So long, Sarasota!

Tonight is our very last night in our condo and, for all intents and purposes, today was our last real day (since tomorrow will be spent coordinating the move and then driving to Tampa).  We spent the day tying up loose ends and preparing for the movers to come tomorrow, and also spent the afternoon at the beach.  We're both really sad to say goodbye to Siesta Key (voted Best Beach in America 2011 by Dr. Beach, and also highly rated by the Travel Channel) -- it's been really cool to live where other people vacation, but that's also true of San Francisco so we're really no worse off.  We'll definitely come back to vacation in a few years and we have nothing but glowing things to say about this city.  Until we meet again, Sarasota...

Siesta Key

Our route from Florida to California, as illustrated by Shane



We definitely didn't take this of ourselves with the self-timer camera setting...




Beware of Craigslist

Another task on our infinite to-do list is to find someone who will clean our house after the movers take our stuff (come hell or high water, we're getting that deposit back!).  We would do it ourselves, but all of our cleaning stuff is boxed! Anyways, I came across two craigslist posts of interest:

cleaning by male in the buff!

nude cleaning girl


Who are these people?!


Countdown to the big move: 2 days!

It's packing day!

Boxes!

More boxes!

Oh God we have so much stuff

This isn't even all of the boxes in the condo, AND this doesn't include my enormous storage unit filled with even more stuff...


Countdown to the big move: 3 days!

Things I'll miss about my job

So yesterday was my last day in the Tampa office and although I'm keeping this position and working remotely, it still feels like the end.  The day was really nice -- everyone said how much they'll miss me and have enjoyed having me around and my boss took me out to lunch (sushi!).

As much as I've hated the 1 hour 15 minute commute everyday (2.5 hours roundtrip!), I am going to miss it a little. I have compiled a list of the things I will miss, as I say farewell to the Tampa office...

1. Howard Frankland Bridge

• Gorgeous view of the water
• On a good day you may find yourself driving with a pelican flying alongside which is super cool 

2. Free lunch

• Since it's a major regional office, they host a lot of employee trainings here and they always order enough food for the office staff to eat too

3. Coworker Deb

• Made me delicious ceviche on more than one occasion

• Left random treats on my desk for no reason

Easter egg!

I named him Fred

• Owns an adorable basset hound named Merlin and regularly sends me photos of him
• Made me a carrot cake for my last day in the office :-)

4. My boss (although he worked remotely at least 80% of the time so it's not like I saw him all that much in the office)

• Adores me and regularly tells me how awesome I am at my job
• Asked for our new address so he can send us a housewarming present. HE IS SO NICE!

Things I've accomplished today

1. Mail forwarding
   - Our mail will be forwarded beginning this Saturday, October 29th.  If you'd like our forwarding address, please email :-)
2. Dropped the price on our craigslisted couch, and craigslisted a second couch that we forgot we were getting rid of
   - Seriously, what is wrong with us that we have two excess couches?!
3. More sorting through things/getting rid of things
   - Cleaning out junk drawers, etc.
4. Farewell dinner with Lauren O
   - Got a little teary-eyed leaving the parking lot, but hopefully she'll come visit :-)
5.  Farewell dinner with Square1 Burgers
   - Very important. Obviously.
6. Faxed in our signed lease
   - This just got REAL

Countdown to the big move: 5 days!

The Daly City Crime Bulletin

Amidst the house-hunting and then lease-signing process, I decided I should be better informed about the area.  One of our biggest concerns in finding our new residence was obviously safety.  At some time during my research, I became subscribed to the Daly City Crime Bulletin.  A few excertps...

Celia’s Restaurant parking lot—bag with a trumpet, flute and clarinet taken from a 2005 Ford Ranger. Occurred between 6:00 PM and 6:45 PM on 10-20-11.

Serramonte Shopping Center (north lot)—bag containing three bowling balls taken from a 2006 Honda Accord. Occurred between 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM on 10-22-11.

I think we'll be fine....

Countdown to the big move: 6 days!

Star Thai Tuesday

Star Thai Tuesday is a grand old tradition that began years ago during our employments at a company not-to-be-named.  At said company, working 10+hours in a day was rewarded by free dinner delivered from a list of various local options.  The Star: Thai and Sushi Restaurant was one such option, among other greats including Tandoor (a close second for best Indian in Sarasota) and Baja Iguana (RIP).  Anyways, the duty of choosing the evening's restauarant rotated among the department and every Tuesday, without fail, Taylor chose Star Thai.  The rest is history...

Pictured above:
Shane's plate -- gyoza, chicken teriyaki with veggies, white rice, and a vodka with lemonade
Taylor's plate -- gyoza, miso soup, white rice, spicy tuna roll (sushi), and a dirty martini

I'm sure many of you wonder how we could eat the same meal (yes, the EXACT same meal) once a week, every week, without getting sick of it.  The answer, my friends, is gyoza.
Gyoza (gee-OH-zah): A Japanese crescent-shaped dumpling filled with a minced stuffing and steamed, boiled or fried; the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese "pot sticker."
There is no way to describe the deliciousness of the Star Thai gyoza.  You just have to taste for yourself, but it WILL change your life. So be prepared.

You might also wonder why literally everything we get from Star Thai is Japanese and not Thai, but just go with it...

And so ends our last Star Thai Tuesday (held this week on Monday due to scheduling challenges), and so begins our San Franciscan hunt for the best gyoza!

Countdown to the big move: 7 days!

We got the house!

We did it! We really did it! We got the house we wanted! It's a beautiful BRAND NEW (read: never been lived in) 3-bedroom house in Daly City, which is basically a suburb of San Francisco proper.  All wood floors, granite kitchen countertops, and all new stainless-steel appliances. We'll have WAY more to say about it once we actually move in, but here's just a few teaser photos to leave you wanting more...

Kitchen

Living room, dining room (and balcony just out that door!)

More living room + hallway

Bedroom

What I'll miss most... A guest post by Archie Harter

1. Walkin'

2. Smellin'

3. Explorin'

  I can't believe we're movin' in 8 days!

The To-Do List

1. Find a moving company
• Luckily, Shane and I were proactive enough to begin this process last week getting estimates from various moving companies.  We got 3 quotes, all were around the same price, but Bekins was the company that really stood out to us and seemed the most professional and reliable.  
2. Pack up the house
• Because Shane is such a bad@$$, Formspring is paying for his relocation with enough money for a team to come in and pack us! Can you say blessing? This allows us both to continue working (i.e. earning money) right up until moving day, thereby keeping a steady flow of income. 
3.  Find Taylor a San Francisco job 
• Because Taylor is such a bad@$$, her boss is allowing her to stay on and work remotely through the end of the year, at which time she has the option to transfer to the west division.  This is amazing for a number of reasons: a) I'll keep a steady flow of income, with no lag time between end of old job and beginning of new job, b) no stress of trying to hurry and get settled in a new home while simultaneously getting settled in a new work environment, c) I'm able to fulfill my committments to my company so they're not left high and dry, d) my resume will show a tenure of 10 months instead of 8 months, which looks a little better to potential employers, and most importantly e) I get to work 100% from home, which means working in my jammies!! Woo hoooo!
4. Find a house
• Oh Lord what a stressor this is!  How do you find housing in a city you've only visited once without actually seeing it before signing the lease??!?!  There's so much to consider: how safe is the neighborhood? is the house as cute/clean/big as it appears in pictures? We have 1 pretty good prospect on the table in Daly City (just southwest of San Francisco proper), but nothing is settled or signed yet. We'll keep you posted :-)
5. Get rid of the stuff we're not moving
• So far this includes old clothes and other miscellaneous items around the house, excess non-perishables in the pantry, 1 large couch, 1 king mattress and mayyyyyyybe Taylor's car.  We're all over Craigslist and have made a few trips to the Foodbank and Goodwill. How in the world did two twenty-somethings acquire this much unneeded stuff???
6. Say goodbye to Florida friends and family
• So very sad to say goodbye, but everyone has been really excited for us and really supportive so far. We have a few lunch and dinner dates planned with friends, and we're planning to crash at Shane's uncle Jim & Aunt Debbie's house for the night after the movers take all of our stuff.
7. Say goodbye to Sarasota
• This basically includes saying goodbye to our favorite restaurants.  We have dinner reservations on Saturday at Euphemia Haye (the site of Shane & Taylor's first real date), at least 2 more take-out meals planned from Star Thai (Star Thai Tuesday has become a tradition in our home), and hopefully 1 more meal from Gateway to India (Sarasota's finest Indian restaurant, in our opinion).  Other honorable mentions that we'll try to fit in but there's only so much time and damn eating out is expensive!: First Watch (we ate here every Sunday for breakfast for at least 3 months before we realized that their belgian waffle was making us both fat), Main Bar (their jalapeno dressing and gazpacho soup will change your life), our favorite McDonalds (don't judge us -- somehow their fries are ALWAYS hot), Red Elephant (so many memories, I don't even know where to begin), and believe me the list goes on and on...

I'm sure there's way more on our list that I'm forgetting, but that's more than enough to overwhelm us right now!!

Countdown to the big move: 11 days!

The first day of the rest of our lives...

Today it finally happened: the job offer we've been waiting for since... well... basically a year ago when we first started fantasizing about life on the west coast.

In case you haven't heard, Shane has accepted the position of Software Engineer at a social networking startup called Formspring.  I highly recommend you check it out. ;-)

As you can imagine, we have a TON on our to-do list, so I'll keep this brief, but we're excited about sharing this adventure with you!

Countdown to the big move: 12 days!