"Oakland-ish"

I'm not sure where to start with this assignment. Oakland gets a pretty bad rap, especially since it ranks in the top 10 of most dangerous cities. However, we moved here by choice and I am so glad we did. It took me a little longer but I fell in love. I will say that it started pretty rocky though. As most know, two weeks in, my favorite Aunt passed away and our lives have been a little less sweet ever since. We miss her like crazy but I know this journey is once in a lifetime and she loved following along. Now, she just has a better view. Courtenay and I have been friends since college (that's 10 years, y'all) and we quickly learned that what we thought was city living, was nowhere near it. I'm used to everything being a 20 minute drive away. The Bay Area (Oakland/San Fransisco) laughed. We missed BARTS, took the wrong busses, and UBER'ed more times than I'd like to admit on just one rainy Saturday. We were dressed to kill and quickly realized just how much we stuck out. I might be most grateful that leggings and a puffy vest are the go to outfit, each and every single day of the week. I've collected even more leggings because of it, and I love every pair. It was tough at first; the city is crowded, people aren't nearly as friendly, and I second guessed our biggest move yet. I think Courtenay did too. It grew on me though. Once I braved walking to the BART alone. I learned it was far less traffic, less road rage, and less red lights than sitting in any car. (Because every time you do drive, you're fighting for your life with the defensive driving going on out here) Let us not forget, exit at the Powell Street BART station and you walk right into the mall. Really, how convenient is that? That's not all though. We might have eaten too many tacos, had too many glasses of wine (Napa, is by far, my favorite) and stayed up too late on our short getaway to Vegas, but I just wouldn't trade it for the world. In this great big city, I learned that maybe I could be a city girl, the organic/vegan life isn't for me (ha!), no one knows the SEC (and that's a shame), it's a melting pot for different cultures (but this southern accent can still make most do a double take mid conversation), and catching someone walking naked in the Castro is most definitely just your normal Saturday (right, Mom?) Courtenay and I have packed more in in the last 5 months that some spend a lifetime doing. We've seen the highs and lows that Northern California has to offer and I'm sure we still have worlds to see. As adults I don't think we expected to have to share a room with twin beds (the living expenses are crazy high) but we survived and it's one more thing we can check off of our ever growing bucket list that we get to live daily. Just to recap, we biked the Golden Gate, beached it in Carmel, brunched it A LOT, danced at the Painted Ladies, journeyed to Vegas (BRITNEY), wined it up in Napa, BART'd all over the city, hiked Muir Woods, cheered on the Giants and watched history in the making with Curry (Go Warriors). I know keeping up can be a little exhausting; altogether we both took 8 flights, had some sweet family visits, and somehow managed to squeeze work into all of it. Honestly, I wasn't sure I was going to fit in when I first started, but I know without a doubt I'll always have a home in that Cath lab. I promise to take my new found crossword puzzle love wherever I go. Thank you for taking me in and teaching me so much this big, crazy world has to offer. See ya soon, but these two Alabama girls are heading south. Southern California, we are coming for you.