La Bella Vita

The honeymoon period continues. Four months in and San Diego and I are still firmly in love. 

Sure we bicker about a few things.
Like parking. Or rather, the lack of it.
Or how expensive rent is. That's a sore point that comes up once a month.
Or...

Actually, I think that's about it. That sums up what I dislike about San Diego.  We used to fight about traffic but now that I work nights again it's not really a problem.

So, four months. Still in love with this vibrant city that is so large and feels so intimate.  We could not have picked a better location, living in North Park we can walk to the coffee shop that all our friends use, the restaurants that are in walking distance are so good we risk becoming obese, the beach is nine minutes away. There's a little market store on the end of my street, so running out of eggs or milk or ice cream is never an issue except for my waistline. We try to take the dogs to the dog beach once a week, where they snuffle in the sand, try to eat the waves and swim until their little doggie bodies collapse and they sleep for two days. I found a bookstore that was an old house previously, so all the sections are portioned off in different bedrooms and nooks and crannies and my little nerd heart reveals in the oddness of the store.  Our closet by the sea is small, but we've found we don't need much space. After living in Arizona it's remarkable to us that we've only turned on the air conditioning twice, that we just let the sea air breeze through our windows and at night we cuddle under blankets and dogs and enjoy the coolness. I started running last week, both in an effort to combat all the fabulous food we're eating and in hopes of tiring out my one and a half year old monster. I've been running in the morning after work, when the city is still sleeping or at least hiding behind it's coffee pot. Sometimes there is fog, which is my favorite time to run. I haven't experienced fog since Hawaii and I love the surreal tint it adds to the city.  And while I still loathe running, loathe it, I've found that the cute, odd little houses that dot the neighborhood make me temporarily forget my huffing and puffing.

That was a ridiculously long run on paragraph. But trying to explain my love for this place turns my brain to mush and sentences just come tumbling out of over each other. It's hard to write about with out sounding like I'm gushing. Suffice to say, I adore it here.

We adore it here.

The Ruger Dog enjoying the beach

 The stairs leading to more secret rooms filled with books at my new favorite bookstore