"GETTING COLDER WITH EVERY STEP I TOOK TO YOUR APARTMENT, DEAR."

I often look back and think about our past apartments. Since Matthew and I first moved out, about three years ago, we've have three apartments and one house. I'm not sure whether I ever truly felt like I had a home when we were renting mainly because I always knew it was temporary. I have such a deep fondness of San Francisco architecture that had we stayed in the city, I would have attempted to persuade Matthew to move just once more to Noe Valley. We only had the opportunity to live in two districts which were almost one in the same since they were just a stones throw away from each other: Ashbury Heights and Upper Haight.

While there were pros and cons about both, I'd move back to either one in a heartbeat. What I remember most about our time spent there is the immense energy I had every day. I never felt like I was just living each day to get to the next, and I found beauty in everything around me. In every nook and on every street there was a quaint Victorian home, a lovely dog park and hole in the wall shops that given the time, I would have explored each and every single one of them. I never found city life to be as fast paced as some people assume or claim it is. In fact, for whatever reason, I feel like I had more time in the day to do things for myself: workout, have dinner with my friends and just enjoy the few hours before and after work. While our apartments were by no means luxurious or extravagant, we did our best to decorate and make it feel welcoming. What mainly attracted us to this studio apartment was the crown molding and location. It was beyond stunning and immediately cast a spell on me because I had always envisioned myself living in a San Francisco apartment with that exact moulding (not to mention the incredible stove!)

Our view wasn't the greatest thing in the world, in fact far from it, but the ability to step out on the patio and see the backs of some beautiful houses with peaks in the background was a luxury to us. Although we had a garden, we never got to use it because we moved in in the winter and moved out before spring (it was a short term lease). I'm sure had we stayed we would have had many-a barbeque festivities and late nights in the yard. However, what I miss the most is our navy blue state-of-the-art kitchen (the previous owner was a chef and owned her own restaurant). It had hardwood floors, amazing windows and so much natural light. If I could copy and paste that kitchen into every place I live, I'd be a happy woman.

But sadly, we had to move after a few months and find a new apartment. We randomly stopped by an open house on a Saturday morning just two weeks before we were supposed to move out and were panicking. This little apartment happened to be just three blocks away and absolutely perfect. Although I'll always miss the location of our first place, I will never, not ever, miss having to trudge up the awful hill on Ashbury Street.