Socially Distanced | July, 2020

I usually don’t get around to posting these recaps until the end of the following month, which is quite unfortunate, because 2020 is quickly outpacing my ability to remember what these past realities were like. But here goes, a look back to July, a month in which we took four different outdoor excursions around California and we connected with our friends, from a safe distance. 

First, a visit to San Francisco Chinatown to pick up a produce box from Shaoshan Farms x Mister Jiu’s. 

Office of Accountability. Still setting goals, and sometimes meeting them too.

Stephanie, John, and I followed an abolition curriculum (thank you to my friend Shawna for sharing!) in which we learned about abolishing prisons and police. This has taken us through August as well, and we’re each finding ways to further the cause, such as regular donations to local orgs.

Chat with Talya in Berlin.

Our first outdoor excursion of the month: camping in Little Basin, which is adjacent to Big Basin, the oldest state park in California, which has now famously burned in the CZU fires. The park headquarters burned to the ground. But redwood trees are designed to withstand fire, so most of the trees have survived.

If you remember our indoor camping stint when our Yosemite trip was cancelled due to the pandemic… here we are, finally making s’mores actually outside by a campfire!

The second day, we packed up our campsites and we hiked over from Little Basin to Big Basin.

Glad we got to spend some time with all of this… even if the trees are still standing, the park is not going to be the same for a long, long time.

Fourth of July, wanderings around the neighborhood, surrounded by rogue fireworks everywhere.

Fireworks show + Hamilton.

Biking across town to Crissy Field.

Cassie’s delivery man crashed our weekly lunch date. He even waved to us on camera.

Salad month. Our lettuce, peas and cucumbers were going wild this month! Plus tomatoes from Alex’s parents’ garden.

Abolition study group.

Talya

Neighborhood walks.

Happy Hour with Accountability.

Chats with Lauren.

Then I dropped off Alex for his bike camp… they biked 50 miles, camped overnight, and then biked back. All organized by Sports Basement with support vehicles, food, etc. This had been pushed back all the way from April, so it was nice that they finally got to go. Meanwhile, while he was gone, I sewed him an apron and made a bunch more masks.

And I dyed some random pillowcases pink using avocado pits.

Another batch of homemade bagels. Plus takeout from Pintoh Thai over in Oakland.

Our first Ikea excursion… Ikea had closed for the pandemic, and their curbside pickup was never available, so the only option for a while was to do their online delivery, which is notoriously unreliable (many reviews from people who spent thousands of dollars and never received anything nor could they reach anyone to get a refund). So, we decided the best strategy was just to wait for the stores to reopen, and in mid-July, it finally did! We’ve since gone to Emeryville twice and Palo Alto once (gotta run around depending on who has what in stock!). I generally like the Emeryville experience more.

Harvests from the garden. And more salads.

Abolition study group.

Decided to make our own chashu! with pork belly all perfectly rolled up from Olivier’s Butchery. It made for some really great ramen.

Getting ready for our second outdoor excursion: a float down the Russian River for Stephanie’s birthday!

Watermelon + pineapple.

All very nice and socially distanced.

Happy hour with Lean In.

I photographed my first Covid-era wedding in Candace and Derek‘s backyard. They were the sweetest and thought through every last detail.

Plant pickup from Kelly.

Second Ikea trip, this time to Palo Alto. Definitely not as smooth as the Emeryville experience. The most ridiculous part was having to wait in line to exit, since you need to get in an elevator to leave.

Another weekly lunch!

Other home projects: matching spice jars, all perfectly labeled. Plus, Taiwanese salt and pepper chicken as made with the TAF cookalong.

Whitney!

Paint Club, drawing from a moth photo that Lizzie found for us.

More abolition studying.

That one time a house casually floated by… (it’s a houseboat that now lives towards the end of the channel).

Talya & Luise.

And Tiffany in Sydney.

Here’s one of my Ikea purchases, a Rast dresser… before, and halfway through its transformation. I think you’ll have to come back for August’s recap to see the ‘after’, because my drawer pulls didn’t arrive until much later.

Accountability happy hour.

Salumeria in SF, and my second mini-wedding of the month, Yannie & Howard’s ceremony at Old St. Hilary’s.

Insert a quick trip to Yosemite here! I’m planning to post about it separately… but here’s the next morning, in Oakland. We found out a warehouse was on fire in SF, causing all this smoke. Turns out it was but a tiny preview of the fire season to come.

Another lunch with Do-Hee, Cassie, & Courtney.

More garden hauls. This time, a cucumber salad from NYTimes.

Still working on our abolitionist goals.

Rode our bikes over to Arch Art Supplies for some paints so I could make some custom garden stakes.

Tada! We’re the most colorful plot in all the land.

And to wrap up the month, one more chat with Talya…

… and one more happy hour with Accountability!

Thanks to my lovely friends who continued to gather with me (safely, from a distance) throughout this month. Looks like we’ll be here for a good long time.

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures, even in quarantine. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.