are you still there?

sorry, life is interrupting the program

Hello to all of you who are still here!

I’m finally coming up for enough air to sit down and write. As you may know from past posts, Zach and I moved from Seattle, WA to San Diego, CA 3 weeks ago. If you didn’t know, well, now you know why I’ve been MIA.

Getting settled into our new place has been slow, and full of a lot of interruptions. 4 days after our moving pod arrived, we took an emergency flight back up to Seattle to say our goodbyes to Zach’s Nana, Nancy. Being bedside to both of our grandparents end-of-life within 6 months was nothing we could have emotionally, mentally, and physically prepared for.. After almost a week there, other interruption (this time interrupting grief), I had to come back for me to start my new side work. And, at least the fun part, to host my mom’s birthday party! For the first time ever as an adult thanks to now living in the same city ! She bought us a pizza oven for our wedding, and we finally got to pizza for her! So, between time with family, grief, starting a new job, and having bronchitis the last two weeks, the move has been slow and our to-do list is long..

However, in the midst of all that, I’ve been finding excitement in the mundane. Especially exploring all the markets that are in our neighborhood. I love grocery stores and niche markets. It’s one of my favorite things when traveling too! Walking every isle, taking note of unique spices, produce, locally made goods, and more. We have so many fun markets within walking distance or a quick bike ride from our place, it is truly a dream.

One of our neighborhood spots is a Mexican market that we’ve already gone weekly to get homemade flour and corn tortillas, agua frescas, aguachile, and dragonfruit. I’m excited to make some salsas and mole with their piled high selection of dried chilies!
Another favorite is a mediterranean market that has amazing, fresh Afgan bread, hummus, babaganoush, dolma, amazing selection of spices and bulk nuts and seeds, and fresh produce.

I also love a bougie health foods store.. and was already missing being a co-op member at PCC in Seattle, but I think I found my San Diego sub. One closest to us is very tiny, but has a pickle/olive bar that made my jaw drop. I have to go back to get these herbed garlics because I regret passing them up… and still think about them. They also have a self-serve olive oil section that has some delicious sounding oils and flavors! It will be a must stop for me whenever I have a charcuteries/tapas moment next. I’m also just impressed at the amount of natural wine and non-alcoholic products are stocked in these shops.

We’ve been taking more lunch breaks outside (thanks to San Diego weather) which has been so nice to have a moment in the sun and breeze to break up the day. I got a bike last weekend and Z got his tuned up, so we’ve been taking at least one ride a day. Some rides have been to the park for a little picnic (been obsessing over california veggie sandos, and ciabatta sandos with fresh pesto, burrata, arugula, salami, and calabrian chili. Other ride have been to a taco truck— we have one near us that has so many different kinds of ceviche tostadas that I will be consuming all summer! We also tried recently White Rice Bodega which was a 10/10! I got the grilled chicken tocino manok, atchara, up egg and garlic rice with spicy vinegar sauce. Z got the crispy pork belly lechon kawali, atchara, up Egg and garlic Rice with mang tomas sauce.

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Next week I’ll give you a peak at my new kitchen, that was our first project in the house.. and still has a few details to go.. but the one part of the house that makes me feel like we’re actually home now.

Thank you for being patient and sticking around while content has been on pause ❤️ the longer I’m gone the more awkward it feels to jump back in.. so baby steps. Plus the internet can be….draining and just give me big FOMO for the home we just left. But— I’ll leave you with some corners of the internet I’ve been enjoying and hiding in the last month:

• Puzzmo— for all you NYTimes Games fans.

• Perfectly Imperfect
  PI.FYI app— feels nostalgic and simplistic and fun. If you love getting recommendations, and giving them.

• Pinterest— we know her, we love her, but I’ve been away from her. This move got me back into Pinterest… I went on a full board refresh and have been finding a lot of inspiration there recently. Just a lot of play!

• Paige Wassel’s Youtube Channel + her newsletter WAS— Paige gives great interior design advice and gives some solid recs on her newsletter. After watching any of her videos or newsletter I always have a million tabs open diving into everything she has suggested.

• Alison Roman
  Home Videos Season 2— I love Alison Roman. I loved Season 1 of Home videos, but I am *living* for season 2. The new space. The new town. The new vibes. It’s comfort. It’s my modern day Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa content I have been longing for since that era.

Alright. Hope you followed along on this braindump.
Chat with you next week!

♥️
C