My makeshift full-length mirror
The $50 dresser
Guest bedroom
Chalk Miami Beach
Hollywood
The in-laws: 39 years married and still sweet on each other.
Archive for the ‘wanderlust’ Category
Davis v. Miami
One of the most common questions I get about Miami from my non-Miami friends is “Is Miami expensive?”
Yes and no.
It’s a huge metropolitan area, so it really depends on where you are.
Since leaving my parents’ nest at 18, I have lived in Irvine, New York and Davis before making it to Miami. So how does Miami compare?
Miami v. Irvine
Apartment complexes in Miami’s suburbs are cheaper than in Irvine’s were in 2002. There are college dives near UM that are also pretty comparable to Irvine’s eats. Proximity to the beach is comparable, but Miami wins in the city department (because it’s actually a city city).
Miami v. NYC
You get way more bang for your buck in Miami real estate compared to NYC, and the condos and buildings are generally newer here. Miami weather is awesome, but New York’s amazing subway system, walkable grid and abundance of cheap good eats beats Miami’s any day.
Miami v. Davis
Davis is by far the cheapest place I’ve ever lived, in terms of housing, food and gas. It is also the most inconveniently located, except in its proximity to outlet malls. Two (pretty good) outlet malls within 45 minutes is pretty cool, but the 2 hour drive to the closest cold windy beach? Not so much.
Miamians—how does Miami compare to your past experiences? Non-Miamians—are you ready to move to Miami yet?
I’m off to learn to use my fancy camera tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s a peek at what I’ve been up to this month (or more accurately, what I was up to President’s Day weekend).
- Everglades National Park
- Gators!
- I spy…
- Spread your wings
- Bright and shiny
- South Beach
And a few more from the phone:
Clockwise from top left: Caramel apple cider cookies | Key Largo | Mermaid’s winecup | Desire Obtain Cherish‘s “Heresy’s Cross – Mint Chocolate” at Art Wynwood | Canoeing at Biscayne National Park | Glass bottom boats
I’ve finally started using Flickr, too, and I’m hoping it will encourage me to use my camera more. I’m not a photographer and don’t plan on ever being one, but I would like to make my investment worth it. So you can find me there now, too.
Home. A simple word, yet sometimes very difficult to understand. Having lived in 10 apartments in 3 states in the past decade and still not feeling ready to settle down, I think about the idea of home often but have yet to grasp exactly what it means to me. There are just too many places, physical and emotional, that feel like home or could be home.
Home. Where I was born and lived my young life. Moved out of state when I was 5 and have been there twice in the 23 years since. But I went to school there, had friends, had hobbies. I remember it barely, but always fondly. And I still root for my hometown team.
Home. Where my parents have lived since I was 5. Where I went to kindergarten, elementary school, junior high, and high school with many of the same kids (and went on to college with some of them, too). The neighborhood has changed, the house has been completely refinished and the backyard pool has been traded for grass and landscaping, but it’s still very much the same as I remember. I still have friends here, places to visit and things to see. I even keep doubles of all my toiletries here so I don’t have to pack mini-versions of everything when I fly.
Home. Where my family is from, where I spent many a childhood summers roaming the hot alleys of Taipei (supervised of course). Where I saw my cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Where there are albums and albums of pictures from my parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods.
Home. Wherever I’m living at the moment. NYC was home for a brief period. Davis was home for four years. Miami is now home. It hit me when I returned from visiting with my sister-in-law last month and K was driving me home through the bustle and bright lights of downtown Miami toward our building. It was so familiar, yet so foreign.
I see a lot of people for whom home is one place: one city, one region, one state, one house. Sometimes I get a little jealous that everything that is home to them can be together. Don’t get me wrong, I love exploring new places, finding my own way and having a good excuse to visit California on a regular basis. And I’m not sure that I’m ready to pick one place and settle down yet. I just wonder sometimes what it would feel like to know you’re completely at home.
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Elsewhere
Bookworm
