Where's the big city girl?

I spent 18 years in one of the largest cities in the nation. I also spent 6 years in Denver. It's not quite Houston but it's big.  That means I have spent 80% of my life as a big city girl. Big freeways, large shopping malls, traffic and congestion should all feel like home to me. When we first moved here I remember thinking, 'where is everything?' As I searched for food venues, shopping centers and other metropolitan type locations. Date nights even seemed gloomy with such limited options.

Apparently 2 years in a smaller area will wipe that completely clean.

This weekend I started to get a bit stir crazy and I interpreted that to mean I needed to get out of the Monterey peninsula region. It's small here and sometimes I just think I need to have a taste of the faster paced, bigger life.

No no no no no. In hindsight, my stir-craziness was most likely a result of spending my time couped up in the office, NOT a result of needing some big city air.

Yesterday William and I went to San Jose to go to the container store. SAN JOSE. It's not even a big city people! It was a long trip just for the container store but I thought I just needed to get out. Plus I'd travel almost any distance if the destination is the container store - that's a no brainer. 

I will say the 1.5 hours we spent in the store were quite heavnely. William was well enough behaved for me to go up and down every aisle and I got some fun little things for Charles's closet. Nothing big - I went for a $20 item and came out only spending $100, so I think it was a controlled success on my part. Plus it's just such a relaxing place!!!

However.

The 20 minutes it took for us to park - from the moment we entered the garage to the moment we walked out - plus the 30 minutes (and one near-rundown in the crosswalk by a cool guy in a muscle car) it took us to exit the parking garage nearly took away all of the zen the container store had provided. It was a complete madhouse.

Poor William knows nothng of that kind of traffic. As we were trying to get back on the freeway he said 'mommy the light is green we are supposed to be moving' -- yes sweet dear small city child, I know. But sometimes you sit still through a few rounds of a green light for no apparent reason. 

Then when we were about 20 minutes from home William said, 'mommy we have been gone a long time. I'm homesick for Monterey'. 

I'm not sure where the journey of life will take us next. but if it's anywhere bigger than this quiet little 50,000ish peninsular region, I'm gonna guess it is going to be quite the culture shock. For all of us.

Bring on the anxiety - and bring on the tequila!