windsofchanges

this is my earliest childhood memory!! really, my earliest memory is of being pushed in a stroller, cruising through the heart. as i remember, it terrified me. i still have a pretty vivid picture in my head of what it looked and sounded like. i’ve never been back and i’d be curious to see how closely my memory matches reality.

No disrespect to Iowa, I’m not a state fair kind of gal. If anything, Iowa’s kicked Illinois’ and Missouri’s ass, on account of the butter cow.
It was a good excuse to go somewhere I otherwise wouldn’t have. Dylan played an almost all acoustic show. I was on the rail. Good times : )

I used to hike and ride my bike all over Big Basin. It’s quintessential Santa Cruz; the mountains that spill down to the ocean. Some of my fondest moments were in Big Basin. Makes me homesick to think…

Growing up in the burbs of Philly, South Street is where we hung out nearly every weekend when I was in high school. Wild, fun times that I am lucky to have survived.

I saw Greg Brown perform at The Arc, a really intimate, small venue. It was a great night!

It’s soo crowded and hot during the day but if you can stay in at night by any means, do so! At night, it’s trippy and more mellow.

Save yourself $100 and get your lobster down at the docks. So many little hole-in-the-wall places, even lunch trucks, have the freshest lobster at unbelievably low prices.
I’ve visited several times, as tourist and as a guest of locals. Each visit was unique but always relaxing and breathtakingly beautiful. And I’ve never left hungry : )

I took a ferry and train from London to Amsterdam on the eve of my 22nd birthday with 3 close friends. The running joke became how I wouldn’t let anyone forget that it was my birthday (i.e. don’t go to sleep stay up and party it’s my birthday, peel and feed me grapes it’s my birthday, promise me you’ll donate a kidney if I need it someday it’s my birthday). SO it was more than a little fun when we were at the end of the brewery tour (at 10 am), drinking beer with a couple hundred other tourists, and they announced that anyone who was celebrating a birthday should come to the front of the hall. They didn’t have to tell me twice! Hundreds of people sang happy birthday to me (ok, and a few others) in probably a dozen different languages, and then they gave me a ceramic beer stein that said ‘happy birthday from the heinekin brewery’ or something to that effect. I treasured my beloved stein until one day when a coworker broke it. Too bad about his unfortunate accident ; ) kidding of course, I let him live.

South and Central American/Mexican food. The chef and the owner are constantly traveling to the region, learning new recipes and bringing back new ingredients. The food is so refined and sophisticated but they couldn’t be less pretentious. They don’t serve liquor but they make an amazing wine margerita. The wine is made from the agave plant (like tequila) but not distilled into liquor. It’s got all the flavor of fine tequila without the harshness or heat. The quality of everything they do is consistant. I have never been disappointed, and continually surprised by the depth of flavors. I am a ‘foodie’ and have eaten in probably 1000 restaurants in my lifetime, across the U.S. and Europe, and Red Mesa is easily my favorite restaurant of all time for overall quality and value.

One of the only things I miss about Pittsburgh. On an otherwise uniteresting strip of traffic and chain stores, Sushi Tomo is an oasis of authentic japanese deliciousness. The fish is consistantly fresh and buttery, and the rolls are unique and artistic. Oh how I miss Andy the chef!