC people there, and I met up with all of the Deadmau5 people there also. It ended up being a good time, great company! And it was nice to dance to hip hop instead of house for the first time that weekend. :)

On Sunday we tried to go to Lime but we had a pretty big party and the wait was a few hours. Instead we had burgers at Super Duper, and then went to the beach. AH THE BEACH! I miss the beach

Overall I think it was a fantastic trip. Charles fell in love with San Francisco, as everyone should, and I think in the four days that I had with him I was able to show him most of my favorite things! Then again how could he not love SF, my friends are all so cool!