weekend update: cassava

This post is much delayed, but I have a good excuse: in the best way possible, it’s been nonstop with the house.  So many little projects filling up all those 15-45 minute chunks of time I find during the week, and in this case weekend.  And I promise to share those with you.

For now, my weekend update… from a week ago – I was in the Bay for all of 36 hours, so I stayed in the Outer Sunset with Andyman and Anne on Thursday, and with the pops on Friday night.  The kids wanted to do a fun dinner on Thursday, so Andy and Anne took me to Cassava, a small, cozy and cute little spot in the Outer Richmond I now highly recommend, to anybody and certainly those who are gluten/wheat-free. No promises to the GF, because all I am looking to eliminate is wheat, but ordering was cinch and I wasn’t very limited.

 

i think i learned this weekend that these are hydrangeas…copycat decor in the house coming on the next post.

oh monday

Had a busy, busy end to the week.  Travel to the Bay for interviews, a lovely Father’s Day celebration at my Marin fav Terrapin Crossroads, complete with the entertainment of watching the Dead Heads come together for a Phil Lesh show, finally painting over the mint green color that has consumed our downstairs since we moved in, furniture delivery, furniture buying, lawn mowing, and getting back to basics with my favorite Sunday yoga class.

My favorite Sunday yoga class… my favorite yoga class.  75 minutes with the best teacher.  There are a number of them at CorePower, but in my opinion, Sarah is top dog.  She always inserts a little education at the start and you feel like you are dancing through the flow.  She is encouraging and the class is challenging.  Such a great way to end the weekend/start the week.   My own kind of church, you could say.

Here’s to no travel in the near future, and lots and lots of yoga.

Lost of crow pose yesterday. Just wish I looked this way when I did it.

I did this. I was the other way around, but I did this.

After weeks of travel, there isn’t much a crave more than feeling strong and flexible.

set

Maybe it’s because we spent our teenage years on Mt. Tam watching the sun set, or maybe it’s because since before I can remember, my dad has told me that the clouds at sunset are really pink ghoulies watching over me, but I have forever been enamored with sunsets.

Today marks eight years since Barbie lost her battle with breast cancer.  I could tell you that I posted a quite literally, heavenly looking sunset today because of it’s symbolism, but that’s not it.  I just loved this moment.  It was on an otherwise mundane run the other night, and it absolutely made my day.  Losing my mom continues to teach me many things, one of which is to make the best of all situations; another, to remain eternally optimistic; and another – to absolutely value all those tiny moments I wouldn’t otherwise remember.

Today, I am thankful for the 22 years I had with my mom, but I’m also thankful for so much good fortune that’s come my way since.  The bigger things – my honey, my career, my education, my doggie, for starters – and the littler things – a good book, beautiful sunset, an infectious laugh.

Cheers to the mama.

one of those days.

Today the mama would have been 63.  There are a couple days a year when her loss is so pronounced, and her birthday is always one of them.  I think of what she would have been doing – in life and on this day – I wonder how I can possibly celebrate her in a way that does justice to what should have been; and I think of how much I miss her and wish I could hold her hand, hear her voice, or give her a hug.  It’s just so sad.

And that’s exactly what I kept saying.  It’s so sad. But what an amazing life full of joyous birthdays she has given me.  And I am so thankful for that. So I shed my tears, and then I dried them, and then I continued my restful day as she would have wanted me to.  Minus the chocolate easter bunny.  That was a fail.  Next year.

To Barbie.

home, sweet, sweet home.

I am just so ready for some R & R in the Bay.  Looking forward to meeting and seeing the TVC babes, visiting with NorCal’s newest bride-to-be and her honey, a little ladies night out (or what Beana calls “grown-ups night out”), and some good grubbin’ with the fam.

I keep wondering when I’ll stop calling it home.  I’ve lived in Seattle for over eleven years now; I’ve never lived in the Bay as an adult; and I don’t actually physically have a home in Marin anymore.  Yet the comfort that comes to mind when I think of driving down East Blithedale, wandering downtown Mill Valley with a cup of coffee, over-caffinating myself with cup after cup of Philz coffee, driving over the bridge (any of them), and watching the sun set over the bay, is like nothing else.  It just feels right.

The twist…I now get that same feeling driving home on 99, passing by the Seattle skyline, crossing the Ballard Bridge, and pulling into my cozy abode in Ballard.  On even the worst of days I consider myself lucky for these two loves.