The post-Thanksgiving post

Gratitude is one of those ubiquitous topics at this time of year, and it probably should be more common, for me at least, on regular basis.  Also, I'm always a bit late with my Thanksgiving post (see last year) and the beginning of December is such a fun time as well with Michael's birthday, so a later gratitude/Thanksgiving post seems appropriate.

But I do have so much to be thankful for right now, and it's nice to remember that and take stock. First of all, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving break.  It was low-key, but just what we needed, a mix of social outings (we went out for Mexican food twice - how is that not a major win?!), plenty of fun activities and also some down-time.  Thanksgiving day was busy early on, as I went and "oversaw" students who were making food that we then delivered to The Midnight Mission, an organization in Downtown LA that helps homeless families and individuals.  I hate to admit this, but I was a bit grumbly before, not nearly as excited about helping out as I should have been.  However, once I arrived on Thursday morning and the kids came, something *clicked* and I realized that I was so lucky to be able to help out in this very small way.  Also, the kids really do most of the work - they just need an adult around in case there's an issue, like someone cuts off a finger (hasn't happened yet, knock on wood).

Once I returned home, we had a low-key Thanksgiving dinner, just the two of us, but then met at some friends' for dessert which was fantastic - a nice buffet of pies, bread pudding, cookies and we brought a pear and apple crisp with whipped cream.  We followed up Thursday with a trip to West LA, looking for bike gear for me and finishing that outing at LACMA.  We really enjoyed the two exhibits we saw - Samurai: Japanese Armor and Pierre Huyghe (I'd never heard of the latter, but apparently he is a big deal, at least according to the NYTimes, and so is this exhibit;  I must admit that I looked up information about Pierre Huyghe after the exhibit, but maybe that's the point of going to a museum?).

Returning to work this week was a bit brutal, but knowing that we have Christmas break right around the corner has helped!  Also, celebrating Michael's birthday gave us both something to look forward to. It was pretty low-key in terms of gift-giving, but we went out to dinner on Saturday at a new place that, as they say, knocked our socks off.  I'd read good reviews of Bäco Mercat, but really had no idea what to expect.  It's funny, when we lived in Silverlake, we rarely ate at places in Downtown and usually headed further west for a "fancy" night out.  Now that we are further east, the idea of going so much further west seems ridiculous.  Fortunately, a lot of great restaurants have opened up Downtown, so we are happy to explore at least one of those new, hip and happening places.  And, holy crap, it was amazing - one of the best meals I've had.  EVER, I think.  It was that good.  I don't even know what kind of food I would call it because some dishes had a Middle Eastern tang, like the fried squash blossoms and the sunchoke dish that we ordered (sunchokes are amazing, by the way, as I discovered last night), but then other dishes definitely leaned to Asian influences, like the peppers and kale and the duck confit, which I could only describe with superlative after superlative.  And I don't mean to forget about the drinks and desserts.  The drinks feature "shrub", which Jonathan Gold, the LA Times and LAWeekly food critic, describes here:  "Shrub is an artisanal thing, the bartender's equivalent of the array of jams and preserves flooding Etsy at the moment."  I also loved that it was a very casual place - and fantastic for people watching!

The other major gratitude this week?  RAIN!  Yes, it rained in Southern CA, like a real storm.  While it certainly doesn't solve the drought, it came as welcome relief and we might even get some more rain this week (please, please, please).  The best thing about the rain?  Going for a run in the days following the storm.  Southern CA is at its best following a storm.

And, finally, a nice social ride today.  I've been trying to amp up training a bit, but haven't wanted to be TOO focused at this point about 2015.  An easy, 90-minute ride just for fun was perfect.

So, lots of small moments to enjoy and take in and appreciate.

Hitting the trails in October

Despite the fact that the weather on October 1st, topping out in triple digits, did not seem to indicate a change of seasons and a new month, by the end of the week (yesterday and today), the temperatures dropped by 20 degrees.  Hooray - it FINALLY feels like fall around here!  It seemed to take long enough, but I honestly think I think that I forget every year how miserable I was the previous year in September.  This year, September's heat seemed particularly obnoxious, perhaps because I was, in theory, trying to kick-start my running mojo.  At a certain point, I decided that my mojo would just have to wait until October.  First of all, the weather.  Secondly, we seemed to be ridiculously busy in September as I returned to school and we had a busy social schedule.

Going out of town last weekend did not help the 'busyness' feeling, but we could not avoid that trip.  Someone in my family had a significant birthday, so, being the dutiful daughter that I am twice a year or so, we traveled to south Texas for a weekend of revelry.  And what a weekend it was - filled with the usual activities: drinking too much; going to Mexico to shop, eat and drink margaritas; fighting/arguing over politics; shooting squirrels with the bb-gun; and playing around with my nephews (my niece is officially a teenager and I'm not sure that "playing around" is possible).  We also saw a soccer game in which my nephew suffered two injuries - he got the wind knocked out of him when a ball hit him right in the belly and he also chipped a tooth when he took a header.  Fortunately, he's a pretty resilient little guy, so neither one slowed him down too much.  I also went for a run on Sunday morning (that would have been physically impossible on Saturday morning when I felt that someone had hit me over the head with a sledgehammer - so much pain!).  Considering how flat it is where my parents live, you would think that I would have kept a fast pace, but I was definitely taking it slow.

While this week started off a bit rough around the edges as I recovered from our trip (it takes me at least a day or two to catch up) and tried to not be too angry about the heat, I also managed to hit most of my workouts and even got in THREE workouts before work - two early morning swims and one run.  That is a minor miracle for me!  I also hit the trail this morning, motivated and accompanied by a drinking/running mate, and I managed to slog through a 12-mile (or so - don't entirely trust the Garmin) run.  I hoped to hit 10 miles, and while those last two were pretty rough, it gives me a small confidence boost as I think about the 30k.  It won't be a fast race, which was confirmed today as I reacquainted myself with trail running and had to take it easy on both the uphills and downhills, but running on trails is such a different experience from pounding out the miles on the pavement, in both a mental, physical and even philosophical sense.  Mentally, I find trail runs both more and less challenging - it is hard to see a 15-minute mile pop up on the Garmin, but then it's great to enjoy the sense of getting away from the noise and busyness of the highway - and even just local roads - even if it's just a for a morning run. Physically - the tricky terrain can present problems (I almost turned my ankle twice and had visions of being airlifted out), but I always feel better after a trail run than after a run around the Rose Bowl, for example.  My joints creak and ache less, probably because my body is constantly adjusting to the rise and fall and twists and turns of the trail, and probably because I can't run as fast as I would like.  Finally, the philosophical aspect - well, I'm not sure if I want to fully wade into that topic yet, but I approach a trail run with a different ethos than when I'm pounding out a mile or two or more on the road.  It is definitely about the process and not the final product!  At times, I found myself thinking that the run was really just like a fast hike - I could cover more ground than if I were hiking, but that was just about the only difference.  In the meantime, I crossed a small creek several times, stayed on the lookout for rattlesnakes, took in a deer that bounded off in the opposite direction, and on more than one occasion stopped to take in the scenery on a beautiful fall morning!

And now, thanks to having Monday off, rather than grade essays this afternoon, I'm headed for a big, fat recovery nap!

A look back at the 30's

Well, if I had anything on my before-I-turn-forty bucket list, it's a bit too late to worry about it now since that day is rapidly approaching.  Holy cow!

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I fulfilled the only urgent to-do-before-I-turn-forty item yesterday - went to the DMV and renewed my license!  I only had to wait an hour too, which wasn't bad.  When I left, the line just to pick up paperwork was about 10 people deep.  Crazy!

Before I reflect on the nature of turning 40 and what that means, let me just say that I am leaving this decade in a better place than where I was when I entered it.  I feel that I actually became somewhat of an adult over the past 10 years, and not just because I finally met one of society's standards of measurements by getting married.  In every other way, I still fall into "irresponsible" category (no house, no kids, I don't even have a car to myself these days).  However, I do feel that I've changed for the better, just like a fine wine improves.

Seriously though, I'd call myself a late-bloomer without any hesitation.  I was pretty much a disaster throughout my 20's, so things could only look up.  Fortunately, they did!

Not to reduce the decade to bullet points or a quick paragraph, but looking back, I can see significant moments that have shaped how and where I am now.  For instance:

- Moving from Seattle to Monterey, Ca.  That was a hard decision, and there were so many times in the years following the move that I questioned the decision.  However, it WAS exciting to live in California, an experience that I never planned or necessarily wanted.  I explored the Central Coast and got to know the Monterey Peninsula, Big Sur (one of those must-see places!), Santa Cruz and even San Francisco, which was an easy weekend get-away.

- After 3 years in Monterey, moving to the LA area where I've lived in 3 areas or neighborhoods, all very different.  Again, I never imagined that I would live in Southern Ca nor that I would stay here for going on seven years nor that it would feel so much like "home" to me.

- Getting hitched!  After a whirlwind two years of bicoastal flights and long weekends together, Michael gave up his super urban New York lifestyle.  It still amazes me that what started as a great fling in Colorado at some friends' wedding gained serious traction, and, well, here we are.  Cheers to that!

- Adopting Gus and Milo, obviously!  What a game-changer that was.  I was so dog-crazy a few years ago that we even started the search to buy a house so that we could get a dog.  Note that I said A dog, not two.  But we ended up with two pretty fantastic mutts who are great travel companions, accompanying us to San Francisco, Seattle, annual trips to Colorado and even to Texas!  And they are our daily companions too, enriching our lives and sometimes driving us crazy.  

- After bouncing around job-wise, I've seemingly become more responsible and stable on that front and have taken on new roles and different challenges.  It has been a great experience to grow professionally and personally at a place of work, and I do feel lucky for that.
- The 30's have definitely been marked by a range of travel, near and far.  While there are large swaths of the state of California and the American West in general that I have yet to explore, I do know some places quite intimately thanks to yearly pilgrimages (Boulder, CO and San Francisco come to mind) and have been north and south on the 5, east and west on the 10, the 15, and highways in between with stops in Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.  Plus, a few trips to Spain and France and Ecuador.  Peripatetic indeed!
- Other changes are more subtle - better food and drinking as I've developed a taste for dirty martinis and good beer, in addition to wine of both colors; creaking bones and more grey hairs but still enjoying fairly good health; a penchant for REI, Patagonia, and 'gear' in general; dressing better for work (that's actually kind of a bummer) while keeping up a great t-shirt collection and sock collection; doing more 'couples-things' while still being an individual; getting to run again; living in a one of the most boring towns in the world that happens to have access to so many adventures.

Maybe because I am so content with where I am now, I don't have a list of improvements for myself for the next decade.  While, yes, I am still not perfect and probably won't ever be (ha ha - the "probably" is a joke), I don't need dramatic changes in my life.  If they come about, positive and negative, I hope that I can manage them without a kerfuffle*, but maybe a bit of chaos will keep me on my toes, lest I become TOO content with my life.  That is the delicate balance for me, but I've struck a nice equilibrium at the moment.
We shall see how long I can sustain it!

Kerfuffle - A commotion or fuss.

Birthday celebration!

While much of the energy and 'buzz' at this time of year is due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas crush, one of my favorite moments in December is whatever we do to celebrate my better half's  birthday.  My birthday is in January, so we are really into the birthday celebration, and then for Christmas, we actually don't exchange presents. It seems kind of ba-humbug of us, but it actually makes our birthdays way more fun (more gifts!) and then we don't have to stress about MORE presents for Christmas.  One other fun aspect, to me, is that whoever's birthday it is also has the pleasure of exchanging ONE gift to the non-birthday person.  See, win/win!

Probably the best gift that I ever gave Michael was a few years ago when he had one of those significant birthdays that end in -0.  I bought plane tickets out to Colorado and we went to a Broncos game.  They actually won too!  Most of our celebrations are more low-key, but we still have a great time!
This year did not disappoint, although we tried to keep a more flexible attitude, especially when we still did not have power on Friday evening.  I ended up cancelling our dinner reservations for Saturday night because I couldn't imagine getting ready for a nice dinner while cursing the lack of heat and electricity and feeling like a drowned, dirty rat.  That would not have been at all conducive for a merry celebration.  I was, in fact, feeling a bit dismal about the whole birthday thing on Friday night.  After all, I had planned on a LOTR evening with a viewing of the director's cut of "The Return of the King", one of Michael's birthday presents.  That obviously didn't happen.  As for Saturday, we were supposed to kick off the day with a nice 5K run, but I was in no mood or mindset to get up and go for a run in the morning.

Well, the morning came fairly early.  I rolled around and asked Michael what he wanted to do - stay in our warm bed or get out of the bed and get ready for a RACE!  Somewhat to my disappointment, he chose the latter.  Gasp.  So, in a disorganized manner, we quickly prepped for the race - he sported a new running shirt that I had given him, just for the occasion (and for his birthday!), and before heading to the race, we grabbed coffee and a scone at Starbucks - which was packed with people STILL out of power!  I think that we arrived at the race about 15 minutes prior to the start which I almost never do!  This was Michael's first race, and I had done the 10K last year and knew that the 5K route would be a fun course for the both of us.  We separated, but I did think about him, and once I crossed the finish line, I ran back to meet up with him and ran to the finish line with him.  He respectfully ran under 10-minute miles which was great for a first race!  Major high-five.

We were both in good spirits, and even coming home to a cold and dark house could not dampen our mood.  We decided that the best thing we could do would be to leave the house.  Rather than picking some of our usual favorites (Venice, Santa Monica, the Malibu beaches and north of there), we ended up in Japantown.  This is embarrassing, but it was my first exploration of J-town.  We stopped in some random giftshops, poked around in a supermarket and bought a few items, Michael picked out some birthday desserts from a pastry place (I wasn't sure about them, but it WAS his birthday), and we ate noodles at Orochon, a noodle place, obviously.  It was a super fun experience, but the noodles were SO f-ing hot and spicy that I really couldn't eat them.  I would take a bite or two and then my lips would start to burn, so I'd wait a few minutes and then foray into the eating process again.  Despite the weird desserts and the mouth-burning noodles, it was a GREAT experience!  I often forget that Downtown LA offers so many interesting places and experiences.  

Note to self: Must take advantage of cool experiences more often!

For the evening, rather than trying something new and unusual, Michael opted for a recent favorite:  Palate Restaurant which is in Glendale. We actually went there last year for the first time on his birthday!  It's a really great place - the front is a fairly formal restaurant and the back is a wine merchant/cellar with a bar and a few tables and the menu focuses on local, seasonal food.  We opted to sit at the bar which was SO much fun.  There, we proceeded to over-order and then eat every single bite and drink really good wine.  It was the perfect end to a pretty great day.  Okay, maybe coming home to a nice warm house was the perfect ending (sorry!). 

Now I just have to wait another year to spend the perfect birthday celebration with this random dude!

Blissful birthday!

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I realize that it is completely self-indulgent to admit how much I enjoy my birthday, but this IS a blog about my life, so how much more self-indulgent can I get? At least I don't update my facebook status every hour with some inane detail about my life! Also, how often does a birthday fall on a Saturday? I just calculated and realized that the next time I have a Saturday birthday, I will be into my FIFTIES. Thanks, Leap Year - you suck.

But never mind the future. I fully enjoyed the big day, and there were celebrations leading up to it and then on the day itself, and I may highjack the yosemite getaway next weekend as an extension of my birthday. Did I mention the term "self-indulgent"?

The San Francisco trip jump-started the celebration with lunch with a friend who gave me an awesome present (a blank book and stationery - she knows me well). Then, as the week wore on, my mood turned blasé about my birthday and I verged on grumpiness. How could the celebration be better than last year's? And how could I deny the fact that I was inching closer and closer to the big FOUR-ZERO (not yet, not yet!).

On Friday, I tutored students, got my ass kicked in PT, and then got down to business with this birthday business. A cupcake was eaten, and some Carnitas and Al Pastor tacos and margaritas disappeared. Michael and I met up with a friend from work at Malo's, a too-hip for us cantina. We used to frequent Malo's FAR too often, but we hadn't been there for well over a year. Their chips and salsa, tacos and margaritas still pack a punch and satisfy those deep cravings for salt, grease and tequila. Yum!

Saturday was filled with loads of ME time - a quick-paced (for me) 10k run followed by a pedicure. For dinner, Michael and I once again ventured out of the Pleansantville 'bubble' where we live, heading to the super chic, cool and pricey side of West LA in the form of Comme Ca, a French brasserie. We hung out in the bar, enjoying drinks and splitting a few appetizers there. The drinks were GREAT! I started out with the "Honey Bee", a rum and honey drink that was surprisingly smooth and not too sweet at all. We then transitioned to red wine, each of us ordering a glass of wine from Chinon, which reminded of us our trip to the Loire this past summer. Ah, food, wine and memories! As for the food, it was excellent. A scallops dish and salmon tartar were definite stand-outs. It was an early night out for us, as we returned home to cupcakes and ice cream, but we both agreed that we must plan a return to Comme Ca!

One final note about the birthday weekend - for the first time since September I had NOTHING that I *had* to do in terms of work. No papers to grade, homework to check, classes to plan, quizzes/tests to write... Through some serendipitous turn of events, the gods smiled upon me and this was the weekend before the language final exam. So, there was nothing to prepare for Monday- the tests are written, copied and ready to be distributed and taken. I will have piles to sift through starting tomorrow morning (right around 10:30), but what a blissful weekend!

24 Hours in San Francisco

So, those 24 hours now seem like ages ago, especially considering the brutal reality to which I have returned. Wasn't I gloating earlier about how wonderful January would be? Well, it is and it isn't. Somehow, seniors have started to behave as though they were entrenched in the second semester when that is FAR from being the case.

But as to our brief interlude in San Fran - it was less than a week that we blissfully indulged and celebrated in that fair city, so I can't complain. A friend's 39th surprise birthday party prompted the trip and celebration. I must confess that I was skeptical that her husband would pull it off, but he did! The theme was "American Idol" with the "American" changed to her name. He reserved the bar at Yoshi's, a jazz club and Japanese restaurant in J-town. She was very surprised, and many people from different parts of her life were there - and from different places too!

Obviously celebrating her birthday was the highlight of the evening, but I must admit that the fact that Public Enemy was playing AT Yoshi's made the evening that much more entertaining and amusing. We did not see the concert, but the crowd was an interesting assortment of characters. The middle-aged white guy with dreadlocks down to his ankles comes to mind! (A side note: I absolutely HATE the white people with dreadlocks phenomena - it doesn't look good on anyone!) I did not muscle or elbow my way into the concert area, which was very separate from the upstairs bar, but Michael and a few other people pleaded with the bouncers to let them just get a glimpse of Public Enemy. They were all very happy to report that Flava Flav still rocks the big-clock-on-a-chain look. Those guys must be SO old!

Here they are in their better days:

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We ended the evening with a glass of wine at our hotel, happy that we were there together rather than hanging out at a hotel bar with work colleagues or something even more morose on a Saturday evening. The hotel experience was a nice change from the Motel 6, our most recent 'lodging' of choice during our road trip. The bed was crazy comfortable, the view looked on the Bay, and I swam for about 35 minutes alone in a lovely pool. What could be better?

On Sunday, we met a friend of mine and her boyfriend for brunch at a small café/bistro in a part of the city that we didn't know existed - South Park, which has nothing to do with the more famous "South Park". After a brunch over crepes, eggs and great conversation, we stopped by Bloomingdale's. I tend to shy away from Bloomie's because I don't feel that I'm that fancy, but I had a gift card that I needed to spend and I was shopping for dressy black shoes which I found. Total score.

Our final stop in the city was in the Marina district - we had read about the Wave Organ, a funky and cool "must-see". The "Wave Organ" itself did not impress us, but the walk there and the views of the Bay were very satisfying.

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We also saw the Farmers Insurance Zeppelin, which we found funny and mildly significant, seeing as how we'd never seen it before in our lives until a few weeks ago when it was parked over the Rose Bowl, and then there it was in San Francisco! And, yes, it was the same one since it is only one of three zeppelins in the world. I would like to interpret it as a sign, but I hesitate to search for deeper meanings in what is probably just a random but cool coincidence. Who knows though - maybe we are to ride in it one day?!

It was hard to return to LA and back to reality. I always feel that way after weekend trips, but it is particularly acute after a trip to San Francisco. Obviously we don't have to deal with the day-in and day-out living in such an urban city, but there is so much to love about San Francisco. It might always be the city of my dreams.