The last couple of weeks have been insane. So to get an assignment (that's what we travel nurse crazies call "a job") I had to high-tail it from my assignment in Austin, which technically ended March 18 - to start on March 22. Not to mention that's my birthday or anything. I digress. So busy people like me schedule things so that It All Can Be Done. I worked three days in a row, flew home to Phoenix, dealt with Real Crazy Canadian renters, did my taxes, did my annual drug testing and lab work, and got to hang out with my mom and her fiance - all while soaking up some Spring Training games. Gosh, I love baseball...
Speaking of taxes though, I love saving every receipt and knowing all the deductions I can possibly take, to help out with this whole traveling gig. I talked about it quite a bit, I guess, when I was at TVRC last summer. This is what my good friend from Nashville sent me:
Hallmark has yet to branch out into this yet, Catie, but I'm sure it will come soon!
After my mini-vacation, I flew back to Austin, where my loving brother (bless his heart) picked me up at the airport at 12:30. AM. Drove me to my place where only one bag was packed. I did laundry, packed, cleaned, and slept (for three hours), packed my car, returned the keys to my landlord, and hit the road.
With Starbucks' coffee and oatmeal, I drove all the way to Las Cruces that day. Let's discuss West Texas again, shall we? Bor-Ing. However, to it's credit, the intense three months of rain Texas got was enough to turn the landscape from nappy brown/beige to a lovely green. That helped a little. Also, my mission to find the strangest place in West Texas helped the drive go faster. Have you ever heard of Marfa? Of course you haven't, unless you're from Texas or are an Austin-esque hippy (no offense intended).
I really thought the town was made up, because this was the landscape after this sign...
I think I'm too used to the "traditional" places where the welcome sign is actually near civilization.
Ok, I give it grief, but Marfa is adorable. I didn't get pictures because there were just so many things to look at. It's a very cute, off-the-beaten-path but still trendy and urban-renewal-y. I make up my own words, but you know what I mean. I highly encourage you to stop by if you're on the I-10. Stay the night, there are adorable little hotels there too. My brother saw a documentary where apparently Mumford and Sons took a train that went through Marfa, and they rocked that little hipster town.
Getting back to the strange thing...the Prada storefront in the middle of nowhere. I had heard about it before my Austin trip, then saw artwork signage in the living room of a character from my guilty pleasure Gossip Girl. Don't mock me, you probably kind of like it too.
After staying the night with my aunt and uncle in Las Cruces, I kept on goin' the next morning. I had a deadline, you see. I drove through Tucson with a very specific purpose:
Oh, Rex's Revenge, how I have missed you. Beyond Bread, one of the places I miss most in Tucson.
Driving through Phoenix I stopped in Gilbert at my mom's. She saw how tired I was and forced me to take a nap before driving more. Thank goodness I did - I missed rush hour traffic and was able to get to Palm Springs before midnight. One trick I have learned from my parents while driving is to keep the A/C on as high as possible. You don't get tired. You get cold and annoyed.
Every drive I take I have a specific place I like to stop, if at all possible, for the night:
Why? I'll tell you.
1. The cinnamon rolls are amazing. Sorry, that's the main reason.
2. They always have a room.
3. Their beds are soooo soft and amazing AND they have two firmness levels of pillows.
Anywho, I finally got to San Francisco again!
Found the place I'm renting and it's adorable!
Unpacked all my stuff and got ready for my first day of work the next day, aka my birthday. Luckily I knew mostly everyone there anyway and it was only a training day for the new computer medication charting.
I then got to go to one of my fav. places for a birthday cake!
Turns out, if you go there on your birthday you get a free cupcake. So I got two ;)
Why settle for just the free one? That's silly.
That weekend I got to see my Pegah - went to lunch and then wine tasting at Alameda's own winery:
No, I did not drink all of that. The flights we got were really good - all Pegah and I could do was try to think of what we would eat with each sample. We're a little food-obsessed, which is really easy to do here.
There was an amaaazing view - best seen with photoshop's charcoal shading technique. Did I tell you how much I love Photoshop? Got it with my California tax return. Thanks, Cali.
Soon I will be seeing everything the bay area has to offer. Stay tuned - I'll show it to you. :)
Soon I will be seeing everything the bay area has to offer. Stay tuned - I'll show it to you. :)
