Drinking from the Garden Hose

This year we are spending the holidays at home in San Diego! The pandemic certainly shifted our plans 2020 holiday season and this year we are spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas in our new home for the first time (cute, adorable milestone - one worth calling out!). San Diego has been home for over a year now and I really do love the lifestyle. My fiance and I have dreamed of moving down here for most of our relationship, we'd fly down from Seattle for a weekend with friends at the beach and try to figure out which companies might be cool to work for in the area, assuming at the time I'd be nearly in my 40s before I'd have the type of seniority at AWS to take a field role in such a desirable part of the country (certain cities are very coveted and have literally no turn over for decades, it's a dream job). HOWEVER, the pandemic and remote work situations enabled us to make the move sooner than later, and we are both extremely happy down here for a variety of reason

I’m sitting in a window seat, 10,000 feet and climbing over the California desert, above the clouds. It still amazes me that humans were able to invent flight and integrate air travel into society the way we have. One day I fully plan on looking down on Earth from a different perspective, somewhere in space, somewhere that’s always been above me. In the third grade for a class wax-museum I was Sally Ride and wore a full astronaut space suit and had a 5 minute bio memorized. I also went to space camp twice and have already entered a Blue Origin lottery to win a seat on a commercial space flight, so it’s going to happen one way or another. It’s just about the same price as an American wedding these days…  Albert Einstein is a gentleman who needs no introduction, but I will recommend his collection of essays The World As I See it. His reputation as one of the most brilliant minds in human history precedes him, and much of the wisdom he gathered outside of the realm of academia he articula

A very dear friend of mine who I consider family, just received a cancer diagnosis. As soon as their mind considered the practicalities of such a grave situation, panic set in and their mind thought the option of suicide was a better choice than taking on the medical system as a young person of color, with a minimum wage job and bad health insurance in the United States of America. I’m quite familiar with the political ideologies of countries like Australia, New Zealand and Spain where healthcare is not much of a burden for citizens. Young people should have the rest of their lives to look forward to - we are just getting started! That makes me furious. Each person who receives news in the fatality category has their own unique, specific experience that is deeply personal to them. Even if you are receiving news about a loved one, there's a lot of empathy and grief you experience as a witness. But the fact that when faced with a serious disease, however treatable still serious, some

 Yesterday I hosted bookclub! We had a special guest baby Huxley, literary namesake so of course it's necessary he attends book club his first month in the world! This month we read Pulitzer Prize winner  Gilead  by Marilynne Robinson . Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series— Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack —is an intergenerational story about faith, race, and love from the interwoven histories of two families in a small Iowa town to encompass American life: ideals and beliefs, our contradictions, failings, and hopes. I plan to read the rest of the series, as I found Gilead  a valuable read. A few points I found thought provoking in this novel (I read it on my Kindle so page numbers correspond : Page 75: The protagonist narrates the story, a Caucasian preacher from Iowa in his late seventies who feels he is near the end of life - "...because now, in my present situation, now that I am about to leave this world, I realize there is nothing more astonishing than a human face...It has s

After a beautiful weekend in Atlanta celebrating the marriage of our friends Jason and Steph, last night we were on the couch catching up on Law & Order SVU and Alec exclaims "We get to do this every night! Like have a sleepover! Forever!" Ha why yes, that is one thing that comes with the marriage territory - a permanent sleepover buddy! There's a special bond you build with people you live with for an extended period of time... those relationships are typically reserved for three categories - family, romantic partners and roommates. ROOMMATES! What a special category of people. I am fortunate to have many amazing past roommates in my life - I LOVE YOU ALL! But the wedding this past weekend was my COLLEGE roommates. My UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA KAPPA DELTA sorority sister roommates. We went from bunking together and sharing bathrooms in the sorority house to THE MULLET - a cute, lovely brick family home from the street view, with a gigantic wooden party deck on the back o

Last weekend we went back to Seattle for the first time since moving to Southern California. Washington was showing off her fall colors, it was so beautiful outside! The main reason we went up was to attend a wedding (number 6 out of 7 for the season). Of course returning to a place that once was home and spending quality time with a few of our closest friends was absolutely priceless. We go to a lot of weddings and I think they're soul food. It's like the feeling after exercise or any memorable occasion with friends and family. You never regret going and always feel full of joy after attending. I'm a sucker for a good speech and love to dance. Whenever I make a wedding buddy in the bathroom or during the cocktail hour, I always say "See ya on the dance floor!"... because that is where I will be!  Recently I've gotten to spend some quality time with my close girlfriends that know me really well and we've been really open about finances - investments, asset

Today I am 99 days alcohol free! I have to say, I feel as fantastic! At this stage, after over three months with no booze, I'm looking forward to the next 99 days without it more than to going back to losing chunks of my time to hangovers. SO MANY GOOD THINGS HAVE HAPPENED IN THE PAST 99 DAYS! First of all I got engaged, so that's a big occasion to celebrate! When my sister came out for a visit she got a few bottles of Martinelli's sparkling cider we drank by the fire in champagne flutes! My skin is so much happier without wine. My mom used our Nikon and took engagement photos on the beach, normally I'd be a little puffy from wine or champagne but I loved all the photos! The non-alcoholic beverage game is pretty strong down here in San Diego. Sprouts has a delicious range of sparkling probiotic teas, kombuchas and tonics that are all much cheaper than wine or beer. California also offers a delicious range of cannabis drinks I highly recommend (I love these grapefruit an