While we were in Boston we got to sneak away for two days and drove to New York City. Our boys had never been there before and since we lived there for 8 years we wanted to share a piece of our past with them.
We rented a car and drove to Connecticut on the first morning. We spent a bit of time hanging out with our friend Kendall and his awesome wife. The kids got to go in the pool and had a blast. We then drove to Long Island City where our hotel was and rested for a moment before we took the subway to the high line. Then we went to the Google office, the 9/11 memorial, the Staten Island ferry, and Times Square all in one day. At 11pm we were on the subway home and we were all very wiped.
The next morning we got to visit Jake’s friend Adam who works at Blue Sky and he gave us a tour of his work, which hands down was my favorite experience of the two weeks. After we got back, we went into the city to meet one of my childhood friends and then headed to the apartment of Jake’s college roommate where the kids played and laughed for hours as we reminisced.
It was a super short vacation but I am really glad we did it. We got to see our friends and the boys got to get a glimpse of one of my favorite cities in the world.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
When we made our summer plans this year, we decided to change things up a bit. We usually go to Bodrum to see my family and chose to go to Istanbul instead and we usually go to Martha’s Vineyard to see Jake’s family, but we decided to spend longer and in Boston instead. So we booked a two-week trip at the end of the summer. We figured we can go to the Vineyard just the four of us for a few days and spend the rest of the days in their wonderful home in Boston.
This way I could go to work in the Cambridge office if needed and it was better overlap with Zurich timezone anyway (this was planned before everything moved to Sydney.)
Here’s what I learned form our two weeks there:
- The kids didn’t like the Vineyard nearly as much without all their cousins.
- But I loved being there just the four of us for a bit.
- I am still very allergic to the cat.
- It’s wonderful sitting in my mother in law’s backyard.
- Better than the Cambridge office.
- Though the office was really lovely to visit.
- The kids loved every single moment with their cousins and didn’t want to do anything besides running around the house and yard with them.
- Boston is really hot (and randomly rainy) in August.
- We all need to vary our diet more.
- Homegrown vegetables taste amazing.
- Two weeks is a long time to be away from home (especially when I’ve already traveled for four weeks before then.)
- This was a wonderful gift to our kids.
It was a great vacation and a good experiment. Next year we will have to shorten in a bit I think but Boston was definitely a bit win for my allergies!
PS: As I was finally processing all the photos from this year, (I had over 1,200 accumulated that needed processing!) I decided that there were way too many untold stories here and even though I would completely mess up the time order of things, I knew that I wanted to preserve these stories here because this blog is where I come to look back on my life and to put down the stories I want to remember. So without worrying too much I will go ahead and stick them all here and then years later, it will not matter that this particular story didn’t happen in this particular week. It’s still a story from 2016. I didn’t want to email 30 emails so if you’d like to read all the past stories you can click here.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
Since this summer was the summer of crazy, impromptu things, I decided why not add one more?
During my friend Evelyn’s celebration night, several of the moms in Nathaniel’s class told me that they were going to do the Northern California R.O.C Race and tried to convince me to join them. They said they did shots and had donuts and then went to the race. Here are some reasons I said no:
- Races are not my thing.
- I have no sense of balance.
- I don’t do crazy things.
- I don’t like doing things in groups as I always feel like I don’t belong.
- I am not a fan of people laughing at me.
- I am in terrible shape.
- I am not a size 2 and don’t really care to wear gym clothes.
- I am clumsy.
- I was confident I would be left behind.
- I don’t drink.
when it became clear to my friends that this was a tough spot for me, they were very kind and tender but still encouraged me to do it. They promised they would never make fun of me and that I would really enjoy it. They promised I could walk any obstacle I didn’t want to do. They promised I would enjoy it.
I was confident they were wrong but I decided to do it anyway. I am trying not to let myself get in my own way anymore.
When I signed up both David and Jake thought I was crazy. 5K and obstacles? I would never be able to do it!
The day of the race came and I had just come back from a trip to Seattle and would be leaving for Sydney in 3 days. I was tired, worn out and very terrified. I was very tempted not to show up.
But I did.
I even drank half a shot of a white russian and had a half of a donut. And then the race began and it was exactly what they had promised. It was fun, everyone was kind and cheered for each other, I was never made to feel guilty over skipping ( i skipped two of them) and it felt really really wonderful to be there with all these women, enjoying something wildly different for me.
I am so glad I did it.
Here’s to more brave adventures.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
I should have written about this months ago but better late than never.
David and four friends did the Tech Challenge again this year. This year’s challenge was considerably harder. It included building three gliders that would deliver ping pong balls over a mountain, around a wind tunnel and land on a particular circle. I didn’t even understand it well enough to explain it.
But the kids did an amazing job. They worked hard and built again and again until they got it right and two of their their gliders landed right where they needed to. It was an incredible moment to get to see the culmination of all of the hard work they put into it.
And to put icing on the cake, they won the Outstanding Device Performance award. So they each got to go home with a gift card from Amazon, the joy of winning something, and the incredible pride of accomplishing this very hard task.
I am so incredibly proud of my boy!
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
I’ve been working with a team in Zurich for the last year and a half. I love my team and I love my project. Even though in the last year I’ve also started working with a team spread across California, New York and Zurich and another team based in Seattle, I’ve always considered the Zurich team my base team.
While I was in Istanbul, I woke up to an email that said my team would now be in Sydney. The details don’t matter but it basically means that for now, I will be working for Sydney. I am sure I will be writing a lot more about this over the next few months and we’re still thick in the middle of the transition but as part of stepping into this new story, I decided to go and visit my new team before our big travel to Boston.
I originally set my travel to coincide with my work friend from Zurich but in the last minute her visa didn’t come through so I ended up going by myself. I went from a Thursday to a Tuesday which meant I now had a weekend alone in Sydney where I’d never been before. Instead of doing what would come naturally to me which is sitting at home and reading, I decided I would make sure I went on all the adventures Sydney brought to a visitor.
I spent every moment of my weekend walking around and discovering parts of the wonderful city, all on my own.
I also worked hard all week to get to know my new team members, make some connections, and take the first steps to settle into my new job. It was scary but it was also wonderful.
Here’s to hoping this new adventure treats me well!
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
These are my nephews. They are fraternal twins and they are seventeen.
They are about to be Seniors in high school and will be applying to college in the United States next year. Much of my time in Istanbul this time was spent helping these boys. Sorting our college essays, helping figure out homework, making sure their college lists were completed, etc.
We spent many nights discussing what to write about. Many hours going over their homework and teaching HTML or CSS or FileMaker or other pieces of their homework. I even got to go to their school for the first time and attend a college preparation event. It was quite interesting to see that while a lot changes, so much is still the same.
I cannot wait until my nephews are in the US. I cannot wait to share my awesome experience of being in college here with them. I cannot wait to get to talk to them every day without worrying too much about time zones. I cannot wait.
I know that they have a tough 4 months ahead of them until the application process is over and I will help them every step along the way because I know how hard and how important it all is. And, for once, I can be really helpful. Or at least I can try.
Clothes, social decisions, and other daily events are not my thing. I can’t gossip or chitchat. But I can work. And I can help others work. So I am so happy to finally be able to be useful doing what is easiest for me to do!
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
A week after school closed, we headed home to Istanbul. We usually go to Bodrum when we visit Turkey because it’s down south where the kids can spend time on the beach and we can all relax. But this year I wanted to go to Istanbul instead. Istanbul means I can run errands that I often do at home. Like fixing my jewelry, buying clothes for the kids and me, borrowing clothes from my mom, etc. It also means seeing my childhood friends.
Since we weren’t going to the South, we also decided to spend two days in Burgaz, which is a small island where I spent most of my summers as a child. This island has no cars. It’s tiny and what was amazing is that 30 years later, all the staff was still the same everywhere. The same ice cream store, the same doner shop, the same pastry shop, the same grocery store, etc. I love how it all was so much of the same. I love the idea of going back somewhere and having it be the same after all this time.
The kids loved Burgaz too. They swam in the pool, they ran around and had the best ice cream in the world.
All in all, being in Istanbul (instead of Bodrum) was a mixed blessing. It meant we got to spend time with my friends and we got to go to Burgaz. But it also meant the kids were indoors most of the time because it was excruciatingly hot. Next year we’ll have to figure out a different plan.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
A week before school was out, the kids got two days off school for Memorial Day weekend. We didn’t know what to do but wanted to do one more quick getaway before we officially called it for the school year. So we decided to drive down to Los Angeles.
We don’t go to LA nearly enough considering how close it is. It’s only a 5 hour drive from us and it’s one of our favorite cities. Especially because we love Venice Beach, the diversity of LA and Jake has a good friend from college that we both love who lives there.
On this particular trip we got to go to the Griffith Observatory, La Brea Tar Pits, Venice Beach, meet with our friends and their awesome kids, and go to Santa Monica Boulevard. We also went to the beach. Considering we were there for just two days, it was a full and joyous vacation. We got to stay at this lovely hotel with a pool so the kids also spent a lot of time in the pool.
All in all, Los Angeles never disappoints.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
During our trip to Los Angeles (more on this next week) my friend Rose suggested that we visit the La Brea Tar Pits. I had never heard of this but apparently Jake had and he said he’d heard of them but had never visited them. So off we went.
It was amazing!!
I am not even one of those people who likes to visit History Museums or is into archeology. But this was still amazing. I had no idea what the tar pits were and could not believe what they found in all that tar.
If you’re like me and don’t know anything, here’s where you can read all about it. We did many other things in LA but this was my favorite part of the trip!
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
When we have a few days off school, we often sneak away to a local town just to get some rest as a family. We are grateful to live so close to so many beach towns. While we’ve visited almost every one of the towns up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, Pismo Beach is likely at the top of our favorites list. We love that it’s always Southern California weather. It’s right by the beach and it can be a bit grimy. Too prim and proper is not for us.
On this particular vacation, the kids spent most of their time building things out of sand, so Jake and I wanted to setup our little beach tent so we could be in the shade. What we didn’t know was that this tent requires multiple PhD’s to setup. I only wish I were joking. After two hours, much yelling and even more yelling, we finally were able to put it together. And it was lovely once we did.
But I don’t think we will ever be able to go to the beach again because I don’t think we could ever repeat it.
I hope someone can make a beach tent that doesn’t require an advanced degree to setup.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
And here it is.
The end of elementary school. Talk about time passing fast. I feel like we just moved to the West Coast when it’s really been 13 years. I feel like David was just born when he’s now 11.5. I can’t believe he is going to be going to middle school in a matter of months. I can’t believe how wise, kind and articulate he is. I am just so in awe of him.
Dear David. thank you. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for loving to read as much as I do. Thank you for choosing to fill my house with music. Thank you for being brave and performing in front of the whole school. Thank you for pushing your boundaries and doing the Tech Challenge when I could never do it. Thank you for making all of us love Physics. Thank you for putting up with my teaching you Math for hours and hours. Thank you for learning Spanish with me. Thank you for loving History. Thank you for always being curious. Thank you for being willing to show up and swim and play basketball even when you don’t want to. Thank you for always loving and always indulging my wishes. Thank you for being kind, thoughtful, considerate and loving.
I love you so incredibly much. I feel like you’re a gift to me every single day and I am not sure what I did to deserve you but I want you to know that I will not take it for granted for a moment. I will cherish each and every day with you.
Here’s to going on more adventures in Middle School!!
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
David’s school has this wonderful tradition where the 5th graders get to have an induction night. On this night, they are inducted the Graduates of their school. To celebrate together, they invite back 8th and 12th graders who graduated from the same school. So those who are graduating elementary, middle and high are in the same room. They invite each set of classes to come up and share where they go to school now, etc.
It’s this wonderful night where our kids get to see the next few big stages in their life. Where they get to become a member of a wonderful club of kids who graduated from this school. Where they get to share their favorite memories with all these other kids.
I am so grateful for all these wonderful traditions. All these wonderful ways of building and fostering community.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
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projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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