there are many reasons i go to burning man, but each year what brings me back to the playa is different. before leaving to the 2010 event i was really lost about where i should be, who i should be spending my time with and what relationships i need to nourish. i took those questions with me to the playa and found in short i need to make an effort to love my friends and be more active in these real friendships, friendships that i had for some time now but only really was active in while i was doing things like burning man events. . . or in san francisco and santa cruz. but i didnt have any of there real connections in san jose. once i actively stared to want to be with these people, people Wanted to be with me. making an effort, and for the first time in a long time i found my self in a relationship with someone who really wanted to be with me and who made me a priority.
so the story unfolds in less then one weeks period of time. i was living in san jose, i had my own one bed room apartment that i loved, doing a lot of painting and reflecting. living alone is something i think everyone should do at some point in their life. i was working 9-6 selling high-end patio furniture to rich people in the los altos hills. where i do love furniture and design i was under stimulated to say the least. i just started dating mike, who lived in san francisco, but was willing to make the trip to spend time starting this relationship.
friday night jason was hosting a get together at his place in menlo park, where many of us from bob's rainforest (our burning man camp) would be getting together for some fun. mike came and picked me up in san jose and we went to the party together. over some speak easy cocktail allen, haley and whitney came up to me with a plan. saying 'arnt you excited that there is a room open in our place and your going to move to san fracisco finally?!?!'. this is where team 'get bonnie to move to sf started'. mike and a handfull of others in the room joined the cause right away.
i had the first rehearsal of the season for my can-can dance group in san francisco that following wednesday night. i was really excited to be back dancing with a bunch of awesome woman (and two men), woman that for the first time in my life was a group i was forming a solid relationship with. so i thought it was a good reason to hang out with mike and why not check out the place that day before dancing. i set up a meeting with allen and haley where they showed me around the place. we talked about how awesome it would be to all live together and where my art could live, brunch parties, hanging out and more. we checked out the neighborhood (the mission) where i had a true since i would really fit in.
i slept on it after rehearsal and the hour drive back to san jose... the next day i had off from work. i woke up with a new excitement about my future. thinking of all the new adventures and the people i would meet in san francisco. all the people and events i miss out on year round being in san jose. i was inspired. inspired in a way i hadnt felt in to long of a time. so i decided. i was moving to san francisco november 1st. i sent my 30 days notice to my landlord, told my boss partrick, who had become a close friend and was sad to hear i was leaving, but genuinely happy to hear i found my spark. and that was that. i said "universe, bring it on!"
when i got to work the next day i had a glow. i decided i should keep the news to myself for a couple weeks at work, but it was hard to keep the grin off my face. i started work at 9:30. about 15 min after that i got a call out of nowhere from an old friend. "debi thea" it said on my phone, i had met her in 2005 at thea resturant in santana row where i had worked for years of my adulthood. she was one of the only burning man people i knew from that group of people and i knew she had moved to sf a few years back. she had a bit of excitment mixed in with franticness, which i now know is more common then not with her in a good way ;) . she was calling because she knew what she wanted and she was out to get it. she started of with 'what are you doing these days, im sure your doing the 9-5 thing right?". right she was, but i decided that i should see why she called, and i told her i was but had decided yesterday i was going to move to sf. she said 'great, do you need a job'. she then went on to explain how she had been working opening her own bar, gave me the details of the concept and shared with me her dream. then she said i was the kind of bartender she wanted to work her bar if she ever opened her own, so she call me.
i was shocked! and honored and totally on board. the timeing and location couldnt have been more in sync. she was opening in november and the location was 8 blocks from where i would be moving. i was scared about moving to a new city, i was hesitent about getting back into bartending, i wasnt sure where my relationship with mike was going, i had a lot of fear lets just say. but i was ok with that. so i did it. i must say it was one of the best disitions i have ever made.
so that is the story of moving to san francisco.
