Going without adult supervision

So, I’m pleased to tell you that Mr. Cutie and I have gone back and forth with real, open text box messages where we’re not limited to 1000 characters so we can write whatever we want.  This is very exciting, especially since e-harmony hasn’t sent me any more matches after Mr. Cutie – I guess they ran out.  Well, at least they saved the best for last. 

So far, so good!  He’s got a good blend of fun and sweet, with a hint of mischievous (or at least his writing style does LOL).  I’m a little bummed that he’s not able to meet up with me when I’m there next week (he’ll have his son, so he’s not able to slip away).  But I’m OK with that, because we’ve officially agreed to ditch the “e-harmony chaperone” and move on to trading phone numbers.  It will be nice to hear his voice – he mentioned in one of his answers that his sense of humor was “British by nature” so I don’t know if that was a reference to the fact that he’s British or if he just has a British sense of humor.  Hmmm… a British accent would be a nice bonus! ;)  Very James Bond-ish… does that make me a Bond Girl? 

I’m starting to get ready for my three-day “must find a house to rent” trip to Florida.  I had the name of a realtor that I talked to a few weeks ago, but she’s not calling me back so I think she’s blowing me off (whatever!)  I’ll do just as well on my own armed with Craigslist.  I managed to set up an RSS feed for my Craigslist search, but I couldn’t get it to filter right, so I think there’s like 100 messages in that folder.  Ugh!  It’s just easier to just use the website.

I took about an hour and a half of my day to start making phone calls.  Left a lot of messages, but did manage to get about 6 appointments set up so far.  My mom even has a friend with a house that she might rent, so that will be #7.  Some of the people I talked to were friendly and some just didn’t have a clue (eye roll).  I made it very clear that I was coming there with a goal – to find a place to live by the time I leave (in other words, I’m not going to be that wishy-washy “I-don’t-know-if-I-want-to-make-a-decision-yet” kind of person).  When I find a place I like, I’m ready to pull out the checkbook.  I’m even armed with my credit report, paystubs and my current landlord’s phone number to make it even more clear that I’m very serious about finding a place. 

So, speaking about the places… it’s a totally different ballgame living here in the Bay Area vs. a nice suburban west-coast Florida town.  For what I pay for my “more than a 1-bedroom, but not quite a 2-bedroom” apartment that’s in a building above a dry cleaner, I’ll be going to a 3-bedroom house with a garage, yard and maybe even a pool (sweet!)  When you do the handy cost of living calculator, the city I’m moving to is like 60 or 70% cheaper cost of living – yeah!  Since I’m keeping my same job, that means more disposable income to buy shoes! ;)  Plus, a bigger house will have bigger closets, so I gotta fill ‘em, right? (woo-hoo)

Oh, and get this… the funniest thing I heard today was a nice realtor telling me about the neighborhood that her house was in.  “It’s a nice major corridor with a lot of (emphasizing) HIGH END restaurants.  They even have an Outback!”  Um, I do love Outback, but I hate to break it to her, but (emphasizing) HIGH END restaurants don’t feature dishes named the Bloomin’ Onion.  LOL – it’s a whole different mentality out there, but it will be fun.

What I’ll miss about SF:

·         Walking everywhere!  I lived here without a car for 4 years… I finally did get a car last November but have only put 2500 miles on it since I’ve had it. LOL

·         Not super-hot weather.  You don’t have a/c here because you don’t need it – really! 

·         Flagship stores – I’ll miss those (tear).  For those of you not in the retail industry, a Flagship is basically a really, really, really big version of your favorite store (like, oh, Banana Republic) and they carry just about every style available.  (sigh) I guess I’ll have to settle for a nice, basic, core store (again, tear). 

·         Good friends that I work with.  I’ve made a lot of great friendships over the 5 years that I’ve been here and I’ll miss seeing everyone on a regular basis.  I’ll have to start using the video chat feature on our Instant Messenger…

What I’m looking forward to in Florida:

·         LIVIN’ LARGE! ;)  Maybe I can get spinners on my hubcaps and install hydraulics to make my little blue VW Beetle bounce up and down like a rap star!

·         Having a house with (1) space, (2) a dishwasher, (3) a washer/dryer and (4) electrical outlets ‘o plenty.  Seriously, I have never seen as few outlets as I have now – my bedroom has one by the bed and one, are you ready, in the closet.  I run an extension cord just to power my makeup mirror.

·         Free parking everywhere you go.

·         And, my favorite thing that I’m looking forward to?  Well, that would be Mr. Cutie, of course!

So, time is ticking down to my moving day (just over a month left).   Wish me luck with the ol’ house-hunting game!  And, wish me luck with Mr. Cutie, who now, officially, has my phone number. ;)