Alameda

I moved to Alameda, CA in late 2010. The company I was working for at the time had an office in Oakland, and since I was flying back and forth to California several times a month, they decided it might make more sense for me to live there. I jumped at the chance to move to California, and immediately fell in love with Alameda.

One of my colleagues suggested Alameda to me during my apartment search. I believe her exact words were, "I think you'll dig it," and I did. I'm not going to lie, the second I learned about the spite house on the island, I was sold on living there. It took me forever to actually find the spite house, but eventually I did, and I realized I had been driving by it at least once a week. I made it a habit of visiting it more often (from the outside, of course) before I moved back to the East Coast. 

Anyway, living in Alameda was strange. I started my other blog when I moved there because I felt like a I'd been dropped into an alien planet. If you've ever lived on an island, you probably have some appreciation for this. I wasn't out to steal anyone's history or anything, but man, did it take forever to make friends and be seen as a least local-adjacent. I lived in my favorite apartment of all time during my residence on the island, introduced my friends to the concept of "ironic statement babies," spent time at the tiki bar, and followed local gossip to score some Alameda honey. I eventually moved back to the DC area when my job changed (again), and it made more sense for me to be back at the home office. I miss Alameda terribly. Despite the "you're not from around here" vibe, it was still one of the best places I've ever lived. 

Today's piece is inspired by a joke around the Bay Area that Alameda is where hipsters go to breed. They leave the city (San Francisco) and go to Alameda since the houses are more affordable (probably not anymore) and the vibe is more family friendly. These are the people who led me to the idea of ironic statement babies. The road I included on the map is the main road to get on and off the island. If you're going to or coming from Oakland, you take the Posey or Webster Street tubes (tunnels under the bay). If you're going toward San Leandro, you can take the same road to Bay Farm or a few other side streets have small bridges to Oakland. The red dot is where the USS Hornet is located. It's a popular attraction on the island. I opted to stitch the island in blue since I knew I wasn't going to fill in the San Francisco Bay. I was going for a vintage postcard vibe. Not sure it's there completely, but it's a start.

Details:
Stitches: back and satin stitches, French knot
Thread palette: DMC 891, 3845 (3 strands), DMC 666 (6 strands), SS 012 (3 strands), DMC 310 (2, 3 strands)