Recent studies have shown that the only thing
people can buy that truly makes them happier are experiences. With experiences,
and travel specifically, you get the joy of planning the trip, the anticipation
of taking a trip, the actual trip and then the memories from the trip. Looking
at my past travels it might explain why I am such a happy person. And with me
being the ever planner; I truly love the idea and time spent planning a trip.
Unfortunately as our large blocks of free time are spent in Germany, my ability
to plan big trips has been limited. And our weekend trips within the States are
usually to my happy places (e.g. Pillsbury, Timber Cove and Dunsmuir) which
require no planning at all. No joke, while I used to plan a fun trip at least
once every few months (whether weekend getaways or two week adventures) I haven’t
been able to do so since our trip to Patagonia in 2015.
I didn’t realize how much I missed this aspect
of traveling. But all of that is in the past... I officially have a trip to
plan. And it is going to be a good one.
With this year’s calendar booked with two trips
to Europe (Zingst, Germany in June for Annegret’s 80th birthday and
Christmas at the Breuer’s followed by the family ski holiday in Italy in
December) I told Martin I wanted to be in charge of planning our big trips for
2020 including timing, location and activities. And he has currently agreed to
let me plan two trips, guilt free of family and work obligations... although we
will see how long that end of the bargain holds up.
The first trip, and the one that has boosted my
excitement to pre-2015 levels, is my birthday celebration in September.
Initially wanting to go to New Zealand for my 40th birthday but realizing the
weather wouldn’t be the best in our fall / their spring I decided to postpone
that trip until spring 2021. And in an effort to appease Martin’s desire to go
home each year to see friends and family, the 40th birthday party extravaganza
is now scheduled for Italy!
And even better, everyone is invited! I am
researching villas, estates and resorts in Tuscany and Piemonte that have
multiple individual apartments that our friends and family can rent if they
want to join us. And I will say, the research has been so much fun! Each place
has at least 15 apartments (ranging from 1-3 bedrooms), a central pool and
plenty of onsite options...I have been looking at places with cooking classes,
bocce ball courts, playgrounds. Some are close to the beach, others are close
to a lake, and most are close to a cute old village with plenty of wine
tasting.
Here is just a taste at what this trip could
be...
https://tuscanyforever.it/
https://incrociata.it/
http://www.algelsobianco.it/
The options are endless and I can’t wait! Stay
tuned for the exact location and dates and come join... or if you have any suggestions, let me know!
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
What a Week!
I have posted before about our typical week.
This past week takes the cake on packing things in:
On Friday, March 8th we filed our 10-K at work at 5am (for those who aren’t accounting geeks, our 10-K is like our annual Superbowl and kind of a big deal). So with our work officially done for the year, we celebrated with breakfast at Denny’s and shots of whiskey at the local dive bar... at 7am. I was home and in bed by 1pm.
The only way to truly get rid of a whiskey hangover is with Chinese food and thankfully we had plans to meet up with the family for dim sum on Saturday. Martin passed on the opportunity, claiming he had work to do, but I am pretty sure it was because he doesn't like dim sum... thankfully for me Oskar loves it so I at least have some support.
Martin and I managed to sneak in a date night on Tuesday to go see Max Raabe at the San Francisco Symphony Hall… I have been wanting to see him for a few years and found out he was coming a few weeks early thanks to my Sunday Chronicle... it was amazing.
Wednesday was a throw away day at work with Soul Cycle over lunch and an early departure to meet with Alva’s teacher (all good). We sprung the kids out of school early, went to the playground and had an early dinner of sushi at the local, family friendly Sushi on North Beach… although it clearly wasn’t early enough since Alva fell asleep at the table.
On Friday, March 8th we filed our 10-K at work at 5am (for those who aren’t accounting geeks, our 10-K is like our annual Superbowl and kind of a big deal). So with our work officially done for the year, we celebrated with breakfast at Denny’s and shots of whiskey at the local dive bar... at 7am. I was home and in bed by 1pm.
Martin and I managed to sneak in a date night on Tuesday to go see Max Raabe at the San Francisco Symphony Hall… I have been wanting to see him for a few years and found out he was coming a few weeks early thanks to my Sunday Chronicle... it was amazing.
Wednesday was a throw away day at work with Soul Cycle over lunch and an early departure to meet with Alva’s teacher (all good). We sprung the kids out of school early, went to the playground and had an early dinner of sushi at the local, family friendly Sushi on North Beach… although it clearly wasn’t early enough since Alva fell asleep at the table.
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| She wouldn't let Martin take the broccoli away... |
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| Oskar loved and ate everything! |
Oskar and I had a coffee and croissant date with
his classmate Lucky and his mom Sarah on Thursday morning. And he and I enjoyed another coffee and
croissant just the two of us on Friday before school.
Friday was another rough three hour day in the office… followed by lunch at Zuni Café with two co-workers and a shopping spree at our friend / co-workers atelier across the street (check her website out at https://www.elleraapparel.com/)
With the weather being gorgeous after a week of rain, on Saturday we headed to Golden Gate Park to see the bison, followed by a picnic at Ocean Beach. The bison apparently left a lasting impression on Oskar who asked Rachel, his babysitter, to draw a picture of a bison standing up and pooping, later that night while Martin and I took my parents to see Hamilton. Like most of our favorite date nights, we wrapped up the evening with food truck tacos while waiting for our Lyft.
Friday was another rough three hour day in the office… followed by lunch at Zuni Café with two co-workers and a shopping spree at our friend / co-workers atelier across the street (check her website out at https://www.elleraapparel.com/)
With the weather being gorgeous after a week of rain, on Saturday we headed to Golden Gate Park to see the bison, followed by a picnic at Ocean Beach. The bison apparently left a lasting impression on Oskar who asked Rachel, his babysitter, to draw a picture of a bison standing up and pooping, later that night while Martin and I took my parents to see Hamilton. Like most of our favorite date nights, we wrapped up the evening with food truck tacos while waiting for our Lyft.
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| Definitely lives up to the hype |
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| From super fancy to super casual in less than three hours |
And finally, the weekend was wrapped up with a
trip to Trader Joes on Sunday followed by riding scooters and bikes in the
alleyway with Jack.
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| Back to our normal routine |
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