Apartments...Blackberries...Life...

A wise Will once said, "The winds of change are blowing." A profound statement, to be sure. Change is everywhere in my life at the moment, and while that is typical of a 23 year old recent college grad, that doesn't mean I won't freak out a little. I don't resist change, and I do get very excited by Big Life Changes (good ones, anyway) like moving to a new city that I love for a job that (I think) will be great, or staying in the same city but moving to a new apartment that (I hope) I will love, or getting a new job that just sounds bigger and better with every phone call.

But there's still that little part of me that hates transition. I love planning, we all know that, but I get anxious when plans fall through. I hate trying to plan in advance when I know something will inevitably come up. That's just me. Thank goodness I have a job, I've signed a contract, and there's no change possible there. Job: Check. I am more than excited (uber-excited? mega-excited? thrilled?) to be starting work at Google (a week from Monday!!!). It's a little crazy though. It's like I'm taking a huge leap into being a grown-up. Suddenly, I'll have a salary, with a bank account holding more money than it has ever seen. I'll have a laptop for work (they actually called to see if I want a Mac or PC. Duh. I'm a Mac lover through and through). I'll have my own apartment, and I'll have a commute (oy). I think the weirdest thing for me is that I'll have a blackberry, which to me is the symbol of Big Grown Up Business Person. What? I don't consider myself technologically backwards or anything, but this is the girl who just got a cell phone that has a camera in it. Like, a few weeks ago. And that was a big, scary decision. Weird, right? I'm going to work at freaking Google, of course I'll have hi-tech stuff. I'm (supposedly) becoming a grown-up; I shouldn't be freaked out about things like upgrading my cell phone to one that can take pictures and video. [note: last night, i wirelessly bluetoothedly sent pictures and video from my phone to my laptop. it was awesome. i probably got more excited than was necessary. definitely.]

The moral of the story: becoming a grown-up is weird, and it'll hit you at random times for seemingly silly reasons, and suddenly you'll feel like you're tricking everyone, like (almost) everyone is "suddenly" treating you like an adult, but you still feel like you're a little kid. If that makes any sense.

I was reading Oh The Places You'll Go to the kids I was babysitting last night, and a few of the lines hit me harder than they had before. I mean, it's Dr. Seuss, right? It's kidstuff. Not really. It's one of the greatest books ever, in my opinion. It definitely means more me now than it did when I was little. It carried a different weight when I graduated from high school. Now, as I start being one of these so-called grown-ups, I find more in this children's book than I did even just a year ago when I graduated from college. I'll post later with my favorite bits and lines and quotes. Ah, Dr. Seuss. More profound than I ever knew.

In apartment news, I looked at some more places...

1. a way-smaller-than-they-said-it-was studio right down the street, at Telegraph and Stuart. It is above a nail salon, which is kind of cool and kind of strange, and wouldn't have been terrible, at approx. $975 (including all utilities and internet), if it wasn't so itty bitty. And if I could've put a bed in the closet. The closet was this weird, triangular shaped thing, that apparently used to have a murphy bed attached to the door--which rotated 360 degrees. Yeah. It was odd. To get to the back of the closet, you had to go inside the closet and practically close yourself in. I'm a little too claustrophobic to shut myself inside my closet while I'm looking for clothes...and, because the door needed so much circumference to spin around, there wasn't much floorspace in the already-not-so-big closet. The kitchen was kind of odd in layout, but not a definite deterrent. But, the place was just too tiny for picky, "I'll find the perfect place eventually" Kim, so it was a no-go.
2. a very nice one bedroom in a wonderful location--if you don't have a car. Prime North Berkeley setting, just a few doors down from Chez Panisse, and right behind a Curves (not that I'll need Curves once I'm workin' it out at the Google gym). This neighborhood is safe, has character and lots of cute restaurants and shops, and a farmers market...but unfortunately, parking is a nightmare. I was told there was "easy street parking," but I drove around for 15-20 minutes before finding a spot 3 blocks away, and across a busy street. And this address is apparently right on the border of two permit zones, so if you don't find parking right on your block, it's more difficult to find parking. Stupid parking. So, I said goodbye to the super cute one bedroom for $1075. Sigh.
3. i was supposed to see another one bedroom hosted by the same open house lady, but when I heard parking was also rough (or $80 a month!) around there, and that the kitchen wasn't so much a room as it was a fridge, sink and stove up against a wall, I decided not to waste my time.

I've got 7 or 8 potential places to look at this weekend...I'm starting to burn out a little. Plus I'm not totally sure about where to pick up the Google shuttle (there may be stops I don't know about), which definitely impacts where I'm going to live. I can't wait until this is over and I've locked down a place. Fingers crossed.