Holidays at "Home"

Happy New Year! Now that my full-time job is back in the swing of things this week, I’m realizing that December was really a nice break and slow down from the normal fast-paced madness. During that recharging period, “home” for the holidays really meant all over the place for the holidays, but I’m glad I got to visit and spend time with so many friends and family members. I was home to Poughkeepsie a couple of times, in Harrisburg with my sister a couple more, and had time at my apartment in South-Central Jersey for plenty of cookie baking.

Thanksgiving was hosted by my sister in Harrisburg. I crocheted these festive turkey napkin rings:

My mom and stepdad came up from Georgia to take us to New York City to see the tree and all the holiday decorations. It was still weirdly (and perfectly warm). We celebrated my sister’s engagement at the River Cafe in Brooklyn.

I finally attended my first Long Beach Island Ship Bottom Christmas parade. There’s nothing like a small town holiday parade. This one had lots of boats:

I decorated my place inside and outside. Thanks to anyone who contributed holiday hand-me-down decor!

And here are those cookies. I made six different kinds this year:

For Christmas, I stayed at my dad’s house in Poughkeepsie, NY. Christmas Eve is really our only big family holiday tradition, but last year was canceled for COVID and the year before I was away in Australia. It was great to be back together to gather and celebrate. We also got a lucky ski day in at home:

And lots of cuddle time with their new puppy, Jameson, who is growing much too fast:

That’s all I’ve got for now! Happy New Year, and I hope your resolutions are still going strong in week one.

A New Home

Ok, I’m in El Salvador teaching yoga this week, but since I’ve been gone for a while, let me keep catching you up! I “moved” over the summer. Only 30 minutes away, but out of my mom and stepdad’s island beach house and onto the mainland. I’m still living and loving in New Jersey— testing the limits of the old adage, “Never fall in love at the Jersey Shore.” It’s impossible not to.

I moved to my own apartment. It was a little earlier than expected—July versus October, but it’s hard to find one-bedrooms around here (and everywhere at this point??) so I got off a waitlist and jumped on the opportunity. I have some friends who live in the same complex, so I generally knew the area, but it keeps pleasantly surprising me.

I’m still very close to the water. There’s a little bay beach just under 2 miles down the road. If I run there, I pass a forested trail and some protected wetlands. I love all the nature here! Totally unexpected when I used to drive down the NJ Turnpike on my way from NY to the University of Delaware. Never in a million years did I think I’d be living so close by.

I’ve got nature, more to explore, and beach life is not too far away. I’m happy! It makes a good home to come back to.

Easter in Long Beach Island

Even though I got a new job, I’m still working weekends at the restaurant. Mainly because I enjoy it and love the friends I’ve made there. The extra cash on the side doesn’t hurt either!

I spent the full Easter weekend working. I didn’t mind too much, since we got some good sunsets and busy crowds on the island.

I did miss going home or to my sister’s for brunch. Everyone was sending me photos of their yummy meals throughout the day, so I had to make due with deviled eggs off the work menu. Luckily, I like all the food there and these were quite tasty. That’s a fried shrimp on top.

It was a nice weekend to stay put after a couple weeks of traveling (and knowing I’d be traveling again the following week). I was glad to be home.

Life in LBI

Now that we’re all caught up on Spring quarantine and visits to Harrisburg, PA, that bring us back to here, Long Beach Island, where I’ve been somewhat safely planted as of May. It feels wonderful to be back, and I’m going to need a whole carousel of sunrises and sunsets to show you what each day has been like (see below). I’m working at the same restaurant as last summer, and it almost feels normal despite wearing a mask and gloves for sometimes ten hours a day. Customers have been mostly friendly and generous, although I’m selfishly glad they’re not allowed inside yet, so we have less cleaning side-work and don’t stay open as late. Oh, and the health factors, too.

I like my job and the people I work with, so it has felt more like a blessing than a burden to be working again. I’ll update you more on all the restrictions sometime this week! But since May, we’ve been slowly starting to peel back the layers of lockdown. It started with solo walks on the beach, and life on the island began to pick up speed. I’ve done yoga distanced in parks and I’m teaching weekly classes on the beach with Yoga Bohemia.

I’ve found it relatively easy to be socially distanced and outdoors, since we have the whole ocean and bay to entertain us. Fourth of July was a little more spread out than usual, but we were still able to gather with friends on the beach. I’ve played beach volleyball with a mask on and gone surfing with friends.

I still get most of my meals from The Local Market (and my sister makes fun of me for it), but I’ve added a new neighborhood coffee shop to my repertoire.

It’s certainly been a stranger summer than most, but is there anything more I can ask for than for 2020 to feel slightly normal? The sun keeps rising and setting just as before.

A Quick Return to Normalcy

Hi friends! Wow, I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting. But, truth be told, this spring and so far into summer have been wild and loud enough as it is. I’ve been doing a lot of sitting and reflecting (and now working), trying to process everything without adding more content to the noise. There was a lot that I liked about this spring, namely getting to visit with family and a few longtime friends, a chance to slow down and stay on one coast of one country for a bit. And on the other hand there was and continues to be a lot of confusion, frustration, sadness, and anger at why our world is the way it is and what’s coming next—both on a personal level and a societal level.

So I’ve stayed pretty quiet on the internet. I’ve cooked, crocheted, read books, and taken long rejuvenating walks in nature, just like everyone else. Sometimes those are the only things to do. I began to visit with friends outdoors and visit my sister in her new home (more to come on that!)

As summer arrived, I settled back into Long Beach Island, NJ and life has started to feel somewhat normal again (more to come on that, too!). It’s a magical place, and I’m secretly glad for all my failed endeavors to be back in California at this time. LBI feels like exactly the right place to be.

When I first got back, I was pleasantly surprised to find a protest here for the Black Lives Matter movement— I was surprised and a little nervous about going by myself since New Jersey can be very red and LBI is very white. I reached out to some friends to see if they wanted to come and, of course, most of the friends I know here were already planning to go. It made my heart happy to arrive and see people of all ages and skin colors in the crowd.

It felt reassuring to know how many people care, and at the same time it feels like not enough to march with a sign when elsewhere people are struggling and losing their lives. I hope you’re sitting and reflecting too, and that it sparks the changes that we all need to act and make.

I’ll be here wishing you and all of us well.

LBI in Springtime

I’m writing this a few weeks later now that I’m down in Long Beach Island, NJ “permanently” (not sure if I’m ever anywhere permanently at this point!) But in early May I came down to the beach for a little getaway. Being here before summer kicks off is very peaceful and relaxing. It’s not exactly bikini weather, but there was enough sun to go for walks on the beach. I forget how much nature is all around this normally busy island. The scenery is filled with gulls, crabs, dolphins, turtles, and all sorts of sea creatures. I ran into a family of geese down at the end of our dock that were guiding their new goslings by the water.

My sister joined me for the weekend and we did all of our favorite things, in quarantine style. It was different than your usual visit to LBI, sure, but we were able to check off some of the traditional activities. We had coffee and split a strawberry poptart by the fire at The Local. They’re open for full service with masks, distancing, and a limited number of guests.

We walked on the boulevard and onto the beach. There weren’t many people around before Memorial Day, but Mother’s Day brought a few families out.

The restaurant takeout scene was already busy before the summer rush. We called our favorite breakfast spot, The Sandbox, and were told there would be an hour wait. That seemed manageable since my sister doesn’t get to come down here very often. For dinner, we ordered sandwiches from Black Whale on the south end of the island. They had almost a two hour wait, but the server shortened it to an hour when she found out we were only getting crab cakes. Both meals were worth the wait since they provide reassurance that our beloved island eateries are surviving these wild times. I hope they stay busy and can do good business this summer in spite of it all.

On Sunday, my sister had to hit the road to go back to work as an essential employee, so I made us oatmeal bowls at home. The whole weekend was a fun girls’ trip and gave me some nice company for island hermit life.

Small Adventures

Ok so, I haven’t been 100% sheltering in place. I did my best, really. And it was a lot easier when it was raining. A person can only do so many puzzles.

We’ve sometimes branched out from our walks in the neighborhood to include nearby parks and trails. My dad and I took a nice weekend hike through James Baird State Park. Having to stay close to home has deepened our appreciation for nearby gems.

But this past week was very nice, so I went upstate a bit to visit my friend Annie and to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday (socially distanced, of course)!

On the way home, I stopped to get my daily exercise in by checking out the Hudson River Skywalk over the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. I think I liked it as much as the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie! It was definitely refreshing to be out and about.

What We've Been Doing in Quarantine

Hi friends! Here we are again (still!), and we are holding it together (barely)! It’s been a long string of days, but I’m honestly grateful to be home, to have a family that loves me enough to let me stay with them without paying rent, and to have a wonderful neighborhood to walk where I can still be outside. Although I’m certainly the type to get restless, I’m reminded every day of all the things I have to appreciate.

How have you all been spending your quarantine? Have you been sneaking out of the house? I won’t tell. We’ve been cooking and eating yummy meals every night.

I made tempeh tacos (above) and a veggie chickpea stew (below). My dad started doing this thing at dinner where he asks everyone the best part of our day. It gives us all a chance to reflect, stop talking about the news, and be a little more positive. I highly recommend.

I’ve been doing yoga, as usual, mostly indoors. I’m enjoying taking online classes with my favorite teachers from Austin (BFree Yoga) and LA (Golden State Yoga), and some new teachers (like Erika Gasztonyi) who I’ve followed by never had the chance to practice with before. I’ve also been trying out Alo Moves this month, and I love it. I’ve been trying to spread my love and money around to my small business studios, but it’s hard to resist all of the great teachers on the Alo app. I’m like a sponge soaking it all in.

We got cute masks to protect ourselves from the virus. I’ve gone to Costco (first time ever!), the grocery store, and Target. I actually find myself extremely excited to leave the house for these small adventures. Who would have thought?!

And at night we’ve had lots of time to watch some gorgeous sunsets. That’s one benefit of the colder weather in NY. Soon the leaves will be back on the trees to block our view. I wouldn’t mind wearing shorts though…

<3 Thinking of you and missing giving hugs in person!

New Normal

Just checking in to (and taking a break from Disneyland and El Salvador content) see how your quarantine is going. These are wild and unprecedented times! I actually hate the expression “new normal” because we can adapt to the new, but we don’t need to pretend that anything these days is normal. I hope you’re feeling your feelings, getting outside when you can, and connecting with your friends and family members. I’m an eternal optimist, so I believe that we’ll make it out of this, and I’ll keep crossing my fingers that it will be sooner rather than later.

I started off this strange time at my sister’s apartment in NYC. Her boyfriend and I were on the same flight back from LA on March 9th. The airport felt normal (no social distancing yet), but the flight was empty enough that we each had a whole row to ourselves. We’d heard warnings, but weren’t too worried. Back in NY, we even went to Comedy Cellar and to visit Grandma in Buffalo. Yikes, in retrospect!

I stayed at my sister Elayne’s place for a week, and Will took me down to Long Beach Island to pick up my car. Stores and restaurants were still open. I stopped in the restaurant where I worked last summer and grabbed a festive latte from my favorite quick lunch spot.

As it turned out, I wouldn’t be needing my car much. I drove it up to visit my dad, with a bag packed for three days, but I’ve been here ever since. We started to get worried about me getting stuck in NYC, which I’m sure would be fun, but could get old quickly for my sister and Will with me sleeping on their couch and all of us in the same apartment all day.

I arrived in Poughkeepsie on St. Patrick’s Day. My dad tried to salvage the holiday by serving corned beef and cabbage (with Harp lagers!) and my stepmom delivered green bagels. They did a great job of making us forget the quarantine for a night!

Since then, I’ve been here. In the beginning, we took little day hikes in nearby parks, but as the social distancing warnings became more severe, we’ve been keeping our exercise confined to the neighborhood and the basement gym.

It’s really all I could ask for at this time, and I’m SO GLAD to be here at home instead of on my own in Australia or trapped in El Salvador.

There’s no telling how long we’ll be cooped up, but Spring has sprung and the sunset view from the back deck is lovely. I haven’t spent this much time at home in quite some time, so I’m soaking it all in. I planned to visit friends and hug their babies, but I’ve been forced to slow down and sit quietly with myself.

I’m sure you could have guessed that I’ve been practicing yoga!

And Bonnie (my stepmom) made us yummy pizza!

We (mostly I) did a challenging and sanity-testing puzzle!

And here we are, a little stir crazy but enjoying our time with each other! I hope your quarantine days have been rewarding or cleansing or however you’ve needed them to be. We’re all in this together.

Best Friends at the Beach

My first week at the beach was a big one. There was hardly time to rest and recharge. My friend Annie and her husband were in town, and I was eager to meet their new baby. She’s a good one! She doesn’t even mind being wrapped up and taken to breakfast for pancakes.

I started teaching beach yoga for an amazing studio that I’m honored to work for. And I got a waitressing job down the street—I’m still in training! My friends Brittany and Tom were also down at the same beach with their new baby—I forgot to take any pics of him, sadly!— so there was a lot of meeting and greeting to do.

And then there was the visit I had arranged my summer plans around. My friend Brianne was home from Argentina! I always try to get over to the east coast when she’s in town (just like last winter) , and this time she made it down to the beach to spend a couple of days with us. We sunned our buns and tried out the new local beer garden. She came to beach yoga, too!

That wasn’t all! Over the next weekend, I attended my first baby shower, because my friend Amanda from back home in New York is pregnant. My mom drove us all the way up and back in one day. We colored and played games, and it was more fun than I expected baby showers to be. I also got to pop into my dad’s house to say a quick hello. It’s nice to be within a few hours of home!

Home on the Hudson

Sometimes, sadly, it takes going far, far away from a home to make you realize how big a part of you it is. When college time came, I couldn't wait to put some distance between myself and Poughkeepsie. In my search for a school, I allowed a radius of no less than 3 and a half hours outside of my hometown. If I had my wish, I'd end up in New Hampshire or, even farther, North Carolina. I didn't know about Austin yet, and wasn't quite so adventurous as to ponder the West Coast, but there could be nothing like a new state to prove my independence and maturity!

Then I got to Delaware where I cried and called my mom or my home friends every day, after walking across an unknown campus of unfamiliar faces. I even started a transfer application to Marist in a desperate moment. Between semesters, I came back for my car, so I could make the trip home whenever possible. Of course, with that ability and a little adjustment, I lost the necessity of going back to my parents' houses and slowly made my way further and further across the country.

I'm thankful for that tear-filled first semester, since it somehow enabled me to live with all sorts of strangers in all sorts of locations over the years. California's got the goods for now, but every time I come back to the Hudson Valley, I find that it holds a real seat for my soul.

During this visit, I got to spend time with family and friends, visit my new favorite yoga studio with the same favorite teacher, and delight in the green, rolling scenery that always reminds me there's no place like home.

Love New York

It's a rainy day at the beach, so I can finally tell you about all the bagels, ballgames, and ballpark-sized hot dogs I've been indulging in around the New York area. Since I'm partial to a life of leisure, I got to come home for an extended stay to visit my sister in her new Queens-Long Island apartment, my dad in Poughkeepsie, my mom in New Jersey, and many gracious friends along the way.

The first half of the trip started and ended in NYC and was supported by a few train rides along the Hudson plus dad's financial contributions to us attending the Yankee game. 

And there was an epic quest for ice cream that, thankfully, ended with this:

I miss sweet cacti and air that doesn't feel so much like a sticky swamp, but nowhere else smells like summer to me quite like it does around here. I hope you're making time in this sunny season for your favorite people and places.

New Neighborhoods

Yesterday I intentionally left my phone at home while I walked the mile each way to the yoga studio. I said good morning to every single person I passed, and to some animals, too. “Good morning businessman in your suit!” “Good morning potentially homeless woman carrying many bags!” “Good morning husky dogs on your stoop!” “Good morning hipster guy talking creatively to yourself!” “Good morning asexual-looking transgender couple!” “Good morning Outdoor Voices-clad mat-toting yoga girl who’s just like me!” I'm disconnected and engaged with my environment. I pass the local elementary school and two boys flag me down to retrieve their soccer ball from across the street. I toss it over the fence and trot along on my merry way.

I feel like I’m in a movie. It’s the one about another white girl (woman!) coming in to gentrify a historically Hispanic neighborhood. I speak Spanish, though, so at least we can talk about it? Does it count as gentrification if I have to live with three housemates and couldn’t afford to live anywhere else? I try to eat at the Antigua bakery and the Viva Azteca taco truck, but I’ve also visited the new bookstore/record store/barbershop and the fancy coffee shop where the lattes come standard with almond milk. What a luxury!

Anyway, I'm glad to be here with the grassy slopes, sweet little bungalows, fruit trees, and all the yoga. Lots of love.

Unique New York

I'm always proud to call New York my original home, and I can deliver some pretty haughty side-eyes when people assume I'm from Delaware or New Jersey. The Empire State was a wonderful area to sprout roots, learn, and grow. And now every visit leaves my heart feeling full and a little nostalgic.

Here are some photos from my recent visit to the Hudson Valley, including a yoga dad on his birthday and some meditative romps through the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Enjoy!

Home Stretch

It's kind of weird when your mom sells your childhood house and you don't know where to call home anymore, but if she decides to live half of the year on Long Beach Island and the other half in Savannah, GA, you learn to adjust pretty quickly.

It was nice to close out August by visiting a few of my eastern homes. Every year since I moved to Austin, I've had the good fortune to be able to visit the New York/New Jersey area for at least a week at a time. I'm back in Texas now, feeling fortunate to have seen so many wonderful friends and family members.

Let's do what we can to stretch this summer as far as it will go!

Phone home

While I was home in New York over Christmas break, I had the rare opportunity to grab brunch with two of my girlfriends whom I've known since elementary school. As the years go by, the number of times the three of us are in the same place at the same time grows smaller. It had been about 18 months since the last time we'd found ourselves seated around the same table.

Of course, we'd "kept in touch" via social media, receiving glimpses into each other's lives through vacation photos and status updates. We knew the picture-perfect, edited-down versions well. Over eggs and toast, however, the hidden realness started to come out. As we shared more, it turned out that all of our lives had been pretty life-like during the time we hadn't seen each other. In our separate corners of the country, we had each experienced our fair share of career questioning, relationship struggles, and general growing up anxieties. One friend joked that, before coming to lunch, she had made a bet with her mom about which of us would end up engaged first, a bet which ended up being comically far from the truth. But for some reason, even when we had been crawling through the same muddy challenges, we hesitated to pick up the phone since we assumed that the others had been doing everything right, floating through the world with ease.

This year, I've heard more and more of my friends vowing to stay off social media, or to only check one app one time per day, resolving to get more in touch with the real world. While I haven't imposed strict limits on myself for 2017, I have made a pledge to text, call, or invite my friends to have actual conversations more frequently. As we get older and our sense of home becomes a bit blurred, our connections to the people we love become that much more important. A couple of cups of coffee, even when shared in silence, can often say a lot more than 140 characters.