6 months: New Eyes

YOU GUYS - IT FINALLY HAPPENED. It took an entire 6 months (almost to the day), but the dark circles under my eyes have disappeared!

I know this is completely trivial, but I'm still so darn pleased. I think it means this break is as good for me as it feels (or at least that's how I choose to interpret it).

From now on, I will not participate in anything that jeopardizes my new under eye bliss.

Abu Dhabi Life: Friday Brunch

Our friends baptized their new baby this weekend.

In the UAE, it's also a good occasion for going to a big ol' celebratory brunch. And in true WASPy fashion, Steve and I love a good brunch. Before moving here we had fun trying quaint little brunches all over LA, Vegas, and Seattle. And even farther back, I have hilarious memories from the cheap bottomless mimosa brunches my friends and I used to seek out across NYC in the years right after college.

But in the UAE, brunch isn't cute, or quaint, or made for rolling out of bed and stumbling towards. It's an event that requires a little advance planning, usually reservations, time to get presentable (yoga pants not recommended), a round trip taxi ride (zero tolerance alcohol policy in the UAE), and eating and drinking way too much (both are all you can eat). Oh, and it's typically on Friday since that's the primary day off here and people tend to stay for the entire brunch time - 4 hours.

And you guyyyyyyyys, brunch here costs $125 - $180 per person.

Apparently, my reaction means I haven't fully acclimated. None of our friends seems to have the same reaction, or at least not anymore. Even Steven thinks it's fine.

But of course we wanted to support and celebrate with our friends and their new bebe, so we joined in. Steve and I opted for the non-alcoholic option but time crawls when you're drinking water and iced tea.

But 4 hours is a long time when you're stone cold sober and all your friends are several drinks deep.

So when Aimee handed me a mojito 2 1/2 hours later, I happily partook.

And like magic, the rest of the brunch flew by. And so did the drinks we had at our place, and the shawarma we ordered and happily ate with our hands.

The end.

Travel: Not Cyprus

When I initially booked our Cyprus trip, I thought this weekend would be full of good hikes, great views, leaping off waterfalls, and plenty of "Ahhhhhhh" moments.

And being totally honest, I also pictured being less than graceful in some of those pursuits.

But instead, today we woke up past noon and have spent the entire day as couch potatoes...in Abu Dhabi.

Sometimes our travel plans don't work out. It's usually annoyingly benign - like when I didn't realize Bahrain's Ramadan was super strict and we opted for Prague instead, or getting on the wrong train on our way to Medoc last year, or simply that something wasn't as good as I hoped. We don't dwell on it, but still a valuable part of the whole travel experience.

But yesterday, we had to cancel our entire Cyprus trip at 2am just a handful of hours before we were supposed to depart.

First, I got a text at 1:30am from the airline saying our itinerary had changed.

And when I checked the airline website it had been replaced by a press release stating they had gone out of business 90 minutes prior and ceased all flights.

Steve and I did some quick checks to see if the trip could still be salvaged - flying in on different airlines, or even re-routing to an alternate destination.

But in the end, we opted to just cancel the whole thing and use the vacation time for a later trip.

And then we ordered a pizza and ate it in bed with a bottle of Cava, while watching HP 7-1.

Booked: Cyprus in 2 weeks!

One of the best things about living in the UAE is its physical location - there are countless places we've never been within a few short hours (by plane).

I stumbled on some airfare to Cyprus that was just too good to pass up.  So we're going for 5 days! Lately we've really enjoyed keeping our trips more flexible, and road tripping through the picturesque locations.  It worked really really for us in Croatia and France, so we're sticking to that format for Cyprus too.

We've got our plane tickets, a car, and Phoebe is confirmed for boarding. That's pretty much all we need these days.

Image courtesy of PDX International Studies

Happy October 1st

When I was 9 or 10, my parents came home with a tiny block of triangular wood, cut in the shape of Nevada. My mom had written "Happy Oct 1st" on it with a blue ball point pen and triumphantly handed it to me after I had finished practicing piano. It was a simple gesture and the wood was mostly likely a end-scrap from a lumber yard, but I cherished it. For years, it sat on display in my parents' house - first on the piano, then the glass display shelves, and then a hallway table amongst family pictures. I'm not sure if it had the same meaning for my mother, but it always reminded me of her in a moment of genuine and simple happiness, so full of light and mirth. And even though that piece of wood is long lost, the memory is a lighthouse.

Twenty-five (ish) years later, and October 1st is one of the only family traditions I still hold close. I usually call my mom to bring each other a little joy, and then I do one simple and uncomplicated thing to make myself as happy as I remember her being. A few years ago, I treated myself to 2 pieces of pie and a bottomless cup of coffee for dinner. And one year, very early in my career, I left work early to read my book in the park and enjoy the fading sun - both of which were quickly becoming precious commodities.

To this day, being immersed in a book is still one of my greatest pleasures. There are entire parts of my brain/heart/life that only come to life when reading and I've passed months, maybe even years, of my life in this state. When I first moved back here I was so excited about all the books I would inhale, and had so many things lined up to read. I had dozens of ebooks checked out or on hold from the public library, a new and maxed out Kindle Unlimited membership, and about a dozen print books squirreled away in my luggage (because nothing can replace the weight/smell/feel of those pages).

But for months, I had difficulty gripping a story the way I wanted. My head was too crowded, too full of meaningless minutiae, and too accustomed to constantly being busy. The best I could muster were a few short spurts throughout the day - often times while my mind raced across 10, 15, 20 different topics. I can't tell you how many times I had to reread the same pages.

But now, after months of working at it nearly everyday, I am finally able to read and read and read to my heart's content. I've remembered the art of emptying my mind and focusing on just one thing at a time, and enjoying it. It's a long awaited and beautiful thing, and I am oh-so-happy to be here.

So today, on this Happy October 1st, I am going to order takeout and read all night.

BOOKED: November in Nevada and Christmas-ish in Venice

We're coming back to Nevada for ~2 weeks in late November! We're planning to spend 11-12 days in Las Vegas, Reno, and where ever my Dad is (he travels). It's going to be a little crazy like always but we're looking forward to soaking up quality time with everyone we've missed.

We usually have lunch and dinner scheduled with someone different every single day, and it's exhausting but worth it. We'll probably have to be a little regimented about our schedule/dates/times, which is hard since we always end up wishing there was more time. But hopefully it will be enough time to catch up on the latest that's happening with everyone (me):

while drinking all the craft beers (Steven):

and reminding the kids what their far-flung aunt and uncle are like.

And of course, we added a little extra trip, too.

From Vegas, we're heading straight to Venice, Italy for 5 days! We have some extra vacation days at the end of our trip that we can't spend in the US (boo taxes) and I really wanted to visit a Christmas Market somewhere in Europe on our way back. (In case you weren't aware I really love Christmas.) Most of my research into the more traditional locations like Germany, Vienna, or Strasbourg didn't really jive with the way we like to travel. They all sounded kind of magical to me (especially the Ravenna Gorge Christmas Market), but Steven thought most of them sounded kind of weird. 

But then I stumbled upon some descriptions of off-peak Venice - mellow, chilly weather, beautiful fog rolling the canals, super easy reservations and no wait times, and a Christmas market selling mostly traditional and regional goods. Sounds perfect.

photo credit: Jo Rodgers for Vogue

Plus, it means eating lots of glorious Italian food. SOLD.

We can be Both

The house is quiet today but my mind and heart are so full of so many things. I don't have the right words yet but I want to document this while the feelings are still fresh. Similar to the way I felt after our France trip last year, I want to remember this swirl of heart stirs and thoughts before the pace of daily life has a chance to dull them/me.

Last week, we flew to the states to say goodbye to a very dear friend who departed too soon. His passing was very sudden, disorienting, and heartbreaking. But this isn't a post about our loss or grief - we're going to navigate those murky waters in private. Suffice it to say that Steven will have a Shawn-shaped hole in his heart forever. And I mourn that hole in my lover's heart, along with all the times I squandered the opportunity to know and love Shawn as well as I could have.

Someone once told me there are only a handful of major life events that merit a big show of love: a wedding, a birth, a life saved, and a life lost. And last week held true to that statement - somehow amidst the tears and sadness there was also a quiet and large demonstration of love. Love from everyone who dropped their busy lives to bid their old friend farewell. Love for Katie, who now outlives him, as friends and family supported her grief (or tried to in our awkward and inexperienced ways) and reassured her that Shawn made a difference in our lives and would never be forgotten. And the big, big love that radiated from Katie for her departed, with nowhere to go other than poured into the people and pursuits he loved. The beauty and sadness of this duality made my heart fracture and swell at the same time, and I felt like I understood something deep and inherent about our nature as human beings.

This ability to be both (or three, or four, or all things) helped me see the complexity, and hope, and capacity for more within us. Our hearts and lives are not bounded; they can grow and expand and do somersaults, if we let them. To be utterly heartbroken yet still able to smile, to be angry at the circumstances but tender with those around us, and to mourn the loss of one while also preparing to welcome another - those are good things worth keeping. And while I know these slices exist in every corner of every day - I haven't noticed or felt them as keenly as I do right now. Just thinking about it now makes me very achey in the chest but grateful everywhere else.

This life is precious because of the love we have for others and our vast ability to act on it.