Our Apartment!

Here is our new digs. I am afraid the pictures don't really make sense and don't give a good feel for the place but I tried my best.

Our place is lovely and BIG (by San Francisco studio standards). It was built in the 1920's and has charm and cuteness galore with things like exposed pipes and chandeliers. It does have its quarks-- for instance, the sink and the toilet are so close together you could pee and brush your teeth at the same time. I do not know this from experience, fyi, that would be gross.

We still have a lot left to do (put stuff on the walls {But WHAT?! Total delimma for me.}, buy a dresser, get plants and cute knick knacks, etc. etc.) but it is starting to feel like home!

So, here's the virtual tour. By the way, I love it when people tell you where they bought stuff so I am going to do that too. Don't judge.

This is the view from the front door. As it is a studio, you are looking at both our bedroom and our living room. We separated the space with a partition which gives us the semblance of privacy when we have guests. Works pretty well, actually. That bike on the right is there until we buy a bike lock for it, then it goes outside.

Necklace Stand: Urban Outfitters, Bedding: Macys, Lamp: Target

You're looking at our bedroom, walk- in closet (the door with the mirror on it) and our front door. All those boxes on the wall on the right are storage and fuse boxes. The small gold box on the wall is an old fashioned phone from the 20s. 

Wicker Basket: TJ Maxx, Bookshelf: bought unfinished at Talisa's Furniture in Provo and painted by me, Large Clock: Target, Book Lamp Shade: Bijox Market, Side Table: Ikea, Curtains: sewn by me, Arm Chair and Couch: Macys, Rug: overstock.com

 

A 280 degree view of our living room. I hope it makes sense. Clockwise from top left: Stanley's area and the gold thing is our radiator; the TV armoire/ bookshelf area; widow/arm chair section; couches.

"Culinary Tools" Poster: A gift from Mckenzie from here, Curtains: me, Love Birds Towels: Anthropologie, Owl Spoon Holder: Pier 1; Best Bites Cookbook: gift from Louise, Table: bought unfinished at Talisa's Furniture in Provo and stained by Andrew and me,  Chairs: Ikea, Placemats: Target, Dishes: Anthropologie

Kitchen, clockwise from top right: view from the doorway; left side kitchen counters; right side kitchen counters; dinner table. Lots of white but lots of counter space and cupboards!

Towels: Walmart and Target, Floor Mats: Target, Diffuser: Anthropologie, Shower Curtain: Target, Mirrors: Target

And our bathroom. You can't tell from this picture but the sink is literally on top of the toilet which makes it hard to sit down.Definitely threw us when we first moved in.

Two months in (time flies!) and we love it and are so glad to be here. We feel like the apartment is huge and especially like how the kitchen and bathroom are completely separate from the bedroom/living room--rare for a studio.

The concludes today's tour... I hope it wasn't boring.

Authentic Restaurant Style Salsa

So there are some major perks of being jobless in San Francisco. Obviously there is one major downfall and that is the lack of income, but other than that rather large factor, unemployment affords a lot of enjoyment. 

For example, it turns out that if you are a SF resident, the first Wednesday of every month you get to go to the zoo for free. Which I did yesterday with some new friends from Church. And a lot of other stuff is free to residents like the gardens in Golden Gate Park, certain museums on certain days, and there is always lots of interesting street or gorgeous scenery to take in.

So, while I will be thrilled to get a PR job again I am really enjoying myself right now (well I'm enjoying the times in between short bouts of panic attacks that I'll be unemployed forever).



Like today I decided to dust off the old blog and actually post about food. So I went to some local Asian markets and got a KILLER deal on all the produce I needed to make this salsa. The recipe is from my dad's former secretary who was from Mexico. I adored her growing up and thought that her calling me "mi hija" was a special nickname just for me and then was crushed when I realized she said that to all little girls.

She always brought chips and salsa to work and I would always chow down and even at seven years old I begged her to give my mom the recipe so she could make it. And so I spent part of today making this salsa and sitting at the kitchen table with Andrew dipping chips right into the serving bowl, scarfing it down.

Authentic Restaurant Style Salsa

Combine the following in a bowl:

• 1-2 jalapeno peppers (depends on how much spice you like), chopped
• 3 small green onions, chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• ½ bunch cilantro, cut off stems,  chopped
• 1 can tomato sauce
• ¼- ½ cup water (depends on how thick you want your salsa. Omit for optimal thickness.)
• Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste

Put in the fridge and let the flavors blend together for about an hour (if you can wait). Keep refrigerated. Makes about 3 pints or enough to serve 8.

Stanley

 

It is time for me to come clean. The guilt. The lies. The anxiety. They all end here. I have a confession: on June 9, 2012, Andrew and I drove to Denver, Colorado and picked up our first dog, Stanley. We then secretly kept Stanley in our "NO DOGS ALLOWED" apartment for roughly 2 months until we moved to San Francisco.

Let me begin with the back story.

Two years ago for my birthday Andrew got me a book on Westies. We read it cover to cover and then, during church we got a little bored and started passing notes on what we should name our future dog. Killer, Snowball, Meatball, Fuzzball, Peanut... we were joking around and then I wrote down Stanley and the heavens parted, angels descended, and the name was confirmed.

Well once we had the name we started looking for dog friendly apartments in Provo. They don't exist. So we waited. A year later Andrew finished school, he was home all day studying for the CPA which gave him time to train our dream dog, so we started looking again.

Then we found Stanley, bought him, and smuggled him in and out of our apartment for 2 months to take him on twice daily walks and vet visits. Luckily Stanley does not bark (seriously) so it was really easy to get him in and out of the apartment with the help of my Puma weekend bag.

Now before you feel like this is animal cruelty, let me just state that I always threw treats in there for him and to this day if I put that bag on the floor Stanley runs and jumps in. I think he thinks it is a magic transport machine that takes him to fun places. We also may have used a microwave box sometimes too just to mix it up.

Yes, we are skilled in the art of deception.

And now he lives happily ever after (and fully approved by our landlord) in our studio apartment.

The end.