This update is long overdue, but two weeks ago, we moved from our small one bedroom apartment in Berkeley to a two bedroom duplex in El Cerrito. We’re still renting and it will likely be a while before we’re able to buy (let alone afford) our own house, but for now, we’re just grateful to have a little more space.

The move went pretty smoothly — before the big moving day, we slowly took a bunch of boxes over to the new place everyday, and then on moving day we moved the rest of our belongings as well as all heavy furniture in a moving truck within half a day. We went back to the Berkeley apartment last weekend to scrub and sweep to make sure everything was in good shape to turn back over to our previous landlord.

Goodbye, Berkeley!
Our old apartment building in Berkeley. The building itself was almost 100 years old, but the inside has recently been remodeled. Goodbye Berkeley! Thank you for the fun times.

Berkeley had been fun to live in for a while — there’s definitely a lot to do and so many good places to eat, and it was fun to be in a college town again. I’m going to miss having three movie theaters within walking distance and all the delicious ethnic restaurants that were in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, since we were on a main road and very close to Berkeley High School, it was always pretty loud and over the course of the year, we outgrew the place and decided that we needed a more spacious living space.

El Cerrito is only the next town over from Berkeley, so we didn’t move very far. It’s definitely a more residential area compared to the rowdy semi-urban college town of Berkeley, and so it’s a lot quieter. We live right by a huge shopping center that has a Bed, Bath and Beyond, Lucky’s, Barnes & Noble, JoAnn Fabrics, CVS Pharmacy, a handful of restaurants, and… ::drumroll please:: Trader Joe’s! I love grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, so it’s exciting that we have one only two blocks away now. Dan, being Mr. Fix-It, loves that there is a big Ace Hardware and TAP Plastics nearby. haha* We are also lucky enough to have the El Cerrito Plaza BART station within less than two blocks — so much closer than we were to Downtown Berkeley BART when we lived at our previous apartment. The post office, UPS, and bank are also within walking distance — I walk everywhere because I gave up my car last year, so it makes life so much easier to have those so close by. 99 Ranch and the small Japanese grocery store we shop at (Yaoya-san) is also very close, so we can always be fully stocked with our Asian food.

Although there are still a few boxes lying around, we’ve pretty much settled in to our new place and we are really enjoying it so far. Here are some photos!

duplex + driveway
View from outside. House number has been blurred for privacy purposes.

entrance to the unit
The living room (front entrance area)

living room
Futon sofa and coffee table in our living room. (Please excuse the mess of boxes and Dan's bike - they will be going in the garage once they finish working on it.)

other side of living room
Opposite view of living room, with our bookcases, TV, and chinchilla cage.

kitchen
the kitchen

dining table in the kitchen
The dining table in the kitchen. (As you can see, I have no shortage of aprons! There are six of them hanging there... gotta put them to good use!)

big bathroom mirror
The lovely bathroom. The photo doesn't do it justice. The huge mirror cabinets are my favorite part.

toilet and sink
Another photo of the the bathroom.

bathtub
Last shot of the bathroom.

bedroom
The bedroom.

dresser and mirror
We are in the process of fixing up this antique vintage dresser. (Notice some of the knobs are missing.) I've got all my jewelry and hair/skincare products sprawling across the top.

vanity stand
My vanity stand, where I get ready in the morning. If you haven't noticed, I love the Shabby Chic style.

home office
We are using the second bedroom as an office.

Finally! My own desk.
I finally have room to have my own desk! Yes, that's right -- in the two and a half years since moving out to California, I didn't have my own desk. Can you believe it? I was always marginalized at the corner of Dan's ginormous desk, occasionally roaming with my laptop over to the coffee table or dining table. But now that we have the space, I bought myself my own desk and chair. Exciting!

workspace
So nice to have my very own workspace! My at-home workflow is so much better now.

storage for craft supplies
Storage area above and beside my desk for all my craft and art supplies. The storage shelves and drawers are all new, too. Can't wait to put everything to good use!

There’s still a lot of things I’d like to do to help prettify the place, but right now I’m just happy to be moved in. It’s difficult to invest a lot of time and effort when you know that the place you’re living is temporary and I keep dreaming of the day I’ll be able to decorate and furnish my very own forever home. I am happy with the way we are set up for now, though, and now that we have more space, we will also be able to comfortably host visiting friends and family. For our local friends, please feel free to visit us, and for those who are farther way, it may just be time to start planning those vacations out to the Bay Area… 😉