The holiday season across the country

Good afternoon from the coffee shop (things are a little slow here at the shop, so I have some time to write!):

Living across the country during the holiday season definitely makes me start to feel a little homesick. But, the new friends I have made out here are helping me feel more at home :) It will be so great to head home for Christmas to see everyone!! The first thing I want to do is play with my 2 pups- Riley and Jack. Then I'm hoping to see some Christmas lights and drink lots of "egg nog" with some friends from high school/college. I'm excited to see how the old college campus has changed over the past couple months and how the friends are dealing with college life- most of them only have a few more months til they graduate too!

What's new?...Still working here at the coffee shop and downtown twice a week at Ketchum PR. We had our holiday party for Ketchum last Thursday- they reserved the whole bar- open bar and free appetisers at a swanky bar called Sugar. I also met some colleagues that are a lot of fun!

My 22nd Birthday!:
First birthday away from family and friends at home, and it turned out just fine! For my birthday Spears took me to Muir woods- beautiful redwood trees! They gave us a tiny map at the entrance and let us loose to hike miles of their trails through the forest.

Sports:
Yeah Bucks! I love me some Buckeyes and I am so stoked about the game in January. O-H

The 49ers are not the best football team, but they're my home team now so I've been keeping up with them a bit.One of my favorite past times out here is watching football and having a drink at an Irish pub called Kells in the Financial district every Monday!

I will be home in Ohio Dec. 10-26. Hope to see you soon!
-Ashley

Wine and Coffee

Hi!

Just got my laptop back! I was laptop and internet-less for about 2 months. Best Buy Geek Squad isn't everything they're cracked up to be. It was quite a struggle getting a replacement computer.

Let's talk about wine- last Sunday Spears and I went with the OSU alumni club on a vineyard tour in Sonoma county. It was my first experience going wine tasting- it was amazing! There were acres upon acres of fields for the wineries. My favorite was called Trentadue winery. I found a port that I loved and bought myself a bottle. We visited four wineries and tasted all types of chardonnays, sirahs, zins....so many kinds. The alumni group was a great crowd, we had a lot of fun. I would love to go back sometime and visit more wineries. It was also really fun to hang with some Buckeyes!

I tell the customers about Columbus whenever I get the chance, they seemed pretty amazed when I tell them I came all the way from the mid-west. They say "oh wow! Isn't San Francisco a lot different than Ohio?!" haha

I'm out for now, a little worn out from the first day on my own at the coffee shop this afternoon.

Miss you Ohio friends! Let me know when you are coming out this way and I will show you the town :)

Who will have the Last Laugh?

Hello! No one in our house has had a computer for the past month...wasn't able to write here...or really function in general day-to-day life haha (we are so reliant on the internet "these days")

Today I walked around the corner and down one block to my new job! I asked the owner Bill if he needed help (they're trying to let another employee "go"). He said he wanted to hire me and I start training tomorrow...I'm finally employed...yay! The kicker: I've never worked at a coffee shop; don't know how to make mocha or a latte...I just drink them. Bill said it won't be too hard to pick up...we will see about that one. Either way- I'm pretty excited about having a bit of an income now. Hopefully the roommates won't think I'm as huge of a bum as they originally thought. haha

What this all means-- today is my last day of unemployment, my last day off, the end of my streak...
I'm still spending every day on craigslist looking for a full time job, but this will alleviate some of the spending (nights out on the town) worries. When they say, "finding a job is a full time job," they're not kidding. I've been on a few interviews on the past few weeks- getting a lot of practice! Nothing has panned out just yet.

The search continues

Hi!

Today I went on another interview, that makes 2 in 2 days. I'm really trying to find that exciting first job out here! The restaurant job didn't work out- so I'm still unemployed- but no worries, I feel like I'm going to come across something any day now! Craigslist.com and I have been very close over the past couple weeks; that's how I've been finding most of the jobs I'm applying for.

Today the interview I went on was way down in South Beach/SOMA, right by where the Giants play. I had to take a train all the way from where I am to the end of the line- was on a train this morning for about 40 min. The job would be with an internship with a marketing firm- sounds like it would get me great "exposure" (they called it) to the marketing/advertising world. They said I will know by next week- I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Enough about work....


Last Monday, Spears and I traveled to Monterey to see the town and visit the famous Monterey Aquarium! Monterey is a very quiet beachy town, with one main (touristy) strip called Cannery Row. The aquarium was amazing! So many different kinds of sea creatures, my favorite was the Ocean Sunfish. There were floor to ceiling aquariums 2 stories high, filled with plants and all kinds of sea life. I've never seen so many kinds of jelly fish! If you're ever in the area, you have to check this place out. It was about a 2 hour drive from San Francisco.


Yesterday, Thursday, we went to the opposite end of the city to the San Francisco Zoo. It was nice, right up there with the Columbus Zoo.

Thanks for reading again! Have a great weekend! As for me, I am continuing the job search and learning something new about this city every day....

Maps

Today I told myself I would use the Muni (public transportation) to get to Best Buy. It sounds like it should be an easy thing to do- but not for someone new to the city! In Columbus, there was one main bus- the 2. It went up and down High St. (as far as I was concerned). San Francisco has somewhere around 50 lines- and that's just the busses. There are 5 more metro (train) systems.

I used a Web site that allows you to enter your starting location and destination, then gives you the best bus line to travel on. Finding the bus stop was another story, in an area that I've only passed through in a car- it was tough to find a single pole with a yellow strip painted on it that said "bus line 12" on it. After asking bus drivers that happened to stop by, I found the right bus.

Maps.google.com is the reason I cannot read maps so well, What? They make paper maps? No! This trip forced me to brush up on my navigation skills. I had the quick notes I jotted down about what bus line/cross-streets to look for and a small pocket map that my friends from home gave me. (Megan and Kerrie- I use the map every day- thanks!) Other than that- I was on my own.

I finally reached Best Buy but.... Ah no! didn't write the directions for how to get back before I left...

After I left the store, long story short-- walking back and forth between streets that sounded familiar with a confused look on my face with a map in one hand...After wondering around a bit, I found the 12 that I took on the way down! As I looked at the map provided at the bus station- it began to make sense...I recognized street names. I was so happy to be able to recognize streets...quite an accomplishment...I felt like I was beginning to own my new city a bit, I really live here!

I made it back to the house, in one piece. A little stressed, but more happy to have survived the experience which gave me more confidence that I can find my way around this place!





Grocery shopping was next on the to-do list. I have to keep myself busy with all this time on my hands while in the process of job searching. A new store, new food isles, more people in one place than at Giant Eagle in Columbus. One thing that hasn't changed- I still eat like a college student- cereal, some candy, PB&J...

After signing up for the frequent buyer card (Safeway is the main grocery store within walking distance), I remembered a minor detail- I didn't drive and had a lot of heavy stuff. I am so used to just throwing everything into the trunk, not this trip. I got outside and laughed a little bit at what this is going to look like- walking 2 blocks with heavy plastic grocery bags piled up on each arm. I had 4-5 bags hanging from each arm- on one side laundry detergent and a liter of diet Pepsi on the other, a gallon of milk. Welcome to city life.

I'm beginning to understand what being "grown up" is about- facing challenges and finding your own way of working it out. I'm loving every minute of it!

Hope you are enjoying football season at home- best time of the year I say! Hope you're doing well- stay tuned. :)

First week in San Francisco

Hi!

This is my first blog...ever! I want to keep you all (fam and friends) updated on what's going on after the cross-county move from Columbus, Ohio to San Francisco, California. Right now, I am sitting at my favorite coffee spot in the area- Last Laugh Cafe on Dolores and Valley- just a few blocks from where I live now. I thought the name of this blog was kinda funny- the neighborhood I'm living in is called the Mission- so I thought the name for this blog just fit.

I got here Saturday, the 8th, and since then my new roommate Spears and I have traveled around and outside the city, to see the sights and learn more about this amazing slice of California. On Monday, we went to Point Reyes- about a hour drive from here- it is beach that is secluded from everything. It is part of a national seashore, nothing and no one for miles- the only thing you can hear is waves and the ocean goes on as far as you can see. We spent the day there with drinks, sandwiches and a game we made up with beer tabs and plastic cups- resembling OSU's favorite pass time- corn hole! So Relaxing.

Since then we have also walked through a few of San Francisco's beautiful gardens/parks, exploring the public transportation (the Muni and the busses)- not something I'm used to dealing with but I think I'm getting a hang of it, checking out all the extremely different neighborhoods (from the Mission to the Haight/Ashbury district) and last night we went downtown to a jazz club called the Jazz Bistro, close to Union Square.

You'll have to bear with me- I'm learning the names of districts and places as I go.

In closing, this move has taken me away from everything that was familiar and set me in a whole environment with endless possibilities- I feel this is a very valuable experience. So this is what happens when you graduate college and move into the real world!

Have to go... start my first night at Range Restaurant tonight in a couple hours! Will work there until I find a way to use that OSU degree somehow haha

Thanks for reading- hope you're doing well :)