relaxed

This is a picture I took yesterday on my iPhone while waiting for my lunch at Blue Barn. It pretty much sums up the weekend. Things have been busy- aren't they always? We all seem to love talking about how busy! we are- but I've also found myself feeling profoundly relaxed these days. A glass of rose over lunch always helps.

weekend in bolinas & point reyes

Over the weekend, Daniel threw his surfboard in the car and we headed out to Bolinas. 

Bolinas is a tiny town a little ways north of San Francisco. Daniel told me that when he was growing up, locals would rip down the street signs in order to make it more difficult for tourists to find it. He learned to surf in Bolinas in a teenager and was hoping to spend some time out on the water while I sat out on the beach.

The surf turned out to be sub-par and the weather was too damp and chilly to permit any lounging on the beach so after a short stroll, we piled back into the car and headed out to find better conditions.

Inland, the weather was sunny and hot. We drove through Point Reyes Station and decided that lunch was in order. The Station House Cafe has a back patio that's particularly lovely on sunny days, so we stopped in for fish tacos and restorative libations. 

After lunch, we drove to Drakes Cove. Again, the surf was disappointing and the beach gray and foggy. But as it turned out, the Marine Mammal Center was releasing some harbor and elephant seals back into the wild.

We stood with the crowd and watched the seals wiggle speedily down the beach. The harbor seals in particular were fascinating to behold- their bodies were like immense gray sausages, bouncing up and down as they made their way towards the water.

cleansed

I eat everything. Well, almost. I've never been able to stand ketchup or barbecue sauce and American cheese makes me want to heave. I avoid cold soups and spinach salads. But in general, I love food and spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about/eating it. 

And yet. Every once in a while I find myself in need of a reset. Food habits- a nightly glass of wine, a sweet after dinner- occasionally need to be shaken up. When I feel this way, I have found that it helps to do a cleanse.

I'll backpedal a bit here. The term "cleanse" means different things to different people. I remember reading something about celebrities who cleanse by eating nothing but honey, cayenne pepper and lemon juice for days on end- an idea that leaves me feeling angry just thinking about it. For me,  a cleans is more about recalibrating the way I eat than overhauling my entire diet. I eat more vegetables, more fruit. I eschew pasta and bread in favor of quinoa and brown rice. I cut out coffee and booze and dessert. I drink more water, more green tea. It's basic stuff, really, but after a few days, I find myself feeling better- a little sharper, a little more energetic. It's a great reminder to be mindful about the food I eat.  

I always go back to wine and coffee, cheese and ice cream- life without such things would hardly be worth living, in my opinion. But all the same, a little break helps me remember to keep everything in balance.

happy mother's day

A few photos from this weekend. My mom visited and we had a ball.

Love you Mama!

weekend in phoenix

This weekend, I'm off to Phoenix to celebrate a friend's graduation from medical school. It's my first time in Arizona and I'm busy packing bathing suits and sandals and trying to figure out how to fit a giant floppy hat into my tiny suitcase. I've never been much of a sunbather, but I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to a few days by the pool with some of my dearest friends from college. Hope everyone has a lovely, sunny weekend!

may day

I wish I could say it was hard to believe it was already May, but in truth it feels more like July- the weather has been in the 80s all week. Is it summer yet? I'm certainly ready for it. For now, back to the library.

april in portland

Last Thursday, Daniel and I caught a flight up to Portland to visit our friends Evan and Marissa. And their dog Lola.

This is the third year in a row we've made a trip up north to visit these guys. Six months ago, they moved from Seattle to Portland, so that's where we headed.

Their place was just lovely and they welcomed us with some amazing cheeses and cured meats. And wine. Portland does not mess around when it comes to food. We went to dinner at the Woodsman Tavern, which was great. Daniel ordered cioppino but when our food arrived, they mistakenly gave him a pork chop- which looked so good he insisted on keeping it. It was a smart move. The next day, Marissa took us around town. We started with a very good, very large breakfast at Broder and then headed to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.

Last year, when my mother and I were in Portland, we read about a garden dedicated to Beverly Cleary over in Grant Park. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 was the first chapter book I ever read- I love Beverly Cleary. So I thought it would be sort of special to check out the garden.

It wasn't. 

There was no garden to speak of- just three rather creepy bronze sculptures of some of the characters from Cleary's books. Daniel thought it was hilarious. Oh well.

Then we went window shopping along Mississippi street. Daniel tried on a sweater at a vintage store. 

It was $175. He did not purchase it. 

Then we went to lunch at Pok Pok. The Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings were insane. 

If I had any sense, I would have stopped there, but I couldn't resist a cookie from Tabor Bread.

It was a buckwheat chocolate chip cookie- quite good. Tabor Bread sells all kinds of different flours, including fife. I'm not sure what fife is.

The next day, Marissa had to work but Evan took us out to see the waterfalls.

Multnomah Falls are the big attraction, but really, all of the waterfalls were all stunning. We hiked a bit and got some incredible views out over the water. The weather changed from one minute to the next- everything from bright sunshine to hail, all in the span of thirty minutes.

And then we went back home and prepared our 3rd Annual Seafood Feast. 

This year, it included oysters, scallops with chorizo, pasta with clams and mussels, and grilled steelhead. A great tradition. Afterwards we all piled on to the couch to watch Louis C.K. 

The next morning, we decided we had time to fit in one more meal before our flight and walked to The Country Cat for brunch. We found out our flight was delayed, which gave us just enough time to swing downtown for coffee at Stumptown and a visit to Powell's Books. 

We had the best time- Portland is so awesome.