In Transition: Petaluma, Lake Tahoe, then on to Boston!

My transition back into real-life America has been gentle to say the least. I arrived home in San Francisco on Saturday morning and have spent the week with my family in California (in Petaluma and Lake Tahoe) on what could be termed a post-vacation vacation. Because what do I need to do after having fun for two months? Have more fun!!!

We hit the Americana hard on Day 1 with a trip to the Sonoma County Fair. My sisters and I grew up going to the fair every summer, entering our artwork in the children's competitions, riding the rides, watching the horse races, and showing sheep and chickens through 4H. So we were pretty excited to introduce Liam (my nephew -- almost 1!!!) to all the wonders of livestock and free Clover ice cream cones and corn dogs and giant turkey legs! He had a great time.

Then my parents and I headed to Tahoe to get our beach/mountain time in! I wake up, work out, then go to the beach. My life is absurdly hard, I know. In extreme contrast to my entire Asian experience, the air here is SO DRY! I'm not sweaty at all and I don't even know what to do with myself. Don't worry though, I'm still wearing my same traveler clothes every day, in true traveler-fashion, because all my stuff is stowed away in a basement in Massachusetts.

Liam is such a BIG little person!!!

And dun dun dunnnn, I've decided that after a lazy couple months it's time to kick myself back into shape, so I'm running again! Also because I cannot say no to the trails in Tahoe, they're just too perfect to pass up. Lake Tahoe is at about the same altitude as Dalat, Vietnam, but it feels so much higher because of the thin air. So slowly-slowly I am running. My mama is in hiking training for this, so for the past two mornings she and I start at the same time: I run until I feel like stopping, and then I meet up with her for the rest of her hike. Yesterday I covered 14 miles and today was 12 -- not too shabby!

And to truly shock my system, I threw some yoga into the mix as well. Squaw Valley offers a free outdoor yoga class at 6 pm every Wednesday, so we went to check it out. Guess what's hard after two months off and many many loooog bus rides? EVERYTHING about yoga.

On Saturday night I board a plane yet again. This time I go to Boston, completing my circumnavigation (woot!), and start classes on Monday! Eeeeeekkkkk! 

Traveling with my Sister

I have been traveling with my little sister for a month. That's 30 days of togetherness for the first time ever.  And it has gone SO well!

While eating dinner on our last night in Nepal, two men asked to join us. Oh umm no thanks!  (We responded politely.) You'd think, after so much Mollie-Bridget time, we'd want some new faces in the mix. But we don't. We really just enjoy each other. Which got us thinking about how much togetherness it's been...

Me: Well there was one time I went to an internet cafe and left you at the guest house...

Sister2: Yeah, but I think that's all? We have literally been in the same room as each other this whole time!?

Because when I say we've just spent a month together, I don't mean one month of seeing each other every day. I mean one month of being literally next to one another 24/7.

We share hotel rooms and bus benches of course. All our meals are together (and since it's the off season, we're almost always the only two customers in the restaurant -- private restaurant, candle-lit dinner for two?). And for meals we usually get two things and go halfsies to maximize the things we can try. Our activities are together -- we just finished a private yoga class (again, no other tourists!). And we've also done a number of spa treatments (so cheap here!), which are always couple-style haha -- massages, mani-pedis, facials, and waxing, all done on tables next to one another (I guess we could request some separation in that situation, but neither of us actually care).

Sister2: Yeah, I was surprised that they put us in separate rooms just now for my haircut!

Me: True, but then  you did come join me for the end of my leg wax. I guess it would have been normal for you to have waited in the waiting room instead...

We're both kind of surprised by this awesome turn of events. From our India experience two years ago, we know we travel well together, but we each expected to get annoyed with the other at some point over the course of a month. The nice thing about traveling with family is that we can get mad and then easily get over it...but it just hasn't happened! 

Bridget: Soooo we're awesome and win at traveling together?

Me: Yup. High-five, go team!

Some people can tell we're sisters, but a shocking number don't see it! We tell people (usually it comes up when explaining that we're from the same place, Where from? being the first question everyone asks.), and the interaction  goes something like this:

Sisters? Really? Same mother?

Yep! Same mother same father! 

Ohhhh hmm I see now. Same same but different!

That's us!

"Same same but different" is a phrase used all over Asia to explain, well, everything. And it very accurately describes Sister2 and me. She's three years younger than me and graduate college just over a year ago. We're equally silly and serious, so we have deep conversations, but also will sing enthusiastically in public and laugh over random movie quotes for hours (i.e. Muppet Treasure Island). Siblings are great because you get the same obscure references!

After Nepal, Sister2 is heading back home to join the real world (she's been in Asia since last October!), and I will go on to Thailand to meet up with Andy. I'm excited for the rest of my trip, but so sad to see her go!

By the Book: Grammy Jean

She doesn’t make blog appearances very often, but guys, my grandma is awesome. She’s 88 and writes me letters regularly, updating me on life in Los Altos, the Stanford art classes she audits, the garden and antique shows she goes to, the family’s odds and ends and parties I’m missing, and of course, the books she’s reading. I respond by printing out my blog posts and mailing them to her, so she can stay updated on all the action in my life. And in true family-member fashion, she is both my biggest fan and my most honest critic. (McKayla is Not Impressed has NOTHING on Grammy Jean.)

Grammy Jean serves as the family conduit for books.  She hears of something or reads it first, then passes it to my mama, who then passes it on to me and my sisters. Eventually we give it back to her, and she passes it to one of my aunts, who then pass it on to cousins.  So until recently I’d never met my cousin (LLC) and her family in Michigan, but turns out we’ve read most of the same books – thank you Grammy Jean!

When I told her about my Young Adult Fiction Challenge, she got super-excited (“Very good dear!”), because she’s been in a Children’s Lit Group for yeeeears (I mean really, possibly longer than I’ve been alive). Most recently I recommended they read Quest for a Maid, and at least according to Grammy Jean, all the ladies loved it!

She also thought my By the Book series was particularly fun, so she asked me to print out the questions for her to bring to her Lit Group. She was a bit disappointed by how few group-members took the time to fill them out, but then, as she says, “It is difficult getting people in their 80s and 90s to remember anything. Oh well.”

So, without further ado, here it is...

Grammy Jean, By the Book!

What book is on your night stand now?
Let’s say “on my kitchen table.” The Gardener Heist by Ulrich Boser [I've read this – it's good! It's about the Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston]

What was the last truly great book you read?  
Ben Hur by Lew Walace; and Depths of Glory by Irving Stone

Any literary genre you simply can’t be bothered with?  
Romance and Mystery. [Agreed.]

What’s your favorite Shakespeare?  
Julius Caesar and Henry V

What was the last book that made you cry?  
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

The last book that made you laugh?  
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Name a book you just couldn’t finish.  
I can’t remember not finishing a book. [Yet another reason Grammy Jean is awesome, right? #champion]

What were your favorite books as a child? Did you have a favorite character or hero?  
My favorite book was Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter, and my favorite author was William Wallace. My heroes were Skeezix and Uncle Walt [has anyone else heard of them? I haven’t…info here], and Peter Rabbit.

What’s the best book your mother ever gave you to read?  
When Knighthood Was in Flower by Edwin Caskoden (aka Charles Major) [Grammy Jean lent me this when I was in junior high, and told me, with a very severe look, “Now listen dear. This is the most wonderful book and you will love it. Usually I don’t mind if you girls give me books back or not, but this one you MUST give back to me. If you don't I will be very upset with you.”], and Miss Minerva and William Green Hill by Frances Boyd Calhoun.

If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be?
Jane Austin

Have you ever written to an author? Did he or she write back?  
Brian Wildsmith – yes. [Grammy Jean! Give me details!]

You’re organizing a literary dinner party and inviting three writers. Who’s on the list?  
Jane Austin, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens.
OR
Emily Caar, Tasha Tudor, Beatrix Potter.

What’s the best movie based on a book you’ve seen recently?  
"War Horse"

What are you going to read next?  
I’m currently reading A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George

This interview is part of my By the Book series, in which I interview interesting people about their reading. Any readers out there interested in being featured here? If so, email me: eatrunreadmez@gmail.com.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Well I'm home again, doing the Petaluma thing (i.e. hanging with the fam, going to yoga, walking my dog) and it's pretty great.

If I saw this man walking down the street, I would freak out like this. Oh please, as if you wouldn't.

Christmas is the same here every year, so I won't walk you through it all again in detail, but let it suffice to say that we saw Santa (with a baby this time!!!), just got back from our Christmas Eve beach walk, and have epic plans of driving around to look at Christmas lights and watching Sesame Street Christmas tonight.

Our living room right now. No presents yet...

Oh HEY peppermint bark!!!

I bought this creche in Niger, where it was 105 degrees in December.

The traditional Dillon Beach walk.

Wherever you are, I hope you're having a wonderful holiday too!

Weekend Report: From California

Oh that’s right, I’m home again!

I hopped on a plane at crack o’dawn o’clock yesterday morning, made the loooong journey from DC to CA (by way of Phoenix -- blerg), and now I’m back in Petaluma!

Some notes on cross-country air travel:

1. Coffee and snacks.
2. Not too much coffee if you have a window seat.
3. To/from the absolutely miserable-looking people next to me: pulling an all-nighter and then getting on a plane hurts everyone, especially you.
4. Yoga pants. Seriously.
5. Don’t try to run. Take the day off. 
6. Crossword puzzles.
7. When heading west, look forward to the longest day ever (I got up at 5:30 am DC time, which is the equivalent of 2:30 am CA time, which means that I felt like I’d had a whole day and was ready for bed at about about 4 pm.)

I don’t have much to tell you on the home-events front. I landed yesterday at noon and headed straight to my grandma’s house. She fed me grapes and cookies and tea while we chatted about her various book groups and my life plans.  

Then we drove through the City and across the bridge (for those of you who don't know this -- people do actually use it!) to Petaluma. In true Northern California fashion, we had dungeness crab for dinner (holler crab season!) and spent some time with my very concerned nephew. 

He has started recognizing people...which means he doesn’t recognize me...which means a) he cried the whole time; b) I need to spend a lot of time with him this week so he knows me; and possibly c) maybe I just smell bad or look scary? Though I look JUST like him and his mama...so the looking-scary angle is rather unlikely. 

Oh and countdown: 3 days until Thanksgiving. 

Weekend Report: My New Nephew!!! (And My Trip Home)

I’m back from a week at home in California and guess what? We have a baby!!!

And by “we” I mean Sister1 and Geoff have a baby, and I have the proud title of Auntie Mollie. Words cannot express how EXCITED I am about this (even more excited than anticipated), but this is a blog so clearly I’m going to try! 

Sister2 and I went for a long run at Mt. Tam on Monday, October 1, while we waited for baby-time. 

The timing worked out perfectly – we texted Mama when we finished running (What’s the status?”), drove straight to the hospital, and arrived just as baby Liam was being delivered. Sister2 and I did our best to wipe off the worst of the Indian summer dust and sweat in the bathroom, then headed up to the maternity floor. Mama met us at the door and led us into Sister1's room. We'd just started to make ourselves comfortable when a blue scrub-covered wide-eyed Geoff (aka my brother-in-law) walked in. 

Geoff! Hi! Do we have a baby?

"Yeah. Yeah, we have a baby," he confirmed in a voice tinged with surprise and a smattering of terror. 

Can we see him?

"I think so. Umm, ok, follow me. This way."

We followed him around the corner to the nursery, just as two nurses were pushing in a plastic bucket on a cart with a baby inside. 

Are you supposed to be here? they asked. Is this your baby?

"Yes! I think so? That's my baby!"

We watched new dad and Liam thought the window of the nursery, oohing and awing and marveling over his size -- at 9 lbs 7 oz, Liam looked like he could eat the other babies! But when we rolled him back to Sister1's room, normal perspective was returned and he looked like the tiny thing he really was.

Mama left to go find Sister1, while Geoff, Sister2, and I waited, watching over swaddled Liam in his cart ("No one holds him until Jeannie can!" was the fatherly decree). But once Sister1 was back, we were good to go. So there we were at the hospital, smelling like winners and holding our brand-new nephew!

We spent that day, and the next, and part of the next hanging out with our newest addition at the hospital and it was wonderful. Liam seriously gets cuter by the day! (Can I just say that pregnancy/birth/babies are NO JOKE. I have learned so many crazy things over the past week!)

On Wednesday afternoon, we gave the new parents some space and headed up to Tahoe. Another reason for this trip home is that Sister2 is about to move to Thailand for at least five months, so we needed some hang-out time. 

The lake in October is very hit-or-miss…the trail running was guaranteed to be awesome, but dipping was definitely not warm. However, I’m not one to back down from a Mama-extended challenge, so that crazy lady and I dipped every day. Oh hello 60 degrees water!!!

Too too soon it was time for me to head back to DC, but it’s ok because I’ll be back home for more Liam time at Thanksgiving!

Also, just wanted to share this picture from the San Francisco Airport. LOVE NorCal! 

Weekend Report: Parents, Founding Farmers, and Embassy Tours

What a week/weekend! My parents were visiting last Monday-Sunday, which meant excellent food, the usual tourism, and fun family-time activities. My mama has been to DC twice already, but this was my dad’s first visit. I’m pretty sure his favorite part was our Segway tour on Friday (since it meant he didn’t have to walk).

Here’s a rundown of the highlights:
Our most excellent dinner was at Founding Farmers, a restaurant where you have to plan in advance for a reservation, or show up at 5:30 to get your name in before the dinner rush. We started with the Devil-ish Egg appetizer (the only context in which I will gladly eat mayonnaise). 

Then Mama went for Chicken and Waffles (when in the kinda-sort-almost-South…right?), Dad got Black Pepper Gnocchi and Sausage, and I got Skirt Steak and Enchilada. Everything was delicious, the enchiladas were chicken/spinach/cheese and would have made a solid meal on their own, and the fried chicken was fantastically chicken-y! 

So. Much. Food. Clearly we ate it all – my family takes dinner seriously.

Plus we needed the fuel for our evening Monuments walk. DC brought the humidity for my parents’ visit, but by dark-time it was pleasant enough walking around the Lincoln, MLK, and the WWI Memorials. 

The next morning the Segways happened, as you may recall.

My dad left long before the crack of dawn on Saturday, but Mama stayed for another day. We started by splitting the Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes at Market Lunch in Eastern Market. 

Then we metro’d up to Van Ness for Passport DC’s Around the World Embassy Tour day. I’ve done this a few times (last year, and the year before), but only the embassies near Dupont, which are always  sooooo crowded. 

Van Ness is further out though, meaning there were absolutely no lines – we walked right into South Africa, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Ghana, Turkey, Nigeria, and Egypt. 

(The staircase is in the Ghanaian embassy, the mural is from Nigeria, and the other pictures are from Egypt, obviously.)

Sunday morning my Mama left, ending my staycation and leaving me to handle my life – aka go to Ikea, buy a bed (which SpeedyKate and I successfully tied to the roof of her car, transported back to DC, and carried up and then downstairs into my new bedroom! #winning), and start packing up my apartment for the big move next weekend. 

Hope you had a great week/weekend too!

Parents Visiting and Dinner at Eatonville

It’s already Wednesday! 

I feel like a juggler – I had a couple scarves, a few balls, and two bowling pins going  – then someone threw in knife or two so I had to strategically decide which things to keep in the air, which means I kinda dropped the blogging ball this week…

The big news is that my parents are visiting! This is my dad’s first trip to DC, so they’re touristing it up while I go to work.

Notable events so far include a parental dinner at Eatonville with the usual suspects (6x6, LLC, LOTR-Emily, and SpeedyKate) on Monday night. 


It was delicious – especially the Blackened Sea Scallops (fingerling potatoes, wilted spinach, roasted baby beets, saffron coconut cream) and the Catfish & Grits (jalapeno-gruyere grits, cider-braised collard greens, tomato butter) – yummm. 

And for dessert, don’t let them sell you on the Coconut Cake – the Pear Cobbler and Pecan Oatmeal Pie are much better!

Then yesterday, after the worst work day ever, I met up with my parents for the Millennium Stage show at the Kenney Center. It was a Marvin Gaye tribute (What's Going On...NOW!) that was mostly spoken word poetry by the DC Slam Team, but also some freaking awesome tap dancing (watch the video starting at 41:30). 

The show overall was pretty meh (though very impressive if you consider that they're students), but the best part was when they played this song, which I can’t hear without getting up to dance like it’s 1993 and we’re having a Got to Give It Up dance party in the living room with my dad’s record player…

You're welcome. 

Weekend Report: Cousin Time and St. Patrick's Day 8K

This weekend was all about the cousins. LLC lives here, and she and I hang out all the time, but now Heather is visiting from Arizona, completing the trinity of third generation representation of our family, and ensuring that from her home in California, Grammy Jean is soooo psyched right now. There’s no need to get into my family’s socio-geographic stuff, but let’s just say that three cousins (daughters of three sisters), independently hanging out, has never happened before. 

Heather is spring break-ing in DC for the week and arrived Friday night. We kicked things off big with a walking night tour of the monuments (myself as the fun-fact-full tour guide). 

We started Saturday with a morning movie in Georgetown. The Lorax was super-silly and actually really good! We then lunched at the Museum of the American Indian Cafe. We split an “Indian Taco,” which is Navajo fry bread (omg yum) topped with buffalo chili and taco toppings, as well as a “Plate of Many Colors,” i.e. sides of mashed parsnips, wild rice and watercress salad, three bean salad, and red cabbage slaw. 

None of us is actually interested in seeing that museum, so after lunch we moseyed on over to the National Gallery. We saw the new Picasso's Drawings Exhibit (very good). The Chester Dale Exhibit has finally been disassembled, and its art redistributed throughout the museum. This means they’ve re-done the impressionist wing – my favorite! 

By late afternoon I was pretty tired, and not sure if I wanted to walk up the stairs to the Modern Art Wing Tower, but we did it anyways and the Mel Bochner exhibit  of thesaurus-inspired colorful art was totally worth it. 

After such a big day we spent the evening couching (it’s a verb), in preparation for our race -- the St. Patrick's Day 8K -- the next morning…

St. Patrick's Day 8K - Race Report

Ok, so here’s the thing, when I’m preparing for a race, I don’t even try to hide the crazy. My unnecessary worry and anxiety was probably tangible Saturday night, but luckily we’re all family and they can’t really hold it against me. But because I freak out in advance, by the time Sunday morning rolls around I have everything planned to the minute and am ready to just get on with the actual racing part.  

The race was big, over six thousand entrants, but incredibly well-managed! The start wasn’t over-crowded at all, and I met up with my team just before the “go.”

I’m happy with how it went. I ran pretty evenly, and accomplished my goal from way back in November of running under 33 minutes. My only "issue" is that I finished and felt totally fine. I felt tired while running (as in, I was definitely trying hard), but once I crossed the line it felt like no big deal. The good news is that means I can run faster, the bad news is that I don’t like having anything left at the end of a race. 

My splits were:

• Mile: 6:20
• 5K 19:50
• Net time: 31:51
• Gun time: 31:54 (that's 5:25 pace)
• Then team time - GO CAPITAL AREA RUNNERS!!!

Racing out of the way, we headed to our next DC activity: brunch.

We went to Ted’s Bulletin on the Hill, the place with the most amazing breakfast combination ever: pancakes and eggs and hash browns. The food, once we got to that part was delicious. The two hour wait, however, was not so good. I recommend getting a reservation, but know that you need to make it like 2 weeks in advance. Heather and LLC split the Caramel Macchiato Milkshake (possibly the best milkshake flavor ever), and we all split a homemade strawberry pop-tart. YUM! 

Well-fueled, we walked over to the Botanical Gardens to see the Orchids Exhibit. I spent a lot of time at various flower shows, exhibits, nursery’s, etc. as a child and hated it, so I give myself some serious adult-points for voluntarily go to and enjoying an orchid show! 

The day was clear and the weather was gorgeous, so post-flowers we stopped by the Post Office Tower to get a sweeping view of all of DC.

Then we were exhausted, and aggressively couched for the rest of the evening. What a weekend!!!