wish you were here...

matt is on study leave this week, so we are in pasadena, where we lived while matt finished grad school. we'd only been married one year, and we lived in a tiny little 450 square foot cottage. the shutters were pink. we'd eat meals at the end of the day in a dining nook that was smaller than many people's walk in closets. in the morning, we would run or walk along the bungalow lined streets, and at night, i'd paint out in our little garage. our place was one of four identical cottages, all lined up next to each other. it feels surreal to be back here, and i'm suddenly reminded of some of the things that make pasadena, well, so pasadena:

• the food. matt's stomach really likes pasadena. the hat for a pastrami burger, rick's for a sourdough cheeseburger, fries and iced tea, lucky boy for a breakfast burrito, la estrellita for nachos...(i'm partial to zankou chicken & the massive salads at green street restaurant-hello, yum.)
  
• the flock of noisy green parrots. i'd totally forgotten about these very loud, very active in the morning birds until first thing tuesday morning.
• the random shopping carts strewn everywhere in the city. shopping cart, anyone?
  
• the really wide, tree-lined streets. when we lived here the ghetto bird flew over our house every night, so we weren't exactly living in an upscale area, but our street was still wide and green. love.
  
• the rose bowl. so fun to walk around - it kind of reminds me of walking around lake merritt in oakland. except there's no water. or annoying fowl to trip over.
  
• the houses, which range from teeny cottage to cool restored bungalow to palatial mansion. pasadena is such a walkable city, and there are so many pretty houses to ogle...which reminds me of just how much matt and i walked when we lived here - even in the not so great areas of town it feels walkable.
• the traveling grocery stores. there are these nondescript delivery looking vans painted all white; once they pull over and roll up the back door, they become mobile mini marts. i walked by one yesterday that was chock full of items for sale: housewares, food, produce, random stuff, all neatly organized and lining the truck's insides from floor to ceiling. that's exactly what i need parked outside of my house when i run out of sugar in the middle of making cookies.
• the super great (and why don't they have these at all intersections besides chinatown and pasadena) crosswalks where you can cross diagonally as well as just through the traditional crosswalk? love it. you feel a little rebellious even though you are law abiding in your street crossing.
• vroman's bookstore. i freaking love that bookstore. little m and i walked down there yesterday for a little quality time, and from the look on her face as she pulled books by the handful from the shelves and dumped them on the floor, i think little m likes vroman's as much as i do. bonus: i spotted one of my papyrus cards that i hadn't seen in stores yet, so if you need to thank the administrative professional in your life, have i got the card for you!

ah, pasadena. it's good to be back, if ever so briefly.