Category Archives: Family

Skipping Over An Anniversary (or Forgetting But Not Forgetting)

Posted on September 11, 2015 | Comments Off

This past Monday was my grandparents’ anniversary. Last year, I was lucky enough to spend their anniversary with them in San Diego. It was a pretty fun trip and I had a great time celebrating with them and seeing some of my other family. And after that I got to see my grandparents a few other times prior to my grandpa passing away.

Obviously, you never know when someone is going to pass away. We had no clue that my grandparents’ anniversary last year would have been the last one that they would celebrate together. And even if we did, I don’t know if we would have done anything different with our celebration.

I’ve mentioned that days that used to be celebrations for someone who has passed away have been weird for me. Some dates are harder than others. Usually dates where I remember that I don’t need to buy a card are the worst. But this is the first time that there has been an anniversary that I usually celebrate where one person has passed away. It’s one thing to not celebrate a birthday or even Father’s Day for someone who has passed away. But an anniversary where one person in the couple is still alive does seem weird to not celebrate.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to call my grandma for her anniversary or anything so I checked with my mom and my aunt. Both of them said that we weren’t going to celebrate it because it may have upset my grandma. We weren’t trying to forget that it was their anniversary, but we didn’t want to bring it up and make my grandma sad that my grandpa isn’t alive anymore. I think they might have also thought it is a weird thing to try to celebrate when half of the people you are celebrating are dead.

Even though I was nervous about how to celebrate my grandparents’ anniversary, it did feel weird not celebrating it. I did acknowledge it on social media by posting the photo that I took at their last anniversary.

With this anniversary gone, I wonder if it will be weird again next year on their anniversary. Or how it’s going to feel at Thanksgiving when I think it will hit us all pretty hard that my grandpa isn’t there. There was a Thanksgiving years ago where my grandpa got sick and ended up in the hospital on Thanksgiving (we brought pie to the hospital after dinner). That dinner was weird enough and we all knew that he was fine and being released from the hospital the next day. What’s it going to be like when we know that he isn’t just somewhere else and we’ll see him the next day?

I guess this is all part of the grief process. I’ve had a weird time with grieving his death. Obviously I’m sad that my grandpa is gone. He’s the only grandpa I knew. But he and I have a very complicated relationship. While I’m sad I also have other conflicting feelings. But the sadness is greater because I also have the sadness I feel for other members of my family and how they are grieving.

Dealing with all these complicated feelings can be tough. I know that grief can be a long process and having these significant dates can bring up lots of feelings or make you feel like you took a step back in dealing with death. I’m just trying to focus on the positives and think about how much fun it will be at Thanksgiving this year with all of my family, even if we will be missing one family member.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Tough Stuff

Tagged anniversary, death, grandparents

Out Of The Heat (or Finally Getting A/C!)

Posted on September 10, 2015 | 7 comments

I’ve been complaining about the heat in my house since my very first summer here. Because my house is so old, the insulation is pretty bad. So when it gets hot in LA, the heat gets trapped inside even if it cools down outside in the evening. There have been plenty of nights where it’s over 90 degrees inside my bedroom when I was going to bed.

I have never really lived in a place with a/c (my last apartment had it but it was facing a wall in the kitchen so it was useless). And I wanted to get some sort of a/c for my house. But there were issues from the beginning. Until recently, my house had fuses and there wasn’t enough power to run an a/c. Then when I got circuits, I was told that I would have to still watch how much power I used because there is still very little power in my place.

Next was the issue of trying to find a portable a/c unit that wasn’t a swamp cooler (because it does get too humid in LA to use one) and didn’t use a ton of power. Once I found that, then it was the issue of finding one that wasn’t insanely expensive. I never found anything that seemed right to me so I never got a portable a/c unit.

I was talking to my landlord last month and we were making small talk about the heat. I mentioned the lack of a/c and he said that because of my house set up I was pretty limited in my options. I said how I really wanted to put a window unit in my dining room, and he said that it couldn’t block the communal driveway (my dining room looks onto the driveway and there is about a foot of room between my wall and the driveway path). With that new restriction, I started to do some research again.

I actually found a low profile window a/c that doesn’t stick out that far and is energy-efficient so it doesn’t go over the power limit I have in my house! And since I hadn’t asked for anything for my birthday from my parents, they agreed to buy it for me!

Once I knew it was on its way, I had to figure out how I’d install it. Fortunately, the directions were available online so my dad and I both researched them. And when I was at brunch with my friend Jane a week ago, I mentioned the new a/c unit and she said that she had installed one before! So she agreed to help me out when it was here!

This past Sunday was installation day. Prior to that, I had made a trip to Home Depot because my dad discovered some fine print in the directions that would require me to drill a piece of wood onto my window sill. And my dad and I had multiple FaceTime calls so he could look at what I was doing.

It was actually pretty funny when we were on FaceTime trying to figure this all out.

On Sunday, there were dozens of phone calls/FaceTime calls to my dad while Jane and I were working and then we also had to make another Home Depot run. But after a couple of attempts (and thanks to my power drill and saw that my dad got me years ago), we were able to install it!

I’m sure this sounds silly, but even in the couple of days that I’ve had it this a/c unit has made a huge difference in my life! I got it installed just in time for another heat wave in LA and I’m finally getting to work in my house in reasonable temperatures.

I’m still super nervous about how much more expensive my power bill will be, but there was a little guide on the a/c unit that said if you ran the until 8 hours a day for 3 months it would only cost an extra $48 a year. Hopefully that’s true.

I’m so glad that my parents were generous enough to get me this a/c unit. I’m so happy that I was able to install it and that Jane was willing to help me (and we did this in the heat since the a/c wasn’t in yet!). And I’m so excited that I will not feel as sick inside my house during a heat wave and feel trapped since I have to work in my house.

Hopefully when I eventually move one day this a/c unit is as easy to uninstall as it was to install. This thing is totally coming with me wherever I go!

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Posted in Family, Fun Stuff, Shopping

Tagged birthday, heat, home, Los Angeles, parents, presents

Another San Diego Day Trip (or 3 Generations and A Dog)

Posted on August 18, 2015 | Comments Off

I went down to San Diego for the day this past Sunday. Obviously, I went to visit my grandma. But my parents and dog were also there so I wanted to see them all too!

The last time I was down there was when my grandma had just moved into her new place and the apartment that she and my grandpa shared was still being cleaned out. So I didn’t spend a ton of time in the new room or with my grandma (I was busy helping my aunt organize things and get things set aside for me). But now, the old apartment isn’t my grandma’s anymore and she’s totally in her new space. I love where she lives now. While it is small, it’s really cute and all the things that my grandma needs are in there.

The original plan for the day was for me to get there before noon and we’d spend most of the day at my grandma’s place until we went out to dinner. But when I arrived, my dad met me at the valet stand and told me that all the air conditioning in the building was broken. We are going through quite a heat wave here, so without air conditioning my grandma’s room was pretty unbearable. So we spent about an hour at a little mini dog park across the street so Tucker could stretch out (it was too hot to run) and we could enjoy some shade and a little breeze.

When it was time for my grandma’s lunch, I went into the lunch room and sat with her while my parents stayed back with the dog (he can’t be in the lunch room). My grandma isn’t nearly as chatty and social as she was in the past, but we were able to have some nice conversations. I showed her lots of pictures on Facebook that my cousins, brother, and I have posted lately (she doesn’t have a computer so she doesn’t get to see those pictures). She liked seeing the pictures from my birthday and the one’s my cousin posts of her kids.

After lunch, we hung out in my grandma’s room for a little while since the air conditioning was working again, but then my parents and I left so she could rest and we could go to the hotel where my parents were staying.

When it was just me and my parents, we talked about a lot of random stuff. I’m hoping to get out to Tahoe this winter since I never made it out this summer. So we discussed some possible dates for me to meet them there. My dad had some iPhone and iPad questions so I took care of those for him (that’s how I “pay” him for my house repairs). And of course, we played with Tucker who is still a very silly puppy.

My parents, my grandma, and I went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris. I had never been there before (or according to my parents I might have been when I was little), but it was a really nice dinner. We were celebrating my parents’ anniversary so there was a special page in the menu for them.

We also sat inside right at the window so we had a pretty amazing view of the sunset.

My mom, dad, and I all ordered one of the special 4 course meals (which was cheaper than a steak on its own) and it was really yummy! My dad and I shared some of our food and he gave me his leftovers to eat for lunch the next day. Since our 4 course specials came with dessert, they added a nice touch to my parents’ desserts.

After dinner we took my grandma home and I said goodbye to her. Then I went back to my parents’ hotel (where my car was) and said goodbye to my parents and dog. As of right now, I don’t know if I’ll see them before Thanksgiving. So it might be goodbye for a while.

On my drive back home, I did have one really fun treat. I was driving by Disneyland when they were shooting the fireworks off! The fireworks are shot off so close to the freeway that you can watch them while you are driving without having to take your eyes off of the road. That helped to break up the driving.

Fortunately, I’m so used to doing this drive in the same day that it’s not a big deal to me anymore. I’m not sure if I’ll make it down to San Diego again before we are all there for Thanksgiving, but I’m really going to try.

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Posted in Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged dinner, family, grandparents, San Diego, trip

Feeling Like Something’s Missing (or Getting Sad In The Greeting Card Aisle)

Posted on May 29, 2015 | Comments Off

Today would have been my grandpa’s 93rd birthday. It’s the first holiday/event that would have celebrated him since he passed away (Mother’s Day doesn’t count).

I’ve been lucky that I’ve only lost a few people in my life, but the first time that I have to skip over buying them a card for something I would have celebrated in the past has always been the toughest for me. I have even forgotten that people have passed away and have bought them cards and didn’t realize the mistake until after I got home.

My calendar alerts me to all birthdays/anniversaries/holidays 2 weeks in advance so I have time to get a card and mail it out. I can’t seem to delete events of people who have passed away. I still get a reminder for Keri’s birthday (I also could never forget it since it’s the day between my cousin’s birthday and my birthday). It breaks my heart a little bit having that reminder come up, but I can’t seem to get rid of it. I don’t get rid of phone numbers or emails either. Somehow that doesn’t seem right to do.

It feels so weird to not be on the lookout for the perfect birthday card for my grandpa. Getting cards for him were always a bit of a challenge. My grandma is easy (anything with butterflies), but my grandpa wasn’t a fan of sappy cards. I’d try to find one with a dirty joke because that was more his style.

And with my grandpa’s birthday so close to Father’s Day, I usually make one trip to the store to get his birthday card and Father’s Day cards for him and my dad. This time, instead of getting 3 cards I’m only getting 1.

I’ve wondered why my grandpa’s death hasn’t felt real for me. It’s weird. Even after my mom called to tell me and other family members started to call or post things on Facebook, I wondered if it was a big mistake (I felt the same way when my mom told me she had cancer). Seeing my grandma in the apartment alone or now in her new apartment didn’t make it seem real either. It almost feels like he was out doing an errand or at the hospital or something. I do sometimes do a double take when I see things that belonged to my grandparents in my house. It feels weird having those items here when they have always belonged to them (and I can picture exactly where they were in both their old house and recent apartment).

But not getting the cards that I have gotten for forever really make me realize that he’s gone and that I don’t have to buy his cards anymore. I’m not necessarily sad. I am sad for the loss my family has had, you can only admire how full of a life he lived. I hope that I can get to 92. I think grief and loss for me is not as much being sad as it is trying to think about all of the positives and trying to do things that I know would make that person happy.

So tonight after my workout, I plan on having a martini with a blue cheese olive (using the martini swords) and doing a toast to my grandpa and to the other people who I have loved and lost.

Cheers to you Grandpa.

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Posted in Family, Tough Stuff

Tagged birthday, death, drinks, grandparents

San Diego Beach Lunch (or Having Some Of My Grandparents’ Things In My House)

Posted on May 20, 2015 | 1 comment

I hadn’t seen my grandma in a few weeks, so I knew it was time to get back down to San Diego to see her. Also, my grandma is downsizing to a smaller apartment in the community that she and my grandpa moved to about 3 years ago so I’m inheriting some things that won’t fit in the new apartment. I already have my mattress and my parents brought me a few things, but there was a box that didn’t fit into my parents’ car as well as some other things that my parents wanted me to look at.

So I decided to head down to San Diego on Sunday to visit with my grandma as well as get the things that were waiting for me there.

I was pretty lucky and made it down to San Diego in just under 2 hours, so I was at my grandma’s place a bit earlier than I planned. The plan for the day was for my grandma, my Aunt Nancy, and I to go to lunch and then my aunt and I would go to the old apartment on our own. Shortly after I arrived, my aunt got there and we headed in the car to go to lunch.

We went to Poseidon in Del Mar which was right on the beach. There was a bit of a wait for a table, so we sat outside and enjoyed the beach from the sidewalk (I didn’t want to get sandy).

After about 15 minutes, a table on the patio was ready for us. It wasn’t right at the edge overlooking the beach, but we could still see the beach and water from our table.

Lunch was pretty good. We had a long wait for our meal. It took them over an hour to bring our food to us and tables who were seated 15 or 20 minutes after us got their food first, but they were very apologetic about it and comped one of the entrees. I had gotten so hungry that when they brought my sandwich I started eating it right away without taking a photo (sorry). But I had a very nice turkey sandwich.

When we got back to my grandma’s apartment, I said goodbye to my grandma and my aunt and I headed back to the old apartment. My Aunt Cindy had warned me that I might be upset because the apartment looked empty and weird, but shockingly it didn’t bother me. I think I had prepared myself for it to look worse, so it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.

The box that my parents had left for me was there and my aunt asked me to go around the apartment to see if there was anything else that I wanted to keep. All the stuff that was left in the apartment was going to be donated to charity, so I could take whatever I wanted.

It felt a little weird and almost like stealing from my grandparents, but I knew that if I didn’t take stuff, nobody in my family would have it. So I found a couple of things that I wanted like a purse, some quartz bookends, a lucite vanity chair, napkin rings, and a vase. And my aunt had found my grandparents’ copy of my parents’ wedding album along with their wedding invitation so I got that as well.

I also had brought my gardening shears and a plastic bag for a specific project. My grandparents had some amazing succulent plants on their balcony and because the planters they were in were so heavy, they were just going to be thrown out. But if you cut a succulent and let it dry a little, you can plant it and it will grow. So I cut a bunch of pieces and will be planting half for me and half for my parents.

By then, it was after 3pm and I wanted to head home. So we got a luggage cart from the concierge at the building and I brought down the things I was bringing home.

My drive home was a bit longer than my drive down, but it was still uneventful. And as soon as I got home I unpacked the box that my parents had packed and sealed for me. There were a couple of things that I knew they were giving me (like new sheets and some of my grandparents’ serving platters), but there was one thing that was so special to me.

I’ve mentioned my grandpa’s love of martinis and how he got me to love martinis as well. And a few years ago I got him hooked on blue cheese olives. My grandpa always used these really cool swords to keep his olives in his martinis and I always thought that that was the most amazing thing. So when my parents had asked me if there was anything from my grandparents’ apartment that I wanted that my grandma wasn’t taking to her new apartment, the only thing I could think of was those swords. Those were in the sealed box along with the last jar of olives from the case that I brought my grandpa last year.

Those swords are so special to me. I have them on display in my dining room now and they make me smile when I walk past them. While I’ve gotten lots of cool stuff from my grandparents’ old apartment, those swords are the most sentimental to me.

I’m still finding places for some of the other things that I brought back with me, but I’m so grateful that I have things that remind me of my grandparents in my house now. I don’t get to see my grandma as often as I’d like (the 4 hour round trip makes it tough to do too many day trips), but having some of their things in my house makes me feel closer to my grandma and helps me not miss her as much.

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Posted in Family, Food, Tough Stuff

Tagged beach, drinks, grandparents, home, lunch, San Diego

Work Time Family Visit (or Already Preparing To Renew My Disneyland Pass)

Posted on April 24, 2015 | Comments Off

My parents have been in San Diego again recently helping my grandma. They drove back yesterday. And since my house is on the way, they stopped by.

They usually don’t stop when they are doing that drive. Their preferred method of driving down goes around LA, so it would be tough for them to make the detour. But this time, there was a reason they drove through LA.

First of all, my mom still had the wine that I bought in Napa. I couldn’t fly it back with me (since I only had a carry on), so the plan was always for my mom to drive it down for me. I was originally going to try to meet them in San Diego while there were down this time, but that didn’t quite work out.

Also, I had gotten my dad his Hanukkah present insanely early this year. I knew exactly what I wanted to get him in January, so I didn’t think I would want to wait until Thanksgiving to give it to him. And I knew that he would want to use it, so their detour to my house was also for my dad to get a gift.

And as always, I had a few things I wanted to fix in my house and my dad is a pretty awesome handyman.

So yesterday during my work shift, my parents (and dog) came over for about 45 minutes. Fortunately, my job was pretty quiet while they were here so I could focus on them.

The projects in my house were pretty simple. There was a drawer that was broken that needed a new screw and my toilet paper holder was falling out of the wall. Both of those things were done within minutes.

Then it was time for me to give my dad his Hanukkah present. I had been giving him hints for a while, but he had no idea that I got him a TRX Strap system! My dad had used TRX straps when he worked out with me at Orangetheory before, but the gym that my parents belong to don’t have straps that can be used without an appointment with a personal trainer. So now he has his own set of straps that he can use at the house (my mom has already said that she wants to use them too).

But one of the coolest things was something my parents brought me.

They brought me ink to recycle! As I mentioned before, I use the money I get from recycling ink to help pay for my Disneyland pass! This will definitely help me when I renew my pass next year. And I’m sure I’ll get more ink from my parents over the year as well (my mom just saves them all for me).

While this visit was only 45 minutes, we really did get a lot done. And since I had just seen my parents a few weeks ago, there wasn’t too much to catch up on (plus, I talk to my mom pretty much every day on the phone). I’ll probably see them again in a few weeks when they come back down to San Diego too.

Even though this visit was super quick, I’m so glad that my parents were able to stop by. Any distractions during my work day are appreciated and this was a really nice distraction.

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Posted in Family, Fun Stuff, Saving

Tagged Disneyland, family, job, savings, visit, work

A Couple Of Days In San Diego (or Trying To Focus On The Good And Not The Sad)

Posted on April 9, 2015 | 2 comments

I just spent the past few days in San Diego with my family. My parents, aunt, and uncle got down there on Thursday. But they wanted to have a few days with my grandma on their own first. So I came down on Sunday (my brother flew down that day too). And I was there through Tuesday.

I wanted to bring some food down with me for the family, but my mom was cooking a ton. So I mentioned a few things that I could make that would be good for any meal, and my mom thought that my blueberry banana bread would be perfect (plus, my grandpa loved it).

I’ve made that recipe so many times but this had to be my best batch ever.

Obviously it was a very sad time for my family. We had to do some of the not so fun tasks you have to do when someone passes away. I tried to help out as much as I could, but most of it was being done by my mom and uncle (my aunt who is their sibling wasn’t able to get back to San Diego until Tuesday).

We spent some time remembering some of the funny stories about my grandpa. But we didn’t do a ton of that because it always seemed to make someone sad.

My brother got my grandma to play him in several games of backgammon.

My grandma kicks butt at backgammon. Ever since I was little my grandpa would say that grandma must be a witch because she can get double sixes every time that she needs them.

My brother played as tough as he could. But my grandma won 6 games and Ross only won 3.

We also tried to enjoy spending time with the dog. Since my parents had to get down to San Diego quickly, they couldn’t arrange for a dog sitter. So Tucker spent a lot of time with us being his usual goofy self. I think he especially loved having my brother and I in the same hotel room as my parents (it was a two bedroom hotel room). And he loved my bedding.

We also heard some amazing stories from other residents and some employees of the building that my grandparents live in. Everyone had such nice things to say about my grandpa. Everyone seemed so shocked about him passing away because even just the day before he was his usual feisty self.

In the mailroom of the building they live in, they posted a wonderful photo of my grandpa. Nobody in my family had ever seen that photo before, so I asked the concierge of their building where the photo came from. It turns out that they took it when my grandparents moved in a few years ago. They asked if we wanted the photo and I said yes. And my uncle scanned it in so we could all have it.

I wish that I could have stayed down there longer, but my aunts, uncle, and parents will be there for the rest of the week. And my parents will probably be down again in another week or two. I’ll probably go down there again then.

For now, it’s time for me to get back to my normal life. That’s what my grandpa would want me to do. He probably would have hated that I wrote the post on Tuesday about him. He didn’t like having a fuss made for him.

So it’s back to my day job, my workouts, and hopefully some auditions.

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Posted in Family, Tough Stuff, Travel

Tagged death, dog, family, grandparents, San Diego

Goodbye Grandpa (or Remembering A Full Life)

Posted on April 7, 2015 | 7 comments

Early on Thursday morning, my grandpa passed away.

As you are reading this, I’m in San Diego spending time with my family. Our focus is on my grandma and making sure that she is ok and that everything that needs to be taken care of is done.

But I wanted to share with you all how badass my grandpa was. He and I had a complicated relationship, but he loved me and I loved him. And he really did live so much in his 92 years (he would have turned 93 next month).

I don’t know a ton about my grandpa’s childhood. I know that he wrote down his history and his family history on his computer somewhere, and I hope that we are able to locate that document. I really want to have that myself so I can remember where he came from and what happened when he was young.

My grandpa was not someone who talked about the past a lot. In fact, I had no idea that he was in Germany in WWII fighting the Nazis until he was talking about it maybe 5 years ago.

When he and my grandma got married they first lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

They lived there for a while (my mom, aunt, and uncle were all born there) before moving to LA.

I’ve been to their houses in LA before, but sadly I don’t have any photos of that on my computer. But they lived in the valley and had some really cool houses.

While they lived in LA, they lived it up! My grandpa got a boat and he, my grandma, my mom, my aunt, and my uncle sailed on it a lot. I’ve heard so many stories from their time on the boat, especially when they were in Catalina. My favorite story is actually one about my mom when she was hit in the face with a flying fish one evening in Catalina. But I think my entire family thinks that story is pretty awesome.

He also loved to fly. He flew a small plane that was just big enough for the family.

They flew all over the US on lots of different trips. They would fly to Louisiana to go back to visit family and my mom, aunt, and uncle got to travel the US by plane quite a bit. I think that if he could have flown that plane for the rest of his life, he would have.

Once my grandpa retired, they moved down to San Diego. But even in retirement, my grandpa never slowed down. He designed the backyard and swimming pool at their house, and I don’t think that anyone could have done it better. And they had the best orange trees and the orange juice was freshly squeezed every visit.

I think if I had to pick one of his favorite things to do, it would be to travel. My grandparents always seemed to go on these epic trips, both within the US and internationally. My grandpa traveled to all 7 continents (even Antarctica!) and inspired me to hope to do the same in my lifetime.

Sometimes my parents, my brother, and I was lucky enough to get to join my grandparents on the trips they did. One of the most epic trips that we did as a big extended family was to go to Africa together.

This trip was for my grandparents’ 50th anniversary. All 3 generations (this was way before my cousin had her kids) of the family were there to experience the safari together. Besides my grandparents’ anniversary we also celebrated my parents’ 15th anniversary, my cousin’s 15th birthday, and my 14th birthday while we were in Africa. That was definitely one of the best birthdays that I ever had. My grandpa really wanted all of us to go to Africa together because he had loved it there when he and my grandma went before and he wanted to make sure that we could all experience it as well.

But more than traveling, he loved my grandma.

Last September they celebrated their 67th anniversary and they seemed in as much love as ever.

Last Thanksgiving, almost everyone in my family was able to be together (only one cousin wasn’t able to make it). We took a family photo after dinner and I’m so glad that we were able to get one more (almost) full family photo.

While I am sad that my grandpa passed away, I can only admire how full of a life he lived. He really maximized every day that he had and I don’t think that he had any regrets of things that he wasn’t able to do (except maybe to keep flying a plane later in life).

I will always remember my grandpa as the one who got me to drink martinis (and I got him hooked on blue cheese stuffed olives), who loved to email dirty jokes to the entire family, and the one who gave me my love of traveling.

Thank you Grandpa for everything that you did for our family and for loving us all as much as you did. I know that there will be a hole in our family now that can’t be filled. But we will all try to live life to the fullest to honor how you lived your life.

Robert Joseph Fry (May 29, 1922-April 2, 2015)

7 Comments

Posted in Family, Tough Stuff

Tagged death, grandparents, obituary, travel

Spa Time (or A Relaxing Day With My Mom And Sister-In-Law)

Posted on March 5, 2015 | 1 comment

While a majority of my weekend getaway trip was dedicated to wine tasting, we did save Sunday to be a very relaxing day.

When we were planning this trip, the original idea was to go away to a spa retreat sort of place. But we couldn’t find the right type of place for us, so we scrapped that idea. Then, when we decided on wine tasting, we agreed that we would still add a spa element to the trip. The hotel we stayed at had a really great spa, so it worked out perfectly!

Krystle booked a wrap and a massage and my mom and I each booked a massage and facial. All of our spa packages also included lunch!

The spa was located in the building between the building where my room was and the building where Krystle’s room was (all the hotel rooms were in buildings that had 4 rooms each).

Since the spa was only steps away from my room, I decided to not worry about dressing nice and created a “spa outfit” out of workout pants and a hoodie.

After having some breakfast, we headed to the spa to enjoy our midday relaxation.

When we got to the spa and checked in, we headed into the locker room to change into robes and wait for our names to be called for our treatments. The way it all lined up, we all had our first treatments at 11am and our second treatments at noon.

My first treatment was my massage. While I love getting a massage, because my skin is so sensitive it can hurt quite a bit (and leave me super bruised). I always tell the person who is giving me a massage to use super light pressure, but more often than not they don’t do that. And because I’m trying to be polite, I don’t always speak up.

But this time, the technician listened to me and it was wonderful! It was super relaxing and it felt like time flew by! It was also an aromatherapy massage and I was allowed to pick what scents I would like. I didn’t really know what to pick, so it was suggested to have it be lavender and peppermint. That combination smelled like chocolate and it was fabulous!

After my massage, I headed back to the waiting room where I met up with my mom and Krystle again. My mom loved her facial and Krystle loved her wrap. Then it was time for the two of them to each get their massage and for me to get my facial.

Facials are something that I do indulge in a bit more often. With my skin, it’s important for me to stay on top of taking care of it. So I try to get a facial at least once a year (and it doesn’t hurt that I found a fabulous place that only charges $40 for a facial!).

It was a relatively standard facial. Cleansing, exfoliation, mask, extraction, facial massage, and moisturizer. But while the mask was on my face, I also got paraffin wax for my hands (they are still super soft now!). And my skin looked amazing afterward!

When we were all done and changed back into our clothes, we went to a table outside the spa next to the pool and ordered our spa lunch. We all ordered the same thing (lemonade and a turkey wrap) and had a nice relaxing lunch.

After lunch, my mom wanted to go walk around town and do some shopping but Krystle and I wanted to hang out at the pool. So we split up and were going to meet up again before going to dinner.

It’s hard to believe that this is winter in Sonoma (although we did have the crazy hailstorm the day before).

I did enjoy the hot tub, but mainly I enjoyed laying out in the sun being lazy.

After some sun time (and when my skin was starting to turn a little pink despite the SPF 50 I had on), I headed back to my room to shower and dress for dinner.

Our dinner that night was at the steakhouse at the hotel. It was perfect and totally worth not having a steak right after the cleanse ended. It was a delicious steak and while my mom and Krystle enjoyed some red wine, I enjoyed some sparkling wine.

Seriously, this trip was the perfect trip! I may have had some travel delays (5 hours of delays over my 2 flights), but once we were in Sonoma pretty much everything on the trip went off without any issues. Thank you Mom for the trip and I’m so excited to see where we go for our next girls’ getaway!

1 Comment

Posted in Beauty, Family, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged mom, Napa, Sonoma, spa, trip, vacation

Wine, Wine, Wine, Wine, and Champagne (or Part Of My Weekend In Napa)

Posted on March 4, 2015 | 3 comments

This past weekend was a fun weekend getaway for me! I went to Napa/Sonoma with my mom and sister-in-law! This trip had been in the works for a while now, and I had been looking forward to it for a long time. Even though I grew up in Northern California, I moved to LA when I was 18 and never went to Napa before. But my mom likes to go there and my brother and sister-in-law go up there at least once a month. So I was in good hands and trusted them to plan an awesome weekend.

I got into SFO very late on Friday, and the three of us headed up to Sonoma where we were staying. Since it was dark out, I didn’t really see too much, but I was very excited to see what was in store for me the next day.

On Saturday, we had a fun full day planned. Also, my best friend Kate was able to drive up and join us for the day! Once Kate got to the hotel, we got into the car and headed to our first appointment of the day: Arrowood.

I had no idea what was going to happen at the tasting, but my sister-in-law had set up a private room for a wine and cheese pairing. Plus, we had an incredible view!

Once we got inside the tasting room, we were given a menu of all the wines, cheeses, and condiments that we would be enjoying.

I’m typically a champagne or white wine drinker, but my sister-in-law really wants me to start liking reds. So I tried everything that was given to me (although I still don’t really like reds yet).

The whites were really good. And the cheeses really did make a difference in how each wine tasted. I had never really done a formal wine tasting before so this was a very cool experience. And I’m glad that my sister-in-law made an appointment for us for a private tasting because the lobby where non-appointment guests had tastes was very crowded and loud.

I didn’t end up purchasing any wine from Arrowood, but Kate and my mom got some.

After that tasting, we went to Benziger where they had a tour of their grounds as well as tastings. We didn’t have an appointment, but a tour was starting right after we got there, so the timing was perfect!

This tour started out by driving around some of the vineyards and the guide explaining on how they made the wine. They do everything on site, and while the grapes weren’t currently growing, it was all beautiful.

After driving around the grounds, we got to go inside one of the caves where they store the barrels of wine.

This was so cool! We learned about the barrel process and how long they have everything aging in the cave.

After touring the caves, we got to taste some of the wines. Again, I liked the white ones but the reds weren’t my favorite.

After those two tastings, we headed into town to have a nice lunch between our tastings. We were in a bit of a rush, but we all ordered things that were able to be made quickly. I had a mushroom truffle flatbread (I figured that would soak up some of my before lunchtime wine).

As we were leaving lunch, the sky started to look funny. And as soon as we were in the car a hailstorm started! It wasn’t too crazy at first, but then the hail got bigger and bigger and the storm didn’t seem to be letting up!

Our last wine stop for the day was Gundlach Bundschu. At this winery we had set up a cave tour and tasting inside the cave. It was still raining when we arrived, but we rushed into the cave to start the tour and tasting.

We learned a bit of history about the winery and then we tasted some of the wines that had already been bottled. But after that, we got to taste some of the wines in the barrels that were still aging!

I probably learned more about wine that day than I have in my entire life! And I think that everyone agrees and also had an amazing time! And I bought a bottle of white wine from that vineyard (my mom will be driving down my way in April so she’s bringing me my wine since I couldn’t put it in my carry on).

After all those tastings, we went out for a fun Italian dinner. Then Kate had to head back home(sadly she couldn’t join us for the entire weekend).

The next day wasn’t a wine tasting day (more on Sunday in tomorrow’s post!), but Monday was another wine day!

On Monday, we had 2 tastings set up. The first was at Duckhorn, where my brother and sister-in-law are members (so they get free tastings!).

It was a bit cold out, but they had heaters on the patio, so we enjoyed a nice tasting outside. And we got a lot of tastings!

There are only 5 of our 7 tastings in that picture! Again, I didn’t love the reds (I gave my tastings to Krystle) but I really enjoyed the white wine! I really liked the tasting at Duckhorn because we got a card for each wine that had some information like the mixture of grapes, aging time, and flavor profiles on it. I might not have loved the tastes of all the wines, but I loved learning more about them!

Then we went to our final wine tasting, and the one that I had been looking forward to the most! We went to Schramsberg for sparkling wine tasting!

This tasting and tour included a cave tour and tasting by candlelight inside the cave! We had been inside a few caves already that weekend, so I thought I knew what to expect. But this cave was so incredible with all the sparkling wine bottles stacked from the ground to the top of the cave!

And since this was on a weekday, the cave was busy with people working there. We saw them take bottles out of the cave to be cleaned and ready for the next steps in the bottling process. But the coolest thing we saw was the drumming of the bottles (I never knew that was a thing before).

We also learned how they get the yeast (which makes the bubbles) out of the bottles without losing the bottles. And that was also in a section of the cave that was floor to ceiling bottles.

Finally, it was time to taste! And the area for the tasting was so beautiful!

Holy moly that sparkling wine was good! I loved all 3 bottles that we tried. 2 of them cost more than $100 (more than I can afford), but we did try a rose that was a much more reasonable price. So I ended up buying a bottle of that. And my mom ended up joining their wine club so I got to take advantage of her new discount.

That was such a perfect note to end the wine tasting weekend on! I had such an amazing time and we’ve already decided that we will be making wine tasting weekends an annual occurrence!

And I haven’t shared what we did on Saturday yet. That will come tomorrow, and that day was amazing as well!

3 Comments

Posted in Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged family, Napa, Sonoma, wine

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