Summer Vacation

The sun sets earlier here.

I notice that because at 8:39 p.m. as I work in bed, I can see only the last parts of the burnt orange glow hovering above the hills across the street. I can hear the neighbor kids who are in their pool next door, and I realize I miss the hum of the cruise ship moving over the water as we sat outside our balcony room to watch the 10 p.m. sunsets.

The day after the big boys got out of school, we left for a two-week-long vacation. We flew to Seattle, traveled via cruise ship to Alaska, bussed to Vancouver (the trains won’t be running until the end of the year), then flew home to Orange County.

Since having kids, we’ve been almost entirely 3-day getaway people. Three days: long enough to do fun things, short enough to require minimal planning and no more than a weekend bag. Enough time to breathe different air, get a change of scenery. Not really enough time to shake you out of your routine. Just a little break.

When I left my full-time job in the spring of 2021, I envisioned wide open mental spaces, margin to the max. In reality, the school year that followed was chaotic: too many commitments, not enough bandwidth. Up until the plane left the runway, I felt like I was set to 2.00x speed, like the audiobooks that make sense to the listener once you’ve acclimated but that sounds incomprehensibly garbled to any passerby—didIremembertolockthedoorsconfirmationcodefortheexcursionpullupsforthetoddler—all in my head.

The tricky thing about vacation, of course, is that it’s still real life. You still bring along your anxiety over flying ever since that one rough landing that had luggage flying from overhead bins. There’s still laundry (when you only brought a carry-on each, and you had to pack bulky jackets and lots of layers for a 2-week trip). It’s still a frantic rush to get everyone on and off public transportation with rolling luggage and backpacks. There’s still sometimes too much screen time because you are pregnant and cannot walk around the city for hours on end. There are still emergency work calls (husband’s, not mine) punctuating the time. Still, just being in a new place infuses even the hard-ish things with a magical air.

From the beginning, we encountered delight after delight, even with the hiccups. The letterpress shop on the walk to our hotel. Brown butter popcorn in a pink foil bag. Rows and rows of fresh peonies at the market. Cold cherry apple cider. On the ship—the delight of post-dinner ping-pong games on the deck, an arcade next to the kids’ club, coffee delivery every morning, dessert after every meal: pina colada panna cotta, creme brûlée with berries, a chocolate tuxedo cake, unlimited ice cream. In Vancouver—the view of sunset over downtown from our hotel suite, a special spread of “sweet treats” before bedtime, the Japanese style wagyu hotdogs loaded with seaweed and fried onions. An impromptu date night to see Hamilton, showing at a theater just a two-minute walk from our hotel. The incredible maple walnut ice cream (My oldest son asking me, “Is this your favorite, Mama? Do you want Daddy and I to find it for your birthday?”). 

We spent hours between meals exploring the ship. I found a library (with a surprisingly great collection of books), and we discovered that the observation deck was the place to be for a late afternoon lunch of chicken salad croissant sandwiches, clam chowder and cocktails (or mocktails, for me), sun shimmering off the ocean. For the kids, the total novelty of getting pulled in a cart by Alaskan huskies and watching lumberjacks (“the engineers!” said my 3-year-old) fake-compete in a show was captivating.

Then there were the surprises. Chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room! A pillow concierge! Mini robes and matching small slippers delivered to our suite in just the boys’ sizes. The full rainbow at dusk in Victoria. The funny bird that showed up on the windowsill of our hotel room on the 9th floor of the Fairmont Vancouver who “sat” just like a trained puppy for broken pieces of $15-a-bag vanilla caramel sea salt popcorn we bought at Pike Place Market.

For the first time in two-ish years, I made zero lists. I didn’t think at all about goals or plans for the rest of the summer or how we should celebrate our anniversary in July. Instead, I got lost in a novel, finished sudoku puzzles, and just sat, doing nothing but soaking up golden hour. Fourteen continuous Yes Days.

When our trip came to an end, I wondered, how can we bottle all of this up? The delights, the memories, the magic of the little things? What can we bring home? Maple caramels? A suitcase sticker from each city? New traditions? A refreshed sense of wonder? A different way of living? A fresh well of inspiration? The expectancy of wide-open days full of endless adventures?

Vacation was a glorious break from routine that reminded us to pay attention to our actual lives, to learn to appreciate the “first” things again: the boys’ first bus ride and sky train; their first little robes, their first 10 p.m. sunset. These are the gems, and it’s easier to see them when we are looking for them.

This vacation has spurred in us a new summer rhythm, a new beat, a reset, and for the rest of the summer, this is my takeaway (and maybe yours, too?)—Be on the lookout for new and amazing things. Delight in the days. Experience little joys and small surprises as daily gifts.

Not just coffee delivery to the hotel room door in the morning or a fridge in a lounge fully stocked with free boxed alkaline spring water and bottles of Perrier. But the small joys of the first vending machine popsicle (Spiderman, of course) of the season at our neighborhood water park. The joy of dinner with old friends in our backyard on the first night of summer. The everyday delight of peach bellini sparkling water over ice in a glass with a wedge of lime. 

The feeling that anything is possible.

a week in paris (via my iphone).

//Versailles by day, wedding by night//

//the clouds matched the garden!//

//the freshest produce at the Versailles market//

//my favorite garden in Versailles//

//a chocolate themed reunion brunch//

//the best place in the world to celebrate four years//

//roommates!//

//bests and the newly engaged couple//

//my favorite view//

//buckets and buckets of peonies, my favorite//

//picnic part I on the Seine before picnic part II at the Eiffel Tower//

//ahh, Montmarte//

//piggy latte for breakfast//

I'm feeling nostalgic about Paris even though it's only been a couple months since I was there. It's the city of so many memories and emotions for me, sadness and heartbreak and beauty and love.

Paris is the most beautiful place in the world to cry, and the most romantic place in the world to kiss. 

I would spend part of every summer in Paris if I could. Even though there is a big, wide world of places to visit, I'll never get tired of spending those long summer days in the city of lights.

four years.

//macarons from  Pierre Herme, recommended by my friend,

Erica

//

It's been over 2 weeks since we were in Paris! The time has been flying by! We didn't know if we would be able to make it to Paris for my former roommate's wedding, but the timing ended up being perfect with my teaching contract ending, my summer Chinese course yet to begin, and our wedding anniversary falling just a few days after the wedding. (It helped that we found unusually inexpensive tickets that we also got miles for). The last time I was in Paris, I stayed in the city for two weeks as part of a music-history travel study. I was lucky enough to get to travel around with one of my best girlfriends, but we spent a good part of the time talking about how we wished our new significant others could be in the city with us. Six years later, that dream came true.

//we had a blue theme going//

We started off the day at the Champs Elysee. We were planning on getting brunch at Laduree, but then we ended up stopping at Pierre Herme soooo... we had macarons for breakfast. We did a little shopping for friends, stopped at Notre Dame, ate yummy crepes (lemon sucre for me, nutella for Dave), and spent a little time at the Seine.

//bisou//

One of my favorites part of the day was putting a lock on the lock bridge. I know it won't be there forever, but it was still such a fun experience to remember the day by. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and get to revisit Paris while the lock is still there.

//being silly// //locking it up//

We spent the afternoon at the Louvre, and I made Dave take a billion pictures of me with my favorite statue. If there's anything we've learned in four years of marriage, it's how to drive each other crazy! (just kidding, but really). 

And, of course, because in all honesty, this was my ONE must-do in Paris... we had steak frites for dinner. It was the best. Atmosphere, service, food, funny table neighbors - the best meal that we had in Paris. Dave even did a great job picking our wine (a 2007 Les Penitents Pinot Noir). Our dinner started at 8 and didn't end until 11. That's what I love most about Paris in the summer - long,  perfect days ending in long, leisurely meals at the most charming restaurants, with loved ones.

//dinner at Le Bistro Paul Bert//

I feel so blessed that we've been together for so long. I know we're still young, but it's still wild for me to think that we've been together for almost 1/4 of our lives, and four of those six years, we've been married. I've always wanted to travel around the world with my husband, and I'm thankful that, little by little, we're actually doing that. We're building a shared vision for our future and executing on it, and that's something that I'm so excited about. So, 4 years! Woohoo! Now I can say, we'll always have Paris.

shanghai calling.

//the great wall// //sisters//

I haven't forgotten about the pictures from the most recent China adventure... just haven't had time to edit with all this thesis work and such. I did finally download the beautiful mess app, though, which I'm now addicted to. yay for iphone apps, the perfect distraction when you need one!