the nabe

The last few days have been filled with assembling furniture, screwing things into walls, and unpacking, organizing, and cleaning. Tedious at times, but ultimately satisfying. With the money we saved we actually put together a somewhat coordinated and stylish apartment! We're in our new home.

I've also learned a lot more about our neighborhood, mostly from walking Stewie (it's so weird that he pees on palm trees now instead of lamp posts and stop signs!). The neighborhood seems to be in the very beginnings of the gentrification process. There's an interesting mix of Hispanics, hipsters, and homeless on the streets. There's also a good mix of newer more modern buildings (like the building we live in now) and older, cheaper storefronts that keep the neighborhood pretty diverse. The Home Depot across the street has a line of Latino men waiting to be hired for manual labor for the day, but at the same time we're just a few blocks away from where the Oscars are held each year.

Now that N and I have settled in, we're considering extending our lease. We'll see how it goes...