Suburban Lush

Just Do It

It's beginning to dawn on me: if I splurged on new running shoes last weekend and got excited about this purchase today

I'm probably going to have to fess up about my running habit.

In order to survive the transition of moving countries, the lack of direction with not having a job, the failing at being a housewife (if not exactly failing at the doing, at least failing to do it without simmering resentment) I've taken to running almost daily. Not that I'm completely new to running. I wrote about it way back in June 2014, and have mentioned it on the odd occasion since then. 

The half marathon I ran last year seems so long ago, and if I'm honest I wasn't particularly happy with my result. My training had suffered because of niggling back issues and I wasn't in peak physical fitness. While I did complete the distance, I didn't feel pride in my accomplishment and I knew I could do better. And once we moved to California I needed something in my life to work towards, and something I could be proud of. 

A while ago I came across the Another Mother Runner (AMR) blog and podcast. And no, this isn't a secret revelation that I've decided to have kids. Its more that I felt I could identify with these people. Most running sites are full of people saying things like "I'd hoped to run my 5k in 23:2 but I only achieved 23:7" and "I was feeling lazy today so I only went out for a 10 miler". While these people are hugely impressive I'm just not in their league. Seeing other people achieve can be great motivation, but not when it's so far beyond what you are experiencing yourself. I love AMR because the people seem normal. Of course there are a few super speedy ones out there, but it is a community of women who are working towards getting fitter, are endlessly supportive, and who understand that sometimes life just gets in the way. And though for me it's not kids/family that gets in my way of a run, I love the sense of community and the advice that is tailored for the not-hard-core runner. These feel like my people.

All this is a long way of saying that in January of this year I signed up their No Limits 1/2 marathon challenge. It's a 15 week training plan, and everyone on the plan started around the same time so the sense of community is great. And though I haven't signed up for an actual 1/2 marathon race, I find that having the plan and sticking to it gives me the sense of progress that I need. Not that some runs don't completely suck, but getting out there each day helps to give my day a sense of accomplishment. And it seems almost ridiculous not to run when the weather is constantly amazing - instead of cancelling runs because of the rain, I now struggle to run in the heat.

2 months into the new regime I'm seeing positive changes. I may not be losing any weight (being at home all day leaves me alarmingly close to the refrigerator) but I'm definitely getting stronger and more toned. My average running speed has increased, and my mileage is going up. I ran over 45 miles in February, the most I've ever run in a month. I've worn out my old running shoes, joined a running club, and tried trail running. And I  finally feel like I can truly call myself a runner.

On a place whose name is in a famous song

Despite the common held belief that we live in San Francisco, we are actually much closer to San Jose.

While complexly outshone by it's famous neighbour, San Jose sprawls at the very end of San Francisco Bay. It has a historic Japan Town, and the beautiful Almaden Valley. It's full of quirky historic homes and lots of independent restaurants and cafes. The city itself is flat, but stops abruptly at the hills which dominate the skyline and feel so close. As a result it does't have that bunched-up feeling that San Francisco does. By far the most famous attraction here is the Winchester Mystery House (we haven't been yet), and the Lick Observatory is a great spot too with an interesting museum and fantastic views across the city. I've heard good reports about the Egyptian museum too, but the weather keeps on being too nice for me to feel like going indoors.

I usually head into San Jose for meetings, and usually take the opportunity to have a bit of a wander around. It's always worth it. In San Francisco I often get the feeling that I should be enjoying every little thing, and that everything should be appreciated by virtue of it being in the city. In San Jose expectations are set a little lower, so it's a genuine pleasure to stumble across something beautiful. 

Todays finds were:

A retro service station  

 

 

Beautiful old homes

 

 

And a dilapidated one

 

 

And a gorgeous church (sadly closed on Tuesdays so I didn't get a look inside).

 

And of course, if you mention to anyone from outside this area that you are going to San Jose, they inevitably start singing. And yes, I do know the way thank you very much. Just take the 522 express bus.

One year of marriage

I've just been told by a friend that I fail at anniversaries. I didn't demand flowers, nor did I demand gifts. Apparently that's the whole point of celebrating. Heck, we didn't even have champagne (in fact, we didn't have any alcohol at all). 

So, how did we spend our first wedding anniversary? With quality time together. Cheesy much?!

John and I met sometime in March, but neither of us know the exact date so we've never had on official dating anniversary. Our birthdays are both in March, so we knew we'd already be doing presents twice that month. Still, we usually tried to go out for dinner and call it an anniversary celebration, but it was always very low key.

Since we now have an actual date to celebrate, we thought we should do something to mark the occasion. We looked into going away for the weekend, but we haven't bought a car yet and car hire + hotel seemed a bit too expensive. We sat down together the other week and discussed our expectations and agreed: no presents, not just dinner out, but a day spent together doing something fun. The obvious option: a day in San Francisco. The city (we're locals now so have to refer to it as such) is an hour away on the train. The train runs hourly so it doesn't require much planning. Basically ideal for a relaxed day out.

We had a lovely time: lunch out, strolling around in the sunshine, heading to a movie as the afternoon cooled off, then back to Sunnyvale for dinner. It was pretty much perfect.

Afternoon drinking

It’s all well and good to have routine, but when someone in your neighbourhood invites you to check out the local Korean supermarket and then have a couple of drinks mid-week it’d be silly to say no!

We met our neighbours the day we moved in. They moved into our complex a week before we did and are new to the area too. He works at a software company (it seems that everyone here does) and she is currently unemployed.

We’ve caught up a couple of times, but today was the first time it was just us girls. We’d previously chatted about our love for ethnic cuisine, so the suggestion of a supermarket run seemed natural. Needless to say our freezer is now nicely stocked with yummy food.

It seems only natural that grocery shopping was followed by a couple of drinks in the apartment. Heck, lets not pretend I’m a responsible grown up all the time!

Keeping Busy - Volunteering

I miss having a job: the social aspect, the challenge, the daily routine, the sense of accomplishment. Oh yeah, and I miss the pay cheque too! So, to fix all of the above problems except the pay cheque, I've joined two organizations as a volunteer. They are both small organizations with no paid staff, and it feels good to help out.

Volunteer position #1 - Development Officer at Chemists Without Borders (CWB)

CWB is a group of chemists working to "solve humanitarian problems by mobilizing the resources and expertise of the global chemistry community and its networks" (yup, I stole that off their website). A lot of the work they do involves chemical education and raising awareness about poor water quality resulting from chemical contamination. As Development Officer I am working to create and implement a fundraising and awareness raising campaign for them. It's pretty interesting work, and luckily I don't need to know anything about chemistry.

Volunteer position #2 - Grants Coordinator with the Family Alliance for Counseling Tools and Resolution (FACTR)

FACTR is an organization whose work is a little closer to my heart. They work with recent immigrants and refugees in the South Bay, providing counseling, advice and community support. I originally contacted FACTR as they were looking for grant writers and experience with grants is a definite gap in my CV. The organization is local in San Jose, and meets monthly. I coordinate a group of volunteer grant writers and research which grants we should be applying for.

Having done volunteer management myself, it is nice to actually be a volunteer. It keeps me busy and it gives me a sense of purpose. Plus there's the added bonus that since I'll be looking for work in the non-profit sector it will look great on my CV.

The Saratoga Gap and Ridge Trail

I went for my first hike in ages today, and my first one in California ever! My friend C and I spent an afternoon in Castle Rock State Park, less than 40 minutes drive from where we live. I'd gone to the bookstore in Sunnyvale to buy a book on local hikes, and was keen to try it out.

We weren't able to set off until 2pm and the sun sets reasonably early still, so we opted for one of the shorter walks. The Saratoga Gap and Ridge Trail Loop fit the ticket - a spot close enough to drive to, a short-ish walk some elevation to get the heart rate up but not enough to be truly killer and a shorter option in case it started getting towards dusk.

So, with a packed lunch and raring to go we headed out. It was a beautiful walk: through forests, past a waterfall (where we stopped for our late lunch), over and around sandstone outcrops. All topped with stunning views across the Santa Cruise Mountains to Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. We stopped often and at every view point to enjoy the scenery so in the end we did need to choose the shorter option, but no doubt we'll be back before too long to enjoy the full loop and explore the park a bit more.

 

New year and new home

As I mentioned, we’ve moved into our apartment in Sunnyvale. John was off over Christmas and New Year so that gave us plenty of time to sort things out and get settled in.

We did a big IKEA shop before we moved in and our shipment from the UK arrived, which was pretty exciting. We've made great use of Amazon (free 2 day shipping? Yes please!) and so we've gotten ourselves fairly well set up. Most importantly, we have a cappuccino machine and the teapot I ordered is being delivered on Friday.

The apartment is big and bright, somewhat 1970s in style (especially the kitchen) and has a large balcony which gets lots of sun. It's close to John's work which is fantastic as he was getting pretty tired of commuting for 3 hours each day. It now takes him about 5 minutes each way and he may even start cycling to work. We're close to shops and about a half hour walk from the train station. The only real drawback for us is that there's not much nightlife around here, but we’ve found a couple of local spots including a nice little English pub and a very friendly dive bar which are both within stumbling distance.

The complex we live in has only studio and one bedroom apartments, and rather than apartment blocks each unit is only 2 stories (we’re on the top floor). There’s a clubhouse, a small gym, a pool and a tennis court, which all sounds really fancy but is pretty standard for around here. Not to say that it isn’t nice. There is also lots of greenery, BBQs  and picnic tables that we look forward to using in the summer (we still don’t have a table in the apartment), and lots of squirrels. We’ve even met some friendly neighbors who are keen to join us for a couple of beers.

But enough of words, how about some photos! (probably more than you wanted)

First, the apartment

The lounge, which still needs some personal touches:

 

The kitchen, adorably retro:

 

John's "study" (AKA the place he games when not using the Xbox):

 

The bedroom:

 

And the balcony:

 

And as for the complex, there's plenty here too!

Clubroom and gym:

 

The pool and tennis court:

 

We can BBQ poolside, or there's the BBQ area:

 

And it's pretty green around here too:

The squirrels were all hiding from the heat when I took pictures, otherwise there'd be some of squirrels too, and as you can see it is definitely sunny in Sunnyvale!

So that's where we're living for the next 6 months or so. After that we'll see whether we want to stay where we are or check out another neighbourhood. But for now, it suits us just fine.

Merry Christmas from Sunnyvale California!

It's Christmas Eve and we're settling into our new home. We've spent the last couple of days moving in and getting sorted and while we're still missing some things (a table and chairs, plates and cutlery, pots and pans) it's already beginning to feel like home. I'll tell you all about it soon.

We're pleased to have a home sorted out for Christmas, although it has been hard to muster up Christmas spirit. Luckily we're both used to Christmas in the sun, and while a cold Christmas is indeed lovely, I imagine we'll enjoy being able to go outside tomorrow.

Because we're still settling in we haven't gotten a Christmas tree or bought any decorations. Still, you need somewhere to put your presents and a few lights always improve things so we rigged something up:

We've been for a few evening walks in our new neighborhood and enjoyed looking at the OTT Christmas lights on the houses. I think John is getting ideas for next year!

And of course, what California Christmas would be complete without decorated cable cars?

And boats!

Without a properly stocked kitchen it's been hard to do much Christmas baking but I did manage a big batch of Pfeffernussen yesterday. And last night we had a mini pre-Christmas at a friend's place so we won't go completely without a roast dinner.

We'll kick off celebrations tonight with our traditional martinis and salmon for dinner, and brunch tomorrow will be bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese (it will be nice not having to panic about hollandaise sauce!). And though we won't be able to cook a proper meal for Christmas dinner, we're still able to pop the cork on some bottles of bubbly.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Identity Crisis

I have never lived in a place where you'd pick me out of the crowd as being foreign. But speak with me, or hear me speak, and it immediately becomes apparent I'm from somewhere else. Until I was 11 I'd been a normal Canadian kid, not even aware of accents. I was unremarked, unnoticed, sounding the same as everyone else. This all changed when we moved to New Zealand. I was suddenly different, and people teased me for the way I said things. For the shy girl that I was, this was extremely awkward. People noticed. People paid attention. I would have preferred that they didn't.

My sister suffered the same problem, but she overcame it. She lost her accent, and it didn't take long for her to sound like one of her peers. Despite being younger, my accent stayed. I doubt it was a conscious act on my part, but slowly I came to appreciate sounding different. I didn't quite fit in with the crowd for a lot of reasons, but this was one reason I could be proud of. People even thought it (me!) was cool. I had an identity. I was 'that Canadian girl'. Plus it made small talk (something that I was very bad at) easy. 

I've been back to Canada several times since the move, and each time I miss my accent. I'd feel unremarkable and suddenly I didn't enjoy being one of the crowd. Oh, there were a few indications I lived somewhere else - speak with me long enough and a Canadian would become aware that I said some words oddly and had an unusual turn of phrase - but it wasn't obvious and you had to speak with me for quite some time to notice it. I took to wearing a greenstone pendant. When people remaried on it they either asked where it was from or could identify it as Kiwi, and I could explain that that was where I was from, too.

But trips back to Canada were just short interludes. In New Zealand, and then again in Northern Ireland, it was clear that I was a foreigner. And it became a large part of my identity. "Where are you from?" "Is that a Canadian/American (insert totally random nationality here) accent?" "How long have you been here?" "What brings you to our country?". These were the mainstays of my casual social interactions. An easy way to start the conversation. 

But now here we are in California and I sound, if not just like then close enough to, everyone else. It isn't the first thing that's noticed. It isn't remarked upon. People ask John where he's from but not me. It is infuriating. From that shy girl who didn't want to be different I've become someone whose difference is very much part of how I see myself. It singles me out as a traveller, an adventurer, someone who has tried something new and seen something different. And while it has been many years since I've identified myself as solely Canadian, it's been a great way to start the conversation of who I am.

I recently read this article and much of it resonated with me. It helped crystalize one of the reasons that I've been feeling like I've lost some of my identity. To quote: "The foreign has long been my stomping ground, my sanctuary ... foreignness became not just my second home, but my theme, my fascination."

I've loved and embraced the otherness. It made me feel special even when deep down I didn't think I was. It marked me out as different, not one of the crowd, unique and worth talking to. I hid behind it, using it as a shield. It made people satisfied that they new something about me without me having to reveal anything below the surface.

I started writing this post with no conclusion in mind, but I guess the takeaway is this - perhaps I'll have to come to terms with the fact that, even though I sound like everything else, I really am my own precious snowflake. My own person, different from everyone else, with valuable opinions, and worth making small talk with. Even if I do sound just like everyone else. 

Foodie tourism

Here we're surrounded by restaurants and we're having lots of fun checking out all the locals. The standard of food in California is amazing. And though we've found plenty of awesome restuarants we'd like to re-visit, at the moment we choose a different one each time we go out for dinner.

The other day we came across the Delancey Street Restaurant. It's just around the corner from our apartment so we thought we'd look into it further. Ratings on Foursquare were good, and their ribs were recommended, so we knew where we were headed for dinner.

Little did we know what a great choice we'd made - it turns out Delancey Street is not just a restaurant, it is part of a residential self-help organization for former substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom.

Bullet points:

• There is no staff: the place is run by the residents themselves.

• All money raised is funneled into the community, and each resident receives food, housing, clothing, education, entertainment and all other services at no cost.

• The average resident has been a hard-core drug and alcohol abuser, has been in prison, is unskilled, functionally illiterate, and has a personal history of violence and generations of poverty.

• The minimum stay at Delancey Street is 2 years while the average resident remains for almost 4 years – drug, alcohol and crime-free.

• During their time at Delancey Street, residents receive a high school equivalency degree (GED) and are trained in 3 different marketable skills.

• Beyond academic and vocational training, residents learn important values, and the social and interpersonal skills that allow them to live successfully in the mainstream of society.

Seriously, this is one cool place, and the food was great. The menu changes daily and combines foods from residents' particular ethnic or regional backgrounds (they're encouraged to use old family recipes) and traditional American cuisine. And it's popular - it was packed full of families on a Sunday night.

So, about the food - good homestyle meals.

To start, buffalo wings

And calamari

John ordered BBQ ribs with collard greens

which was served with sweet potato pie

While I chose blackened meatloaf (meatloaf with a Jamaican twist) served with chips and spicy coleslaw

We shared everything (except I ate the bulk of the collard greens and the sweet potato pie - something I'd always wanted to try and John thought was weird) and as you can see the portions were huge. It was great value, and tips are treated as donations.

Not only a great meal, but a good cause too! This is one restaurant we'll definitely be back to.

For more information check out their website Delancey Street Foundation.