California Girl

Deep down, I'll always be an East Coast Girl. Particularly, one with roots in the Mid-Atlantic. I'll always walk at a quicker pace than the rest of the crowd. I'll always tell a story in half the time it takes my friend from Richmond, Virginia to relay it. I'll always roll my eyes at the cheesesteaks, pizza, and bagels sold in every state other than Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

But California - and in particular, San Francisco - has really rubbed off on me, I have to admit. Yesterday morning, I ordered an Avocado and Cheese omelette for breakfast. I just got back from running an errand and heard myself mutter, "It's effing COLD out!" (Please note that the outside temperature is 48 degrees.)

Furthermore, I've noticed that I no longer jump crosswalks. Why start crossing the street without the walk signal, just to risk getting hit by a car in order to cut 5 seconds from my travel time? Time is on my side! What's the rush? According to my new outlook, everything gets done. Eventually.

Believe it or not, I roughly drove my car no more than fifteen times in 2006, and 5 of those times were when my family came to visit me. (1 - To SFO, 2 - To Ocean Beach, 3 - From Ocean Beach, 4 - To Napa, 5 - From Napa.) Also during the past year, I received 2 parking tickets ($80) and was once towed ($300). Add in $1000 for car insurance, and the hours spent circling for a parking spot, and it is very easy to conclude that owning my very own car is far from priceless.

So I'm selling! I spent today scheduling appointments for people to check out my car, which I recently posted as FOR SALE on SF Craigslist.org.

Once I sell, I'm going to take the funds buy a road bike and a snowboard. A trade-in that my co-worker, also an East Coast transplant, says completes my transformation from a Philly Hoe (kidding!) to a California Girl...

Sounds good to me, but I think I forgot to start surfing, so I'll get working on that.