Finger Dancing Away

Hi guys! Sorry I’ve been MIA for a good chunk of this week since we moved in to our new place by the bay! It’s just gotten way busier than I thought it would and well, we’ve both been pretty exhausted and crashing early. Ahh the glam side of picking up and trekking 1300 miles. Definitely still playing catch up.

So far we’re liking where we’re living better than our place in Denver. Austin made a comment tonight that highlights what seems small, but is totally a big part of that. He pointed out how happy he was that I felt safer here when I was heading to take the dogs out a little bit ago -after dark. Might not seem that exciting to write home about, but honestly…the only time I went out alone after dark at our old place, even just to run the dogs out for a few mins, was if Austin was out of town for work or deathly sick. We had some progressively sketchy neighbors of a certain background and complete disregard for anyone they lived around and very questionable behavior. The cops were called a lot. It got worse over time…and slightly better when a good chunk of them flew home for the summer and the apartments hired a better security company to patrol nightly. But between them, homeless people, etc…it had just gotten sketchy and I was not a happy camper at night especially. Not feeling safe where you live sucks! And with how expensive our rent was and it being brand new and upgraded…off Hampden not in the wrong side of Arvada…it was kinda ridiculous to have to worry about.

SO I’m really happy that we can get back to normal living and be able to walk the dogs alone where it gets super dark, whenever I damn well please! Plus our floorplan is much home-ier feeling (not so much box-y feeling), we have way more space, crazy high ceilings (about 15 feet I think), pretty views, a fantastic family friendly neighborhood (re: the houses next to us average $1 million), 1.7 miles from Austin’s work…I could go on but I think you get the idea :)

I’d like to share a few highlights from this first week out here in Foster City to give you a taste of what we’ve been up. 

I got really lucky that one of my best friends from high school, Stephanie AKA Steph, who I was joined at the hip with and lived with for awhile ended up living on the north side of the Bay. Go figure! It’s funny how life tends to work out, where you fall out of touch then reconnect down the road with friends or just seem to be blessed with ending up with real friends that you need by you side exactly when you need them most. However you want to explain it, it’s really awesome to be near Steph again! We reunited the other day when she came down to check out our new place. The idea was to work on unpacking my stuff together…but well, you know how us girls can be especially when we haven’t hung out in a long time. We like to TALK! And that we did. But that’s okay, it has been years over due. Not to mention we’re hitting up Ikea on Wednesday. And I’m sure there will be many adventures to come after. So happy to have you close (ish) by again Steph!! And thanks for being a great friend and offering big help when I need it most!

One thing that was interesting this week that I saw on the news and wished I would’ve known I could have seen in person…the space shuttle Endeavor flew over Golden Gate and then down the Bay. As low as {{200}} feet! Apparently it did go right over the top of us, and I totally missed it. Instead I was corralling whiny dogs while our carpet was being fixed. I happened to flip on the news in time to see it on TV, but didn’t know ahead of time so I could take the opportunity to nerd out in person. Totally would’ve gone! Oh well. Now it’s retired and on display in LA.

Finally…what’s a foray into Cali without finding out that Trader Joe’s is SO my new favorite thing! I’m just saying it A-ma-zing!! Their cinnamon raisin, well I call it Monkey Bread, is the best thing ever. Tried it with a white chocolate chai on a weekend morning. Love it! At least that’s what we did this morning. And where could you get real, all natural, no artificial anything beautiful lobster ravioli for only $6? No where in CO, that’s where. lol. We had an awesome dinner of lobster ravioli, artichoke tapinade brushetta, and balsamic-caprese salad, all on our new Bobby Flay blue ombre dinnerware. They are just so dang pretty! Thanks to my lovely other half for getting those today and letting me pick them out. Though we did pick them out together and found a great compromise between our tastes and new color scheme we’re aiming for. Baby steps in putting our new place together on a budget!

I’ll post some pics before calling it a night, so be sure to keep an eye out. Until next time {{soon}}, goodnight! Love and miss you all more than you know!! 

p.s. Feel free to call/text/comment on the blog…staying in touch helps me stay feeling connected to you all back home! :)

XO, Lauren