Tony Bennett claims that he left his heart in San Francisco. Tony Bennett hasn’t tried looking for an apartment in the city.
I’ve known for a few months now that I’d be moving out of my apartment in Mountain View once my lease ended, mostly because my rent is way too high. Since then, I’ve searched online for similar places in Mountain View and Sunnyvale but haven’t seen anything that excited me. Part of the problem is that I currently live in the nicest apartment community in Mountain View – I have a brand new apartment with all of the amenities that I want in the best location in town. Any other place that I rent in Mountain View or Sunnyvale may be cheaper, but will certainly be a worse situation. I will likely lose some amenities and the ability to walk to nearby restaurants and shops. But then again, I could live across from Sun Microsystems AND be greeted by creepy human-sized dolls.
Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t really given living in the city much thought. I assumed it would be way more expensive than living in the South Bay and memories of my 1.5 hour commute from Huntington Beach to El Segundo on the 405 discouraged me from making the SF-Mountain View commute. That was all up until a couple of weeks ago when I visited my sister in Boston. Watching my sister look for parking every night and then attempt to pull a Meadow Soprano parallel parking job didn’t get me excited about living in the city but feeling like we were always in the heart of everything did. During that week in Boston, I had an epiphany that aside from work, I didn’t have anything tying me to Mountain View. I don’t have any more friends in Mountain View than I do in the city and whenever anything happens, it always seems to happen in the city. I’ve walked up and down Castro and there are only so many times I can giggle when passing the sexy cowboy fabric, look at useless crap I’d never buy at Therapy, or make fun of the pretentiousness that is the Buddha Lounge.
Even though I love my ten minute commute, I’m bored of Mountain View. I have no idea where I’ll be five years from now or if I’ll still be in the Bay Area. All I know is that I’m here now and I don’t want to look back at this time in my life and regret not living in San Francisco. I figure I can give it a try for a year and if I hate it or if the commute becomes intolerable, I can always move back to the South Bay.
I’ve been actively looking for places in the city for the past couple of weeks. My lease in Mountain View runs out mid August so I’ve still got a couple of weeks before I can officially panic. So far, I’ve seen seven places in Nob Hill, SOMA, the Mission, and Noe Valley. I’ve seen plenty of scary places, like the place pictured above with the lime green bedroom that only a psychotic would love (this place also featured a poop-brown fireplace AND a view of a sketchy car dealership, SWEET). But I’ve also seen places with awesome views, nifty crown moulding, and brand new kitchens and baths. I’ve even faxed in an application for this place but I doubt they’ll hold it for me until August so my search still continues. The whole process has been both exciting and frustrating. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I find that perfect place and that this will be my last move for a few years. Counting the apartment I had in Huntington Beach two summers ago and the corporate housing apartment I had in San Jose for about a month last summer, the yet unfound apartment will be my sixth since August 2004.
 I’m sick of moving.
In the Bay Area, people seem to mistake me for being Persian. Today, I got asked not once but TWICE if I was Persian. I don’t get it. I don’t think I look Persian. When I think of Persian women, I think of Bahar Soomekh, not me. My name isn’t especially Persian — uber Middle Eastern – yes, Persian – no. Maybe it’s because there is a huge Persian community in the Bay Area, people just assume from my name that I’ve got to be Persian? And both people who inquired today were Iranian (one was Persian and another was Assyrian, which apparently isn’t Persian and until today I didn’t even know existed) so they should know better!
Arabs, on the other hand, usually don’t think I’m Arab. I suppose I’m ethnically ambiguous.
10.) baby names
09.) your mortgage
08.) your rent
07.) your commute
06.) how you can’t imagine living anywhere else other than the City
05.) an extremely detailed description of your highly-technical job
04.) baby names
03.) your mortgage
02.) how could anyone live in the South Bay?
01.) why haven’t I thought about moving to the City?
It’s been such a beautiful weekend – nice, warm (with a nice cool breeze), and sunny! I finally found some patio furniture for my balcony (thanks Target!) so I’m typing this from the balcony (yay for wifi).  Mulder is somewhat freaked out yet overjoyed by this new use of our outside space (my brother refers to my parents’ closed-in patio as “mini-freedom,” being that it is the only outside space OJ gets to frequent).  Mulder has been so excited by being outside that he almost accidently committed suicide. He jumped up on the ledge of the balcony and then stuck his head out through the railing. I was so scared that he’d jump from the third floor to the concrete courtyard below. I managed to calmly (well, as calmly as I could given that I thought he was going to jump and break every little bone in his body) order him to come back. He somehow stuck his head back in and ran inside. I think the incident has sort of freaked him out. He isn’t venturing very much further from the doorway right now.
I suppose it’s a pretty sure sign that your life/blog is pretty boring when the only things you are prompted to blog about are the weather, patio furniture, and your cat. But hey it’s an update, right?
As promised here are the details for the art exhibit that I’ll be participating in this weekend:
What: Notions of Expression: the artwork of the young Arab American
When: Saturday, February 10, 2007, 2 – 6 p.m.
Where: Cafe Abir Roasting Company, 256 Dore, SF (between Bryant & Harrison St. and 9th & 10th St.)
FREE!
If you’re going to be in SF this weekend, please consider dropping by and saying hi. I’ll be there for five hours, I could totally use the entertainment! ;)
Tonight is my last night in my corporate housing apartment in San Jose. I got the keys to my new apartment in Mountain View on Saturday and my furniture will come in tomorrow. As nice as it has been living in corporate housing (I’m going to miss the free bi-weekly housekeeping), I’m super excited about finally getting to live in my own place. It’ll be nice to have a short commute to work and to actually live somewhere that is close to everything that I need.
And as much fun as I’ve had making fun of the name of the complex, it will be nice to live somewhere that doesn’t sound as foreboding as The Enclave. Seriously, who named this place? It’s a nice complex but why would you want to emphasize to your future residents that they’re going to be enclosed?
I just changed my cell phone (my only phone since I don’t believe in land lines anymore) number to a 650 number. I think I emailed everyone I know on the planet but in case I missed you, email me or leave a comment.
OK, I don’t but I couldn’t resist the Dido reference.
I went to Monterey today. I walked all over the boardwalk and pier, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a fun Sunday, although I was a bit disappointed by the aquarium. I think there were way too many people (and kids) there. And it was smaller than I was anticipating. The jellyfish were pretty cool, though.
Today’s adventures in the Bay Area included:
- Finding a disappointing Arabic grocery store in Santa Clara. I was able to get some pita bread and labneh, but I really missed the cleanliness, orderliness, and expansive selection of Aladdin Markets in Ann Arbor.
- Driving to Sausalito on the 280. It’s official. The 280 is my favorite freeway in the Bay Area. While heading northbound, there are a couple of scenic vistas along the way, where I stopped and took some photos. 280 is so so scenic. Nothing I could say could really describe just how awesome it is.
- Driving Natalie the Jetta across the Golden Gate Bridge! Sure, I’ve been there before but it was fun driving across it in my own car. I also stopped along the way and took photos of it.
- Getting to Sausalito just before sunset.
If I can get my act together tomorrow, I’m hoping to go to Monterey (yes, I want to see the jellyfish).
Today, I visited Stanford. I had heard that the campus was beautiful but I really didn’t think it would be THAT awesome. I figured I’d be the only one with a camera but I was surprised to see so many tourists. It was an odd sight to see on a college campus.
You can view the entire set here.
