(Be)musings,  San Francisco

A Blank Canvas

A mere 885 days after ‘We should live here!’ was uttered while honeymooning in California, George & I put our extensive Lego and designer shoe collections into storage and purchased one-way tickets to San Francisco.

It is not often that we are able or inclined to displace ourselves from a life that is established and familiar, to start life anew – a blank canvas comprising of nothing but an E3 visa, an overpriced 1-bedroom apartment and whatever you can squeeze into 130kg of luggage (22 pairs of shoes, 8 dresses, 5 skirts, 2 recipe books and a kaleidoscope of peplum tops & cardigans, for those wondering).

Apologies in advance for the florid rhetoric of this post. Since arriving, I’ve seated myself comfortably amidst the ‘mindfulness’ craze, having taken up colouring-in for grownups. (NB: I had inadvertently typed ‘crazy’ instead of ‘craze’ in the previous sentence. A clear Freudian slip and yes, entirely interchangeable for anyone who has ever met me.) The Type-A, hyperactive, gregarious Associate Lawyer has extracted herself from personal injuries legislation and Torts texts for colouring-in books? You’d be forgiven for thinking that I’ve already been enjoying the special brownies on offer in The Bay Area.

Special brownies aside – although I draw your attention below to my recent find at the local bookstore – a blank canvas only comes along once in a lifetime. Thus, it is with great anticipation that my right-brain and calf muscles become equally engaged as I figuratively and literally discover our new life in San Francisco.  A life of mediocre coffee, Jarryd Hayne (yay sport?), tech start-ups and living amongst the original hipsters (The beards and man-buns are Out. Of. Control.).

This blog does not intend to be a painstaking recap of Nat & George’s Techcellent Adventure. It will however, be a forum for unfettered puns, musings & rants (first up, the scourge of the backpack), baking adventures and the occasional alliteration. A sounding board, if you will, for the pivotal & random moments of panic, elation, boredom, edification and most importantly, degustation.  (Don’t worry, you’ll all be getting the coffee-table book for Christmas).

Too bad this can’t be concomitantly juxtaposed with a Meryl Streep-type journey of some description. Honestly, I watched ‘Julie/Julia’ on the flight over and I have been suppressing my faux-British/French inner voiceover ever since.

 


In A Nutshell (I was going to say ‘Natshell’ but my pun quota has been exceeded)

  • The City: San Francisco, California (‘City By The Bay’. For all that is holy, don’t call it ‘San Fran’ or ‘Frisco’.)
  • The Neighbourhood: Inner Sunset – 5km from Ocean Beach, 10 minutes walk to Golden Gate Park (a.k.a Instagrammer-heaven) and Crime Grade Score? A!
  • The Apartment: 4th floor, 1 bedroom with a spacious-enough living area featuring a Queen-size sofa bed (We’ll be taking bookings. 3 night max. We love our friends. Not that much.)
  • George’s (Dream) Job: Senior Product Manager, Wandera, Inc. Building a Secure Mobile Gateway – I.e. Don’t browse porn on the company mobile phone.
  • Nat’s Job: 3 days in to 90 days of visa-imposed funemployment. ‘To-Do List’ currently comprises: Pilates, lunchtime walks at Golden Gate Park, cooking, colouring-in and Buffy Season 1.
  • The Blog: ‘Unfit & Improper’  – the moment of liberating oneself (albeit, temporarily) from a Practising Certificate, and not having a plan. Any plan. Whatsoever. I anticipate this blog will evolve as our SF narrative evolves, but will also chronicle our travel, food, baking & cultural musings. I mean why is the cheese so goddamn yellow?

 

http://instagram.com/p/7yQIsvjVKv/

NB: You’ll notice that while I now may reside in the land of Donald Trump and string-cheese-in-a-can, my uneasy revolutionary within has not discarded entrenched spelling conventions. I’m keeping the ‘u’ in ‘colour’, dammit –  but I may start saying ‘Y’all.’ You’ve been warned. 

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