Birthday tulips. Photo credit: Brian, a patron of Terún Pizza.
This month’s inspiration came from a vase of tulips.
Terún is a neighborhood spot that reminds you why locally owned businesses matter. This year, the staff surprised me with a vase of tulips at the bar (last year it was balloons) and a signed birthday card from the team. The photo above was snapped by another regular who I learned loves photographing flowers, so let the photo shoot begin! And, within minutes we were talking about AI (who isn't these days), a recent trip to Healdsburg, and the NBA playoffs.
What struck me afterward is how accidental community can be.
When I moved to Palo Alto from NYC in 2021, Covid restrictions were still lingering and there was more disconnection then connection. Terún happened to be the first restaurant we went to. They let us sit at the bar, something we hadn’t done in nearly two years, and it was simply joyful. Two days later, I woke up and thought, “Let’s go back for that pizza.”
We walked in, and they remembered us.
That was it. A tiny moment. But also the beginning of becoming regulars.
Four years later, the same familiar faces are still there. The two brothers who own the restaurant, along with a team that somehow makes a packed Friday night feel personal. The regulars you start recognizing before you know their names. In an area obsessed with scale, speed, disruption, and optimization, there’s something refreshing about a place built on consistency.
And honestly? In today’s Bay Area real estate market, a dependable seat at the bar is much easier to secure than a move-in ready home.
Housing inventory across the Peninsula remains incredibly tight.
Buyers are circling the same limited listings, waiting for something great to hit the market, and when it does, battling through multiple offers while many sellers are staying put for a myriad of reasons.
Real estate is often framed around transactions, pricing, inventory, and timing which are all important, of course. But people are also searching for something less measurable: connection. Familiar faces. A sense that you’re part of the rhythm of a place.
Sometimes that begins with a new address.
And sometimes it looks like a Friday night pizza, a vase of tulips, and a saved seat at the bar.
- Lisa
On The Move is a curated mix of what’s inspiring me lately, what’s shifting in the market, and what might just shift your perspective or inspire you too.
