Happy new year everyone! It seems that planning for New Year’s Eve always loom so large —-what to do, who to do it with. Staying in seems boring but going out on the town is such an effort. I can count on one hand the number of truly exciting New Year’s eves in my life and yet, somehow many of us hold ourselves to this impossible standard of “having plans” for the big night. I took this past week off from work and had lots of fun things on my list but since I’ve been recovering from a Christmas cold (thanks, Otto!), I ended up mostly laying low this week, catching up on sleep, reading and TV (Homeland! Was that a great season or what!). This turns out to be exactly what I needed. So, New Year’s this year was also purposefully (and perfectly) low key. I started New Year’s eve day with a walk in the redwoods at Muir Woods with my friend Sophia. Somehow, I have never been and it’s been on my “Bay Area must see” list. Such a majestic and beautiful place. It’s awe inspiring and humbling to think about these trees having been here for thousands of years. And somehow equally amazing to think that this beautiful ancient forest is just minutes from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco. I feel such luck and gratitude to be able to live in such a special part of the world. New Year’s eve I spent with my friends Victoria and Luis and two of my favorite tots, Eleanor and Sebastian for an early new year’s eve dinner and toast “Falkland Island’s style”— I’ll bet you didn’t know that the Falkland Islands celebrate their NY’s Eve at 7pm our time! New Year’s day I went to a New Year’s meditation retreat Spirit Rock Meditation Center. It was a perfect way to start the year, with clarity of mind and intention. I’ve been thinking a lot about new year’s resolutions. Front and center of my mind is becoming a Mom. Above all. I want so much for 2016 to be the year that I become a Mom, but I also know (and largely accept) that I have very little control over this and it’s not ideal to frame a resolution around something I can only partially control. Might as well resolve for world peace, in that case. So, my best alternative resolution this year is to commit to living life openly and fully. I will ‘say yes’ where before I might have waffled or declined. I will look for ways to open myself up to new experiences, and I will look forward to this adoption journey, wherever it takes me. Happy New Year’s everyone! I hope this is a great year for you.
Category Archives: Friends and family
Fun & Friends in 2015
Two of my new year’s resolutions for 2015 were to have more FUN and to connect more with friends throughout the year. So my idea was to plan one special fun, friend focused get-away each month—my “fun with friends weekends”. Usually, my new years resolutions involve things like eating better, going to the gym and losing weight and not too surprisingly, by February (if even that long) I’ve dropped them. This year’s “fun, friend focused” resolution worked out so much better! Sometimes, I made special plans to get away for the weekend. Other times, I tagged the trip onto a work trip. I was traveling a lot for work this year and a happy upside was being able to connect work and fun every now and then. Looking back, it was a fun year and I am glad to have had a chance to spend time with so many wonderful friends. My friends are my family and you’ve all been a rock for me, through some difficult times in my life. I’m so glad and grateful to have you all in my life.
- January: girls weekend in Mendocino with Michelle. Skunk train, redwoods and beautiful views.
- February: Santa Fe weekend with Noelle. Bandelier cliff dwellings, art and great food.
- March: Berlin and Trabi-safari with Beth, George and Grace
- April: London visit and theater with Sarah.
- May: a big month! Santa Cruz boardwalk and roller coaster with friends for my birthday. Rhode Island for my 25th college reunion.
- June: vacation with my cousins and their kids at Blue Waters. A week of sun, sand and waterslides!
- July: Florence with my friend Sophia and her mom. Amazing italian food, gelato and shopping.
- August: Tassajara weekend with Phil for his birthday. Hiking, hot springs and zen.
- September: “just for me” weekend in Zurich before a work trip. Walks on the lake, chocolate and more chocolate!
- October: dinner with Noelle in Chicago while at the Society for Neuroscience meeting. Escaping from the neuroscience madness to see Noelle and her parents.
- November: Washington DC weekend with Noelle, Aidan and Keira.
- December: celebrating work anniversaries and end of the year with a decadent and delicious dinner at Espalier with my work friends.
So many happy memories! I didn’t plan it as a “waiting games” strategy, but my year of “fun with friends” ended up giving me something to look forward to and help pass the time in this waiting limbo. I had such fun that I might repeat the new year’s resolution this year!
Christmas Countdown
I love Christmas. It’s a magical holiday, especially with kids. Over the last few years Christmas has been bittersweet. I have so many happy childhood memories around Christmas and I love the traditions, but I also miss my parents so much this time of year. It’s been hard too to be in this “baby-maybe” waiting space, during the holidays, when there is so much attention on family and kids. The last few years, Christmas was fairly low key but this year, I decided not to hold back and instead just let the Christmas spirit move me and boy did it! I’ve had so much fun the last few weeks. The best part was sharing the holidays with so many wonderful friends and reminding myself that family is a bigger than your biological family.
Highlights of my December included: making Advent calendars for Keira and Aidan. Scouting out gifts for the toys for tots drive at my office. Buying my tree from the guys at Delancey Street foundation—they are so nice and really feels good that the cost of the tree is going to a good cause. Decorating my “bird tree” and adding new ornaments from my travels this year, which brings back memory of fun trips this year. A weekend cookie bake-a-thon and decorating an army of gingerbread men. Walks in the neighborhood with Bodhi to check out the lights and decorations and putting up lights and decorations on my own house—we’re not quite at the level of some of my neighbors, but maybe next year! Paper-whites all over the house and the house smelling of Christmas. Hosting a Christmas party at my house and the chance to celebrate with friends. Visiting the Tilden Park merry-go-round all lit up for Christmas; holiday beer brewing with Judy and Phil. Christmas shopping downtown and checking out the big tree and skating rink at Union Square. An end of the year celebratory blowout dinner in Boston with my work buddies. Festive dinners with various friends and a chance to remember fun times from the past year. And best of all, anticipating a first Christmas with my new nephew Otto, who just turned six months old! I feel truly blessed with my life and all the people in it.
Although I feel like I’ve already gotten everything I had on my Christmas wish list, there is still one thing on my Dear Santa list—a baby to love. Santa, if you’re listening, maybe you can get together with Mr. Stork and make a Christmas delivery. I’m ready and waiting!
Happy holidays, everyone! Thanks for being a part of my life and making this year a great year!
Bodhi after the party
Neighborhood garage door
Making ornaments at my holiday party
Letters to Santa at the flea market
my tree
Union Square
Monterey Ave Lights
Home
Cookie Extravaganza
Gingerbread Peeps before
Chrismas in San Francisco
Santa Bodhi
Home in lights
Downtown lights
Mini sleigh ride home from picking our tree
Gingerbread peeps after
Guests arriving at my Christmas party!
All I want for Christmas
I have been so looking forward to seeing my nephew Otto for Christmas! I can’t wait to get a chance to cuddle and snuggle with this little cutie!
Two sweet peas
I was lucky during a recent work trip to Boston to be able to visit with my lovely friends Julia and Marc and their adorable daughters, Eleanor and Sophia. My how they’ve grown and how their personalities have developed since I last saw them in August! Eleanor is a bundle of energy and mischief and already loves her gadgets. Sophia is a Buddha baby, so zen and mellow. Two peas in a pod but each her own personality. And its been amazing to see Julia and Marc become such wonderful parents. I always knew they’d be great parents. Some have asked me whether it’s tough to see friends and others become parents and have babies and families while I am still in waiting limbo for a baby of my own. I wondered how this would be too but to be honest, it hasn’t been hard. Don’t get me wrong—yes, the waiting is hard, very hard, but this hasn’t stopped me from reveling in the excitement of friends’ new babies. I am so happy for Julia and Marc (and for other friends too) as they’ve grown their families. I don’t feel like their happiness limits mine. I’ve loved watching friends dive into parenthood and getting to know their kids. I know my baby is out there, somewhere, and I feel blessed that he or she will have so many playmates to grow up with, not to mention the hand-me-down baby gear I’m hoping for. Plus its great to be an Auntie and spoil these cuties rotten as only an Auntie can!
‘Tis the Season…almost
Christmas is one my favorite holidays. I love the sparkle and the build up to the big day. I love picking out a tree and decorating it, writing Christmas cards, searching out just the right gifts for people you love and wrapping them up in pretty paper. I love that its a time for family and traditions. One of my favorite traditions of recent years has been to make an advent calendar for my godson Aidan and now also his sister, Keira. It’s a lot of fun to search out little gifts to fill the pockets. Since they live in Virginia and don’t usually see them over the holidays, its something special I can do to be a part of their holidays. I spent a part of last weekend hunting out little gifts (note that finding little gifts that will fit into those teensy pockets is not so easy!) and tonight, taking advantage of an evening catching up on Homeland, I wrapped them all up so I could mail them to Virginia before December 1. Advent calendars are a very German tradition. When I was a kid, we had the kind with little doors, that opened each day to a piece of chocolate in some sort of cute shape. I can remember waking up each morning excited to open the next door for that piece of chocolate, all the way up to the big door and chocolate on the 25th. I also remember my brother eating his whole calendar in one fell swoop! I’m really looking forward to the day when I’ll be able make an advent calendar for my son or daughter, and share with them all the many things I love about Christmas.
Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving turkey trot
Here in Berkeley, its not uncommon to see all sorts of wildlife in the neighborhood. The funniest is the flock of wild turkeys that has made our neighborhood their “hood”. They’re always fun to see walking around but somehow seeing them casually walking around Thanksgiving morning, gave me a chuckle. You have to be a pretty confident Turkey to be strutting around on Turkey day!
I thought it would be appropriate to the spirit of day to give thanks for the many blessings in my life. Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of life and the stresses of the everyday, its hard to remember how lucky most of us really are. I am so thankful for all of you, friends and family, who have supported me in this journey to be a Mom. It would be hard to be doing this without your love and support. I am grateful for being in a position in my life to welcome a child in my heart and home. Even in this time of waiting, I am grateful to be lucky enough to be waiting for this child to arrive. I am grateful for the good fortune of having good health and a happy life , to be able to live in a beautiful place I love, and to be doing work that fulfills me and that allows me to use my talents and learn something new every day. At this time, when there are so many in the world living in the midst of war and political strife, who are fleeing their homes for a safer life elsewhere, I am grateful for living a life that is relatively sheltered from harm and unrest. I am grateful for having been raised by loving and devoted parents, who gave me the foundation for a happy and successful life. I am grateful for my dog Bodhi my coming into my life—coming home to this bundle of boundless love and energy is always the highlight of my day. I’m grateful for all the creative people in this world, the artists, musicians and writers, who bring beauty and insight to our world and inspire life. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Bugs, gems and pandas in Washington DC
DC with Noelle, Aidan and Keira
I had a great time this weekend meeting up in Washington DC with Noelle and her kids, Aidan and Keira, who came up from Virginia. Aidan is my Godson and I consider Keira my unofficial Goddaughter by extension. We had a great time going to the Natural History Museum, where highlights were the bug exhibit (crazy big tarantulas and glow in the dark scorpians!) and the crystal and gem collection (turns out Keira is gem gal!). The kids tolerated my forced march to see the White House, even though it was dark already and we could only see it from a distance. On Sunday we went to the National Zoo and introduced the newest family member—Pandie the Panda–to Keira’s menagerie. The zoo has a new baby Panda, Bei Bei, but we could only see him on the video-cam because Mama Panda and baby were still not taking guests. In between we had fun hanging out in the hotel, swimming in the hotel pool, timing the super long escalators at the Metro and overdosing on deep dish pizza and ice cream shakes from Shake Shack. Aidan has grown up into a sports nut but he’s nice enough to tolerate Aunt Katja’s dumb sports questions like —“who won the world series” and “how many innings are there in a basketball game.” Since Noelle and her family live so far away, I don’t get to see them so often but luckily work takes me to DC often enough so we can see each other in person every now and then. Aidan is now almost ten and I can’t quite believe that this little peanut that I held in my arms not so long ago is now such a big boy! Its been a gift to be a part of Adain and Keira’s lives and to have a role model for such a great Mom in my friend Noelle!
A Ghoulish Great Night!
Happy Halloween!
Halloween this year was a blast. After carving our pumpkins and decorating the porch, we started the afternoon with the Halloween Pet Parade at the dog park at Pt. Isabel. Bodhi transformed himself into his alter ego, Super Bodhi, and, in my humble opinion, stole the show. My friend Judy came over for the day and we met up with another friend Allison and her dogs Jack (the shark) and Colonel (the pirate) and joined the other four-legged furries who were graciously humoring their pet parents by wearing all manor of cute and silly costumes. There were lots of Star Wars costumes this year and a few devil dogs and hot dogs (ha ha!) too! After the park, we met up with our friend Phil who had come over to help pass out candy and before the crowds arrived, Super Bodhi led his pack for a walk to check out the ghoulish and crazy decorations around the neighborhood. He kept us safe from all manner of zombies and skeletons and even a marauding squirrel who had taken down a neighbor’s jack-o’lanterns. Super Bodhi is not fan of squirrels! As the sun went down, the trick-or-treaters came out in force. We had loads of trick-or-treaters this year. Last year, I had the near panic of almost running out of candy so I was prepared this year. Lots of Elsa’s, storm troopers, skeletons, jelly fish, and even a few Minions. Holidays like this make me feel so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. I can’t wait to someday have my own little one to take trick-or-treating. And Super Bodhi is looking forward to having a super sidekick!
Tilden Little Farm
Tilden Little Farm
I had a super fun morning today hanging out at Little Farm in Tilden Park with Victoria, Luis, Eleanor and Sebastian. Berkeley has many special places but one of my favorite is Tilden Park. It’s a wonderful park with all sorts of great trails and activities, and only ten minutes from my house. One of my favorite Tilden places for spending time with kids is Little Farm. As the name says, Little Farm is a “little farm” and petting zoo for kids. They have sheep, goats, cows, geese, chickens, rabbits and some really portly pigs. “That’s a lot of bacon!” was a common (if not very creative) refrain from the adults. What I love about little farm is that the “farm hands” are all older kids (middle school age) who come spend their weekends at the farm introducing the little ones to how to brush, clean, and feed the animals. We came prepared with our bags of lettuce and celery and had a great time feeding and petting the animals. Eleanor was an old pro and did a great job of showing her little brother Sebastian that, despite the giant tongue, the mama cow was only interested in the celery and not his hand!
Waiting for my stork 