It’s officially official.

I got a job! Yay! I am a copywriter at a marketing consulting company. The irony is that it’s about two hours from my last job – Huntersville, N.C., just north of Charlotte. (For those of you who know Misty, it’s where she works. I owe her a steak dinner.) Go figure, huh? Anyway, they want me to start in less than two weeks so I have to order my affairs and say my goodbyes to California this weekend before making the trek back across the continental U.S. It’s definitely going to be bittersweet. I’ve enjoyed living on the West Coast, and I don’t regret my decision to come here but it's time to move on. Besides, I’ll be a lot closer to my family. The next couple weeks are going to be crazy so it’s nothing personal if I don’t return calls/emails.

Luckily, I spent most of the weekend in San Francisco with my cousin, Lisa, doing the tourist thing and sightseeing. We walked around Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and even ate at the Hard Rock Café. We walked along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge. On Sunday, I ventured up to Coit Tower and then through Chinatown. I spent two solid hours just walking around in the rain (what we call a ‘shower’ in the Mid-west) and it was great. It’s hard to describe but there’s a vibe in the air in a place like that – a fusing of time and cultures. It fascinates me how so many different things just mesh whether by choice or necessity.

“I am just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.”

My day will be spent working with a sore throat so these romantic quotes, from Notting Hill and other films, will have to substitute this V-Day. Hope everyone - single and couples - have a great day.

“You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.” – Gone With the Wind

“Have you never met a woman who inspires you to love? Until your every sense is filled with her? You inhale her. You taste her. You see your unborn children in her eyes and know that your heart has at last found a home. Your life begins with her, and without her it must surely end.” – Don Juan DeMarco

“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds and that's what you've given me.” – The Notebook

“I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.” – In a Lonely Place

“It seems right now that all I’ve ever done in my life is making my way here to you.” – Bridges of Madison County

“I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.” – Jerry Maguire (Also: “I love you. You... complete me.” “Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at ‘hello.’”)

“Look. I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But, I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me.” – Runaway Bride

“I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss from her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it.” – City of Angels

“You make me want to be a better man.” – As Good As It Gets

“Only you, you're the only thing I'll see forever. In my eyes, in my words and in everything I do.” – West Side Story

“Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me from my solitude. Say you want me with you, here beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go, too. Love me, that's all I ask of you.” – The Phantom of The Opera

“...I think I'd miss you even if we'd never met.” – The Wedding Date

“What I really want to do with my life – what I want to do for a living – is I want to be with your daughter. I'm good at it.” – Say Anything

“I love that you get cold when it's seventy degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend a day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes, and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night.” – When Harry Met Sally

It ain’t all candy and roses.

Who knew the day before Valentine’s Day could feel like an episode of the Twilight Zone. It started out OK, but then as soon as I get off the bus at work all hell breaks loose. A car accident happened in an intersection less than 30 seconds after I crossed through it. I didn’t see it but the sound of twisting metal and glass was enough for me. Luckily, both drivers walked away but I think one was stunned by the airbags.

Then I get to work – scheduled to work a mid-shift (not opening or closing) – and find out a girl called off sick. Not usually a big deal except it’s a jewelry store the day before V-Day. Two of us worked overtime and closed the store. The good news? Because guys wait to the last minute to buy gifts, we nearly doubled the sales goal. I wonder if I can squeeze a bonus out of this. And tomorrow I get to do it all again. As long as it doesn’t become my Groundhog’s Day.