1. Old places being closer than I thought. I recently trekked to a restaurant I’ve loved and had only been able to deliver takeout from last year, and got one of my favorite bowls in the world. Hanoi bun cha will continue to be a revelation and I will have it in every restaurant that has it outside Hanoi.
2. My second shot. I got my second shot and there were no major scary things, just wrist being super sore and feeling sleepy for 2-3 days. It could have been worse.
3. Getting back on a bike for a hot second. I tested out a bike rental for 10 minutes to see if it was a good option for me for a bit, and no surprise, being on a bike still feels better than being on my actual feet. My love affair with bikes will (hopefully) never go away.
4. Getting adopted by friends’ family and loved ones. This weekend has been incredibly heart full in the fact that I got to breathe and allow myself to quiet down my lizard brain for a second and this is all because I got to be outside the city for half of it.

Song of the week: One Republic’s Secrets

1. Grody walks to the office made so much better by the company. I honestly love walking places, I just wish the city was less scary to do it alone.

2. Rob and Clif. No explanation. Period.

3. Sitting on office floors again. I am always the person trying to find a quiet corner, and I usually find office floors the most comfortable places I can be at work.

4. Adventure. Small ones, big ones, amazing ones. I have seen so much, and experienced a ton, and they teach me every single time.

Song of the week: I’d Rather Go Blind by Dua Lipa

What are you grateful for this week?

1. Learning a ton. Overwhelmingly so, and I am still processing everything, but it has certainly been an education.

2. Coke slurpees in 36 degree weather. Dangerous for me to start drinking these again, but a respite from intensely hot weather that has been making my nose bleed.

3. Real hugs from real people. It’s been too goddamn long without my favorite form of affection. Hugs are magical and we need more of them.

Song of the week: The Future by San Holo

1. Amazing, above and beyond my wildest dreams friends. I have been in the care of friends the past week, and I have been fed (overfed even), wined, dined, and all the good things. I will forever be grateful.

2. Getting my first shot. Such a relief and it felt so comforting. I get my second on July 20th, in a city I get so scared in, so I’m (more than) a little nervous, but I’m hoping it’s a bigger deal in my head. It should be.

3. Freedom and fireworks. It’s been too frigging long since I saw fireworks. To be able to is a blessing.

Song of the week: Freedom by George Michael

What are you grateful for this week?

1. Chibi getting gifts from our favorite rabbit food supplier. This is really going above and beyond and having a whole pack of gifts from them. It really makes my day when I open an order. Gestures count.

2. Having a laugh out loud day with teammates over silly things. It takes a lot for us to laugh with *gestures at everything* going on. We have had laugh out loud moments where people were tearing up from laughing, and that’s a blessing.

3. Chester being extra clingy. Old man he is, has been asking for extra attention in the form of head rubs. I actually woke up in the middle of my “night” to him sticking himself between my arm and torso. Snugglebun activated.

Song of the week: Ice Cream by Selena Gomez and Blackpink

What are you grateful for this week?

1. Negronis and pizza. Gino’s brick oven pizza specifically for my favorite margherita and also mushroom pizza. It was too late in my workday for coke, so made negronis instead.

2. Loved ones that make an effort. I am embarking on a logistically difficult project and I literally won’t be able to pull it off without other people’s help.

3. Pulling off a class. It’s been a while since I did this hands on. It’s wasn’t the smoothest, and there’s a ton of improvement to be done, but in the end, we pulled it off as a team.

4. The team itself. I say this a lot and it seems cheesy but I really do believe it. We spend 70% minimum of our waking hours at work, it is personal. Why not be better to your colleagues if you can?

Song of the week: everything sucks by Vaultboy

What are you grateful for this week?

The Anthony Bourdain Documentary Roadrunner just came out with its first trailer, and needless to say, I am a fucking mess. Yes. I am a mess. I have watched that trailer 5 times, and have cried every.single.time.

If you’ve met me in the past 15 years and have had more than 4 conversations outside of work, you’d prolly know how much I fangirl over the man. I’ve written about him here and there, and I always ask people what they think/thought of him.

It really resonates with me that he was flawed. He was incredibly honest about his past addictions. Medium Raw had a full chapter of a really bad time in his life when he was in an island driving drunk and high and almost really hitting walls a few times. For a person who’s had so much success and had so many people love him, and still not get there to just be content.

I was watching a clip of him and Eric Ripert last week, and he said something like “I’m busy for a reason, people like me need to fill our days otherwise we can go down the deep end.” to that effect. I felt that. I’ve been filling my day with background noise, either a repeat of a tv show, or music I can sing along to. It helps me not to think too much or go down bad paths.

Maybe that’s something. I gravitate towards people that are all too flawed. I tend to enjoy people’s humanity much more than the curated “lifestyles” that are out there. Scars and all, people I love are rarely “Instagram perfect”. But I digress.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m going to need help getting through this documentary on July 16th. Maybe tubs of ice cream, several hugs, more than a few negronis.

Are you watching Roadrunner?

1. Bun cha to start the week. It’s been a year since I’ve been able to have one of my favorite bowls of food because it’s such a production to make it. A run to Farmer’s Market for all the herbs needed for it, grilling the pork, even making papaya pickles sometimes. It was all worth it though, for my two, possibly three I had Monday of last week.

2. The Friends reunion. My favorite television series. It is also one that taught us a lot about culture and sarcastic humor (I have always had a crush on Chandler), and is one we could watch over and over again. Sure the jokes are dated now, but the chemistry, that friendship, is timeless.

3. People that make an effort. This pandemic is cycling through other (richer) countries. We have been exhausted, mentally stretched, emotionally broken by news cycle over news cycle of all the tragedy, horrific choices people in power are making, and there doesn’t seem to be a foreseeable light at the end of the tunnel. It has been a lot. This is why I appreciate people who make an effort, because it is hard just being there for yourself. Being there for others when you’re under a ton of weight already? Insanely good.

4. Being able to laugh it out with others. I work nights. I am in the country in the world’s longest lockdown. I live with people with comorbidities that are also intensely paranoid. Connecting to others takes time and energy that sometimes is a bit too much for me, so to be able to laugh over things you’re getting through, also a huge weight off my shoulders.

Song of the week: enough for you by Olivia Rodrigo

What are you grateful for?