i want to get back to my city by the bay.

happiness tip number three thousand four hundred and sixty seven. not really, but kind of.

put journey "when the lights go down in the city" on.

{on repeat, of course}.

and dance like no one is watching in your kitchen while cooking brussel sprouts to perfection. all on a tuesday night.



it works, i swear.

you will feel like the luckiest duck in the whole wide world knowing that you live in that city by the bay. yes, that very one.

i have this silly, vivid memory of the first time i ever heard this song.

i'm fifteen. sophomore year of high school. it's junior prom on treasure island. i'm wearing a long, sea-foam green, sparkly dress. this is the last song. balloons fall from the ceiling and a group of us are outside awaiting the limo, staring at the san francisco skyline. for some reason i remember the sky lit up with a bright golden sunset behind the bridge, although that doesn't make much sense now, as it must have been late in the night.

every time i hear this song i think of that moment. so young. i had no idea i'd be where i am now. no idea as i stared across the water, that that city would be my home. my everything. keeper of secrets and adventures and growing up and independence and struggle and healing and love and happiness.

this memory might only really make sense in my head, but it makes me smile.