Of the moment // 5.25.18
Memorial Day Weekend is upon us, aka the unofficial start to summer! It’s actually a little bizarre because May and June are mayyyybe the worst weather months in San Diego: it’s been overcast, gray and chilly (by Southern California standards at least–temperatures are hovering in the 60s). Gray May and June Gloom!
It doesn’t exactly feel like time to break out the sundresses and sandals, but I’m still so excited: summer has always been my favorite season, and I’m especially excited to finally spend it on the coast. Beach days, BBQs, all of the summer produce: bring it on!
Life
When I was in college, my sorority’s charity was Ronald McDonald House: we made blankets and baked cookies, and in the grand optimism and naiveté of the young, I don’t think we ever thought that any of us would one day need the charity that we served. But early last year, I learned that one of the women in my sorority (not someone I knew super well, but a good friend of my close friends) had a baby girl who was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. After spending the winter living in a Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis with their 1-year-old babe in chemo, baby Sloane passed away a few weeks ago. One of the things her parents are doing in her honor is encouraging their friends and family to join the Be the Match registry. It only takes a few minutes to join, and your DNA will be entered into a database to see if your bone marrow is a match to save the life of someone with cancer or rare genetic disorders. I signed up for my cheek swab kit earlier this week, and if you’re healthy and able: I’d love it if we could have even more people join the registry in memory of a baby girl who never got the chance to experience the rich, full life her parents dreamed for her.
Eats
Although I travel up to San Francisco pretty often, there were two spots on my list of highly recommended, highly Instagrammable places to go that had eluded me for a while. Alas! On my work trip this week, I found time to squeeze in dinner at Souvla and breakfast at Tartine. Both were absolutely fantastic, and I can’t wait to go back!
Souvla is fast-casual Greek with a few different locations in the Bay Area; I opted for a sidewalk seat at their tree-lined Hayes Valley location to enjoy my hearty salad of roasted white sweet potatoes, feta cheese, pickled red onions. And I couldn’t resist a tart frozen yogurt with sour cherry syrup in the super cute Greek coffee cup!
Tartine was worth the trek just to inhale deeply as you step inside: the smell of fresh-baked bread is incredible! And the strawberry toast was (as you can see) simply decadent. I need to figure out a way to time my next visit here to bring a loaf of bread home with me!
Reads
I usually don’t pay for wifi on my short flights up to the Bay Area, and take advantage of that hour or so of being disconnected to dive into a beach read. In my two days in San Francisco, I tore through Ghosted. IT HAS SUCH A GOOD TWIST (and another one!). That’s all I’ll tell you. Highly recommend for any short flights or long days on the beach you have coming up this summer.
Words
“The best book, like the best speech, will do it all – make us laugh, think, cry and cheer – preferably in that order.” -Madeleine Albright
This long weekend, we’re relaxing in San Diego! We have a tennis doubles date, and plans to catch up with some friends who are in town, but mostly, I want to sleep in my own bed and go to the dog park and see a beach sunset.
