Lori's NZ Blog

Trip to California

First of all, yes I know I'm terrible at updating this blog. I don't think anyone reads it anyway, but just in case there is a reader or two out there, keep in mind that a couple of my friends also post to blogs and post pictures and we frequently do things as groups. For example, check out Derrick's pie day and boat dive entries in his blog. Also, check out Kevin's pictures of a cool boat dive wetook a while back. Where ever we go, someone always has a camera.

I also turned 36 at the end of June. That event is documented here and here. I suppose if I was even remotely interested in marriage and children, that number might make me nervous. But I've had enough people tell me that they're "living vicariously" through me to feel pretty lucky about where I am. The best part of my birthday was when my friend Arwen got a whole bunch of people at work to donate money towards a big industrial-sized stand mixer. I was floored. It was so nice of her to organize that, and so generous of everyone to contribute. So, I bought the mixer, and on Monday I brought in a huge bucket of cookies for everyone -- some kitchen-sink breakfast cookies and my world-famous margarita cookies. I hope everyone feels like they got their money's worth.

On June 29 I left for a week-long vacation to California. I flew into San Francisco and spent a few days with Dave. On the 5th of July I drove my rental car down the coast to LA and spend a few days there visiting friends. It was a really fun trip. Dave showed me a lot of cool sights in San Fran, we watched the fireworks over the bay, I did a lot of shopping, hung out with some Sony buds, and ate Mexican food pretty much every day. Oh, the food. I had forgotten about the food. I had forgotten how much I really enjoy eating. More to the point, I hadn't realized how much I had started to dislike eating here in Wellington. Don't get me wrong, New Zealand is incredible, but for someone who loves food as much as I do, I'm feeling a pretty big hole in my life here. Perhaps I had become spoiled by the availability of high-quality, healthy food in wide varieties and in all locations and at all hours of the day or night. Perhaps I should take a small fraction of the time I spend baking cookies and dedicate that to preparing a meal or two at home. In that vein, I bought the El Cholo cookbook and am planning to figure out how to get what I need here in the Land of Kumara.

Anyhoo, SF was fun, Big Sur was beautiful, and LA was, well, LA, but I did get to see a bunch of old friends there (and an honest-to-God Kwik-E-Mart!) so that made up for the smog and traffic. Web album is here.

Next up: A trip to Stuttgart, Munich, and London over Oktoberfest!

posted by Lori @ 9:58 PM