San Diego

If you haven't heard, this is a summer of winging it. I don't know who my (30!) housemates are, what the grocery store is called or where it is, have only a vague understanding of how I will get my body from point A to point B and have no idea what I will be doing at work. The one person I know well will be about 45 minutes away. Also, is it really going to be 55 degrees? Things I know for sure and am thankful for: they speak English, there will be sunshine, and I am going to be just fine. But, still. It makes a person anxious. As I planned my trip to get to California, I realized I needed to do something to remedy the anxiety. And after some thought I figured out what, or rather who, it would be: Ellee and Sam. Ellee and I have been friends since I was 14 years old. She is one of my most favorite people in the world and I thank my lucky stars for her, or rather, she might just be a lucky star. About a year and a half ago (I think), Ellee married Sam, who is equally as special. They currently live in San Diego, and I thought, what better way to embrace California than seeing Ellee and Sam? I thought it couldn't get any better until we figured out that Santiago would be able to come down from LA and join us. Needless to say, it was a wonderful weekend.

Ellee

Encinitas Beach

After the beach, we had a drink at the Modern Times Brewery. It was awesome!

We ordered the taster which was a little bit of four different beers.

Happy happy happy

Then, we headed home where Ellee made us a delicious dinner.

Since Ellee and Sam are musicians, Santi had a chance to play some music. 

Ellee practices marriage.

Hangin' out

We ended the night with paleo vegan hot chocolate (yeah, that's a thing) and watching a movie.
I fell asleep in five minutes of course. 

And then the next day, Santi and I went on a mini roadtrip to get me to the airport. SF and Berk, here I come! 

Summer Twenty-Fourteen

I've been a little bit uncomfortable about starting up my blog again. I don't know... I have just read so many, well, stupid travel blogs lately. Posts full of bad writing and/or whiney, overdramatic and vague ruminations about how their beautiful trip tested their character. I mean, poor you. Really. Any time I started a draft for the first post of the summer, I cringed at anything I said that may be along those lines. I'm even kind of cringing now, but at least I'm being honest. And maybe those girls were being honest, too, and I should get over it. That's what I'm trying to do here: get over it (and my own self-righteous judgements ha), take some photos and have a good time. That was my goal in the first place, that and to keep my friends back home in the loop, so onward! Here I go again.

This summer I am fortunate enough to spend my summer in Berkeley/San Francisco, California. I am doing an internship at the Foundation for Sustainable Development in SF and living in a coop, Wolf House, in Berkeley. Both will be wonderful experiences -- I can tell already. By my side, I've got a new camera that I have rapidly fallen in love with. Santiago will be in Los Angeles, so I will get to visit him there. And, hopefully, I will get to spend some weekends exploring other parts of California.

But first, photos from my family trip to Italy (Rome then Florence):

This lil' piece of swag. 

And Florence:

Thank you to my parents for helping me so much regarding my summer! I couldn't do it without their support. And thank you, friends, for reading this here and supporting me in this way. 

Love,

Lan