here i am...

finally, i made it to the west coast. i got here last wed. with ella after an incredibly long drive. on tuesday we drove all the way from omaha to salt lake city! i think i'm going to have to stay here forever, because i NEVER want to drive
through provo canyon again with a rental truck towing a car. Oh my
god, so scary! i thought my break pads were going to start on fire!

it is so incredibly beautiful here... the weather is fantastic. 78 and
sunny every day, and cool at night. my house is absolutely beautiful,
i got so lucky. you could film a cooking show in my kitchen. and my
bedroom looks out on a huge garden with a pond. i have a lemon tree in
my backyard. :)

i don't start school until next week, so i've just been enjoying
relaxing and settling in. ella was here until sunday, and i took her
into san francisco and we did some touristy stuff. it only takes
twenty minutes on the train to get to downtown from my house in
berkeley, so that's cool.

berkeley is SO beautiful. there are glorious, lush gardens EVERYWHERE.
all you smell is flowers when you walk down my block. this morning and
yesterday morning my roommate and i went for a run by our house in
strawberry canyon. a bunch of it is uphill, which sucks, but when you
get to the top, you have a beautiful view of the bay and san francisco
and oakland.