just a kiss away

or not, really. Just some blather for a Tuesday.

We're getting settled in; almost all of our boxes are unpacked, and our everyday lives are mostly neat and organized. To keep moving costs down we got rid of a lot of stuff, and as a result we have barely any furniture in a big, echo-ey apartment. Which has a way of making me feel all new and tingly, so all to the good!

We went into the People's Republic of Berkeley this past weekend, and it was as great as I'd hoped. Found a few amazing furniture stores -- amazing as in great design and seriously great prices -- but the one of the best parts of the day was finding parking spots reserved for Nobel Laureates. That is so unbearably nifty. And where else would you find a Mexican-Pakistani-Indian restaurant? Mexistandian cuisine FTW.

It's probably very different these days, but Berkeley of today reminds me of how Cambridge, MA used to be before it became a homogenized mini-mall.

That's what I love about my new community -- lots of mom and pop shops, only a couple of chain stores. The obligatory Starbucks, naturally -- and excuse me, but if Peet's Coffee is HQ'd here, shouldn't we pay less for it than in Boston? Apparently not. (I feel a 'get offa my lawn' old geezer moment about to erupt.)

To counteract the old geezerism, here's a tip for all of you rebels out there who may be considering relocation: I've had my great grandmother's xmas cactus plant since her death in 1970 and when the movers told me it couldn't cross state lines I was brokenhearted. But...they would take my dry goods and canned goods. So, I packed a large carton with cereal boxes, dry soups and the remains of my pantry. I watered the holy fuck out of the plant, drained it well, and set it into a disposable litter pan in the center of the groceries. A little packing paper held it in place, and a pillow over the top kept it from breaking. It survived two weeks in transit and now sits on my patio! And as an added bonus, the last of my herbal remedy *cough* made it through just fine -- I accidentally left my stash in my nightstand. So yay for hiding in plain sight.

I really do belong here.

Oh! I cut my hair. As in OFF. It was at my waist when I left Boston, and now it's above my ears. Wheee!