Currently - March '19

While I am still a little bit shocked when I write out the date or look back for an email from a "week or two ago" and find that it was actually sent in January, I am glad March is here. Daylight's savings starts tomorrow, and the forecast includes some sun icons and milder temperatures for the coming week - hallelujah! What better way to celebrate than by joining my fellow spring-loving blogger Anne and others for the regular Currently link-up.

scheming - As I wait not so patiently for the weather to warm up, there's a lot of scheming about fun, outdoor activities like bike rides and camping trips. There's also scheming about weekend trips and future vacations and good bit of lamenting about the necessity of a paycheck to fund it all.

reading - I've made it through Robert Moses' childhood, university and early career days as I make my way slowly through The Power Broker. I need to read about 130 pages a month if I want to finish by the end of the year.

buying - While the hunt continues for the perfect pair of cute, lightweight pajama pants to replace the ones I accidentally left behind on a trip, I did recently find suitable replacements for an old pair of casual sneakers and a white lace top that has seen better days. :-)

making - Some adjustments to my diet as logging all of my food intake for the past two weeks has been quite illuminating. Not only have I learned that I am consistently falling short of my daily protein goals, but I've also been reminded of how tracking my calories before helped me get into a really good exercise routine (something I certainly wouldn't mind having again).

accomplishing - This past week, I'm proud of running twice in a last minute effort to follow the training plan for a 10K on St. Patrick's Day and crossing several lingering, uninteresting tasks off of my to-do list at work.

Currently - February '19

anticipating - a visit from my brother and his girlfriend in two weeks! Looking forward to trying some new restaurants together, visiting a museum or two, and enjoying their company.

going - to Richmond for a little change of scenery next weekend with a night in a cushy hotel, exploring new neighborhoods, and trying some new breweries.

making - chocolatety desserts. My mom has been cleaning out her recipe collection and sent me  "Make Mine Chocolate! A 1994 Recipe Calendar from Nestle." Despite being 25 years old, the recipes from April (Toll House Crumbcake) and May (Bittersweet Chocolate Pound Cake) were both winners, so today I'll be making July's Chocolate Truffle Tart to bring to dinner at a friend's house.

watching - the weather forecast. Like many other places, the past few weeks have brought 60-degree swings in temperature here in the DC region. Last Monday it was close to 60 degrees outside; tomorrow they're calling for a wintery mix. Knowing which jacket to put on before leaving the house is kind of anyone's guess!

wearing - Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Fig. I don't think the color looks anything like the color of the cap; in fact it's quite subtle which is why I like it. Me, only better (and with my pale, dry, winter skin, I'll take anything I can get)!

Linking up with Anne, as usual.

Real Life Resolutions vol. 4

Our 2019 nengajo - Happy Year of the Boar!

I have a quote pinned on my "wise words" board that says, "The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you've come." I've come a long way in the past two years thanks in part to those detailed lists of weekly, monthly and annual goals (see 2017 and 2018).

For 2019, I'm taking more of a back-to-basics approach with four larger goals for the year:

1. Bike across Iowa during RAGBRAI
2. Read The Power Broker, a 1,338 page book about Robert Moses
3. Knit something with sleeves
4. Meet with a financial professional

This year's simpler approach comes in part from reading this article about burnout as the result of attempting to maximize every moment, and the fact that when I tried to make a list of 9 goals for 2019 I was making up goals I wasn't very excited about just to fill in the list. Not much point in that, now is there?

Best of 2018

Best Views

Clockwise from top left: big sky sunset outside of Austin, TX; surrounded by a leafy jungle on a hike in Hawaii; late afternoon sun on a hike in Arizona; green mountain ridges in West Virginia; afternoon hammocking during a camping trip in western Maryland.

2018 was one of the wettest years on record in the DC area, so it's not too surprising that the best sunny views are from elsewhere.


Best Food

Clockwise from top left: Nutella Banana Stuffed French Toast - perfect fuel for the 35-mile bike ride that followed; Keizo's CSA ratatouille; real Japanese ramen from an un-fancy lunch counter place; Crooked Run Brewery, one of 2018's many beer flights; life-affirming nitro cold brew found in Austin during a boil-water restriction.

This category could go on and on, given my love of food and the bounty of our summer CSA. What can I say, the last sentence of the bio on the right still holds true. :-)


Best Biking

Clockwise from top left: Martha, a.k.a. Ma-chan, my new steel-frame touring bike; the W&OD trail; all smiles before a super soggy metric century ride in Delaware; participants on a social/educational ride I helped organize along the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail.

Several of my favorite moments of 2018 occurred on a bike. I now understand why the ideal number of bikes is n+1 and can see why people quit their jobs/take sabbaticals to do crazy things like ride across the country.


Best Time Spent on the Clock

Left to right: preparing for fieldwork (also known as bike riding) in Baton Rouge; team selfie after another successful Open Streets event in May (Keizo volunteered); approaching Key West to present the bicycle and pedestrian plan to the public/city staff.

Work was certainly not all fun and games in 2018. In fact, it was a super challenging and busy year with several colleagues taking jobs elsewhere, an ever changing company culture, and taking a professional certification exam. Looking back on the year as whole, it's easier to see how much I accomplished and appreciate the fun times, but in the moment most weeks felt like an endless grind.


Best Travel

Clockwise from top left: hiking in Hawaii with Kim; soaking up the sun in Long Beach with Linda; Keizo's parents' garden plot; Keizo in front of his old high school; Boston Harbor cruise; on top of Bald Knob in New Hampshire with Alexis and Andrew; Boston Pops 4th of July concert.

It's hard to find the words to describe how awesome/important/meaningful/fun/different taking a month-long vacation was. We packed in seeing a ton of different people and places with minimal disruptions in the overall plan, and had a fantastic time. Can't wait to do it again.


Best Weekend Fun

Clockwise from top left: Friendsgiving with 11 adults and 1 toddler setting a new record for the number of people in our apartment at once; Memorial Day camping "tarp"-itecture; Wales vs South Africa rugby game in DC; Jason Mraz concert; the sled lift at Blackwater Falls State Park in WV (never dragging my sled up a hill again!)

As the photos above show, plenty of fun was had and good memories were made much closer to home as well.

Thanks 2018 - it's been quite a year!

Currently - December '18

I just got back from a trip to sunny Florida, where it did not feel like December at all (sigh). But now that I'm back in the land of bare trees, heavy coats, and cold toes, I wanted to capture my thoughts about the last month of 2018.

More info

gifting - I'm looking forward to treating myself to a few things, but otherwise it's going to be a quiet Christmas around here. My family is very generous, but we're not big shoppers. Instead, we're all gifting each other the ease of not exchanging presents this year and will have a belated celebration during our next family vacation in May 2019 (destination TBD).

baking - Some of my favorite Xmas cookies and tweaking the recipe for No-Knead Bread with yummy mix-ins like kalamata olives and subbing in whole wheat flour for all-purpose. Unlike the summer months, having the oven on these days makes the kitchen the coziest place in the house to hang out in!

singing - In addition to the seasonal music that's just about everywhere, I've been listening to and singing along with Jason Mraz's "Have It All" a few mornings a week. The generous message and lines like "may you be as fascinating as a slap bracelet | may you keep the chaos and the clutter off your desk," help get the day started off right.

mailing - It's high time to get started on the New Year's cards we send each year, but in the meantime, I am loving the cards coming in from friends with photos of their growing families and funny messages.

decorating - Only a few things this year, as we're not hosting my parents and brother as we have the past two years. The tree will not be making an appearance, but the lights are up in the front windows, there's a garland on the TV stand, festive towels in the kitchen and bathroom, and mini-tree centerpiece in the middle of the dining room table.

Currently - October '18

I don't really like starting every one of these posts with a "holy cow, it's already [month]!" vibe, but seriously, how are there only three months left in 2018? Things have been particularly busy at work lately, and Keizo has been working most Saturdays so we end up trying to squeeze a lot in on our shared day off on Sunday.

wearing - I've had switching my closet from summer to fall on my to-do list since mid-September, but it continues to be in the 80's here on a regular basis. Bored with the clothes I've been wearing all summer, I've started pulling a few things out piece by piece from the fall box. Hopefully consistently cooler weather will arrive in the next week or so and I can complete the switch.

collecting - I'm trying not to collect as much these days; we should probably have a yard sale to unload the stuff we've been collecting in storage unit that came with the apartment.

making - Chili and homemade bread for the friends that joined us for dinner last night. Both dishes were "firsts" of the season; chili hasn't been on the menu for a while, and the oven has been off limits since using it will heat up the whole apartment.

taking - On a new role at work as the result of a promotion and some personnel changes. I've been asked to consult on more projects and went to an interview for a new project last week. It's both fun and stressful at the same time.

planning - Activities for those free Sundays, which quickly fill up since there are only so many in a month. Last week it was hiking, this week was shopping and cleaning before friends came over for dinner, next week it's a bikes-n-beer tour, and we have plans for a short camping trip at the end of the month!

Currently - September '18

I'm currently starting to wonder what I should make for dinner, so this introduction is going to be even shorter than usual.

starting - Somehow it's already mid-September, so I'm starting to worry about needing to study for the AICP exam in November. The actual studying has yet to begin, unless you count the half-day prep class I took last year. Maybe tomorrow...

buying - A new carry-on suitcase, since after almost a decade of traveling together, my hot pink rollerboard is starting to come apart. Not wanting to get stranded mid-trip with a suitcase sans handle or wheels, I ordered a similar one and it arrived just in time to take on next week's work trip to Baton Rouge.

sharing - A bit about my Pitzer College experience with prospective students as an alumni interviewer. In this new-to-me role, I've had great conversations with two very bright students which made me a little nostalgic for my college days, but mostly relieved not to be a high school student these days!

reading - Two books I've picked up lately and would recommend are The Longest Date: Life as a Wife by Cindy Chupack and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The first is an amusing, yet heartfelt reflection on marriage while the second is a collection of Coates' essays on race and the black experience for the The Atlantic during the Obama years.

recording - Progress on my goals for 2018 in my last post here.