Closing Day!

fancy fobs in search of keys.. soon! (Today's the day..watch this space)

Of homes and blogs.. and Berkeley.

We've been officially house hunting since late January. We were looking in Emeryville (there's no homes for sale in Emeryville for our price range), all over Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond Annex, and Berkeley. We came close to finding a place on San Pablo a couple times (in North Oakland and Albany respectively), as well a lovely condo in Temescal. We even saw a most amazing craftsman beyond Eastmont (that's in Oakland) with original 'keyhole' archways and built-ins that I fell in love with, but the neighborhood and commute was something I'd rather not think about.. but my mind always turns to Berkeley.

When we originally lived in Berkeley I used to imagine my happiness as a "big" house in North Berkeley, with a well-worn & loved porch to read the paper on Sundays, drinking coffee and nibbling a day old bagel from Saul's, relaxing with my shoes off (because that's what I do) and hearing the birds singing in the trees and the occasional car driving up the street. Then we moved to SoCal and while I absolutely LOVED living in the Historic Core (4th & Main DTLA) and everything that I had there, it wasn't Berkeley.

I can't tell you what I love about Berkeley. I can tell you what I tried to verbalize with my brother-in-law once a few years ago before we came back home, but even then I couldn't say what it was I loved about Berkeley. It was a feeling. A sense of being..

When I got off work I would stand outside on Shattuck and I feel the fog misting through the air. It wasn't Ketchikan rain, it was like someone was spraying your face from 10 miles away with some sort of Evian mist.. It was cool and clean and fresh.. and the wind would come up and blow the hair from your face. When the sun shone, it glittered like firelight off the buildings and glass. When the leaves fell, it was like Autumn in Indiana.. one of the few things I miss about living in Indiana. The sidewalks outside our apartment on Grant would be scattered with pine needles and and leaves and the crunch of Fall. I lived in my sandals. If I wore shoes at all it would be my worn out (hole worn in the soles) docksiders. Sweaters. You have to love a place where you can wear sweaters in the summer. I love sweaters.. It's like you're wearing a hug all day. I guess that's what I feel about Berkeley.. and still do. Some un-imaginable happiness is wrapping itself around my heart, it greets me when I step closer to downtown, and stays with me, like a fading light as I make my way back to Oakland.

Don't get me wrong, there are things I love about Oakland.. I love my local cafe and the galleries and the love and heart that my neighbors are putting into their community. I love that I am close to so many good things, despite not being so close to school and things and people I care about. I like that our loft is huge and airy and full of history despite a general lack of appreciation of old buildings here in Emeryville. I love many of my great neighbors who embody the sorts of things that I appreciated and miss so much from my time living in Downtown L.A. The connections and the support I had in LA are so missed here, so when we were able to find a place with history and community of people that look out for each other.. Not the same as Old Bank District at all, but close.. and very OK!

Finding a place in Berkeley should have been impossible, as we'd sized ourselves out of our price-point, (our place at OBD was 1400sq ft. and our current place is about 1200sq.) We even considered finding a small place to rent for a year while we scrounged up enough extra for a down-payment on a place that was be-fitting our size issue.. but after looking at a few apartments and realizing we'd still have to down-size, (and store all our excess furniture) I actually looked at what was out there that was under our size minimum, and managed to find a few places to check out!

As of right now, we do have a place. It'll be a long wait (for me) before we move into it, but when it happens I imagine all sorts of new experiences and new adventures will be awaiting me.. and I imagine I won't be blogging all that much about Emeryville, (if I did all that much anyway). I don't expect it would be all about Berkeley though either.. although the focus would change, of course.

As every time we move, I need to come up with a new name for this blog. I hate that the default url is my name.. but this is my main blog. One day we will no longer be on "the edge of E*ville"and instead will be living within proper distance of the city limits of a place I love very much, and the reason my heart was aching to return back to the Bay Area. I don't know what I should call this blog at that point... "Meeko on Main" worked when I was in the OBD, but I won't be moving to any Main Street... and "Meeko's Crumbs"(ramblings and meanderings) worked when we lived in Anaheim and South Park area of DTLA because I was constantly walking and meandering all over DTLA.. and finding my blogging feet.

School and things have kept me busy all this semester and I don't expect things will slow down all that much especially as I'm trying to find a niche regarding my love of history,community, architecture, books, writing, food, and a tad of photography. Unlike DTLA, I haven't found the magical blogging fairy that compelled me to attend a blogger meetup at an online friend's 100th Rate-A-Restaurant.. the day I decided I thought blogging was the neatest freaking idea ever.

I sometimes wonder (and think) that blogging is over, as is newsprint, then I see that other people are doing it still, and doing it well. Magic doesn't happen in the same ways every time, so I leave myself open to possibilities and the positive, good-natured beauty that is out there in the universe. I will be changing the name of the blog eventually.. to what, I don't know, and how often I'll post.. I don't know.. or what I'll write about, again, I don't know.. but if you're adventurous.. it could be anything. or nothing at all. Hopefully it won't really be about me, though. These personal posts are draining..

..And, I have a paper due tomorrow so I need to clear my head and focus. Oh, it's written.. it's just got too much of me in it. ;)

On the Move..

Kiki takes one last look out our South facing window over Main Street..

on the road:

Hillside Poppies growing near Lebec, along the I-5



On the other side of the Grapevine and Fort Tejon, the Valley spreads out below:


a farm along the I-5:


sorry so blurry.. was trapped in the back seat with two cats and not much movement.. =) Didn't get any photos after I moved to another seat since it had gotten dark by then.. =)

Moving Day

After the loaders finished..

Our mostly empty loft at the San Fernando, home for the last three of our four years in the Old Bank District.. Our neighborhood for 4 of the almost 6 years we've lived in DTLA.. Pretty happy times!

on the edge of moving..

Having issues changing my banner image.. but here you can see an image it's based:



Sean & I are still in DTLA but we've made the trip up & back on Sunday the 18th to sign for the keys and take measurements of the spaces so we know what we can and can't do with our furniture. Sean wil pick up what I found out to be a U*haul.. not a Budget truck (collective groan) but hopefully we get one of the "good ones" and will have no issues. =)

We'll still be back & forth in DTLA the next week til the end of the month.. then it's time to settle into our new old neighborhood. =)

Emeryville is sandwiched between Berkeley and Oakland along the Eastbay. Part of the 1 1/2 square milage of the city is actually offshore so that's fun.. I don't expect I'll be exploring that part of Emeryville much. =)

I expect I'll still post a lot about food and retail and events that I either attend or are going on in the Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland area.. and if we move back to Berkeley proper I am thinking I may keep the name anyway.. Sean suggested it when we neared our future loft home.. "See, we're on the edge of E*Ville!"

Aloha DTLA!

Alexander hanging out in our South-facing window.

The good thing about Aloha is that it's been used to mean 'hello' as well as 'goodbye' and so with this explanation, we announce that we've made it official. Sean & I put in our 30 day notice this morning. We're giving up our spacious, light-filled loft in the Old Bank District.

When Sean & I made the decision to leave the SF Bay Area & Berkeley for SoCal, it seemed like the logical choice, given how much traveling Sean was doing with work. It seemed like he was away or traveling more than he was home. We made the move thinking "nothing's permanent.." Well, that's what I told myself. That was eight years ago. We never imagined ourselves living in a live/work loft situation in DTLA. Since then, we find that time and experience changes things. Now I can't imagine why we didn't move to Downtown LA sooner.

We loved calling the Historic Core and the Old Bank District home. It's a little slice of what life should be everywhere. Where neighbors talk to each other, where we get involved in our community and take an interest in each other and how we can make life better for one another. I can't say I did much of that myself, but I really liked being a part of that environment. The creative and self-determined and civic-minded.

I enjoyed the time I was helping blog about our neighborhood, meeting new people and learning about the businesses around DTLA. I loved attending community events like Hope For Firefighters, National Night Out, or the Public Safety BBQ at 7th &Fig. Sean loved going to Art Walk and exploring the pop-up galleries and creative spaces around Gallery Row. We had favorite places we loved to go eat: Starry Kitchen, The Nickel Diner, Pete's Cafe, Syrup Desserts, Blossom, Wurstkuche,(as well as Royal Clayton's which will be re-opening in its new location on Spring later this year) to name just a few that we enjoyed regularly these past several years.

We made so many friends here, we found a home, and community. That said, why are we heading back to the Bay Area? Well, it's home. The decision to leave Berkeley for SoCal was made with our heads and not so much with our heart. Sean's family is from the Bay Area.. and while I'm not from there, I fell in love with the City and pretty much everything about living there. With Sean's work travel it made sense to move to SoCal.. but we missed home and it was a topic of conversation that came up over the years. "Do you think we'll ever move back to Berkeley?" Who knows? "Do you think they'll let you transfer back?" Who knows? At first it didn't make sense to move back, as there was still some traveling involved with his work.. The last couple years he's been telecommuting (when he's not having to travel now & again). So with our place being a true 'live/work' loft situation, the topic came up a few times. Working from home, Sean & I could live anywhere.. While we have been very happy where we live, we realized that the time might be right to see about moving back to Berkeley.. or to the Bay Area in general (San Jose came up a couple times). So Sean looked into it, and here we are.

We found an adaptive reuse 'live/work' loft space to live in Emeryville,Ca. Many of our friends know Emeryville as Pixar Headquarters. =) It's also where Peet's Coffe & Tea is based, Title Nine, Leap Frog, and Jamba Juice among many others.. Emeryville is also a very small city: Incorporated in the late 1800s.. It has a police and fire department, but no public library or newspaper! Sandwiched between Berkeley and Oakland in the Eastbay, it may not need a paper but this is where community blogging comes in. Blogs are essential to sharing information and news around Emeryville. While I can't say what I personally will do along the lines of blogging, I do intend to keep posting updates.. I just won't be posting about DTLA so much. While I fully intend to visit to DTLA pretty often, I don't expect to make like I can keep up on the goings-on. We're relocating pretty far away; things will be missed.

I don't know if I should keep updating this, maybe change the name of the blog to something more Bay-centric? I don't expect DTLA friends & neighbors to be interested in what's going on in Emeryville.. I do have a wordpress blog that I started when I was doing research for the move back, but then it doesn't make sense to me to keep up two blogs about what is most likely to be the same topic. Honestly I just don't know.. Maybe some folks have suggestions.. Until such time, we're keeping busy.

I've been scavenging boxes from the neighbors and I got another moving kit coming in from Costco. We're looking into movers now and contemplating a visit from "Out of the Closet" for some of our furniture. I'm doing a lot of sorting, dusting, organizing.. Despite all that, the place is a mess.. and looks more untidy than it did before I started. The cats are getting a little upset about the constant movement of 'stuff' around the loft.

We're anxious. We're excited. We're happy. We're sad.. We're stressed. This is a good thing. We'll be missing so much about downtown and yet we know this isn't goodbye forever. With friends and community we found here, it's just "so long for now.. see you soon.." Aloha.


Kiki loves a warm patch of sun as it comes through one of our many frosted glass windows.