the weekend at a glance

I didn’t know if it was possible just two months into a new life in a new city, but this past weekend felt like the first normal weekend in a long time. Even though I’m still making weekly Target trips for apartment essentials and despite spending a good chunk of the weekend painting furniture in our still-incomplete apartment, I finally felt rooted. It’s a feeling I missed a lot while backpacking.

Until now, I had felt like I was being led around town, trying desperately to take mental notes only to be overwhelmed by how much I didn’t know. But this weekend I felt like I was starting to get the hang of things. I knew a good cafe for a late Friday night. I wanted to go to yoga taught by a great teacher on Sunday morning. And I knew I wanted dedicated girl-time.

Girlfriends: That’s something worth mentioning. I think it’s tough when a couple moves somewhere new where they know so few people; it’s hard to do anything on your own without making the other person feel left behind. But Eaman and I are starting to make friends and able to get in some bro-time and girl-time, respectively. It’s healthy, fun and necessary because he can hear about my eyeliner issues and I can hear about fantasy basketball only so many times.

Here’s what the weekend looked like…

As I mentioned, Persian New Year is coming up, so Eaman and I are arranging our first Haft-Seen together. This is a traditional table setting for New Year filled with seven objects starting with the Farsi letter seen, each with its own symbolism. It includes: a mirror, apple, candles, rose water, sprouts, goldfish and painted eggs. Eaman’s mom likes to throw in a hyacinth, too, so we’ve followed suit. This one was $4 from Trader Joe’s and smells divine.

Friday nights out haven’t been my thing for a while; it’s the end of the work week and I’m too tired to stand around a bar. But play Bananagrams at a cafe with chocolate mousse on the side? That I can do. (Oh, and I won, which according to Eaman isn’t a big deal since I was a journalism major. “You’re supposed to be good at this!”)

We finally got around to painting furniture. It was my first time doing anything remotely decorative or DIY for a home, and I loved it! Here, we started with two green dining chairs. Our dining table is a beautiful vintage piece with shades of brown, black, beige and red  — trust me, it’s nice — but that means it’s hard as hell to find a complementary color for the chairs. That said, we knew green wasn’t it. White made the most sense, and I’m loving how they brighten up the area now.

Nothing builds up an appetite quite like…waiting for paint to dry. Either way, we joined our friend for burgers and the famous beer-battered onion rings at Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern, an upscale American restaurant in Point Loma. The menu is on the pricier side, but I will say that the food really is that good. And definitely try the homemade chipotle ketchup. (Don’t you just love/hate how the knife through the burger makes you feel like a beast?)

Ah, the Hillcrest Farmers market — my weekly happy place. I came here with girlfriends, picked up the California staples (a.k.a. six avocados) and downed fresh horchata. I wonder when seeing bright, juicy oranges won’t be exciting.

After the farmers market, us gals drove to Mission Trails Regional Park and hiked the Climbers Loop, a fairly easy, one-mile hike that requires delicate footwork thanks to some loose rocks. (It also leads up to a popular climbing wall.) I think out of everything I did this weekend, this random midday hike was what made me feel most rooted. To be able to drive 10 minutes to a removed and beautiful park, where I can hike for 30 minutes and then get back to my day — that’s what I came out here for.

Now, I’ve finally got my head above water to appreciate that.