And, we have Internet...

Mark and I arrived in Seattle three days ago on Wednesday.  On Thursday, the movers arrived.  Yesterday, we unpacked a lot of boxes and went shopping to stock our pantry and to buy new items that one buys for a new home.

This morning, Comcast arrived and we have Internet and TV!!!  So, we're almost 100% back in action.

The first two days in Seattle were beautiful.  The skies were blue, the sun was shining and the feel of Autumn is in the air!

Today, the skies are a little greyer but it is to be expected!

As we get more settled, I'll update again more frequently.  In the meantime, Happy October 1!

Geoge Clooney Gets Married?!

OK.  So, not really!  I'm busy getting packed - the movers show up tomorrow morning but I can't not take the time to post this commercial....

I love the look on her face through the entire thing especially when she sees who she's married!

Hope you all have a great weekend and see you when I'm settled in Seattle!

Making New Friends

In 2007, when I first moved to San Francisco, I was lucky.  I had a boyfriend who had a very large group of wonderful friends.  I was taken into the fold.  But after our relationship ended, I was uncomfortable being around that group of people.  I had to make my own way and meet new friends on my own.

San Francisco is an interesting town.  The people are nice and it is a town full of transients.  But the groups of friends are quite clique-y.  It can be tough.

Now, after being here a little more than four years, I have my small group of wonderful friends.  I admit that the past year has been a challenge.  I've been more focused on being a newlywed and dealing with other personal things than spending time with my girlfriends.  But, as I've been saying goodbye to the people who have been a part of my life for the better part of the last four years, I'm going to miss them and I hope that my friendship with them will continue over the distance.

While I still make my marriage a priority, I know that being proactive after we move to Seattle will be important for me to making new friends and meeting new people.  I don't work in a traditional sense by going to an office nor do we have children, where I would be in situations where I have the chance to meet new people, so I need to be extra outgoing and make the opportunities to meet new people.

I think it's a lot harder to meet and make new friends at this age.  Most people either have their set of friends already well established or they have children and are deeply involved in their lives.  So, I have a plan and I hope it works!

Our apartment building has a gym in it so we don't have to join a gym but I might find a yoga, pilates or other exercise class that I want to take.  I also plan to sign up for a different sort of class - I haven't yet decided if it will be a creative writing class or an art class.  I love to write and took a creative writing class a few years ago, here in SF.  When I was in high school and college, I took a number of drawing and painting classes and loved them.  My options are wide open and I'm excited!

I'm ready to meet and create a group of new wonderful, women friends! I know that it will take time but I hope in the coming years, I'll be able to create a circle of friends who know each other as well as the girls from Sex and the City (maybe that dream is unrealistic?)!

Source

If you have moved to a new city, how did you make your new friends - outside of work and school?  Any tips you can share?

Free Ice Cream for a Cause

I won't be around to partake in San Francisco but I thought I'd pass the chance to have free ice cream along to my lovely friends and readers next week!

On Tuesday, Sept. 27th Cold Stone Creamery and the Make-A-Wish Foundation are inviting everyone to take part in the 10th Annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social. From 5-8 p.m., all Cold Stone locations will be giving away a FREE 3-ounce portion of the Sprinkled with Wishes Creation, Sweet Cream Ice Cream mixed with Brownie, Rainbow Sprinkles and Fudge. 

Source

When you get your free ice cream, make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a special place in my heart as it brings a lot of joy to the lives of young friends who are living with cancer and their families.

Additionally, throughout the entire month of September, every Cold Stone store nationwide will sell paper wish stars for $1 each to help raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

This is the 10th year Cold Stone Creamery has supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation and they have raised over $4 million to help change the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions. 

Everyone is encouraged to make a donation to ensure that the 10th annual ice cream social is the most successful yet.

Even though I will be road tripping up to our new home in Seattle, I'll try and find a Cold Stone Creamery and make my donation next Tuesday!

Hello from Seattle!

I really think that we're going to LOVE it here!

After a day and a half of house hunting (actually apartment/house/condo), I found us an apartment that I think is going to work out brilliantly.  It is in a great part of town a little north of downtown Seattle.  One of the biggest selling points is that we are able to sign a six month lease and the rent is incredible for a two-bedroom - while most of the other places I looked at were much nicer, it is really great to have a short-term lease.

I go tomorrow to sign the final paperwork and give our deposit, etc.

It's incredible here and I'm so excited about our move.

The one strange thing is the way the streets are in some neighborhoods with very few stop signs.  I think I need a driving manual for how to drive in Seattle.  Any driving tips?!

A Rattle in my Ring

A couple of weeks ago, I had my wedding and engagement rings cleaned at the jeweler where they were purchased.  They were also checked to make sure none of the diamonds were loose.

Last week, I noticed my engagement ring had a rattle to it. So I took it to the jeweler and got it fixed.  As a perk they cleaned it for me!  He said that it was a good thing that I came and got it fixed but not to worry because the center stone and the design is created so in order for the stone to fall out the entire ring would have to be broken.  Whew!  Knock-on-wood, I don't plan to break my ring.  But, I'm glad to have gotten it fixed!

Similar to but NOT my engagement ring (I think mine's more beautiful!) [Source]

I'm so glad that I noticed because I'd be so sad if I lost the stone.  My mom gave me a sapphire ring for my 30th birthday that I believe my dad gave to her on her birthday.  I had the ring sized and cleaned and about three weeks later when I was on the road for work (in Texas, I remember!), I sat down on the airplane, looked down and noticed that the center stone was missing.  I was devastated and cried.  I was so embarrassed.  I was sitting next to a sports reporter for the Washington Post and he was super nice to me about it but embarrassed nonetheless.  The stone was never found.  Fortunately, the ring was insured AND because it had just been "serviced" the sapphire was replaced at the expense of the jeweler who had sized and cleaned it.  I'm glad that it worked out but I was still so sad.

Have you ever lost any of your stones from any of your rings?

Up Early

I hate waking up before my alarm goes off and this morning was one of those times.  I woke up about an hour and a half before it was set to wake me up.  I'm going to blame it on my husband.  He woke up and it woke me up and because there is so much going on my mind almost immediately started to go.

We're moving to Seattle in 11 days.  Our house is a mess with boxes, packaging paper and bubble wrap strewn all over the place.  I'm trying to find homes for our plants - two of our three plants have found homes and someone is coming today to pick up our last, a Madagascar Dragon Tree that touches our ceiling.    I'm glad that they have new homes - homes where they will be taken care of well, I hope!

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I fly up to Seattle tomorrow to find a new home for us to move into for six months to a year while we choose which neighborhood where we want to put down our roots.  I have about one appointment an hour with a mix of both single family homes and large apartment buildings during the two and a half days that I'm in the Pacific Northwest.  I'm hopeful that I'll find a new home for us while I'm up there.  If not, we'll stick our things in Storage and then stay in even more temporary housing.

This is the second major move of my life - the first being when I moved to San Francisco from Washington, DC in August 2007.  The last time, I was moving because I needed a change in my life and because there was a boyfriend in my life who lived here.  This time, I'm moving for a life change but with the love of my life.  We're moving because it is ridiculously expensive here in San Francisco.  The cost of living difference in Seattle is about 30% less than SF - and there's no state income tax, which I'm super excited about for some reason.

Yes, it rains in Seattle.  It rains a lot.  But, it means that I get to buy a new pair of Hunter boots and a new rain jacket!  Rain has never stopped Mark and me from doing an activity outside though.  With so much to explore in Seattle and its surrounding areas, we are going to have a lot of adventures ahead of us.

We are very excited!

So, with much to do, I'm kind of glad that I'm up early!  I can get more done.

Happy day wishes to everyone!