You're still here??

Ra:
Hehe, we've been meeting all these folks that have now said goodbye to us 5 times, and this is the response we get ;)

but yes, we are still here. we are packing away furiously, and i'd say about 85% done. the last 15% should be tomorrow (friday), with the free service by the storage guys moving all out stuff into their space. I still intend on tipping them, but it's gonna be much cheaper than a regular moving company.

it's been interesting for both us to pack up our lives here. we've both been together for 4~5 years, and we've lived in this space - recognized as Rasha - for almost 4 years (would have been 4 years in Jan of '11). lots of parties, lots of memories, lots of good moments came and went in this space with a lot of friends, some still with us, some have moved on in the great scheme of life. we're going to miss this space, and we're happy to let you know all that it's staying in the family - Ptony and Angi are moving in. now, whether they have as many parties as we did... well, that's up to them.

So, we've got 3 more nights at Rasha, which ironically, we're spending in the guest bedroom. After that, our big adventure begins. First with couch surfing at friends for 3 nights, (and taking someone to small claims court the night before we leave), and then Israel for 3 weeks for Noam's and Hagits wedding - joined by some of our bay area community, then we'll be joined by Penguin and Tom for as long as penguin's vacation will allow him to take through Israel, Jordan, Egypt and India. after that, Thailand, and.... the world!

Last Work Day

Sasha:
Today is the last day I go to work in my shop.  I have a couple client projects to finish, a bunch of emails to send, and need to take a side trip to introduce my assistant to a client in San Rafael.  Yesterday not one, but TWO clients who had been completely silent for the past two months called me to inquire about a project.  I told them their timing was superb, and that I'd pass on Rachel's info to them.  Sigh.  Where were they when things were completely dead in September?

Bangkok Dreams

Sasha:
Last night I dreamt that we flew to Thailand. There were tropical trees, curbside noodle shops, and a little girl whose family we were staying with.  Oh, and there was also a casino where Ra won $45,000, and a shoot out at a gas station. . . I guess those are the parts that remind me that it was all just a dream.  In the dream I'm standing at the noodle shop, about to hand them the card that tells them not to feed me wheat or soy sauce, and then I remember that I haven't printed them yet!

We leave in 15 days, and are in a medium state of readiness- we haven't packed up the house yet, or done a trial run with our backpacks. Plans are filling in our first few weeks in Israel, I've laid out a tentative day by day of Jordan and Egypt, and I have a skeleton plan laid out against the back of my eyelids that will take take shape as we go the rest of the way.  We have travel companions coming to join us in the Middle East at the end of November, but Penguin's timeline is very much in flux. I'm delighted that we are not the sort of people who need to have everything organized ahead of time, or I'd be going crazy right now.

I have two more days of working in my shop, finishing one project for a client, and a few other projects to take with us. My fantastic assistant, Rachel, will be taking over my shop- building corsets, fur coats, and wedding dresses while I'm gone.  If you want something done- contact her at rachel (at) curvedndarted (dot) com. The last time I was unemployed for a significant amount of time was the summer between high school and college ten years ago.  It will be an adventure to live without that structure, and the feedback loop of project-completion.  I may be going on vacation, but there are no promises that it will be easy.

-Sasha

Preparing for the trip

Zipper Headphones

Ra:
so, our preparations are going rather well. although it's been hard motivating and packing, we've been reading all about india, Thailand and Egypt, for starters.  sasha's making all these little projects - she made this awesome headphone/zipper thing (see picture on the right), money belts, rain flys for the backpack.. she's a busy little beaver, that one. :)

we are both still very excited about the trip. although this started out sasha's baby, we are both very excited about what's coming - a world of possibilities, literally.