HAPPY GALENTINES DAY!
Good-Bye 2023...
It's been a while since I signed into my blog and when I did today, a draft came up. It was to be a post of my NY trip this past September. I didn't even realize I hadn't finished it, let alone post it. They call it widow brain. Boy I hate that word. And how did it all of a sudden become New Years weekend?! EKKK.
Here is an excerpt from that post, kind of a segue into todays post...
"It was early March 2020 and I was in NY to celebrate my friend of 40 years turning 60. She had a party, it was pre-covid, barely. Shortly after, when we were safe back home in LA, two friends that were at the party ended up in the hospital and my friends cousin died. My husbands early onset dementia kicked into high gear at warp speed and the entire world shut down. And my personal world would surely never be the same.
And here we are, September 2023, my first trip back for the wedding of that same girlfriends son and to reconnect with my roots and beloved old friends. I love NY and I will always be a native NY'er, but I also love California with all my heart and it's been my home for 34 years. I feel at home in both places, and there are other places in the world I feel at home in too, where I have never even lived. That's the beauty of wander lust. Turns out home really is where the heart is". That was as far as I got...
As it turns out, home can also be discombobulated, wherever you are, when grief has become a part of your life. People ask me how my year has been. I say it's actually been pretty good, I had a lot of fun, even made some new girlfriends which is a blessing in midlife right? But I also say, my husbands still dead. Silence. No one knows how to deal with me. And that's grief. People are uncomfortable with it. They either never mentioned it or try to console you in some way. But there is no way. It's a very personal and lonely journey. And it is always with you even on the great days. I often describe grief as floating in the ocean. You're weightless, the sun is shining on your face, and you feel good. Then, without warning, the current pulls you under, (cue the Jaws music). Now you're gasping for air, trying to fight your way back to the surface. And you make it, you always make it, and you struggle to get your breath back, and you do, and you float again. This scenario goes on all the time, on and off like a light switch. But on my fantastic NY trip in September with family and friends, I'm happy to report I made it a few days in a row without going under.
I also made multiple visits to my favorite places this year like Ojai, San Fransisco, Joshua Tree, and Arizona. I thought I'd take my first solo trip to Europe but the state of the world has me feeling safer closer to home.
I belong to an online widows group, it's very sad. Sometimes I can't even read the posts, sometimes I chime in. The women have all kinds of stories of how their spouses died and I won't share them because they are all horrible, but what I've learned from the group is that I find it tragic that some of them feel they can't go on. And I ask them to consider - how would your loved one feel if they knew that their legacy was that their death destroyed your life? I know what my husband would say. Hell No! I'm not going to tell you it's easy, it is not. I cry at least once a day. But when I cry I always hear Mike say something funny and I laugh and then just like that, I'm back on the surface floating again. It's quite the roller coaster. But I'm on a mission to live an extraordinary life, for the both of us.
Most people think that grief gets better with time. It changes, but I'd never use the word better to ever describe grief. As I step into this new year, and the 2nd New Years without my husband, I have to say that the passage of more time actually makes it sadder, but I look forward to the ways I can move forward with my life while honoring his.
I always pick a word and a theme for the year. On my recent year end girls trip I choose my word, 'thrive'. My friend said she thought my word should be fierce, because she thinks I'm fierce, which made me laugh. So maybe I'll have two words for 2024. I'll be Fierce and Thriving.
I don't think I'll ever finish that NY post. But that's OK, I have another NY wedding on tap for 2024! And I like looking forward instead of backwards, after all, if you drive looking in your rear view, you'll crash. 😉
With grace and gratitude, I wish you and yours a Fierce and Thriving 2024.
Happy New Year!
SAN FRANCISCO, ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA
A few months ago I escaped to San Fransisco for a few days of fun with my step mom-in-law. We had such a great time being tourists in San Fransisco. Although I have been to SF more times then I can count, I never get tired of the touristy stuff this city has to offer.
Hard to believe that I've been a "widow" now for 16 months. I hate that word. I love road trips and the time I spend with Mike's step mom is very healing since she lost her husband, Mike's dad, my father-in- law, when she was my age. At the time I thought I knew how she felt but turns out I had no idea. The truth is you don't know, until you know. When we're together we get to talk about them unconditionally, with laughter and/or tears, and it's so good. When you lose your spouse, talking about them keeps their memory alive, it's very cathartic. I love talking about Mike. But most people, even close friends, often avoid the subject like the plague. People think that if they mention your deceased loved ones name that it will remind you they died. Trust me, we haven't forgotten they died.
One of the nice things about this trip was that we were not on any particular time schedule. That made for a nice scenic drive with lots of potty breaks, Starbucks stops and an impromptu lunch in Gilroy, the garlic capital of CA. We stayed at Hotel Rue at Fishermans Wharf. I have never actually stayed at the wharf before but my favorite boutique hotel, sadly, went out of business during covid. It turned out to be a great location for us. There are a few different parts of Fishermans Wharf. Pier 39 is the touristy part, which is really fun, and the old ferry building and the Embarcadero are more upscale. And of course Ghiridelli Square, famous for Ghiladeli chocolate.
Our first stop was Boudin for their famous clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls. They are the original sour dough makers and have been baking on that site since 1849! The first time I came to SF I was 22 and had never even heard of sour dough bread. I sent the bread basket back twice and told the waiter there was something wrong with it because it tasted sour. After the second time he asked me if I knew it was sour dough bread. I was a native NY'er what did I know from sour dough. Back then it wasn't a thing. It was pretty funny, the waiter had a field day with me, calling the rest of the staff over to meet the NY'er that never heard of sour dough bread.
Our first morning, after a great breakfast, we headed off to Pacific Heights, my favorite neighborhood. Why not, it's just about the most expensive real estate in CA with amazing views of the bay, gorgeous homes and lots of very steep hills to climb. I always use the address for the Lyon Street stairs to get there. I'll share all the addresses and links below. There was a house under construction and the constructor saw us gawking and started talking to us about the living wall installation of plants and lighting he had just installed for a zillion dollars. It was gorgeous and fun to get the inside scoop.
Then we were off to the Presidio, the Presidio is a former military base that has been tunred into a National Park. Below the Presidio, is Crissy Field where all the locals go to jog, ride bikes, and socialize and all the tourists go for the best spot to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped in at the Warming Hut for hot chocolate and biscotti. It was unseasonably cold and windy for June.
Next stop, only about 10 minutes away, was Lombard Street. This is also in a great neighborhood and if you've ever been to SF I'm sure you know Lombard Street. It's known for being the crookedest street in the world. What intrigues me about it is that people live on it. I never get tired of being a tourist on this street. I've walked it a ton of times with my husband and my daughter. But this time I drove it. It was early morning on a Wednesday and not crowded at all. It was so much fun to drive that when we got to the bottom we went around the block and did it again. Then we decided to catch the ferry to Saucalito for lunch. Saucalito is an artsy town of 7,000 people and is referred to as the Meditereanin of the west. We ate at Barrel House Tavern and had a gorgeous view of the bay. And according to my my MIL the best ginger margarita this side of Mexico.
We shopped the boutiques and would have stayed longer but it was so windy and cold we decide to catch the 4:00 ferry back. The ferry is located at Pier 39 and from there we walked back to our hotel to add another layer and then we walked to the hub of the cable car station at Hyde and Powell to take us to Chinatown. It was June and people were wearing puffer jackets. The last time I took the cablecar in SF was with Mike probably 10 years ago. He was hanging off the side singing the Rice-a-Ronie song giving me a heart attack.
It was a full house on the cable car and we sat in the back with the woman who controlled the back break. Those hills are so steep it requires two people and two sets of breaks, one up front and one in the back. This woman break operator happened to be a comedian. She was telling us stories of the stupid questions tourists ask her and she was hilarious. It was loud and friendly, we took pictures, and it was just one of those lucky things that the cable car turned out to be an extra source of entertainment.
When we got off we walked a bit into China Town and got on line (there's always a line) at The House of Nanking. It's the best place to eat in China town. It's pretty famous and they don't take reservations unless you're a large party so we waited and as always it was worth it. After dinner we had to walk back to the trolley stop, up hill all the way. I was a little leary as it was getting dark and the streets were noticeably emptier compared to when we arrived. But we did it, and we made it back to the hotel safely. All in all we walked 8 miles that day!
The next morning we headed off to Golden Gate Park. It's big, as a point of reference it's 1,013 acres, Central Park is 842 acres. You could spend a week in the park and still not see everything. Our first stop was The Conservatory of Flowers. We both love gardening so this was something we were looking forward to. I've never seen so many rare and unusual plants. Next we walked to the de Young Museum to take in a 360 degree view of SF from the 12th floor observation desk, spectacular. Then off to the Japanese Tea garden. I love this place. I got tapped on the shoulder by a woman who said "how was your Chinese dinner"? It was the two women visiting from Canada who had sat across from us on the cable car!
PASADENA DESIGN HOUSE AND THE ART OF GOING SOLO:
If you've been reading my blog for a while you probably know that I'm obsessed with the Ojai Garden Tour. If you've never heard of Ojai, it's a sleepy little town about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles, nestled between the Topatopa Mountains, and I love it. I've been going on the Garden Tour for years on Mothers Day weekend and I look forward to it so much. Last month I went online to buy my ticket and there was nothing. WHAT?! I called the Chamber of Commerce and was told that the tour was cancelled this year, NOOO! Apparently the massive amounts of rain we had ruined gardens and there were not enough people to volunteer their homes this year. I was upset. Really I was. I sat at my desk thinking there was no coming back from this devastation. Yes, I'm overly dramatic, but still. I needed a way to recover from this news. And then I remembered the Pasadena Showcase Home. I had never gone and I could go on Mothers Day! I bought a ticket.
My daughter and I are extremely close so Mothers Day is every day for me, and she was out of town, coming back in time for us to have dinner. That gave me the day to myself. And I really wanted to go to the design house alone. When I told some of my friends they offered to go with and me. I politely explained that I was going solo by choice not by default. It was the ultimate Artist Date! Browsing through an 11,000 sq. ft. mansion that looked like it was right out of Gone With The Wind, on 2 acres of gardens in Pasadena CA. 27 different interiors designers took over the house and each designed a different room. Yes please.
If you have never heard of an Artist Date, it's a solo experience doing something you love by yourself. The idea was created by Author Julia Cameron and described in her book The Artists Way. And if you've never given yourself an Artist Date what are you waiting for?!
Going solo to an event like this means I can concentrate on taking photos, which I love to do. I'll share some below, some, as in a lot.
Speaking of solo dates, I recently came across my old collage journal and documentation of my very first solo date. I was 20. I went to a pub called Casper's that was right next to Nagler Hall, the dorm I lived in on 27th street when I went to FIT. Students would hang out at the bar, but this night was different, this night I was going to ask for a table, all by myself and have dinner. I got dressed up, I remember I was so nervous and I wrote three pages in the journal on how traumatizing it was when the hosted said "just one?" I was sitting in my kitchen reading those pages last week and howling with laughter. Another beautiful thing about getting older, I love taking myself out to eat, having confidence, and not caring what other people think of me. AKA freedom!
I had a great time at the showcase home, they also had shops set up outside. I had a lovely lunch in the garden. And although none of the decor styles were my taste, I found something in every room that I liked. Overall, I truly appreciated all of the thought that went into every aspect of the designs and the artistic details of every room.