The cat's out of the bag!

It's official! The cat's out of the bag⁠—sort of. The blanket ban on social media still stands. As for the Big Day, it was ultimately anything but, at least for those of us on the inside. But the word is out and we finally got to see what the world had to say. and by now, I expect our butts are mostly recovered from those concrete floors. So for all the blood, sweat, and tears that brought us to last night, cheers!

Corgi Con 2019

I just attended what is quite possibly the greatest free activity in San Francisco: Corgi Con. I'd heard talk about this last year on the very afternoon that it had happened. Heartbroken to have missed it, my attendance at this year's event has long been in the works.

Imagine nearly 1000 loaves of enthusiastic fur waddling around the beach, dressed to the nines (and occasionally competing in the most ridiculous corgi Ninja Warrior event imaginable). My heart was exploding and my iPhone didn't have enough battery to satisfy all my photography needs. All in all, a Saturday mid-day fluffed to perfection.

SO MANY CORGOS!! 😍

Our family trip to Costa Rica

The slog of everyday life hasn't left me much room for inspiration when it comes to this blog, but a family trip down south— way south— sure serves as fodder. It's been a week since we've gotten back and I'm still dragging my feet on writing this up. My blogging began as a glorified photo album, so today I'll embrace that side. After all, a picture's worth a thousand words, right? So here's my Costa Rican novel.

En route to Costa Rica via an overnight in Mexico City, complete with some fabulous guac and tacos

A happy discovery along the ride to visit a volcano: the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia, where we saw all the steps of coffee production, from seedling to ripening fruit to roasted bean.

Not too far from San Jose, the capitol of Costa Rica, lives the Poas Volcano, an active volcano, at least according to Wikipedia. As far as we were concerned, it might very well have been a quick hike over to a very large fog machine.

The La Paz Waterfall and Peace Lodge Gardens are a private animal sanctuary and resort for wild animals rescued from illegal capitivity that are not fit to be released to the wild. This place was a major highlight of our visit, and definitely merited more than just one collage. Here we've got the birds and butterflies, including the world's friendliest tucan.

The sloths at La Paz merit their own collage.

Monkeys at La Paz!

A few of the "cuter" snakes at La Paz - yikes!

The big (and not so big) cat at La Paz

The frogs at La Paz were unexpectedly charming, especially Costa Rica's iconic and highly photogenic red-eyed tree frog!

Scenes from San Jose, sculptures by the Costa Rican sculptor Deredia, and artefacts from the city's Pre-Columbian Gold Museum.

Finally, we headed down to the Caribbean just north of the Panamanian border, for afternoons on the white and black sand beaches, crisp Costa Rican beers, fruity cocktails, and fresh iced coffees straight from the coffee bean farms.

Our Airbnb in Puerto Viejo was nestled in the jungle just a few minutes from the beach.

Like good tourists, we checked off the jungle canopy zipline tour, complete with the stomach-dropping tarzan swing.

My favorite part of the vacation: the Caribeans chocolate tour. Just outside of the center of Puerto Viejo, we kicked off with some incredibly fresh iced chocolate drinks while waiting on our tour. Wandering into the jungle that hugs the coast line, our tour guide taught us all about cacao farming. As she walked us along the jungle trails and we developed an eye for it, we starting realizing that the cacao fruits were just everywhere around us, in so many different colors from bright yellow to pale green to deep purple-red. We learned about the fungus that's been devastating Costa Rica's cacao farms, destroying over 80% of the crop, a fungus which the locals believe was brought in by the big banana companies, who took over the land when cacao farmers went bust. (I loved how what they called "farms" were basically jungles carefully tended to ensure 50/50 sunlight/shade for the cacao plants.) We learned about new resistant strains that are being bred, to help Costa Rica's cacao farmers make a comeback. We learned that the cacao fruit is shockingly substantial, a white slimy tropical food so yummy that it surprised me that anyone got past it to realize that the bitter inner seed might have so much potential! And finally, we learned to taste chocolate, in an experience surprisingly similar to wine tasting, just without the buzz. We even learned that chocolate mixes surprisingly well, of all things, fresh garlic. And in case that wasn't enough, we got to know a very hardy sloth en route back to the cafe when a crash landing caught us all by surprise.

Finally, back in San Jose, we bid the rest of the family goodbye on an early morning flight, and then enjoyed the wait until our late night departure with a day trip out to Tortuga Island on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast. In a tropical paradise, just the two of us for the day, it nearly felt like the honeymoon we're still planning on getting around to.

Bernie!

The 2020 elections aren't exactly around the corner, but we're already feeling the Bern! And so were 16,000 of our friends in San Francisco this weekend! 🔥

Feel the Bern, San Francisco!

Parades! And other American things

A weekend to celebrate the luck of the Irish! Completely rational if you grow up in America, less so if you come from elsewhere. Never in France do the people across the country come out to spend the afternoon parading around another nation's flag. In fact, never in France do people spend the afternoon parading around, period. So St. Patty's Day was Nicolas's first shot at a proper American parade.

St. Patty's Day weekend in San Francisco

As an expat, you're always struck here and there by weird surprises the locals take for granted, from the sound of the police sirens to the times the restaurant kitchens close (or don't!). I took the chance to grill Nicolas on the culture shocks beyond the marching bands and dancing horses bearing American flags, now that it's been nearly four months since he became a proud resident of the good old U-S-of-A. In no particular order, here is the list of one fresh expat's American surprises:

• Massive supermarkets
• Food sold in obscene quantities— you'd have to feed a small army to keep it from spoiling!
• Strange products under lock, especially toiletries like deodorants or toothpaste. (I'm thinking this may be a San Francisco/big city thing?)
• Ever-present special offers in grocery stores à la 2 for $5
• Sales tax not included in the price tags
• Tipping! So much tipping! Everywhere!
• Neighbors in our building who don't greet each other when entering or exiting elevators
• Enormous cars (though it was to be expected)
• Free tennis courts
• The struggle to get a local to actually commit and stick to a scheduled time to play tennis (though I'm guessing the laid-back, tough-to-schedule bit is especially Californian)
• Shower heads that don't detach from the wall
• Hugs. Unwelcome hugs.

I especially adore that last one. As someone who had to endure years of the bise, that French cheek-kiss thing, I know exactly where he's coming from. Here's to another four months (and then some) on American soil!

Saying goodbye

How do you say goodbye to someone who you hardly feel you can remember? It's been a struggle this past week since my grandmother finally left us. The woman I'd known as Mom-mom had left us a long time earlier, to be replaced with a frail and confused old lady who struggled to place us. Mom-mom, or Grandma as she preferred, suffered with Alzheimer's for about 11 years. For a third of my life, she wasn't really herself. One of the most painful moments of my understanding this disease came two years ago, when we held our US wedding reception and Mom-mom couldn't be there. That was a harsh reminder of her reality. At times I found myself wishing for a merciful end, years before the time finally came. When a passing arrives that you've hoped for, when the person's departure hardly coincides with the moment you lost her, how do you patch together the words and feelings? There's a sense of relief and acceptance: for her and for all the wonderful family who's struggled through care-taking these last years. There's a terrible sadness that she's gone, a sadness that's been festering for years and can finally be released. And there's the horrible sense, surrounded by cousins telling stories of her that I'd never shared, that I should have better used the years we had. The most heart-wrenching part was Grandpa, that sweet old man, who's eyeing down his own final years, knowing that he'll be walking them alone from here on out. No one in the room could keep as a dry eye as he knelt beside Grandma's casket. I cannot imagine the strength it takes to say goodbye to the person with whom you raised 7 kids and shared over 60 years of married life. In times like these, I'm especially grateful for the amazing family that those two created. The band of cousins rallied together for a special-edition cousins campout, as we do, in honor of Grandma. At times like this, I am especially blessed to have such a big family to lean on.

We love you, Grandma. We always will.

Love you, Mom-mom.

Vesting!

One year under my belt and I am now officially and irrevocably the owner of a little piece of the stealth-mode startup that's staked its claim on my heart and soul. After all the personal sacrifices we made to exercise early, knowing that at least part of those stock options are now officially ours, no take-backs, is certainly cause for celebration! I hadn't expected this much anticipated milestone to be such an emotional roller coaster. Leaving the office tonight, I finally breathed deeply and just let the tears roll. It's been such a ride, an honor and a privilege but also a terrifying, stress-inducing, push-you-to-your-limits sort of role. I thought I'd gotten past that stage of life when I was handed my diploma back in 2009 and beelined out of the capital of IHTFP. (Google it.) Alas, it seems the masochistic #startup lifestyle draws me in like a moth to a flame. Today, one of the major startup stressors—namely the one-year vesting cliff—melted away. So the timing of San Francisco's Beer Week coinciding with my big anniversary was fortuitous, to put it mildly.

One year on the job, and therefore now officially and irrevocably owners of a small slice of my startup!

Here's to another year of wild rides! And this one with monthly vesting and no more immigration battles! Santé !