In the beginning...

Today is Day 4 of the relocation adventure and things have smoothed out since that first, horrible, day.

For those of you who don't know, I left Chicago - permanently - for San Francisco last Saturday. I was originally scheduled to leave on a noon flight which was supposed to arrive at SFO by 2:30PM local time. However, my good friends at United decided to stretch the limits of my patience and good humor by cancelling the original flight and re-booking me on a later flight. Normally, this is fine but the later flight didn't depart until SEVEN hours after the original flight was supposed to have left. This delay was on top of the actual plane ride. In all, Saturday consisted of 14 hours or so of traveling to, waiting in, and traveling from airports plus flight time. All good fun...not.

However, once I got some sleep, the relocation adventure picked right back up on Sunday and has been awesome ever since. Top 5 reasons for being awesome (this is for you, Shaz):

1. I am temporarily housed in a kick-ass apartment (on the company's dollar) - see picture below FOR THE VIEW FROM MY BALCONY!



2. My sweet doggie has joined me on the adventure and is really fitting in as a CA girl. I was so worried about shipping her I seriously considered driving to SF but in an unbelievable and totally ironic twist, she flew out on Friday and BOTH of her flights were on-time.

3. TiVo made the journey from Chicago to SF in one piece (in a total nerd move, I hand-carried TiVo onto the plane as one of my personal items) and is currently keeping my TV hunger satisfied.

Funny side story about carrying TiVo through the airport: At O'Hare, I was sitting at the gate for my first flight, before the cancellation, and a gentleman sitting across from me nodded at TiVo (who was resting all comfy in its original packaging...in its original box...which is emblazoned with the word TiVo ALL OVER IT) and asked, "What's in the box?" I KID YOU NOT. He seemed slightly non-plussed when I replied, "A TiVo."

4. Although it's early to call this, I appear to have landed a truly great job with an incredible company. It's all about networking, people - it's the best tip I can give you.

5. Weather in the Bay Area could NOT be nicer. I wear flip flops while walking the Mika-dog and have been coatless since I got here. What a change from weather in the Windy City where the highs last week were sub-zero! The locals keep warning me that the weather has been unseasonably warm but I choose to believe that it's always like this in January.

As I wrap up this first post, I wanted to share with you my mission for this blog. I want to use it as a forum to keep my family and friends in touch with me as I settle into a new life here on the west coast. I hope to keep it fun and humorous and I count on you to be my editors. Tell me what you like, tell me what you want more of, tell me when I get off track. The blog is for you so if I get carried away and start using the blog like a therapy session, then I am counting on you to let me know.

Read, enjoy, and keep in touch but please note: This blog is NO EXCUSE for you to not call, email, or visit me - HA! :)