bliss out

Completely un-authentic and indulgent. I want to share my sweetie Vanilla Chai Lattes with you!

2 c. milk
1/4 c. concentrated black tea (brew the life out of it...or use about 1 t. of instant tea)
2 T. brown sugar
1 dash of cinnamon
1 dash of ginger
1 T. vanilla

Steam, froth, and bliss out.
*Note: I looove adding lots of cinnamon to the top of my froth. Fun variation: Nutmeg.

the week in pictures

Monday 6/25: We're home now. Come visit us soon!

Sunday 6/24: Day of rest.

Saturday 6/23: MOVING DAY! I was not kidding when I told you that we filled every square inch of our storage unit! Check it out: when we opened the door, nothing even fell out! I now realize that there was a reason I spent half of my childhood playing Tetris. Love this work! What's even more amazing, is the fact that Jeff's uncle Mike and cousins Brenton & Jordan helped us move out of storage and into our new place in record timing. We met at Uhaul at 8am and were completely unloaded, eating Amici's pizza at noon. That is impressive.

While unloading the truck, Mike noticed this (above) in our garage. Apparently, when our building was built back in the '20s, they scrapped wood from an old ship crate to put dividing walls between each stall. Sweet history.

Friday 6/22: Our last day at Dorothy's! After 3 wonderful weeks of Dorothy's hospitality, we knew we owed her a gigantic thank-you! The challenge: lately, we're slightly broke. So instead of buying her an expensive bouquet of exotic flowers, we decided to spend the day cleaning, pruning, digging, planting, and loving the gardens around her condo! (These days, it's getting tough for Dorothy to get down and play in the dirt like she used to.) Since we're both novices in the gardening world, I'd say that we at least deserved an "E" for effort. Twelve garbage bags later, we called it a day and grilled some amazing kabobs.

Thursday 6/21: By the way, Did I mention that we're moving to San Francisco!? (In the whirlwind excitement of my update, I think I accidentally left that part out. Details.) That's right. Go big or go home. We knew we wanted to live somewhere in the Bay Area, and the sunny skies and more reasonable rent prices completely attracted us to the suburbia further south on the penninsula. But, San Fran calleth and we answered. There's just something about its charm. I could go on forever! So this is our new home. More painting today and we'll be set to move in on Saturday!

Wednesday 6/20: Painting, painting, painting. I've decided to include some before/after pictures to help the finished product look more impressive;). So here's a peak at our first little project. Goodbye sage green, damaged walls. Hello refreshing blue. Great job with the spackling, handyman husband!

Tuesday 6/19: Heather & studly new bf, Justin! The four of us headed to the city for a photo shoot, a hike through Lincoln park (part of our new 'hood), an awesome lunch at the Cliff House, and some well-spent quality fam time.

Monday 6/18: Not just another day of job searching and chillin' at Dorothy's: Jeff's sis, Heather rolled into town for a visit with her studly new bf, Justin. Here we are on Dorothy's couch--photo compliments of Justin!

renters rejoice!

So it seems that it's been forever since I've updated. Apologies for an insane week! I have some awesome news. We signed a lease on Saturday for a cute little flat with some amazing potential. Anyone who experienced our previous itty-bitty kitchen can rejoice with me...This one is 2, no, 3x bigger. Check out the adorable old built-in cabinetry. ALL MINE! Pretty wedding gifts and all, I'm not sure we'll be able to fill our cupboards. What a beautiful problem. This new place totally reminds us of our old apt. in Eau Claire. It has gorgeous hardwood floors, big bay windows, even the same bathroom floor tiles! The only downside: the previous tenants left a mess of plug-ug sponge painted walls. Their color choices: yellow, orange, and forest green!? So our goal is to hit Home Depot ASAP and get as many rooms repainted as possible before next Saturday...our official move-in date! We are so excited to have an address again. Our apartment is just 4 blocks away from the ocean in a super, super fancy neighborhood.

What I will do as soon as we move in:
1. Make a delectable, sweet vanilla chai latte with my dear little drink maker. (I am sick of coffee shops with the authentic, peppery, spicy chai nonsense.)
2. Stay in my 'jams alll day
3. Be more faithful to my blog
4. DECORATE!!
5. Hit the farmer's market
6. Check out the amazing hiking/jogging trails in my 'hood by the sea
7. Sleep in my very own bed again
8. Start couch hunting
9. Overcome my irrational fear of public transportation
10. Kiss my husband

lost and found

Today brought us to Sausalito for a Jeff-job-interview. While he was working his magic at Poggio (a not-so-pretentious fine dining Italian place), I took a stroll, or rather a hike around the city. I am completely envious. If Jeff gets a job in Sausalito-the Golden Gate Bridge will be part of his daily commute! It's tough to describe Sausalito. Basically, it's an enchanting, boho-chic destination away from S.F. It also has the same steep hills as S.F. that totally dwarf the Midwestern mountains that I charged up in my cross-country running days. During my stroll I just kept climbing and climbing up a road that I thought would never end. The result: I was lost, but with an incredible view!

Next, I found my greatest material happiness: An adorable papery! It's tough to be a scrapbooker/paper crafter and resist the delights of such a cute shop. So, I caved to my weaknesses and bought some darling stationery. I needed to stock up because it's tough to make handmade cards when you're homeless without your scrapping studio!

Oh, and one more piece of news! Yesterday marked the beginning of our first apartment viewings. We've been looking forever on Craig's List, but finally decided that it's time to get serious. We already have a lead on an old-school charmer with a HUGE KITCHEN! I'm so excited. I'm so tempted to share pics and every last detail, but I think I'll keep it a secret until it's official...After all, the renting scene is totally cut-throat around here. But so far, so good!

cali getaway

Saturday was a much-needed respite from the job & place hunt! We took a little cruise down Hwy 1 and explored the Pacific coastline. It is amazing scenery! There's just something about that cool, salty sea air. Yum. Above is Pigeon Point lighthouse. I must admit, I have a total lighthouse fetish. They remind me of the good old days--taking family vacations around the Great Lakes.
Along our little coastal road trip adventure, we had a picnic in Monterey while staring off into the tidepools and amazing coastline. Next we spent the afternoon exploring Carmel-by-the-Sea. Cutest town in the world. Every single cottage there is directly out of a story book. We did a little window shopping there and I am officially re-inspired by Anthropologie. There is a huge store in the Carmel plaza. I love soaking in the interior design ideas there! Can't wait 'til we have a place of our own. To wrap it all up, we spent some hard core beach time in Carmel. Well, Jeff did. I took a nap, dreaming about being a surfer girl one day. Jeff dug a really, really deep hole in the sand. Boys.

sitting, watching, waiting, wishing

Here I am in my grown-up-shiny-job interview shoes. Love these new navy cuties. I'm still hoping that they'll impress someone, somewhere. We've been in Cali now for officially one week. Truth: Playing the waiting game is a little bit exhausting. Still unemployed. Still homeless. Sick of hearing, "Sorry...the positions have already been filled." We're still optimistic, but we'd still love for you to send some prayers our way!

Meanwhile, we're loving the life at Grandma Dorothy's! Look at this cute pitcher she serves her milk in. It makes the breakfast table look like the cheeriest place on earth. Every time I open the fridge for the rest of the day, I am happy.

This gigantuous and gorgeous rose is in full bloom out on our private guest room patio. I can't believe the plants and flowers out here. Everything is way lush.

We're looking forward to taking a break from job hunting and NCLEX studying this weekend. Can't decide between the beach and the mountains. Whatever we do, I promise to find something to blog home about.

we're here!

The good news is...we're here in CA, alive and well! the bad news is...my blogging style is totally cramped. We're all settled in at Jeff's great-grandma Dorothy's condo and its the most wonderful B&B we could have asked for, except for one minor dilemma. She has dial-up, and we can't even check email! So today, my withdrawal symptoms from chocolate and the world wide web finally boiled over. We're at a cute coffee shop now and we're coping.;)

The remainder of the road trip went well, except for gas stops, that is. Getting 6 mpg made our fill-up times a little depressing. Moving lesson #3: Gas=money. Glad that we survived all the sketchy casino-gas stations in Nevada. We even had dinner one night at an Arby's casino!

Imagine yourself standing on a sea of white Dippin' Dots. We really did! Actually, we stopped at the Salt Flats in Western Utah. It was by far the craziest thing I'd ever seen. It looks like snow, but it's actually a barren dessert wasteland of salt! Nice.

We arrived here in Cali on Thursday night and San Fran welcomed us with the usual fog. Above is a pic of us crossing the Bay Bridge from Oakland. If driving across the country in a Uhaul with a car trailer wasn't enough, he had his official initiation in trucking when he took on the hills, twists, and general tight squeezes of San Fran. At one point (after GPS had let us down), we came to an intersection and wound up in 3 lanes at once! One of these lanes we shared with the Muni (bus/train) tracks. The only problem was that the train pulled up right beside us, with an angry driver shaking her fist. To further welcome us to the city, we had another excellent lesson in U-haul's customer service deficits. I hate to defame the great American company, so I'll just leave it at this--we've adapted a new mantra: Friends don't let Friends drive U-hauls! By Friday night, we had successfully stuffed our every earthly possession into a dark 8x11' room somewhere on the sketchy side of San Fran. Honestly, I don't think I've done so much manual labor in my entire life. Jeff was proud of my couch-lifting, washing machine-hefting, and box-stacking abilities! We unloaded the entire truck ourselves without having to hire any illegals outside the gate to help us (against U-haul policy).

Tomorrow, the real world starts: Job interviews! I am freaking out! As always, we'll keep you posted, even if its at the speed of slow. Oh, and I've been meaning to say thank you everyone for your sweet comments and encouragement about this blog. I feel so loved! Blessings, everyone. Miss you all!