Life

Life

October in Photos

October was a month of disconnect for me. It was hot- in the 70s- for most of the month, which clashed with the whole “fall is here” feeling. I was barely in the house for about 2 weeks. First off, Jill’s little sister visited San Francisco, and needed a place to stay, so I shipped off to Ryan’s for a week or so. Then Ryan left town for another week and a half, so I was over there again just to dogsit. Throughout it all I shuffled back and forth to my house for clean clothes and sanity.

During this time I worked longer hours than usual and even though it’s nothing in the realm of what’s normal for a lawyer or an ibanker, for me, the stress was miserable. I spent my free time seeing shows (Jens Lekman, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Anthony Bourdain, Architecture in Helsinki), eating extravagant meals with an equally depressed friend, and then there was Halloween. Boom. ON TO NOVEMBER.

November is crazy too. Or rather, other people are telling me that it’s crazy and if I agree with them, I guess that’s how it will be. I’m trying to take it easy, but honestly, the “Holiday Season” doesn’t want you to calm down.

A few stress-coping skills I learned from October:

  • Spend time with friends and family everyday. They will knock some sense into you when things get tough. They will present options to you when you cannot see straight any more.
  • Go to yoga/a bike ride/running/the gym- whatever your “thing” is, do it. You need it, terribly. If you’re lucky, you just might have an epiphany during your exercise. The only caveat is don’t go work out if you’re totally fried and depressed and crying in bed. Probably won’t help. Just go back to sleep.
  • Eat well. Drink water. Eat straight up vegetables and whole grains. You will feel better.
  • Go drinking when you need to. It helps.
  • Sleep. I guess this one should be number one. Wonderful things happen when your body gets sleep, and if you don’t get it, everything goes downhill exponentially.
  • Take a full lunch hour at work. Like sleep, it will work wonders. I like to spend my lunch hours shopping or walking to the library. I’m always glad when I take my government mandated lunch hour!
  • Make time for things that are important to you- whatever it is- knitting, a friend’s birthday party, grocery shopping, getting a haircut… make time for it. Stay up late and do it, whatever. If you don’t do the things that you enjoy, you’ll start to become incredibly spiteful toward everyone and you’ll lose a bit of yourself.
  • Go easy on friends and loved ones. I let my feelings get out of control and I became very mean and irrational during October. Avoid it if you can!
  • Say no if you have to- I quit French :(. I really hated that I had to, but work was taking over, and I just didn’t have the time for it. Once I stopped taking French, a good 8 hours/week opened up for me.
  • Breathe, meditate, stretch. Blah blah blah. You know it’s true.
  • Remember that everything that you’re doing is a choice, and that you are in control. Even if things are bad, you can control how you’re responding.
  • When things are really bad, laugh. It will probably be all right.

Oh, of course I’m laughing. Here’s goes November!

 

Life, Travel

Los Angeles Food Porn Post

I went to Los Angeles to see my folks a few weeks ago, and all in all it was a pretty good trip. Normally trips to LA overwhelm and depress me (being surrounded by 5-20+ kids at all times will do that), but this time I stuck to the essentials- good food and honest conversation with my family. I managed to have a good time in spite of myself.

First up, pork and pumpkin dumplings and the mysterious sounding “BEEF ROLL”. 

My uncle said that beef roll was kind of like a Chinese burrito, which is why I wanted to try it. As you can see, it’s not quite true. I mean where’s the aluminum foil? It was still incredibly good, however. I am interested in trying SF variations if I can find them.

The beef roll was followed up by a stop at Half and Half for some pudding boba. 

The portions are approximately the size of my cousin’s head.

Later that night my mother and I went to President Thai. She’d read about it in the paper. I was impressed that she’s keeping up with the (non pho-related) food scene. She is so restaurant obsessed.

Tom yum, of course.

Oops.. it’s a papaya salad, except DEEP FRIED.Not what I was expecting when I ordered this.

These are some really great chili paste clams.

The next morning my grandmother made banh xeo, like she normally does on “special” occasions. I saw her make the batter, and she used Heineken??? Odd, no? I’m definitely going to ask for the recipe.

My aunt wanted to take me to Huntington Library, followed by a swim at CalTech (er… I don’t have any pictures of that).

Don’t I look just like a bonsai?

Then I had my mom’s pho for lunch…

And a Brazilian guarana drink for the drive to the airport!

I am almost looking forward to going back to LA for the holidays, if it means I can have pudding boba and beef rolls again.

Life, Travel

Las Vegas- We came, we drank, we had wonderfully awkward family time

I had to book it to Vegas over Labor Day weekend for my Uncle Vay’s wedding reception. Since it was a bit short notice, driving was the way to go. Yes, driving! Unfortunately my friends decided to bow out on the trip, so it was just me and Ryan splitting the 10 hour drive, but it was not as bad as it could have been.

Friday- 9 hours of driving 11pm-8am.

Saturday-Check in to hotel. Pass out… er…Sleep. Food. Drink. Frantic shopping for swimsuit because I packed two bottoms. Swim. Drink.Drink some more. Fancy dinner and fancy family wedding photos. Sleep.

Sunday-Eat. Walk. Swim. Drink. Eat.Sleep.

Monday 6 am- 5ish? A 1o hour drive back to San Francisco. Work in the car and try to pretend that there is nothing weird about getting work done while driving through the desert at 6am.

Vegas was good-a little family and a little heat- both things that I don’t encounter very often. It was a nice time, although near the end I was happy to leave Vegas. The dark side of the city really depresses me sometimes. Also, it was really hard to get a decent healthy meal in town and not feel totally swindled.

My entire family was stationed at the Trump, and I gotta say, I was impressed with the little touches of Trump ridiculousness. There was a well stocked kitchenette (Le Creuset tea kettles, WHAT?), jacuzzi bathtub AND shower, and a television in the mirror in the bathroom.Wow! Too ridiculous. The hotel was off the strip and had no casino on the ground floor, but those are definitely good things. I’m feeling majorly thankful to my uncle for inviting me and Ryan along for the silliness, putting us up, and feeding us well. Now I just have to find him a nice wedding present before Friday, when I take off for Los Angeles.

Life

Still alive…

This picture sums up my approach to life quite well! “Eh…”

Things have been busy. I took a quickie trip to Santa Barbara (3 short days, 2 nights) and had a great time with Jill and her college friend Doug. A blog post on that trip is on the way.

I was supposed to go to Los Angeles to see my family last weekend (guilt! guilt!), but I had some issues with Southwest Airlines at the airport, so that trip is postponed. My mom was really understanding when I told her that I had to cancel.”Oh It’s ok Tracy ! I’m NOT DEAD!!!”.”  I am not proud to say this, but I was a little relieved when the trip was called off. It takes a lot of energy to make it to LA.I love my family, but they are a handful.

Oh! I’m going to Vegas during Labor Day to celebrate my Uncle Vay’s wedding. It makes sense that my uncle and his lawyer? wife would plan their wedding celebrations in the most efficient fashion, around a national holiday. Really excited about the 10 hour drive, taking a holiday with Ryan, and sneaking Jill, Joseph, and maybe Will into my hotel room. Vegas!

Other exciting news? I’m taking French at the community college with Jill. While I’m not learning as much as I did in Latin or Mandarin, it has been a lot of fun so far, and I’m really happy with it. Also, we’ve got a  few high school friends visiting over the next few weeks, so lots going on.

Life, San Francisco

Giants vs. Phillies

My first baseball game in fifteen+ years! I am not a sports enthusiast by any means  but I figured that I owe Ryan given how many operas, plays and symphonies I’ve dragged him to in the last year or so. Also I imagined that baseball would be more enjoyable now that I can drink.

Everybody is bundled up- SF in the summertime. BRR!!!

 

Sometimes I wish that I understood and appreciated sports, just so that I could feel like I belong. Every few years I make it a new year’s resolution to “learn sports.” It never really works out. You just can’t fake excitement.

What I can get behind, however is the crazy mascots. OMG it’s Lou Seal the Giants mascot riding around on a golf cart throwing free pizzas at people! I didn’t even know that you could throw pizza!

One cool thing about AT&T Park is the giant slide inside the “Coke Bottle.” This is the view from the line. I guess the slide was meant for kids- I barely slid down the tube and had to push myself down.

There was a fight!

But my personal high point: photo op with Lou Seal!

I’m looking forward to returning to AT&T Park for the opera simulcast of Turandot next month. I’m not sure when I’ll see a baseball game again… Maybe in my 40s?