quick hop to arizona

  

 

speaking of glorious weekends and baptisms, two weeks ago i got to spend saturday and sunday in balmy arizona with a portion of my family. my sweet niece claire was being baptized, so my sister saren, my parents and i gathered with my brother josh and sister shawni and her family (who all live in gilbert, az) to celebrate.

claire is the sweetest thing ever, such a little light, and it was so wonderful to get to be a part of her special day! a few weeks ago, claire called me and asked me to the play the flute at her baptism! so my mom accompanied me on children’s hymns while claire and her dad were changing after the ordinance was performed. the spirit at the service was oh so sweet, and i’m so happy for my claire and the great decision she has made to be baptized.

 

after the baptism service, we had a yummy luncheon back at the pothiers’ house. those mint brownies were to die for (as my mom would say), and isn’t that photo of claire hugging her book of mormon about the best thing ever?

another reason for the trip was to have a mini sisters getaway to talk about some projects that we are working on as sisters with our mom. we really, really missed our sister saydi, who is living in london with her husband and 4 kids for 6 months.

luckily after all the baptism festivities we were able to skype with her for hours in our hotel room (where we stayed – just down the road from shawni’s house – for one night).

we also got to sit in the hot tub and talk, go out to a nice dinner together, and of course laugh our heads off about this or that:

 

the next day we met up with everyone at church and had a great sunday afternoon and evening talking, eating thai food, playing and even making a podcast!:

i am by far the youngest of the four sisters in my family. they all have husbands and at least four kids. motherhood is their lives. not just they are mothers, but motherhood is their lives (and partially their livelihoods). i think i just may be the best informed pre-mother out there (everything from breastfeeding and childbirth to discipline and nurturing), and i am grateful for the knowledge – and extraordinarily deeply-rooted, earnest desire – that my sisters and mom have blessed me with.

weekend glory

i’ve never gloried in weekends quite like i do now. oh, weekends are so sweet.

last friday i went straight up to the city after work, and met some friends from wellesley for a yum meal at a new chinese-fusion restaurant tucked into a corner of downtown called heaven’s dog. the food wonders of san francisco are inexhaustible. can you tell from the picture of empty plates that we quite liked the meal?



after, i met up with kelsey for some wandering in the castro district (always colorful and alive), a long heart-to-heart (aren’t those the best) and a sleepover. in the morning we went to brunch at plow cafe in portero hill.

I LOVE SATURDAY BRUNCH – yes, that severe fact deserves big, ugly capital letters. i love it so so so much. a few weeks ago kelsey and i went (cameraless) to zazie in cole valley and ate bacon eggs benedict and walnut caramelized banana french toast on the blithe and charming back patio, and last week we decided to check out plow. kelsey and i were born to be saturday brunch partners. our sharing habits are perfectly matched, and i can’t think of many people in the world i would rather share a delectable meal and morning conversation with.

the food at plow was in-credible. honestly, i am still thinking about it several times a day. we went pretty qucikly from this (lemon ricotta pancakes, chicken apple sausage, the most aaaaamazing crispy potatoes in the universe, and scrambled eggs // french toast with mascarpone and red wine poached pears with a side of bacon):

to this (i’m pretty sure i savored every single morsel):



next kels took me to a gorgeous coastal overlook. mmmmm i adore northern california, even that biting wind that kept us out of the car for a total of about 4.75 minutes.



then we headed to the pacifica chapel for the baptism of my dear friend and old co-worker, kaity! despite the true incredibleness of those crispy potatoes, this was by far the highlight of the weekend. kaity first came to church with me a few months ago and it has been so fun to watch (although it had to be from afar after christmastime!) her find answers to her questions and decide to be baptized. she is such a pearl of a girl with such a good heart and such strong faith. i was thrilled to be able to speak at her baptism.




don’t you love how kaity spruced up her baptism outfit?! i’ve never seen someone look so good in those white jumpsuits! she was so chic! the baptism service was beautiful, and i am so happy for kaity and her new membership in the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.















saturday night i cooked myself something delicious and watched episode after episode of downton abbey in my pjs in my cozy bed, which was about the best thing ever. {if you haven’t gotten into downton abbey – oh my. i especially love it because i have been to the castle where it was filmed!} and sunday rounded off the weekend with church and a family home evening potluck. yes, yes, i like my life! and i looove my weekends!

i'm in love with love

i adore holidays. i feel like they all need to be adequately celebrated. for valentine's day, i made peanut butter and jelly heart cookies and a love-day bacon chocolate cake (with pink sprinkles and a bacon heart topper of course) for my co-workers. after work i met josephine for a cozy dinner date, hot chocolate and a thoroughly lovesickness-inducing chick flick at the movie theater.

may it be known that i was wearing a red skirt and sparkly gold shoes in addition to my pink cardigan.

it's wonderful to have a day to celebrate love. i love love, in all it's forms. i don't think i've ever crossed over from feeling lovesick to feeling bitter on valentine's day. although my over-the-top heart is perpetually wishing for more romance, there's too much good solid love in my life for any whining.

the most cherished and sacred moments of our lives are those filled with the spirit of love. the greater the measure of our love, the greater is our joy. in the end, the development of such love is the true measure of success in life. - joseph b. wirthlin

rick and linda passing through

my parents came through the bay area last week for a speech. they’d just returned home from puerto rico and new orleans a few days before they headed to my turf. after 2 days here, they headed to phoenix and then on to hawaii! what a life, huh? they are the best travelers i know. i wonder where my wanderlust comes from?!

i was so, so excited for mom and dad to get here. i picked them up at the san jose airport and we sat in traffic under a gorgeous sunset for a long time. i took them to twin peaks for a magnificent, glimmering, clear view of the city i adore, and then we walked through union square and down market street to the slanted door at the ferry building. i had been wanting to try this restaurant for ages.

there aren’t too many things i love more than a good meal with my ‘rents. the food was divine! the sparkly view of the bay bridge was stunning! the company and conversation was so good for my soul.

the next night after work i met mom and dad at the south san francisco conference center for their speech for the entrepreneurs' association of san francisco and silicon valley. i’ve hear my parents speak uncountable times, but every time it is genuinely so enjoyable and enriching, and i love talking to people afterwards about how much they love my mom and dad.

after the dinner event, we went to a late showing of extremely loud and incredible close. i loved the book and had recommended it to linda and rick. we all thought the movie was excellent, and we had the theater all to ourselves. right up there with a good meal with my parents is a good post-movie discussion with my parents.

i love them. a lot.

things i like about my life right now {part 4}

if i had to describe the last month of my life in one word, it would be blah. my usual over-the-top enthusiasm for life and all its stripes got zapped somewhere in the beginning of 2012. i think i’ve let myself harp about it too much. and deep down i’m just not a negative nancy, even if i try! it has genuinely been a rough patch, but honestly, let’s face it, my life is awesome. so i’m dusting off my rosy glasses and sharpening up on my actually oft-practiced skill of embracing a new life with a tablespoon or so of gusto and pizzazz. life has brought me to just where i am, undoubtedly for some beautiful albeit currently mysterious reasons, and i prefer to be happy.

to facilitate in this attitude readjustment, here’s a new “things i like about my life right now” list (here is part 1, part 2 and part 3):

-i am in the habit of going to bed early and waking up between 6 and 6:30 to exercise. i feel so, so good getting home from a workout at 7:30 or so awake, alive and invigorated. i feel a lot of pride in the fact that i have developed this early to bed/early to rise habit. if you’ve ever lived with me, you know why. usually mornings and i really don’t get along and i just relish staying up late. i am honestly impressed with myself and my self control.

-morning runs at baylands park really make me so happy. there’s a good 5 mile loop, and i run into the bursting sunrise. it’s misty and golden and crystaly and such a spectacular brand of bleak beauty. i always think i should stop and take a picture, but the adrenaline and the crisp air and the good music in my ears just gives me too much momentum to halt. oh! it is such a cleansing, glad feeling pushing forward and breathing deep and seeing with all my eye neurons and feeling so aware of all my muscles.

-eating steel cut oatmeal (that i cooked in the crockpot overnight) with fruit and coconut and almond milk for breakfast. it is honestly the last thing i think about before i fall asleep and the first thing i think of when i wake up. i also have been making protein pancakes or yummy smoothies for breakfast and gosh, i just really love breakfast.

-i have been getting really, really into cooking. it’s a bit weird, but most nights i would rather stay in by myself and cook up something fabulous and healthy than do almost anything else. there’s just something so incredibly satisfying and gratifying about creating food that is both delicious and wholesome and then enjoying what i single-handedly created. i owe a lot of this point on my “things i like about life” list to pinterest. i have found so many cool recipes on there. here is a sampling of what i’ve tried so far:
--sweet potato, chickpea and kale coconut curry stew
--protein pancakes made from just egg whites, oatmeal (or almond meal) and cottage cheese (or greek/coconut yogurt) with my tropical jams/jellies from hawaii
--white bean chicken chili
--no-flour cookies sweetened only by ripe bananas
--quinoa, avocado, cumin and lime salad
--pearl barley, chicken sausage, lentil, lemon, basil and poppyseed salad
--stir-fried chicken, kale, bok choy and radishes with lemon and salt (that one i made up)
--ground turkey mexican lettuce wraps

-i work with some of the smartest people ever. and – bonus! – they are also really fun, easy-going and kind. although it has been a really big adjustment for me to work at an office in front of a computer for 9 hours a day, i really couldn’t ask for better co-workers to do that with! i am learning so much from them and am grateful for their patience and encouragement. we have some fun times in the office.

 
on february 1, it was national digital learning day. we went to the office at 6am to watch the town hall meeting broadcast from washington dc. we had party blowers, yummy breakfast treats, a pizza party, and plenty of candy on hand as we tweeted about the days happenings. it was such a fun day!

-i am learning so much at work….about education policy and government and websites and writing and the social sector and work dynamics and focus and myself. my mind has been so stimulated and enriched in the last month. and i really understand the importance of the work that i am a part of. my passion for it is kindled and growing. i’m still exploring how i fit in and where i can make the most genuine impact, but i am so grateful for this experience as a truly wonderful step on my career path.

-listening to npr on the way to and from work, and talking with my co-worker meg about what we heard.

-having my own room.

-i live with good people. my roommates are just good, good hearts. there is great peace and happiness in sleeping every night in a house full of people that i genuinely admire and respect.

-adventures with my dear friend josephine. she came over the bridge to see my new place a few weeks ago, and then i met her in oakland a couple weeks later. we strolled through charming fourth street in berkeley, and then took in the views and the sunset from the marina. we ate amazing food in downtown oakland and cozied up on her couch to watch “the help.” i love living near josephine. we always have such stimulating conversations and fun happy mini-adventures together. she shows me corners of the bay area that i’d never find otherwise!

-there is a really pretty courtyard outside of my office, and the camellia trees just started blossoming. those pink flowers are gorgeous. they make my heart smile. i am always tempted to pick one and put it behind my ear. every afternoon i take a walk to get some fresh air, and i love those flowering trees.

-the weather in palo alto is really, really awesome. i seriously have had to remind myself that it is winter a few times. the sunshine is just so kind. i never wear a coat. and i never feel too hot.

-downtown palo alto is just so magical. all the trees on university avenue are lit with white twinkle lights, and there are so many good restaurants to try and the old theater, where i really want to go see a movie asap. i also love stanford campus. these are two areas that i really want to spend some good quality time with in the near future. even though i coil at the fact that i’ve become a suburbanite, i recognize that i live in a really beautiful, charming, swell place. there’s lots for me to explore on the peninsula. i’m ready to get started. i need some adventure buddies (or, just one good-looking male one…).

-i’ve had some delightful sunday dinners since i moved, and i want to make a goal to have a nice sunday dinner with guests (or as a guest) every week. i just love sunday dinner. my roommates and i were invited to our neighbors’ a few weeks ago, and then a couple of weeks in a row i invited friends from san francisco down to eat with me after church. i’m realizing that along with cooking, i really enjoy entertaining – hosting small get-togethers. there’s something so cozy about a good sunday dinner, right?

-the stanford 2nd ward is truly extraordinary and i feel blessed to go to church (and so many other activities) with such fine, good, accomplished, diverse and wonderful human beings. although i feel i’ve lost so much of my drive to make new friends, i do know there are people here with whom i can build very valuable relationships.

i am genuinely astonished by how long and fantastic this list became as it poured out. dear reader, there are always little things – really, truly great things – to like about your life. being human is so. stinking. great.

thank you, venting, and how it all turns out ok

oh, goodness. your comments on the last post were – devastatingly wonderful. thank you. thank you. i was right about you guys being pretty rad, huh? {and to those of you who didn’t comment (yes, i know you’re out there) – let’s remember what happens to middle schoolers who don’t follow through on a triple-dog-dare…umm…there’s still time!!}

the truth is, i needed your words of encouragement. to be real, the last month has been a hazy, blah, weird bubble of life for me. i feel drained of the myself part of myself. although there have been some beautiful, bright moments, truthfully i’ve felt like a technicolor character in a grainy black and white film, one who has slowly blended into the grayscale. yes, it’s been a bit of an ache. but – but, but, but – this is a mortal experience! and i genuinely, honestly love it when life is hard because i feel so human. and i’ll embrace and conquer and press forward.

venting, however is part of the process. oh, dear. i guess the last post was meant to make me feel good about myself, and this one is meant to make you feel bad for me. i have become such an egotistical blogger! i promise – back to the zest and passion and spunk you lauded right after this little rant.

it’s about my bad luck with transportation, and there’s a twist at the end so don’t worry.

last year, i got rear-ended out of nowhere on the bay bridge (on the way home from the temple, of all things) and my car got totaled. three days after i’d paid $450 to get it registered in california.

 
a very generous friend surprised me one day at work and lent me her nice road bike indefinitely, to help me get around without a car. i feel in love with my bike. seriously. you know those people who are annoyingly obsessed with their ugly little yapping dogs, and they carry them around in burburry puppy-carriers? i had the same sort of feelings toward my bike (although i never did accessorize it – one of my truest regrets). i loved cruising around the city on my bike. i loved it.

 
well. my bike got stolen one night, locked up outside of the house where i babysat. i was crushed.

and it was back to the bus and the train, which actually i really, really enjoyed a lot (i have a thing for public transportation), but it’s not time to be positive quite yet. venting still in progress.

when i moved to palo alto, it was time to buy a car. so, i made a deal with the family i worked for, and drove my very own subaru outback, stuffed with all my belongings, to palo alto my first night back in the bay. i quickly grew to like that little guy and his manual transmission (and i gloried in the amazing mobility of having a car again).

 
last saturday was a particularly hard day. i decided to shape up and decide to be happy, bought some peppy mat kearney songs on itunes, hopped in the car to go to a dinner i had been looking forward to for ages (with old friends from the city at my old bishop’s house in half moon bay) and blasted the music and rolled down the windows and felt pretty darn good driving into the mountains to get to the coast.

then. billowing smoke. car didn’t accelerate anymore. and i was on the side of the road in hysterics. couldn’t pull myself together. after a while of blubbering on the phone, the tow truck came. the clutch had burned out and repairs were a pretty penny.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

okay. venting done. i’m going to pick up my car tomorrow, all fixed and paid for by the previous owners, and all is well. now onto the positive twist.

as i drove through the night in the tow truck cab, i felt awful. it seemed like this was such a huge deal. it was terrible. then, i got a message from a friend letting me know that our mutual friend’s dad had passed away, and to keep that family in my prayers. amazing how the huge deal turned to dust. it was nothing. moments like those – here come some cliches, but they happen to be true – make you realize how fragile and precious life is, and that everything should be kept in perspective. i sent up a prayer from the slow lane on the 101 for those dear grieving people and to thank god that my biggest issue at that moment was a burned out clutch.

and i felt alive. stingingly, for-good-and-for-bad alive. stranded, hungry, and had to pee so bad after being on the side of a mountain road for a couple hours, but alive and blessed and well and just fine, fine.

i’ve learned from my bad luck with transportation. i’m happy about that.