Fingers crossed!

I'm at Carmax to hopefully sell my car today! My new apartment is two blocks from work and I'm looking forward to embracing life in the city 100%!
Xoxo

Early morning

In the "cool, gray city of love"

Helpful

Oakland has goodwill ambassadors who patrol neighborhoods cleaning, offering directions, and the like. Today I saw two help this man with his groceries for four blocks (!). I love Oakland
Xoxo

Moon Festival

I now work at an Adult Day Care in Chinatown in Oakland.  On Wednesday, we celebrated Moon Festival with dancing, singing, and afternoon tea.  It was so neat, and they assured me that I will be taught dances and songs before next year!

xoxo

In the Bay

Two weekends ago, I got to go on a bike ride around San Francisco with a friend who will be moving to New York.  We saw so many neat things I would never have known about!

Like the Golden Gate from the other side...

And then I rented a kayak on Sunday and tooled around a little in Oakland Harbor...

Being on the water gives you a very different perspective!

Last weekend, I wandered around SF again and found the Columbus Tower (aka Sentinel building, aka where Francis Ford Coppola has his studios).  Neat!

This place is amazing! xoxo

Vernal Falls, Yosemite

 Okay, so here are more pictures of Yosemite.  I pinch myself every time I think that it is only 3 hours away!

People swim at the bottom of the waterfall!

I have my eye on a few longer hikes...

Yosemite!

My friend Zareen and I went to Yosemite yesterday... More to come!

Cycling

i apologize for the onslaught of photos: I keep forgetting to post!

A few weekends ago I did a 100 mile bike ride! In true Halasz-girl fashion, I got lost a few times, which made the ride closer to 110.  Not shocking, then, that I forgot to take a "finish line" photo!  So...here is the jersey and my number, proving I was there!

xoxo

Active weekends

are the best weekends!  Especially when they end at the ocean!  I went back to my favorite close hike this weekend, the Matt Davis to Steep Ravine trails.  It begins and ends at the ocean, with redwood forest and amber waves of grain in between.  I'm so blessed to have this!

ocean selfie!

ride back over the Golden Gate and through the city

cold ocean + tired feet = ahhhhhh...

It really is the best!

xoxo

Date Night

"I found a spot in your calendar to spend some time together"...

xoxo

Choir!

An excuse to sing Christmas music in August? I'll take it!

Xoxo

Happiness is....

grilling at home with good friends!

Yep

This place is my kind of weird

Xoxo

Yosemite!

A few weekends ago I went to Yosemite for the day with a few friends. It took us longer to get there than expected, so we didn't do much exploring, but we did get to relax along the river.  I'll definitely be back for more hiking and climbing!

Getting close to the natives

 It is hard to capture the enormity of the valley!

xoxo

Double Rainbow!

My trip to DC was so much fun: we relaxed, moved a lot of boxes, and laughed a lot!  One standout moment was the double rainbow we got to see from Emmy and Zach's back door: so neat!

xoxo

Home Safe

For real this time: 

I officially became a California resident on Friday!

My Oakland

xoxo

Vacation!

In true "Americans on vacation" style, I give you the poncho picture.

Vacation...

I'm being shipped to Hawaii!

Friday Night

Some people go out to the bars.  I ride, laughing, through the most amazing place I've ever lived with incredible friends.

Shooting a Lexus commercial

I'll take it my way any day!

xoxo

Busy, exciting weekends!

Last weekend I participated in a "Spartan Beast" run with my friend Josh, his girlfriend, and their friend.  It was 12.7 miles through the hilly terrain outside of Monterrey, CA with many obstacles.  These included jumping over walls, carrying heavy stuff (I always elected to carry the "man" weight), crawling under barbed wire while being drenched in the back with fire hoses, and other various physical challenges.  All in all, it was a pretty fun time! (www.spartan.com)

Cold water right on my back

"Hey, I can do this!"

Still smiling

Sprinting toward the finish line 

Sunday I was privileged to go sailing on the calm side of the San Francisco Bay with my friend and his friends.  I had no idea what to expect and definitely didn't plan to get to sail the boat myself!  It was so fun and exciting: we dropped anchor right outside of Giants' stadium for lunch and lactose-free birthday cake (so thoughtful!!)

"I'm on a boat!"

People float around, watch the jumbo-tron, and hope to catch home runs!

Dairy-free luxury

After lunch and a quick yacht-sailing primer, I was set loose on the bay!

"I think she likes it"

San Francisco and Bay Bridge in the background

George, the owner, teaching me about sailing and the Bay

 After sailing, we went to The Cliff House (www.cliffhouse.com) for a glass of wine and the sunset.  What a great birthday weekend!

xoxo