Sweet home Alameda!

So. We finally got an apartment on an island in the San Francisco Bay. It’s off the Oakland (eek!) coast, and it’s a really seriously super cutesy complete-with-cottages-and-art-deco-downtown little ‘burb. Apparently, it has zero crime and is fairly commutable to SF, which is great. It’s not as hip as the city, but Brian and I aren’t as hip as most San Franciscans (or as Asian, as it turns out. Man, those railroad workers really procreated. Digression! On Christmas Eve, Brian’s cousin-in-law Mark hadn’t heard the news that we were Expanding Westward and was all “San Francisco!? Be careful, there are Asians there.” There are a few kickers to this story: Mark is half-Korean, he said it like there aren’t Asians anywhere else, AND Brian’s family is located in Lowell, which has the largest number of Cambodians outside of Cambodia. Also I love Vietnamese food, and there are tons of little pho joints everywhere, the end.). Where was I? Oh, we’re not too hip. Although I did score some cute, mildly hip things for xmas and the obligatory final passes through Filene’s Basement and Second Time Around yielded some booty, not to mention the thrift-store frenzy I kicked up in the Haight last night.

Basically, our plan is to take the cash we’re saving by living in Alameda (our rent is $100 less than in Somerville, with almost double the space, plus all utilities are paid. and omg, we can turn one of the FOUR WALK IN CLOSETS into a spare bedroom.) and stash it for something really super awesome, like oh, I don’t know, AN AWESOME DIAMOND RING, or an apartment in the city after our lease is up.Basically, Alameda is all things to all not-too-hip cheapie cheaps like ourselves. Also! Beaches!

So our stay with Colleen is coming to an end. I can’t begin to imagine what this experience would have been like without someone who had already lived all over the Bay area and knew where all the people get shot. Seriously? Without her, we’d probably have happily moved into an apartment in downtown Oakland, been stabbed twice, been initiated into a gang and sent through rehab all before the final boxes were unpacked.). We’re incredibly grateful for her letting us stay in her little condo, taking us hiking, petting our cat, feeding us all KINDS of fun things, telling us secrets about Brian’s parents (ah, friends from the seventies!) and in general providing us with a warm, snuggly atmosphere to start our California Rebirth (dude, how West Coast am I? Who wants to do a trust fall now?). Also she’s giving us her couch! With a pull out! So YOU can come and visit!

Where the skies are so blue...