The Rundown

I've just finished my seventh court day in 12 business days, which is about six more than I'm generally used to. Trial on hearing conferences on expedited trials plus depositions, conferences, luncheons, and seminars. This lawyering thing is really impinging on the whole yoga/coffee/hike/puppy cuddle/wine routine I'd been honing.

But I've been learning so much and having a great time in addition to attending at least 2-3 networking events a week - these range from lunches with filmmakers to speed networking (sort of like online dating) to alumni events. Hopefully, all the running around will pay off soon.

In the meantime, I've been challenging myself in cooking, traveling a lot, and keeping up with my writing.

THE RUNDOWN:

Three weekends ago, I hit up Oregon with my mom to visit my brother and dad. Highlights - hot yoga with my brother and a visit to the waterfalls with my mom.

The next weekend, in SF, I was lucky enough to see El Vy at the Independent, plus the regular routine of Four Barrel, Dolores, Zeitgeist and a visit to Mission Cheese (with my loves - Rob, Feliz, Tawsh, Will, Ladi and Christable). A satisfying and well-executed dinner at Aster with Joe was a beautiful way to end the trip. (Actually tho, the McGriddle with Christable in the car on the way to the airport was pretty epic). Also saw Art Garfunkel with the family that weekend.

Last week, aside from lovely dinner with Jaimie and Jeff and Ellie's too fast, but amazing, visit, I also saw Gloria Steinem in conversation with Melissa McCarthy. I do think MM was a bit out of her league, but she was endearing while Steinem was effortlessly cool and inspirational.

This weekend was yoga, wine and oysters with Anthony, chillin with Jeff, bloody Marys and 90s singalong with Lexi (visiting from NYC!), Nathalie and Joanna, and the Farmers Market and Silverlake walking tour with Jaimie. The weekend culminated in an organic farmers market feast for Evan and Michael with pan seared salmon, miso quinoa, quail eggs, ginger/garlic brussels and Szechwan carrots. It was an experimental comfort food meets asian fusion meets healthy sort of.

THE FUTURE:

So what's next? Aside from battling the loud winds at night, I have two court days this week, an opera of Moby Dick, a trip to Santa Barbara, and Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving before I launch into my holiday party planning :)

I'm also in a nesting mood and feeling rather content with everything right now. That isn't to say I'm not going to sign up for that pottery class or that I'll stop networking, but my anxiety has sort of stabilized. The panic about where I'll be in six months has worn off a more centered focus in efforts to get "there."

I've been thinking a lot recently on the topic of self-presentation/preservation. I very often laugh off things or crack jokes to avoid hard conversations. Then after going with the flow for probably too long, I blow a gasket over a misused semi-colon and then boom: World War III. And there are topics that I'm naturally evasive about and if I am caught off guard about them, I shut down (or crack a joke about rainbows or something equally inane). Now I'm skilled in my defense mechanisms, but I think it's time to calm down on that front. I'm far more fun when I'm not dissecting yours and my id, ego, and superego.

Instead, I'll be playing with the interactive meal planner by the NY Times and planning my next trip. xx.