Here it is. The day has arrived. It has finally happened. My husband and I have purchased our first home together and we are now new 'home-owners'. The feel of those keys in my hand, the smell of freshly cleaned carpet and newly painted walls sends me in a tizzy from which I do not want to recover anytime soon.
It's true, you don't really appreciate the suburbs unless you've lived in a crazy cramped city like San Francisco. Plenty of free parking space, cleaner air to breathe, actually being able to see a clear blue sky and white wispy clouds.
Don't misunderstand me; I believe San Francisco is one of the best cities in the world. For the rest of my life and no matter where on the globe I might find myself living, I'll proudly tell anyone who asks that I once lived in San Francisco! The reason I put up for so long with issues like parking and the ginormous amounts of rent was only because I couldn't bear the idea of being away from this gorgeous city. Sometimes my husband and I would decide to try new restaurants not because they were well reviewed or the menu seemed appetizing, but because when I looked it up on Google maps and selected 'street view', I would discover they had a parking lot.
I was afraid that once we left, we would never make it back to 'city life'. After almost two and a half years of being here, I still can't look at the skyline without losing my breath for a minute. Stand anywhere in the city and soak in its majestic aura. I guarantee you'll go weak in the knees. I actually thrive on stimulus bordering on chaos, so navigating my fat SUV through the hordes of people trying to make their way to the Caltrain station with wobbly coffee mugs threatening to fall out of their hands actually enthralled me.
My city can be coarse and brutal, but it is strong and proud to be alive.
But I want to drive five miles and have it take only 2 minutes. I want to stop flushing thousands of dollars down the toilet every year in rent and own a home. I want to be able to host my family and friends during occasions or even generally, without having to worry about space and where to put them up.
I really wanted San Francisco to be all these things but maybe part of the process of growing up is realizing the futility of trying to force everything in the city to change to suit my needs. I can't force the homeless to stop trying to wash my windshield every time I stop to fill gas. I can't bargain and bring down the prices of rent. I can't urge more people to use public transport to avoid being stuck for hours in the horror of city traffic.
So here we are; and I take one look at my beautiful home and know that we've made the right decision.
It's true, you don't really appreciate the suburbs unless you've lived in a crazy cramped city like San Francisco. Plenty of free parking space, cleaner air to breathe, actually being able to see a clear blue sky and white wispy clouds.
Don't misunderstand me; I believe San Francisco is one of the best cities in the world. For the rest of my life and no matter where on the globe I might find myself living, I'll proudly tell anyone who asks that I once lived in San Francisco! The reason I put up for so long with issues like parking and the ginormous amounts of rent was only because I couldn't bear the idea of being away from this gorgeous city. Sometimes my husband and I would decide to try new restaurants not because they were well reviewed or the menu seemed appetizing, but because when I looked it up on Google maps and selected 'street view', I would discover they had a parking lot.
I was afraid that once we left, we would never make it back to 'city life'. After almost two and a half years of being here, I still can't look at the skyline without losing my breath for a minute. Stand anywhere in the city and soak in its majestic aura. I guarantee you'll go weak in the knees. I actually thrive on stimulus bordering on chaos, so navigating my fat SUV through the hordes of people trying to make their way to the Caltrain station with wobbly coffee mugs threatening to fall out of their hands actually enthralled me.
My city can be coarse and brutal, but it is strong and proud to be alive.
But I want to drive five miles and have it take only 2 minutes. I want to stop flushing thousands of dollars down the toilet every year in rent and own a home. I want to be able to host my family and friends during occasions or even generally, without having to worry about space and where to put them up.
I really wanted San Francisco to be all these things but maybe part of the process of growing up is realizing the futility of trying to force everything in the city to change to suit my needs. I can't force the homeless to stop trying to wash my windshield every time I stop to fill gas. I can't bargain and bring down the prices of rent. I can't urge more people to use public transport to avoid being stuck for hours in the horror of city traffic.
So here we are; and I take one look at my beautiful home and know that we've made the right decision.
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