2012, Week Twenty

Whew, week twenty. Week twenty was…hard. Thankfully, it ended with a three days in Santa Cruz, one of my favorite places on earth. The trip was relaxing and fun and full of nostalgia, laughter, and insane amounts of natural beauty. Just what I needed.

I’ll share my (many) Santa Cruz photos in a separate post. But here are some images from my week, and from Santa Cruz.

Last Sunday, May 13, we were driving back from a family weekend in Upland. My memories of driving from the Bay Area to Southern California were far more pleasant than my recent experiences have been. It is a LONG drive. But it was totally worth it to have brunch with my parents and aunts and uncles on Mother’s Day. No pictures, though. Oops.

Roasted Chicken Dinner
May 14 – I did make a roast chicken dinner on Monday night. Because I’m super traditional like that.

Swiss Chard Rolls and Salmon
May 15 – Tuesday I took a break from the editing/proofreading and made these awesome swiss chard rolls. They’re an updated version of dolmas, which recipe I adapted from Food and Wine. I want to share them. If I ever have free time to write again.

work work work
May 16 – This was my life last week. And, sadly, it is still my life this week. I love getting freelance jobs, but they are hard to squeeze in around my real, full-time job. And they make fun stuff like blogging temporarily impossible.

Dinner at Camino
May 17 – I did get another small break on Thursday night to go have dinner with Sean and my brother, Patrick, at Camino. This place is special. We will be going back.

Friday I worked, and I worked some more. And I made a very late night dinner that was surprisingly delicious. But I forgot to photograph it.

Finally, relaxing
May 19 – And then, finally, Saturday. Saturday in Santa Cruz. Walks on the beach, beers at Seabright Brewery. And a lovely glass of wine at a charming B&B. After last week’s stress and frustration, I totally needed this.

The work isn’t quite done yet, and sadly, I’m still feeling a little stress and frustration. But I have two three-day weekends coming up, and a camping trip. So at least there is more relaxation to look forward to.