They're here! - Part 2

As you may recall, our furniture ended up coming in 2 shipments, 2 weeks apart.  Well, the second shipment arrived today (is arriving as we speak!) and we could not be happier. Originally we thought we wouldn't get it until we returned from our Thanksgiving travels and we were soooo bummed, but Shane called the driver and told him our situation and he somehow worked his magic and we got it early! Woo hooo!

This truck includes half of the stuff from our condo and ALL of the stuff from my house, which we packed up way back in June and kept in a storage unit.  I'm getting a little nervous about the condition of the stuff from my house since we packed it all ourselves (i.e. with recycled boxes and very little bubble wrap), but we're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best!  I'm just excited to have the rest of my clothes since almost all of my sweaters, jackets and boots were on this truck! 

Anyways, they're unloading us right now and good lord do we have a ton of stuff! We're going to be Craigslisting furniture like crazy until we get down to what will actually appropriately furnish our home. Have I mentioned how not fun moving is??

A few photos to lighten the mood...

Archie being counterproductive

"Hey us, this box is poorly packed and has awesome pasta bowls in it."

In response to me writing "Fragile" :
"Not fragile tho cuz I packed it really awesomely  -Shane"

Womp Womp...

As photo-documented in the last post, our furniture arrived on Wednesday.... sort of.  Unfortunately, the Bekins man who estimated the tonnage of our furniture underestimated and the stuff from our condo wouldn't all fit, much less ANY of the furniture and boxes from my storage unit.  So fine, we rolled with the punches and they picked up the remaining stuff in a second truck a day or so later.  Well, we were under the impression that we would receive ALL shipments in the 3-day window promised to us, but alas, our second shipment won't come for THREE MORE WEEKS (they quoted us 2 weeks but that's Thanksgiving and we'll be out of town). Are you freaking kidding me?? What a big, fat disappointment. So for now we're trying to make-do with the random assortment of things we received. We received the couch but not the coffee table, the bed but not the bedside tables, the TV but not the TV stand, Patio furniture cushions but no patio furniture, DVDs but  no DVD player.... etc, etc.

Also, the neighbors that live below us are terrible. Just plain awful. And noisy. And rude. And disrespectful.  And they smoke in their unit and it comes up through our vents. More on them later. Or not.

Also, San Francisco highways are super stressful and confusing to navigate. Why don't they put exit numbers on any of the exits?!

Quick! Make a list of things we like about California before we enter full-blown pity-party mode:
1. Living just across the bay from an old friend, Kennedy, and her darling husband Dan who are having us over for dinner tonight!
2. The promise of great restaurants and exciting things to do (though truth be told we have done little to no exploring/adventuring... yet) 
3. Scarf and boot weather (we rarely if ever got this in Florida)
4. The gorgeous views of the city at all times -- it's just so cool to see houses up the mountains. And it's really pretty at night when all you see are the twinkly lights.

They're here!

I CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE FURNITURE!!!

Roadtrip Catchup - Part II

Since my previous roadtrip catchup was written pre-engagement I'd like to modify the Day 5 summary and add our last 2 days...

Day 5: Albuquerque to Kingman, AZ (via Grand Canyon)
We got an early start since the drive is a far one and we wanted to arrive in time to see the Grand Canyon in daylight.  Grand Canyon was stunningly beautiful (yet pales in comparison to my bling). Upon our departure from the Grand Canyon, it began raining and since we were at such a high altitude (8,000 ft) the rain quickly became hail, and then eventually snow. Dislike. We had fun making up theoretical newspaper headlines about the Idiot Florida couple reported missing after driving rear-wheel drive, SnowTire-less vehicle down snow-covered mountain, but in all seriousness it was not cool. Luckily we made it safely back to Flagstaff, and since the storm looked like it would be hitting that city moreso than cities further west, we trucked on to Kingman, AZ and stayed the night at a Marriott.
Highlight: Waking up to the news that Rachael went into labor and HELLO, I'M ENGAGED!!!!! (November 4th was an AMAZING day for the Harter family).
Lowlight: Dust storm and hail storm and snow storm.

Day 6: Kingman, AZ to Salinas, CA
Long long long drive. So very long. However, the gorgeous mountainous scenery definitely made it better. California is a beautiful state and we are so glad to finally be here!!!
Highlight: Staring at my bling the entire drive :-)
Lowlight: Hotel troubles. The Quality Inn that we booked had zero parking so we had to call and fight with Priceline for a refund. Ugh.

Day 7: Salinas, CA to Daly City, CA
Luckily it was a short drive, but we were making phone calls during most of it to try to find a boarding facility for Archie for the night (we wanted some peace & quiet for our first night in our new home). We finally found one that would take him without his vaccine documentation (it's all on the freakin moving truck!) and was highly rated on Yelp. Then, we got the keys from our landlord, went to the grocery store to stock our fridge, and fiiiiiiiiiinally came home to relax with Mad Men and a bottle of wine. Ahhhhhh....
Highlight: Finally arriving!
Lowlight: Stressful San Francisco traffic :-/

I can't believe we're finally here!!!

Roadtrip Faces

Roadtrip Catchup

We've been on the road now for 5 days! We've been so busy driving and visiting with family and friends that we haven't taken the time to blog so I'll catch you up now...

Day 1: Sarasota to Tampa
Didn't leave Sarasota until 8:30 after fussing with the movers all day. SUCH A LONG DAY, but at least we only had to drive 1 hour that night to Uncle Jim & Aunt Debbie's house.
Highlight: Visiting with Jim & Debbie
Lowlight: Saying goodbye to Sarasota and ESPECIALLY to Jim & Debbie :-( We both really hate that we're moving somewhere where NONE of our family is nearby.

Day 2: Tampa to Gulfport
Left around 10:30, arrived around 7:30 (time change was in our favor). Very sad to say goodbye to Mom and Dad and hating that I'll be so far away from them, but I think they'll like visiting us in San Francisco :-)
Highlight: Seeing my parents interact with Archie. I think they secretly love dogs.
Lowlight: Driving in separate cars for 9 hours (we left my car at my parent's house since we'll only need 1 in San Fran).

Day 3: Gulfport to Dallas
10 hours driving (including multiple potty break stops for Archie), but at least we were in the same car. Upon our arrival in Dallas, we were welcomed into the lovely new home of one of my BFFS, Nancy. She was a delightful hostess.
Highlight: Driving in the same car!
Lowlight: Not getting to spend more time with Nancy -- we got in pretty late :-(

Day 4: Dallas to Albuquerque
This was the most grueling drive day to date. Didn't get in until about 10:30 but had a lovely visit with Shane's sister Rachael and her husband Mark.
Highlight:  Roadtrip food -- Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits for breakfast and Dairy Queen ice cream for a late night snack
Lowlight: HORRIFIC Dallas traffic trying to get out of town

Day 5: Albuquerque to Grand Canyon
We got an early start today since the drive is a far one and we want to arrive in time to see the Grand Canyon in daylight.  We're on the road as we speak, truckin along...
Highlight: Waking up to the news that Rachael went into labor!
Lowlight: Dust storms (super windy, shakes the car) and tumbleweeds (charming at first, but we keep having to dodge them and one just got stuck in our grill)!

More blog posts to come...

We are living in a technological world...

...and I'm a technological girl!

Shane and I can't stand to be without internet (funny, considering neither of us had smart phones until maybe 6 months ago).  Anyways, his phone rules and he can turn it into a mobile wifi hotspot so I have internet on my laptop! That's right, I am blogging whilst driving through the Arizona desert. Outside of my window I see desert, mountains, and tumbleweeds. WINNING.

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!

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

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!