Category: fun

  • USJLP 2018

    Jim and I attended the Fellows (alumni) weekend for the US-Japan Leadership Program (www.usjlp.org) this past week. The event was held in Seattle. It’s always a wonderful time to get to know the new delegates and catch up with what the Fellows are doing with their lives. I will say, however, that I was put…

  • A Weekend in New York City

    For his birthday, I gave Jim tickets to see “Springsteen on Broadway.” Since the 19 year old daughter is with us for the summer and she did not want to see a show about “old people music,” we bought her a ticket to see “Hamilton.” New York for us is a city where we eat/shop/see…

  • A “Picnic” by Kinship (DC)

    Kinship is one of our favorite restaurants in Washington, DC, so when an invitation arrived stating that there was going to be a dinner at the farm of one of its suppliers, we didn’t hesitate! Neither did our 19 year old daughter (who is home for the summer—yay!) and two of her friends. Eric Ziebold…

  • The Inn at Little Washington’s 40th birthday at Mount Vernon

    The Inn at Little Washington is celebrating its 40th birthday in grand style this year. Mount Vernon (George Washington’s home for those of you who never learned/have forgotten your U.S. history) was the site of its most recent celebration. And what better place to celebrate one’s birthday than at the home of the man who…

  • Disneyworld (Take 56)

    It was officially the 16 year old’s 56th visit to the happiest place on earth. (He’s catching up with his sister who has been there 57 times.) We also dragged along our former exchange student, Yinan, who is staying with us for a couple of months while she does an internship this summer. (Little did…

  • NoMad Hotel and NoMad Restaurant

    We were fortunate enough to win a charity auction item for a bespoke dinner at the New York City restaurant, NoMad, and decided to stay at the NoMad hotel. This is not our usual haunt when we visit New York City—the Upper East Side is more the style to which we’d like to become accustomed,…

  • Spring Break 2018: Honolulu, where else?

    If it seems like we go to Honolulu quite a bit, it may be because we have. However, this was our first trip there as a family in 2018. (Note how I carefully defined the parameters just now.) We were fortunate that the kids shared a spring break this year, and they decided to opt…

  • Hawaii (without the kids)

    Somehow, we always gravitate to Hawaii when deciding where to go on our annual without-the-kids vacation. As a reminder, the goal of this vacation is a yearly exercise as to remember who the other person across the breakfast table is as planning for the day that we become empty nesters. Our joint requirement is that…

  • Christmas in Hawaii (oh, and a wedding too!)

    Once again, both children’s school calendars cooperated, and we were able to get away the week before Christmas to Hawaii for just over a week. The daughter’s finals schedule ended the same day as the son’s school break started, and we all met up in San Francisco before flying out to Honolulu. In addition, Jim’s…

  • Thanksgiving 2017

    We sat 41 people for dinner for Thanksgiving this year. Well, technically, 37 adults (if you include one 16 year old velociraptor) and 4 kids under 10. The menu was as follows: Thai pumpkin soup with gougeres Smoked turkey Roasted turkey with confit legs Stock-braised turkey legs Deep fried turkey Roasted pork shoulder Roast duck…