I came out of my building and saw the spotted concrete… it rained? There are only two main seasons in the Bay Area– rainy and not rainy. Just this past week, it was still 85 and sunny. Perhaps I’ve just lost track of days and months, but I wasn’t expecting the rain quite yet. Undeterred,…
Everything had been going so smoothly. At 6am, I was headed out for my last trip on JetBlue’s All You Can Jet. All my flights had been great far, and I just had this one last destination to Texas to visit my boyfriend who’s been in army training since May. Of course, we totally jinxed…
I lean back, elbows propped up on my chair. Isn’t this ridiculous? I mean it in the best way possible. It’s Thursday afternoon. The weather is impeccable. To the right, we’re surrounded by the sparkling blue waters of Boston Harbor. Ahead, the Boston skyline looms large. And we’re just having a casual conversation on this…
If you’re expecting a small deserted Midwestern town with a lifeless city center, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you find instead. Indianapolis is discovering a whole new life with a bustling downtown that’s filled with all the new buildings and old buildings in a constantly developing mix. Of course, downtown only spans about four…
It felt a little bit like Brooklyn or Queens, smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. It was a row of brick houses, some laced with ivy, all with charming, quirky character, and the streets were lined with trees and fences of infinite variations. The neighborhood, tucked away at the edge of Wicker Park,…
I know it’s a matter of familiarity and time. I just moved to San Francisco, and I haven’t been there long enough to enjoy it yet. I haven’t become a part of the city, and it hasn’t become a part of me. I’m not used to this fog, this windy chill, the irony of my…
The afternoon sun entices me out of my desk chair and over to the window. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall, Downtown Oakland. Seven palm trees in front of the Tribune tower, next to the courthouse. OUSD, Laney College off to the left. I’ve looked at this view a million times, and it still hasn’t…
Driving back from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco last night, I missed a turn, and Nora (my GPS) decided to take me on a scenic route around the city. As I drove along The Embarcardero, the Ferry Building came into view, perfectly lit against the sparkling lights of the Bay Bridge. All…
I am not exactly an outdoorsy person. I am quite the opposite of the athletic, adventure-sports type, and I prefer to have internet and running water around as much as possible. But somehow, I rather like the idea of camping. It speaks to the quiet explorer side of me– being able to break routine, go…
My first impressions of New York are always of the grimy streets and subways and the overwhelming number of people everywhere. The hustle and bustle has a commanding presence and an allure– that concrete jungle where dreams are made of. But first impressions aren’t always everything. My boyfriend Ernie moved back to New York in…
Miles driven by others: 37 Miles flown: 390 Miles driven by myself: 150 ____________________________________ =577 miles traveled, and that’s just today. Sometimes exhaustion is the most gratifying feeling in the world. In that moment when you finally sit down and have a chance to rest, you can feel the very essence of gravity as it…
It was mid-morning. I sat at my desk typing away at my emails, attempting to appease the multicolored starred and flagged messages crowding my inbox. Taking a break from the work, I glanced outside, and I spared not a moment before grabbing my camera and walking straight to the window. Stretched perfectly over downtown Oakland,…