Future babies' first road trip

Our future babies are setting off on their first road trip today: our top six embryos are being transported (on an overnight adventure!) down from Oakland to San Diego, site of the clinic that will be responsible for our future embryo transfers. Future mom (hopefully) isn't nervous at all. Call me as soon as you get there, kids! Or the embryo equivalent: there won't be any live shipment tracking available, so I'm counting on the transportation company or our agency (hardly known for their organization or communication) to actually remember to confirm successful arrival tomorrow afternoon ("or the next day, as soon as we're able") - no stress, especially given that the day after their arrival will be the start of a three-day holiday weekend. Surely no one will accidentally forget to send confirmation and leave me stressing, alone in a puddle of anxiety, with Nico flying off to Paris on Saturday. Yep, everything's cool. I'm going to be a cool mom. 100%.

Signed, sealed, soon to be delivered

We’re finally, finally making some progress on our non-traditional journey to parenthood! After four failed matches, we have a medically cleared gestational carrier with whom we just finalized our contract. On Friday, Nico and I signed and notarized it. Today, the date for delivery of our embryos to the clinic that will do the transfers was just scheduled. (The saga that became the collapse of communication between the clinic that created our embryos and the agency sourcing our gestational carriers could merit a whole post of its own, but you know what? It’s not worth the time it’d take to type out. Suffice it to say another clinic is still playing nice with our agency, and they’re willing to take the baton.) The delays have been brutal. I remember last fall when I thought our January trip to Hawaii might be our babymoon. Or maybe the Olympics in February. Ha. (On the plus side, this has been giving me the chance to vest more Neuralink stock before our lives turn upside down.)

Things are starting to maybe sort of just a little bit feel real. But there are still so many steps to go that I’m too far away to stress about preparing for a baby. Right now, I’m still anxious whether we’ll ever reach that step. But I’m at least pleased to report that, more than ten months since we began the matching process, we seem to be getting somewhere. Sort of. Maybe.

Catalina: Cute, but no Porquerolles

In January, the BBC published an article on US parks only accessible by boat or seaplane. Among the list was the Channel Islands, not so terribly far away off the coast of Los Angeles. It sounded like the perfect long weekend, a great extra box to check off in the category of American adventures before we put a bow on our time in the States. Back then, we didn't anticipate that we wouldn't have a single weekend when the two of us would be at home and not traveling for business after the month when those travel plans were made. So here we were, making a rapid turn-around as I unpacked my bags from my most recent week down in Austin only to refill them with gear for the weekend.

Catalina was cute, and also pricey. After getting hit with a $30 price tag for a pair of ice cream cones right after we got off the boat, we started paying a little more attention to our wallets over the weekend. There was still enough to see and do without breaking the bank, though my calves had a few things to say about said low cost (and high elevation change) activities. We found that the 60s Fahrenheit hits far different under the Southern California sun than it does up in the San Francisco Bay. We didn't spot a single one of the legendary bison descended from the pack of 14 brought over for a silent film a century ago, one that didn't even feature them in the final edit. We tried our hands at a round of mini golf, I ate some fantastic lobster roll at the aptly named Lobster Trap, and we somehow didn't find the time to get Nico an authentic straw hat at Luau Larry's.

After a few months of weekly work-related travels, some SoCal voyaging just for us!

The island was cute, but with more tourists and fewer vineyards than its Mediterranean counterpart, Porquerolles. I'm glad we did it, even if it was hardly a chance to catch up on the sleep debt I've been accruing over several months of hopping back and forth between Austin and the Bay. We even made the most of the airport delays with a surprisingly pleasant discovery of a Hefe-Weissbier from the world's oldest continually operated brewery, Weihenstephan. It was lovely to simply have the chance to enjoy a few uninterrupted days in each other's company before either of jobs sent us jetting off once more.

Neurarunners do Bay to Breakers

After somehow going over seven years in the San Francisco Bay Area without once doing Bay to Breakers, I've done a total about-face and, just one year after my first run, captained my very own team this year. After sparkling my way through last year's adventure as the neuron rep in a team of microbes, I knew I had to bring this nonsense to the Neuralink run club. A year later, the raccoon/wizards team gave a fabulous nod to OG Neuralink lore, both to our history early days as a raccoon farm and to Tim Urban's Wait But Why article that first introduced our technological ambitions to the world, describing it as a "wizard hat."

The Neurarunners repped as raccoons and/or wizards

We were a solid crew of Bay to Breakers newbies, my whole single prior run somehow making me an expert. After a chaotic morning assembly around the Ferry Building (but honestly, are you doing Bay to Breakers right if it's any less than chaotic?), we gathered, tossed pitas, revelled in the collective surprises from the creativity of various costumes (or lack thereof), and then scattered as soon as we crossed the starting line. (I'm not sure the whole team got the memo that Bay to Breakers isn't to be run for time.) I tagged along with the speed demons until the top of Hayes Hill, only to lose sight of their sparkling capes when I paused for a congratulatory selfie. After a mile or two of solo running, I salmon'ed my way back upstream until I caught the mid-speed runners, Amanda and (non-Neuralink honorary team member) Israel, whose team I'd joined last year for my first stab at the event. We jogged and laughed and danced our way through the latter half of the course at a much more reasonable speed, though I still somehow entirely missed the human car washes. We crossed the finish line hand-in-hand, earned ourselves some comically green bananas, and finally whittled our group down to the final four who made it out for beers and Chicago deep dish in Hayes Valley before I frantically made a mad (and unplanned) dash back over the Bay Bridge to grab my forgotten suitcase before speeding back through the city towards SFO and another week down in Austin. The Neuralink fun never ends.

The raccoons and/or wizards of Neuralink did Bay to Breakers in sparkling style.

Here's to Neuralink's first (and perhaps not last) appearance at this San Francisco classic.

Ready for a change

Now on my ninth week of the year working down in Texas (out of only sixteen weeks in 2026!), I'm practically a resident. After all my weekends popping back over to Cali, it was Nico's turn to fly to me for a change. And it was more than that: as we start envisioning our return-to-Europe timeline, a pitstop in Texas for the tax breaks when selling some stock has its appeal. Pair that with the warmth of the Texas-based Neuralink team and it really seems time for a change. Nico's job went fully remote last fall, so we're one real estate deal and a U-Haul truck away from some very big life updates. But first, we had to get a little taste of non-work-time Texas. After several folks recommended Eeyore's birthday, an annual picnic and party in a park with very hippie/circus/Burner vibes, we set our date for an Austin preview weekend.

Kicking off our weekend with dinner at Lazarus Brewing and a Spurs game at Chalmer's, where I got to taste a (frozen) dirty Shirley, the drink of choice of my new favorite heroine, Princess Donut of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, a set of books I've been absolutely devouring.

In the end, Eeyore's was fairly anti-climactic: the light breeze that was blowing across town was stifled in the park, making the temperatures unbearable for a pair of Texas noobs. After a quick round and a selfie with the birthday boy, we continued our adventures onward. Saturday's highlight wound up being the beer and wine festival at the German-Texan Heritage Society, where I got a most fabulous fascinator and Nico reveled in the tourist brochure that highlighted on its final page, as a deal clincher on life in Germany, that it was "just across the border from France!" - he's not wrong, the French would never reciprocate if they produced a similar brochure. Properly libated, we made it over to Congress Ave Bridge in time for the nightly emergence of the bats, one of my favorite quirks of this city. Austin has the largest urban bat population in North America, and it seems they all decided to move in under the same bridge. Apparently they do wonders in managing the local insect population. And they emerge each evening in these lovely snakelike cloud formations at twilight, drawing crowds daily.

Saturday in Austin: Eeyore's Birthday, a swing past the capitol, Maifest at the German-Texan Heritage Society, and bats!

On Sunday, we made it over to Barton Springs, a charming natural body of water that's home to an endangered species of salamander. You can somehow find yourself hugged in by trees as you float in the springs while still enjoying views across the Austin skyline: my perfect version of urban nature. Kids and adults of all ages were relaxing together in the water, the chill of which was very welcome in the Texas heat. I hadn't realized just how very much I've missed summers after 8 years out in the Bay Area. Swimming, floating, and twisting around in the water to escape the heat brought me back to some of my favorite childhood experiences, some I hope we'll get to share with our kids if and when this gestational carrier adventure finally takes off. I looked around and could definitely feel myself calling this place home.

Sunday in Austin: Austin Rotisserie to sample the "French roots with Austin flare" whose catering thrills the folks in my office, a dip in Barton Springs, and a tour along the Colorado River with some neighborhood shopping.

From there, we wandered along the Colorado River and did a bit of neighborhood shopping. I was amazed how walkable the city center was: we never once had to call an uber. If our journey back to Europe allows us some time in Austin, I think we'd be targeting a home in the Holly or Riverside neighborhoods just along the riverfront. There were so many fun bars and restaurants; we could count ourselves among the adorably enthusiastic crowds gathering nightly for the bats; a simple stroll out our front door could take us down to the Colorado River path where I've been enjoying runs for the past couple months.

How can I not have a soft spot for a city this covered in art?

The city seems quirky, welcoming, a place for people at all stages of life. In short, it's a place we could belong, a place to be happy for a time.

Restaurant Weeks 2026

Oakland and Berkeley Restaurant Weeks snuck up on us this year. I hardly get a day and a half per week in California since our return from Italy, in which time I do my best to catch up on all my non-work life from circus classes to friends to basic chores around the home. We nearly missed Oakland's entirely, squeezing in just one Rockridge destination: Forge. American comfort food with absolutely American portion sizes. It was fine enough but not some place we need to hit up again.

American comfort food at Forge, Oakland Restaurant Week 2026

We were more prepared for Berkeley’s Restaurant Week a couple weeks later, having devoted some of my airport wait time to doing homework on the dining selections. We squeezed in two restaurants and even a featured coffee shop.

Berkeley Restaurant Week 2026: Anja's with Nico, Michelle, Brian, and Sven! Featuring a lovely rose garden; buckwheat pancakes with pepper, carrot, asparagus, beans, berries, mint, and coconut (??); and breakfast beer!

Berkeley Restaurant Week 2026: Trumer Pils. Because beer isn't only a breakfast beverage.

The highlight was easily Anja’s, a German brunch restaurant (breakfast beer optional) with an absolutely charming rose garden outdoor dining area. Trumer Pils Brewery was also a delight. And Roaming Bean Coffee on the Berkeley Marina was worth the bike ride, even if Nico and his glasses may have had differing opinions.

A rainy ride over to Roaming Bean for Restaurant Week coffees.

For someone who hardly even calls the East Bay home anymore, I feel I did Restaurant Weeks right. And now I’ve got a new, affordable, and mildly boozy brunch destination to add to our weekend agendas.

A not-so-scary birthday, twice over

I marked my final birthday of my 30s this week. It wasn't as bad as I'd feared—I woke up Thursday morning and felt just the same. I drove myself to downtown Austin, borrowing a Tesla from the company fleet and getting behind the steering wheel for the first time in a few years. Having successfully navigated without killing myself, I enjoyed a 12k morning run along the Colorado River. That evening, I dipped out of work early for an advanced pole dance class at a studio I hadn't yet tested, followed by cocktails with coworkers. The bar closed early for a private event, which could not have turned out better, as we stumbled out and straight into a magical, Harry-Potter-themed double-decker-bus-turned-speakeasy, complete with animatronic steam punk Hagrid bus driver. Our drinks bubbled and sparkled, and the evening absolutely flew by. I managed to nurse a non-alcoholic Dragon's Breath as I did wind down the final hours of my birthday back in the office with some bonus work. Riding the high from an unexpectedly fun evening, I hardly minded the late hours.

Turning 39, Texas edition: a birthday I'd feared that wound up magical instead.

Official birthday plans awaited back on the West Coast. We'd packed our Saturday agenda with a skate at the Church of 8 Wheels followed by dinner at an Italian hole-in-the-wall around the corner and ice cream at our old neighborhood favorite, Salt & Straw. Each of my non-Neuralink friends had some version of the response, "I'm going to fall on my butt skating—pass" and all my Neuralink friends said, "I'm going to fall on my butt—count me in"—there's a reason I'm still working at this crazy place 8 years in—so my birthday celebration became round two of partying with my coworkers, who I'm pretty sure I can now categorize as friends. The folks who turned out were all amazing sports despite some having never before donned a pair of skates. And, ice creams in hand post-dinner, we wandered down the street and into a jungle gym which we quickly conquered. I so love discovering that growing up doesn't have to be what I saw when I was a kid. I hope everyone gets to wrap up their 30s on a Saturday night atop the tallest playground equipment surrounded by people who make them laugh as much as this fabulous crew. 

Turning 39, California edition: One-upping the Texas celebration, which I didn't even think would be possible. Note to self: jungle gyms after dark are an excellent way to remind yourself that growing up doesn't have to mean growing old.