Life Begins at 30

where i've been ...

I've been:

• backing up my computer.
• taking lots and lots of pictures.
• basking in the sunshine.
• reflecting on nine years here.
• poring over a new list.
• cooking with jenn.
• laughing at bethenny.
• looking forward to some music and food.
• voting for kris and adam and allison.
• eating dumplings.
• looking forward to some seasonal cocktails.
• riding a ferry boat.
• licking the bowl clean.
• playing julie the cruise director.
• spending time with my amazing friends.
• falling in love with a shallot.
• looking forward to hearing from a hero.

Hope this finds you all well.  I'm hopping on a plane this afternoon to go celebrate with the family - it's my grandmother's 90th birthday!

(List inspired by the amazing Andrea at Hula Seventy)

4am self-portrait

{094} April 4, 4:29 am (4am self-portrait), originally uploaded by jen_maiser.

Do you know Genie at The Inadvertent Gardener? Last June, my friend Kalyn emailed me to say that Genie was moving to the Bay Area from Iowa City, and that she thought we might like each other.

I was in a hurry that day, and didn't think much of shooting an email off to Genie inviting her to a group event that I had planned for the next week. I didn't really think Genie would show -- I probably wouldn't show up to hang out with a group of people where I knew no one. Well, Genie showed up, and she has been showing up ever since.

At some point, a blogger friend asked his wife, "Who is this person named Genie?" The wife answered, "I'm not sure, but I think we need to know her because she seems to be great friends with all our friends now." And it's true. Genie has charmed us all and been a great cohort in our Bay Area adventures.

A testament to Genie's influence, and the general spirit of our group of friends, is that she convinced several of us to participate in the 4 am project this weekend. On April 4, people around the world woke up at 4am and took photos.

At first we all grumbled a bit. "Why can't it be 4 pm?" one asked. We all talked about September 9, 2009 at 9 am being a better fit numerically. But we did it anyway.

And something interesting happened: I learned about the magic of 4 am. I learned that it's a time like no other. Most late night partiers have gone home, and most early birds are not awake yet. It's the quietest hour.

Genie and I explored Oakland, taking some photos at the produce market and near the Tribune building. Meanwhile Anita climbed Bernal Hill (with a very fashionable headlamp light that her sleeping husband insisted she wear), Jennifer checked out 13th street, and Dottie took this fantastic photo on Market Street. We all met up afterward and sipped 5 am bloody marys and shared our experiences.

Kudos to the 4am project for encouraging us all to leave our warm beds to take photos. It was a blast to explore that time of the morning with a photographer's eye.

Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo County

"Do you want to go check out some wildflowers today?"

I was visiting some friends last weekend near Paso Robles and Anna asked if I'd like to trek out "about 45 minutes" to see some flowers.  I've known Anna since I was fresh out of college, and she and her husband and kids live in San Luis Obispo county.

I was game, and we all crowded into a car to drive a windy road to the wildflowers.   I was sitting in the back with the kids (ages 7 and 3) and had to make strange rules for them like "do not put toe funk on me" and "don't get me wet." I won't lie -- it was cramped and I was feeling nauseated by the time we got out of the car nearly an hour and a half later. 

But friends, this drive was so worth it.

We went to the Carrizo Plain, which has been a national monument since 2001. The wild weather, the yellow of the wildflowers, and the majesty of the area made for a really fun photo day.  If you don't regularly check out my flickr stream, I thought I'd bring the photos to your attention.

The white lake bed that you see in the photos is called Soda Lake and it's a mostly dry, alkali lake that was dramatic to view.  Marc of Mental Masala went to the Plain last year and has more photos and explanation of the area on his site.

I left feeling wind weary, happy, and astonished.  It amazes me that I have been a Californian my entire life and that really beautiful, vast expanses of the state exist that I have never explored.  I can't wait to go back.

Reducing Food Costs: Cooking with a Friend

I have started a fun new project with my neighbor Jenn.  Both of us were frustrated that, as single people, it's only possible reduce food costs a certain amount.  The best way to save money while cooking is to cook a larger amount, but I get bored and my freezer gets full.  So we're meeting up weekly and cooking together -- then we have a lot of food options for the week.  We've already completed our second week of cooking, and it's going swimmingly.  Serious Eats caught wind of the project (via my Twitter feed) and asked me to write about it.  You'll see a post from me there every Wednesday.  So far, they've published two installments.

Reducing Food Costs: Cooking with a Friend
Cooking with a Friend: Week One

You can always keep up with my Serious Eats writings by checking out the column on the right-hand side of my home page.

(Also, if you haven't noticed, check out the nifty Farmers Market Finder by Culinate on my home page as well).

Wednesdays at A16

I have really been lying low for the past month or so, working a ton and not going out much. But today,  a good friend came to town for a little bit and I decided to take her to A16 for lunch. As usual, I asked if we could sit at the chef's bar -- which is by far my favorite place to sit in the restaurant. And we were treated to quite a show. It turns out that every Wednesday the crew breaks down an entire pig and preps the meat for the rest of the week. While we ate our Pizza Margherita and our meatballs, we were able to watch as every part of the pig was butchered and prepped. At least six staff used knives, a mallet, a saw, a meat grinder and other implements and really elegantly got the pork ready to be used. When we arrived at 1:15, the pig was already cut down somewhat. You can bet that next time, I will try to arrive a bit earlier to watch the process from beginning to end.