Almost immediately after graduating college, we moved here for our jobs (mainly because Bryan's job offer seemed like a golden opportunity), despite the fact that neither one of us has family or friends here.  His job isn't turning out like we thought it would be and neither did our first apartment together.  A bit of a bummer, but not the end of the world.  I didn't think that almost a year after moving away, I would still be missing my family so much.  Maybe it's because I come from a big family and I'm not used to all the solitude.  I'm the oldest of 7 if you include my ex step-brother. 

We haven't done that much exploring around Bakersfield and I think it would be good for us to maybe get involved in a "beer league" or something.  Any suggestions?  What's fun around here?  We're open to all kinds of suggestions - arts, cooking, volunteering, athleics, music, martial arts, shopping, entertainment, you name it. 

We've tried a few restaurants like Uricchio's (probably our favorite in town) and Med Cafe, but where are the other "blow-me-away-with-tasty-food" pla ces? 

You wanna know one of the big differences between Bakersfield and the Bay Area?  Where are the Asian and Indian people?  It seems like there's only 3 races in Bakersfield - black, white, and hispanic.  I know there's more crime here than where we used to live, but maybe it's just scarier because it's still a new and unfamiliar place.  How do you all deal with the higher amount of crime?  Where can I take a good self-defense class? 

What are the hidden gem cool neat things about Bakersfield that you see?