...goodbye, Loft...

... goodbye funky neighborhood, goodbye 15 minute walking commute, goodbye badly ventilated kitchen, goodbye freeway grime on my windowsills, goodbye train...

... my husband and I currently live in a loft in South of Market (SOMA). For those of you who know me, you know that I have a love/hate relationship with the loft. I love it because of the large kitchen (albeit badly ventilated!) it has and wonderful counter space. I love it because it is a cool space with lots of light. I love it because we have a spacious bedroom. I love it because we have a parking space. I love it because SOMA tends to be sunnier and warmer more often than other areas of San Francisco. I love it because we are 4 blocks from Giant's Stadium. I love it because of my fabulous 15 minute walking commute. Most of all I love it because this is where Jeff lived while we were dating, where I moved to while we were engaged. It is where I spent hours planning our wedding, and where we spent our first Christmas together. It is where we've hosted New Year's Eve parties with all of our friends, toasted other friend's engagements, celebrated special birthdays and hosted baby showers for others. From dinner parties to lazy Sundays eating eggs and toast at our kitchen counter, we've made a lot of memories here, and for these reasons, I will miss it.

... on the other hand, there are reasons why the loft is no longer a good fit for us. There are the everyday characteristics I "hate" (such a strong word!): the train that likes to blow it's whistle at 5:00am every morning waking me up, the same train that at 11:00 at night sits outside our window with the generators on while they do maintenance in the train yard. I severely dislike the grime that comes from the nearby freeway and covers my windowsills with a gritty gray dust that is IMPOSSIBLE to clean! It even gets on my beautiful white laptop, which now has a dingy aura to it. Not having a door to close to a private room while talking on the phone can get tiresome. I don't like having to huddle in the bathroom with the fan on to have a private conversation with my sister-in-law about her boyfriend (my husband would rather not know! Typical older brother!). It never gets TOTALLY dark at night while trying to sleep. Then, there are the 4 flights of stairs I have to walk up everyday at the end of a long day just to get to our place (although this has helped to keep me in shape, so I will now become a massive blob of flesh...). But aside from these everyday annoyances (which I've actually grown accustomed to and will probably miss in some weird way), the loft just isn't practical anymore. We are in need of another bedroom, and a place with doors to create a quite place for a little one to sleep. I can't continue to walk up those four flights of stairs over the next 4 months as I get bigger. It's just not the best place in which to welcome Baby T. So, we are off to begin a new chapter in our lives...

...therefore, today we are moving out of the loft. We are moving on to bigger and better things! Well, actually not that much bigger, but better and we have a whole extra bedroom to get furnished and ready to go. We are moving to a magical place in San Francisco called Cow Hollow, where there are trees on the street, and I have a backyard called the Presidio, and a front yard called Marina Green. There are shops and restaurants and people walking and general pleasantness! Although it is foggier over there and my commute is now 3 times as long, it is a great place in a beautiful part of the city, with no train and few stairs! We are putting the loft on the market, keep your fingers crossed for some generous offers! We will be in this place for a couple of years before we look at buying again... let the fun begin!

... so, Loft, I bid you farewell! Thank you for all the memories you have staged here for us, and for the great kitchen. Although I gripe about you, I WILL miss you...

... and to our new place: I'm so excited to arrive, and I can't wait to get to know you!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Sarah

...teaser...

... A sneak peek of the latest wedding programs I have completed... a shot of the production...

... more to follow!

...Is there something in the water???

... I know about a zillion people who are pregnant! Maybe it's just my group of friends and my age, but I think maybe the recession is coming to an end and everyone is getting on with their lives, including making new ones?

... Anyway, I find this so wonderful, I love seeing friends happy and ready to start a family. In fact, one of my best friends has officially started her maternity leave! She is due at the end of May, and starting tomorrow, she is home until September.

... A few weeks back, a group of friends and I threw this friend, Roxanne, and her husband a co-ed baby shower. It was a lot of fun. It was in the evening, and we had such delicious food and cocktails (and "mock-tails" for the mom to be!) and of course, great company. It was a great evening and a fun event. Even the guys were into it! I think they were just relieved that there were no poop-y diaper games or measure-the-belly with toilet paper activities.

... As my contribution to the party, I agreed to make the invitations. I really, really, really had a lot of fun making them. Roxanne really liked the idea of a "Sweet Pea" theme. I had been dying to use some of my round cards, so I took the opportunity and ran with it! Two different shades of green, along with a whimsical yellow polka dotted paper lining the enveloped sure enough created the desired effect. It was lucky that I got a die-cutter for Christmas, as it allowed me to create the small peas for the pod, as well as the round white piece for the party information. This as another work created by layering pieces together to get the final result. Take a look!

Congratulations to Roxanne and Douglas, I can't wait to meet Baby Franco!