22. 26. Who cares?

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" ~ Satchel Paige

22. 

For some reason, I think I am still 22. Maybe it's because all my birthdays since have been pretty low key and so I always think back to before my 23rd and just go from there? Who knows. 

I am happy to say that no, I am not 22. I am 26. This birthday was a pretty great one actually (so maybe now I will always think I am 26). My parents came to SF for a fun, long visit and we had a wonderful time! I will tell you all about what we did through some pictures (because if you don't know this by now, I LOVE pictures). 

We went on a double decker bus tour of the city...twice. Ha. Yes, we went twice. After a yucky, rainy first go around we decided it would be worth our time and money and stay on the bus and do it all over again. I say it was absolutely worth it! 

View the second time around

We drove over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito for a nice breakfast in the marina.

We hiked through Muir Woods Park and walked along the Pacific Ocean at Muir Beach.

We rode a cable car and had a sundae at Ghiradelli Square.

      We ate our fair share of fresh crab.

And last but not least, we celebrated my 26th with drinks at the Cliff House and cake!

I am SO thankful for this trip and blessed to have such amazing parents! I love you and thank you!

LOVE your LIFE at any age

the Golden Gate Bridge

"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn." ~David Russell

I have done a ton of traveling and playing around the city of San Francisco since I moved from LA in January! It's hard to say no to biking the Golden Gate Bridge, driving up to Napa for the day, or meeting my family in Aspen for my dad's 60th birthday. 
I am going to try to catch up with the blog world and dedicate a few post to all these activities and some of my life here in SF.


I'll start with my first week in San Fran!
After the mandatory week of orientation and getting settled into my apartment, it was time to explore this amazing city. I was so lucky and met some fun people right off the bat in orientation. After talking one day in class some of us decided that we were going to rent bikes and bike the Golden Gate Bridge. I think I moved on a Saturday, had three days of class, and biked on Thursday. I was definitely eager to see the sights!

Amy, Nellie, and I rented bikes from a little shop in Fisherman's Wharf. We biked through the wharf, along the water to Crissy field, up to and over the bridge, down to Sausalito where we had lunch on the water, and took the ferry back. We had a great time! The weather was amazing, the crowds were low, and the experience was once in a lifetime. I would absolutely recommend this adventure for anyone visiting the area! It's cheap, good exercise, and a great way to see the bay.

 

LOVE LIFE

Mi humble abode de San Francisco

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself."          ~ Maya Angelou

Let me start this post by saying that I LOVE the city of San Francisco. There is something so romantic about this city. I love the layout of the homes built into the hills. I love driving north on Divisadero on a beautiful, clear, sunny day. I LOVE the food! I love being surrounded by water. I love the multitude of neighborhoods that all have their own vastly different populations. I love being an hour from the wine country, 4 hours from Tahoe, and 4 hours from Yosemite. I love pacific coast sunsets. I love that there aren't any major highways in this 7 mile by 7 mile city. I love the smell of the trees is the Presidio. 

I am living in a studio apartment in the Marina District which is the northern most part of SF. If I walk just a block north of my apartment I can see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge (I would be standing in the bay's water though) and if I walk 10 minutes east I am in Fisherman's Wharf. There are several fun streets around me that have great shopping and tons of restaurants. I have been told that the Marina is full of young professionals who still live like they are in college. Amen to that! This is so true...most days when I am out and about I feel like I am back at TCU. 

As with all my other travel assignments, my company placed me in this apartment and covers everything from rent to parking and utilities. I am only responsible for cable and internet. Lucky!? My mom hated it when I told her I was hijacking someones internet for the first two months. She would scream "HALEY...you don't have ANY expenses. At least get TV and internet yourself!!!!" I took her advice and now have my own system, but only because the people I was stealing from put a password on theirs. Shucks!

Anywho...here are some pictures of my studio. 

Before

After

 

The view from a block North

LOVE LIFE

did you forget about me?

"You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating." ~Barbara Sher


Have you all given up on me yet? I forgive you, because I gave up too. But maybe it's not too late. Maybe I can pick it up again and you people will start reading again. Just maybe!?


In my mind I hear you all saying...
"yippee! Haley is blogging again!"
"hooray...something else to waste work hours!"
or
"oh god, not again."
No matter. I am giving it another shot and just in time to share so many exciting things!!


How have you been? How's your family? job? husband/wife? boyfriend/girlfriend?  any fun summer plans? oh my...how were the holidays (it has been a long time!)? 
I've been great, thanks for asking!! Let me tell you all about it...


It's hard to believe that I haven't posted since September! I have since moved to San Francisco, started working at UCSF, found some wonderful new friends, and explored more of the wild wild west! There is so much to tell you, but I will start from where we left off. 


LA was SO wonderful! I loved living in SoCal. I miss it so much. The always sunny, warm, zero humidity weather was amazing. I made wonderful friends through work at CHLA. I really enjoyed the hospital, but discovered that it is not healthy for any human being to work 4 12 hour night shifts in a 7 day period for 5 months. I will never do that again! You live and you learn I guess! I was lucky enough to have time off for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and went home to be with my wonderful family. Casie and Sam got married! I went to Chicago for her bachelorette party and home for their wedding! I ventured south to San Diego (SD) 3 times! I realized that I loved SD and would LOVE to live there. My mom visited! I flew to Fort Worth to see friends and celebrate the Horned Frogs. I played at Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood. I took a trapeze class at the Santa Monica pier. I was sore from trapeze class for an entire week. I explored LA and never saw a famous person. Here are some pictures to prove it all!

First San Diego trip with Charlotte & Jenny

Trapeze class with Tamara and Tracy

Mom's visit to LA

Casie's Bachelorette in Chicago

Casie's Wedding in Arkansas

Disneyland with Justin

Arkansas for Thanksgiving

Fort Worth

 

Universal Studios with Tracy

Going away breakfast with CHLA friends

I can not wait to tell you all about San Francisco and what's next, but I will leave you with this for now. As is with any relationship that is starting anew, I can't throw it all out there right away! 

keep LOVING LIFE