The Sunshine between the Showers

Finally getting much needed rain here in the Bay Area! Luckily, the skies cleared for Ab's first high school track meet. Yay! Captured this cool photo of her throwing the discus. 

Afterwards, headed back up to the city and had a wonderful urban hike. We always walk and walk and walk until we're starving! Mel's Diner hit the spot. I think I might be the only person who lives in San Francisco who really enjoys Pier 39. We found a secret walk with this beautiful view of the harbor and Coit Tower. And of course, the tulip festival is still going strong!

SOMA is growing on me, mostly because of this beautiful sparkling Bay Bridge at night!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Spent the day yesterday celebrating my Mom's Birthday. We started off at the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco. There was a fabulous traveling exhibit on Georgia O'Keefe. Her love of nature truly comes out in her paintings and her ability to capture colors and contrasts is phenomenal. Of course, no photos allowed in the exhibit, but we snuck a pic right outside.

After a nice museum cafe lunch (always my favorite), we walked next store to the Japanese Tea Garden and we enjoyed our cups of sencha and jasmine green tea. We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day in the city given that it rained the day before and the day after!

From there we picked Abs up from track practice (who made Varsity track what what!), and went to Bistro Vida for dinner!

 Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did!

Bruce

My Grandma Pederson painted a portrait of Bruce Springsteen back in the day, she used to always call him Bruce, hubba hubba!

I am trying to choose a complementary frame. What do you think of this gold one?

Sarah Préfère La Course

I attended my first film festival this Sunday. The Mill Valley Film Festival showed the American premiere of the Quebec Film "Sarah Préfère La Course", or in English, "Sarah Prefers to Run". The film is about a young woman who goes off to college and is disinterested in pretty much everything except running. My favorite part was the opening scene, starting with a track workout and then showing the competitors at the starting line of the race. It was in French with English subtitles, allowing me the opportunity to practice my French. I only wish they had taught the actress to run better. She kept swinging her arms too high in front of her and landing flat footed. Maybe next time recruit a runner?

After the film, we had the opportunity to meet the film's director, Chloé Robichaud, a demur 25 year old young woman with a strong French accent. I'm going to keep an eye out for the debut of her next film, "Country".  Looking forward to seeing Ben Stiller's premiere next Sunday. 

Sarah doing her thing

A grainy iphone selfie in the Sequoia Theater before the film began

Director Chloé Robichaud answering questions after the film. Photo © Jonathan Shensa

Venezia

We enjoyed a day in Venice, 5:30am to 8:30pm. What a day it was!  We had St. Mark's Square to ourselves at 7am...

The Grand Canal became really busy as the day progressed.

We made our way over the Rialto Bridge

To the historic Rialto Fish Market. Octopus anyone?

Ah the gondola...

Venice -I definitely want to come back!

Roma

It's summer in Roma, meaning it is affollata y calda. Crowded and hot! A good game plan is to walk from water fountain to water fountain, stay in the shade, skip the heat of the day, stay inside at the musuems, enjoy the awesome public parks and avoid the Disneyland parts of Rome.

Off the beaten path in Roma makes for some beautiful photographs. Enjoy!

Ciao.

Best 28th Birthday Ever

What an amazing last few days, I am struck by the beauty of Paris, and its sophisticated style. I adore the public gardens and parks interspersed throughout the city; so well groomed, full of birds and ideal for people watching. Thankful for my good pair of walking shoes.

First evening in Paris

Great flight, arrived safely with no problems. After dinner in Luxembourg Gardens, we walked the streets of Paris and arrived in time for the lights to glitter at the Eiffel Tower!

Now time to get some rest in time for the big 2-8 tomorrow. :)

Half Moon Bay

With Uncle Noel!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Abbey's costume was so impressive, made from scratch!!!

Angel Island!

20 mile bike ride, climbing Mt Livermore with Steph and Scott, now enjoying the ferry ride back to SF! What a day!

Happy Mother's Day!

After a brunch at Bistro Vida!

How would your sister describe you in a sentence?

My 13 year old sister's one liner...

"A running-machine is Julia, wants to be a Dr. and a home decorator, watches a lot of HGTV."

Touche.

What the World Needs Now, is Love, Sweet Love...

it's the only thing, that there's just, too little of....

The past few days I've been grappling with the loss of my grandmother, Mary Kilroy. The last time I saw her, we sang this song together......

It's never fun to lose someone you love so much. You always wish you had more time. It's always too soon. A life too short. Unfair. Irreplaceable. Your Grandma plays such a unique role in your life, always rooting for you, ready to have fun, to indulge and splurge with all the love and joy a grandmother has for a granddaughter. The pressure is off, no need to impress, no judgements, just love. The loss of a grandmother really hits you hard. Both of my grandmas have very, very special places in my heart. Grandma and I got really close in the last few years, and I will remember and cherish those moments for the rest of my life. I am so blessed to have such loving family. Grandma you are missed and loved. Whenever I eat my butterscotch squares, use my tea kettle or salad spinner, wear my cute Michael Korr skirt suits, travel with one too many bags, read a good book, catch an awesome sale at the mall, or watch a really good cooking show, you know I"ll be thinking of all the wonderful moments we've shared together. Love you. Here's a memory from our post-LA makeovers....

Platelet Donation

The last time I donated blood, I asked the nurse to check if I was eligible to donate platelets. A very small percentage of people are eligible to donate, for a variety of reasons, including prior pregnancies. too small, not enough iron, cytomegalovirus, travel exposures, I could keep going...

A week later I received a call from a very nice woman who was just SO excited to inform me I was an eligible platelet donor. Her words were "there are so few of you out there, I'm so glad you're eligible. You can give every 2 weeks!"

This evening was my first platelet donation. First impression: they take more care of you, give you selections of dvds, a nice tv with headphones, sweet deal. It takes longer than a whole blood donation, but that means I can settle in and read for a while. The platelet process is strange. Whenever I donate blood, I always think of the scene in the StarTrek movie where they enter a hospital on Earth for a sick man who is about to undergo brain surgery, the Space doctors are outraged at the barbaric, ancient care and use a laser to heal him instantly. It makes me think about how in the future, hopefully we'll have synthetic platelets and blood, and we won't need centers all around the country leeching blood from willing donors...The process really is oldschool when you think about it. Nonetheless, the platelet machine is a fancy centrifuge with a lot of dials and ringing bells. It felt very strange feeling blood pushing through my veins back into my body. I also felt a little strange in general after giving, but I'm doing alright.

Why do I give platelets you ask? In honor of my lovely grandmother, who is very fortunate to be the recipient of weekly platelet infusions. And all the other family members, mothers, fathers, daughters, cousins, grandfathers, who wouldn't be here today without platelets. I may not be a doctor yet, but I'm finding ways to contribute to treatment and care in my own way...

So, next time you give blood, check if you can give platelets. It really is a blessing.

Best part of my week

Was this evening, Abbey and I ran and hiked in Arastradero and had the wonderful gift of seeing seven beautiful deer on the trails... By far, the best part of my week! What would I do without a great sister and the outdoors?

Number 25

I think it's fitting that National Hikes Day falls on my birthday! To celebrate, I enjoyed a relaxing 4 mile hike this morning with the fam, followed by wildberry frozen yogurt and a picnic for lunch... Then relaxed by the duck pond all afternoon, reviewing for my final exam. What a wonderful day, with chinese food for dinner and angel food cake to top it off! Beautiful weather, wonderful company, and a reason to celebrate, what more could I ask for?

Number 25 is certainly off to a fabulous start.

Spring Break!

Freedom! I made it through a grueling week of final exams, and then Abs and I hopped on a plane for DC! Really excited to be a tourist for the next 10 days. If you have advice on hidden gems of DC let me know. Tired, relieved, and happy to have a much earned break from studying.

Vital Amines

Vitamins were named "vital amines" when they were first discovered in 1911 because they were found to be essential for life.

My cool fact of the day.

Also: Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you enjoyed your Green Monster, it's full of vital amines. :)

Pizza finished!

We were out of pepperoni so we used bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and sweet potatoes instead. YUM!