Tastes Like Home

 

Oh the deliciousness of a minty clean mouth.

Or should I say, the clean and fresh taste of Arm & Hammer baking soda and peroxide toothpaste.

How I do love thee?

Let me count the ways.

I went a grocery shopping today.

A real grocery shop.

I went to Berkeley Bowl.

It was my first time at the Berkeley Bowl West; it’s the closest to the housesitting gig I am doing.  I spent about half of what I am being paid and could not have cared less.

Money well spent.

I got Almond milk and organic apples, Bengal Spice Tea, organic tomatoes, almond milk and coconut yogurt (vegan!), coconut body lotion, coconut lip balm, see a theme?  I got coconut hair conditioner too.

Here’s to my hair returning to pre-France state.

Although I will credit the French with my appealing messy topknot hairstyle, so in chic.  I believe because there is no other hairstyle that can capture my nest right now.  Hoping that a week or so of showering in good ol’ USA water will bring it back to its pre-France rat’s nest.

Yeah, I am a girl; my blog will occasionally have hair product references in it.  Get over it.  I also have glitter nail polish on my fingers.  I un-earthed my bucket of Burning Man cosmetics from the attic at Graceland.

No more hiding myself under a bushel.

Flowers in the hair and glitter on the toes.

Oh.

I saw a nail salon today!  Manicure and pedicure and wax these scary eyebrows please.  And may it not be 100 Euro to do so.

It’s Oakland, so I doubt it.

I saw a lot today.

I was on my bicycle a lot.

I decided to test run the commute from Graceland to the nanny gig, which as it turns out will start tomorrow instead of Tuesday, they need extra coverage.  It was quicker than I had thought and the route is relatively flat, a few small inclines, but overall flat as a pancake.

I will have no problem riding my one speed fixed geared girl all over the place.

Total commute time?

45 minutes door to door.

Well, sort of, I did stop and take a photograph of my bicycle under”Oakland” graffiti.  I imagine I will stop and take more photos of the graffiti before I am done.  I have always been a fan of street art.

I took the ride calmly and stopped at all the lights and checked the directions a couple of times, Google maps you’re good, but you ain’t great.  And as I stated, the ride took approximately 45 minutes.

I bet I can shave off 5-10 after a few weeks ride and once I get used to it, it will go by like butter.  It will also be the exercise my body needs.  Burn more calories then walking and spend less money than riding BART.

I got to the housesitting gig happy to find a typed three-page letter of what to do when and the $200 in cash under a pound of Four Barrel coffee.

Thank you!

I am still a little miffed at the amount of work that covering the house and the dog and the cat will take over the next eleven days, but ultimately, it is the seed money I needed to get myself back in the game of living.

It got me toiletries and a new Kleen Kanteen—I’m going to need a good water bottle if I am going to be bicycling an hour and a half each day—and groceries to round out what is here in the house.

It is not super stocked with what I eat, but there was enough to get me started.

I had lunch with the pup sitting at my feet and the cat winding its way about my ankles on the back porch overlooking a well-groomed little back yard with strawberries growing in pots and fava beans spilling out of the garden bed.

I got in a nice walk thereafter and was tempted to walk the dog all the way to the grocery store, but after getting about halfway there she did what she needed to do and I thought, don’t push it, you may still have some jet lag to deal with and you will need your energy for the Junebug this evening.

I turned around, got my bike and road to the Bowl.

I must say it was love at first sight.

Albeit a bit overwhelming.

I had gotten used to the very limited selection of foodstuffs at the marches in Paris.

Why there was an aisle with just soy/rice/almond/coconut milks that could have been a market in Paris.  I just stood in front of it and smiled.

Nice to be home.

I think folks thought I was stoned.  I just wandered around with a dreamy smile plastered on my face and I walked quite slowly.  There was a lot to see and I was not used to taking in that much information again.  I did not even attempt to go through the bulk area.

I filled my hand basket—Japanese sweet potatoes!  Earth Balance, Yves Ground “beef”.  I am making a vegan chili on the morrow.  The house has a huge stock of dried beans and I haven’t cooked up a good chili in a while.  The weather has turned a little cooler so it does not seem that far fetched to do.

I had my first nectarine of the season.

I adore stone fruit.

It’s coming into season.

I am so happy to have California produce again, I cannot express.

I am not so happy to still be jetlagged.

Once again I thought it was beat, but it was not.

However, I believe I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.  The last couple of days I was tired out around 4pm in the after noon, aka, 1am Paris time.  Today I made it past the 4pm mark until about 8pm.  Then I began to drag and droop.

Fortunately the Junebug, who I got to hang with this eve, was getting into the bath and would be shortly thereafter getting into the bed.

Bunk bed.

Love me a bunk bed.

I could have crawled into the top and dozed right off.

We had us a lovely night.  We sang silly songs and made up a secret language and practiced rhyming words.  We drew and colored and built a house out of multi-colored blocks.  We played kitchen and talked silly.

It was awesome.

And I am so beat I cannot write more or guarantee that this blog is even worth the read.  But as it is my practice I will just put it out there.

Even though the Internet is down and this may not post until morning.

Bonne nuit!

Uh, I mean good night.

Tags: babysitting, baking soda and peroxide, Berkeley Bowl, bicycling, graffiti, Oakland, organic apples, post-a-day