It’s not just the weather that has cleared up in the past few days. My workload is showing signs of lessening as well (if all goes as planned). Relief kicked off Friday, when I was able to take a real lunch with Kali. We ventured over to South Park, where we got to sit outside while I heard all about her wedding adventures in Brazil.

Even though my life was not in great shape before Friday, there was some exciting news. Amy & Alex finally had their baby! Not my place to go in to details here, but the baby girl is precious. Can’t wait to meet her via video chat :)

Despite some late night bike rides, Friday also marked the completion of my first consecutive M-F bike commute. I still swear it’s getting harder, not easier. Either that or the wind is just working harder against me.

In my attempt to meet new people, I was persuaded to go out Friday night. (Tore was in town, so that was extra incentive.) That, and Emily said she had a boy to introduce me to. He was nice but not my type. In Tyler’s words, I’m “lining them up and knocking them down.” I wouldn’t be that dramatic about it. We hung out a cool bar, though. Too bad, I have no idea what it was called. (Tim, do you remember? ;)

Saturday, the previous week caught up with me. Somehow, I managed a 4-hour nap and was still ready for bed at 10 pm. So, that was relatively unproductive but much needed. It made for a great Sunday, though. I woke up early and managed to plan a road trip up the northern half of the coast. I found some AMAZING places to stay. It was spurred by Adam & Rachel mentioning they were visiting SF and then driving up to Portland. I offered to drive them so they didn’t have to rent a car. We haven’t confirmed if it will work out, but I’m so excited about my little plan that I might have to take the trip with or without them. Plan is to power through to Portland, spend a couple days there and then continue up to Seattle. I can visit my cousins there, who I haven’t seen in 5 years. Then, I’d continue back south on my own, following the coast over 3 days. My spirit feels refreshed just thinking about going. I’ll get to spend a night in Port Ludlow, WA and travel down to Newport, OR where I’m planning a date with Sylvia Beach Hotel, a literary-themed hotel right on the beach with a community library and communal morning breakfast, a sanctuary for the solo traveler. From there, I’ll continue down to Eureka, CA where I discovered my splurge night location, Abigail’s Elegant Victorian Mansion. I have my heart set on staying in the Van Gogh room and watching a Cary Grant film in the Turkish Tea Room. (They have a collection of 700 films, dated 1895-1945!!) I’m hopeful to have the company of some fascinating traveler’s. It’s a lot of money for a place to sleep, but it sounds like it could be an amazing experience. The house is actually for sale. Maybe I can talk them in to a payment plan.

But after all of my hypothetical trip planning, I joined Brittini for brunch in our neighborhood. We checked out this cute place, Cafe GoLo. The place was empty when we walked in but a lovely man poked his head out and told us to pick a seat. He was perfectly lovely (and I believe the owner). He brought us some fresh pastry samplers while we waited on our food. They were still warm! I had Pigs in a Blanket (sausage wrapped in pancakes) and B had the Monte Cristo. It was a delightful experience. I finally felt like I lived in a neighborhood. I kind of wish I drank coffee so I could stop in here daily. Maybe I can treat myself to a weekly pastry. Less than a month to go until my 2-year anniversary.

2010 is setting itself up for karmic redemption. Fingers crossed.