Love & Jiu Jitsu: Our Engagement Story.

I can’t say I’m one to believe in love at first sight and after a couple of heartbreaks, disappointments and the baggage this life can bring, the fairy tale love story was getting harder to believe in. Finding my prince was the last thing on my mind when I embarked on this adventure across the seas, heck, I even laughed at the people who said I’d find a man and never look back. I guess now they can all chime in with a resounding chorus of ‘I told you so’.

I met Carlos on Easter Sunday 2015, 3 months into my time in the US through my friend Ewa, who knew his brother, Daniel. I’d reluctantly agreed to go out for a beer with them (and later Carlos shared that he hadn’t wanted to be there either!) I won’t call it ‘love at first sight’ but there was definitely an immediate attraction; he was handsome, funny and one of the most down to earth, genuine people I’d ever met. He’d certainly caught my attention, but I was so guarded, this was NOT what I was looking for! Well, he rendered me useless that following week, I could do nothing but think of him.

Neither of us are really sure when we started dating. After meeting we connected through Facebook and started messaging, making excuses to see each other and spending more and more time together. Neither of us knew where this was going, neither of us were looking for a relationship, but somehow our lives had collided and we simply haven’t been the same since. Two months later I asked him “um…am I your girlfriend or what?!” and he said he was pretty sure I  was. Cue happiness.

In the months following, our relationship rooted and blossomed and I experienced a love that I had never believed possible. We made wonderful memories and shared deeply. He made me laugh more than anyone else could.  He became my greatest support and, cliche as it may sound, my best friend. His passion for Brazillian jiu jitsu was contagious and training together became another wonderful dimension of our relationship. With complete gentleness he has helped me face many fears and insecurities; his love inspires me to be the best version of myself. Soon we began to dream of a future and a family, a life together.

I started to suspect the official proposal might be around the corner about a month ago when he asked how he should go about getting my dad’s blessing (I can tell you I’ve never been so nervous for a Skype call that I wasn’t even part of!) and our mutual friend Bruna started asking some specific, prying questions about my taste in rings. We had planned a weekend trip to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of our first meeting and I convinced myself he was going to ask then. I tried my best to contain my excitement and expectations; though of course I did what any girl would; gushed to my sister and my bestie, practiced my surprised face in the mirror and started giving my hands and nails some serious TLC!

Well, surprise face wasn’t necessary. A week before our planned trip he really did surprise me.

It was Easter Sunday. Full circle. We spent a lazy morning at home before he started suggesting we go out and do something, a hike, a walk on the beach…”let’s just get out the house”. I suggested we go train, so we grabbed our gis and headed to the academy. For about an hour we did some drills, he showed me a new choke submission and we free rolled a bit. Afterwards we were standing around catching our breaths when he hugged me and started talking about my jiu jitsu journey over the last few months.

“You’ve done so well and made so much progress I wish I could promote you and give you a stripe or something”

I just smiled. Happy and proud of the things he was saying.

“But…” he continued, as he reached for something over the desk “I can promote our relationship status”

He dropped to his knee and held out a ring

“Bokkie, Will you marry me?”

Tears gushed, emotions exploded and I pretty much just clumsily dived into his arms, buried my head against his chest and nodded. I had temporarily lost my ability to form coherent words but when I finally figured out how to speak again I told him yes! YES!!! 

I finally let go of him and got to look at the ring, I immediately loved it! It is exactly what I would have chosen. My hand shook anxiously as he went to put it on my finger. Well. It didn’t fit. Somehow the sizing got lost in translation between me knowing my UK ring size and him buying it it US sizes. I honestly did not care one single bit and wore it on my little finger like the proudest pinky-promise I ever made. (It has since been re-sized  and when I’m not staring down at my ring finger, I can be found waving like the Queen of England so everyone can see my bling)

This American adventure has been bigger and wider, longer and deeper than I ever planned or imagined, but it has been the very best surprise of my life.

I’ve been surprised by my own strength.

I’ve been surprised to see my walls crumble down.

I’ve been surprised by love.

I cannot wait to be Mrs. Lopez. 

 

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.

-Anais Nin

Vegas is always a good idea

So I’ve heard it said that 3 is a lucky number, if that’s the case, perhaps I should have made more of an effort to gamble on my third trip to Las Vegas this weekend! But gambling aside, I know I’m one heck of a lucky girl after this weekend’s adventures with some of my favorite people!

The weekend was a surprise trip to celebrate Bruna’s birthday and her first trip to Vegas and I was super excited for her. After a long drive we were all starving and headed for Pizza Rock,  a restaurant in downtown Las Vegas we’d heard good things about. It may have been the hunger, but I swear that was hands down the best pizza I’ve ever had! Before leaving we were already discussing when we could go back!

After checking in at our hotel we had a rather busy night planned; one simply cannot do Vegas without watching a show, so that was naturally our first stop. We saw Zumanity, tagged as “the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil” and what a show it was! It was a very risque, cabaret-style show with all crazy acrobatics and outstanding lights and costuming one expects from Cirque du Soleil. It truly left us…breathless.

After a quick dinner, a change of clothes and a walk down the strip our next adventure was the  Slotzilla zoomline on Fremont street; a ten story high (114 feet!) zipline, where you are strapped into a harness and fly “superman style” over the lights and activity in the streets bellow. Frankly, I was terrified. I’m so glad I took the plunge though as it was totally worth the anxiety beforehand! I’m finding more and more that you’ve got to have the “this is insane” moments to have the “that was amazing” memories.

We were back at the hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning, so we had a good sleep in before having breakfast at the hotel and doing some exploring along the strip. Of course we showed Bruna the staples like the Bellagio water show and Caesars palace. A definite quirky highlight for me was stumbling upon the Sprinkles bakery cupcake ATM! Instead of dishing out cash it serves up delicious cupcakes in adorable little boxes, now that’s a fun ATM visit!

The weekend flew by in a flash and before we knew it it was time to head home. The late night drive was long and we were tired, but looking around that car with my fantastic friends I knew this for sure: I’ve won BIG!

 

 

 

A Beautiful Birthday…

I’m eating cake. Again. That racks it up to 3 slices today. January birthdays certainly make the whole “new year, new you” vibe kind of difficult!

But perhaps one of the best parts of birthdays is the leftover cake in the days that follow! I had the most wonderful birthday weekend surrounded by friends, along with the most spectacular cake!

I threw a celebration at my house on Saturday night, with all of the South African food and treats I’ve been missing so! The discovery of a little British import store selling South African goods and a Christmas package from my sister made this possible; I even managed to find boerewors,  biltong and droëwors!

Any one who knows me well will attest to my love for cooking, baking and planning, so it was with great joy that I spent Saturday in the kitchen cooking up a storm, making from scratch all the goodies one would pick up from the store or tuinywerheid (bake shop) at home. On the menu were  koeksisters, peppermint crisp tarts, melktert, chicken soasaties, Nandos chicken strips, Mealiebrood, mini chicken pies  and vetkoek. Some of the recipes I was trying for the first time, but they were definitely a success and the food went down really well among my American, Brazilian, Spanish, Polish, Turkish, German and Columbian friends.

My cake was made by Carlos’ mom and was not only beautiful but delicious too. It literally brought tears to my eyes when I saw it the first time! It feels so good to feel so loved and find  family here!

After a wonderful evening of eating and drinking, talking and laughing (especially while playing Cards against humanity) only the Fantastic Four remained; just in time for cake, candles, singing and present opening at midnight! Carlos bought me a little tiara to wear for fun, but I truly felt like a princess.

Sunday (my actual birthday) was a chilled day of skype calls home, lunch and afternoon naps.

So much has happened since my last birthday, I’d been in the states for merely a week, knew no one and was feeling pretty lost and overwhelmed; now I’m so completely wrapped up in a life of love and adventure…I can only imagine what more the next year may hold!

 

What happened to December?

No seriously, what happened? With all the joy and celebrations of the holidays the month flew by like Santa’s reindeer on steroids! My first American Christmas was a wonderfully festive affair, I love how American’s celebrate and was certainly not disappointed!

I was asked often if it felt very different to Christmas at home, I thought it might be, but it really wasn’t vastly different at all! A few of the differences I noticed were…

1. Summer vs. Winter

I’m used to a hot, humid Southern Hemisphere summery Christmas and while SoCal doesn’t exactly experience a full winter, it definitely was different wearing long pajamas and socks and sitting by the fireplace. It may not have been exactly over Christmas, but I did get to have my first experience of seeing snow fall in Big Bear, the weekend prior. What a wonderful time I had with Carlos, his brother Daniel and my dear friend Bruna; or “the fantastic four” as we’ve come to call ourselves.

2. Food!

Certain foods are associated with times and for me Christmas means fruit cake, Greek shortbread and mince pies, roast lamb on Christmas eve and a good old South African Braai on Christmas day. Well of course that wasn’t the case here, but I did sit at the biggest dinner table I ever have as we hosted 22 people for a feast! And to my surprise I discovered I like Brussels sprouts and ate 2 helpings before melting into an absolute food coma! I guess that’s a Christmas occurrence in every country!

3. Gingerbread houses

As an avid baker, building a gingerbread house at home was a project I looked forward too, first cutting cardboard templates, making the gingerbread and royal icing from scratch, assembling and decorating. Of course America has a shortcut, you can buy a box with ready baked pieces and ‘just add water’ frosting and bang together a gingerbread house in under an hour! I made both a train and a house with the boys and they loved doing it, which made up for the lack of love going into the baking!

4. Lights

Growing up I remember the odd house putting up a few lights outside and I remember the one house that did go completely crazy with outdoor lights kept tripping the neighborhood electricity supply (what a way NOT to spread festive cheer!) But festive outdoor lights are HUGE here, our neighbor two houses down had a whole light show choreographed to a radio station you could tune into! On Christmas eve Carlos took me for a drive down “Candy Cane lane” in Oxnard where every single house for a couple of blocks is completely decked out in lights! What a sparkling Christmas eve! (unfortunately I was too bust gawking to really capture any good pictures!)

5. Elf on Shelf

Definitely a first for me, this sneaky elf gets up to mischief overnight and the kids wake up every morning and look around the house to see where they find him and the evidence of his adventures. Yes, it’s a bit of effort on mom and dad’s behalf, but  anything that encourages imagination and wonder is worth it in my books!

I thought that the difference would make the distance even harder, that without the little traditions and familiarities of home Christmas just wouldn’t feel…well, Christmassy. And yes, it was hard and it was homesick, yet wonderful at the very same time. Joy and sorrow are not necessarily mutually exclusive, sometimes they run parallel, and sometimes it’s beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Fall bucket list

It seems just a week or two ago I was posting about my excitement for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving, so it’s a bit surreal to be rounding up those highlights on the last day of November. Here are my bucket list check offs for what’s been my favorite season:

• Visit a pumpkin patch

I took Harrison to the local animal farm & pumpkin patch one morning in October, I’m not sure who was more excited; him or I! This was one of those experiences that was “all-American” as we have nothing like this at home, how fun to get to take it all in with a child’s eyes!

• Go through a corn maze

Harrison was totally on board with a trip through the corn maze, but my complete lack of any kind of directionality  had us in there for a while; tracking and back-tracking as minor anxiety began to set in! He was not impressed, I was just glad to eventually make it out!

• Try a Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte

Fall means that Americans Pumpkin spice the hell out everything! I’ve enjoyed the famous #PSL from Starbucks and even baked my own Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcakes and enjoyed Pumpkin spice waffles! Now the fall cups have transitioned into the (rather controversial) red holiday cups and I’m getting hooked on the gingerbread lattes instead. Im definitely a #starbuckslover all year round!

• Go to a haunted house/fright night

The night before Halloween a group of friends braved the Universal studios Halloween Horror night. The theme park is filled with scary characters and different haunted mazes to walk through. It was great fun and a good experience but possibly the most terrifying part was the length of the lines we had to wait in!

• Carve pumpkins

Jack-o-latterns are the iconic Halloween symbol and the boys could not believe I’d never carved a pumpkin before! It was fun and messy (scooping pumpkin guts sure aint for sissies!) a great Fall night out on the patio with my Host family and Carlos, and his Jack Skellington creation even won second place in his work contest the next day.

• Jump in a leaf pile and take pictures

I love the colors of Fall and the crunch of the leaves and I love the boots and coats and snuggly scarves. I really love the joy Carlos’ managed to capture in this snapshot of my favorite things!

• Dress up for Halloween

Any one who knows me will attest to the fact that I love dressing up! It was  awesome experiencing trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with the boys…there is still a mountain of Halloween candy in the house. After hanging out with the kids we met up with some friends for drinks, I may be biased, but we sure made a pretty cute Little Red hood and the Big bad wolf!

• Bake fun Pinterest goodies

Ben had the day off school before Halloween so we got busy in the kitchen making these adorable peanut butter cup spider cookies and rice crispy pumpkins!

• Thanksgiving dinner

I shared my first Thanksgiving with Carlos and his family and it was a feast! I also had my first slice of pumpkin pie which was incredible…I’m glad that deliciousness will be around until Christmas! Cliche as it may seem it really did remind me how much I have to be thankful for, it’s always good to pause and take in what a blessing this life can be.

Fall has been a season of fun, love and amazing memories all wrapped up in a whole host of new experiences. At the same time it has also held some of the hardest things I’ve faced while being here; sadness, indecision and loss. Such are the seasons of life and I guess that’s the thing about fall; it’s so beautiful, despite the fact that everything is dying, but the trees show us the breathtaking beauty of letting things go…

 

A Sojourn in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle may be a movie classic, but last Wednesday proved to be Sleepless before Seattle for me, as I was so excited at the prospect of my impending adventure that I could barely sleep and tossed and turned in bed until an early 5am airport wake up.  For Carlos and I it was our first trip together and we made a whole host of wonderful memories.

Here are my top ten highlights of the trip:

Pacific science center

This was our very first stop of the trip and was filled with interesting and interactive exhibits. I loved the dinosaurs, was freaked out by the bugs and naked mole rats and totally grossed out by the “Grossology” exhibition, though according to the quiz game we played my gross general knowledge trumps his…win!

Space needle

The most famous Seattle attraction did not disappoint, in fact we did it twice! We went up for a night view on out first evening; the weather had cooled enough to have us pull our sweaters closed and cuddle together as we took in the 360° views of the beautiful lit up city. The next morning was clear and crisp and we had a clear view of the surrounding mountains as well as the city. A very touristy option,  but so worth it in my opinion!

Pike place market & Gum wall

A visit to Pike place market is also considered a tourist staple in Seattle; it is one of the oldest continuously running farmers markets in America and home of the very first Starbucks! I loved browsing around the quirky stores and seeing the food, fish and flower markets. We accidentally stumbled upon a little tea shop where we had Pumpkin spice Rooibos tea, a delightful taste of home mixed with my new Fall favourite! The Post alley gum wall was both gross and awesome, I was amazed by the sheer magnitude of gum left by other wanderers passing through and nervous that I would get my hair stuck to the wall! {because lets face it, if it were going to happen to anyone, it would be me!}

Seattle Aquarium

I enjoyed the hands on tide pools and the jelly fish arch display, but it was the Otters that really stole the show for me. Did you know they hold hands when they sleep so they don’t drift apart? Adorable…

Big Wheel

So maybe I’ve watched The Notebook a few too many times, but there is something inherently romantic about riding a Ferris wheel. Lovely views and some quiet time out together made this one a firm favourite.

Fall!

Okay, so technically not a place, but seeing the Fall in Seattle was definitely a highlight. The colours and the crunch of leaves underfoot made every walk we took beautiful!

Spooked in Seattle

This is not something I would have ordinarily done, but we found ourselves in the Pioneer Square district at night and had missed the regular underground tour, so when we passed this one it was a case of “why not?!”. We were guided around the streets by Anthony, our paranormal investigator tour guide who told us animated stories of the supposed hauntings in Seattle’s oldest district! Fascinatingly, many of the sidewalks are hollow as the city was originally built at sea level, though after being destroyed by a fire in 1889, was rebuilt above the original street levels. A trip into one of the underground sections was decidedly creepy, I was thankful for a hand to hold!

Bestie time!

Again, not a place but definitely a highlight! My oldest and dearest friend Elizabeth, her hubby Dave and their adorable son Caleb drove up from Portland to spend the weekend with us. The last time I saw her, Carlos and I had just met, so her and I spent a lot of time being giddy, giggling and trying to decode his words and signals…suffice to say, things have panned out rather well!

Experience Music Project

EMP is a fascinating experience and I was so grateful to share it with my bestie! Awesome art, interesting exhibits and interactive opportunities to experiment with different instruments and effects. Elizabeth and I spent our school days daydreaming about rock stars and here we are…

Fremont

Our final day was spent at the Sunday market in Fremont, the hipster capital! It made for great browsing and people watching, we had a photo-op with the Fremont troll and sat on the edge of the canal to enjoy a delicious lunch. A beautiful conclusion to a most wonderful weekend!

Charlie Brown says “In life it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with”  But a beautiful place with beautiful people? Now that’s priceless…

Food, F*R*I*E*N*D*S and the Fall

Well it’s officially Fall and I’m in my element, my crunchy-leafed, pumpkin-spiced element! I’ve mentioned before how I love the way Americans celebrate seemingly everything and I can’t help but feel excited as I see the stores getting stocked with Autumn-toned awesomeness. Of course I have my first Halloween and Thanksgiving to look forward to and all that goes with these new holidays. My poor Carlos is being very gracious in accommodating my our ever growing Fall bucket list and my matchy-matchy suggestions for Halloween costumes (he drew the line at anything involving tights though!). I’ve already scratched off one list item this week with my first ever Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte, which is just a cup of wonder, literally. (Although my name is still proving to be a struggle…)

The week seemed to fly by and before I knew it, Friday was upon me and I got to do one of my ultimate favorite things: cook for people! I just love to plan and prepare a meal and then enjoy it in great company, we had a Greek food feast where I cooked up a couple of dishes: keftedes, spanakopita, chicken souvlaki, pita bread & hummus, tzatzi, salad, dolmades and baklava for dessert. Opa! Sometimes the greatest joy is found in the simplest of things; Friday night, food and friends!

Speaking of Friends, on Saturday morning Carol and I toured Warner brothers, a very touristy choice, but we had such a fun morning seeing all the different sets and sound stages. My two favorite sitcoms are Friends and Big Bang Theory, so visiting Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment and Central Perk was amazing! We also got to see props, costumes and set pieces from The Batman and Harry Potter movie enterprises and visited the Ellen show set. As Carol prepares to wrap up her au pair years and head home to Brazil, I know it’s the days like these that will be the highlight reel of our time together.

With each new season (both literal and figurative) and each new experience I realize more than ever the blessing it is to have people to share these times with. Some times all you need in life are a couple of F-words…

You stay classy, San Diego!

Aaaaah, the quick get away, the girls’ weekend, the road trip…call it what you like this is the crown of au pair weekends. My latest such gem of weekend was heading down South to San Diego this weekend to explore, adventure and party!

On Friday after work Carol, Célia and I kicked off our trip, though since we caught all the afternoon traffic we arrived late enough just to check in at our hostel, a really quirky, hippy looking place right in the centre of the Gas lamp district. After a good night’s rest, we were ready to explore and we went walking down to Sea point village to browse in the stores, and of course get a good photo op with the famous “sailor kissing statue” (officially called Unconditional surrender).

We spent the morning taking the tour of the USS Midway museum, which was fascinating and definitely worth the time spent. Carol and I tried out the flight simulator, where you take turns to be the pilot or gunner in a Navy aircraft and we quickly discovered that we would not survive 10 seconds in a war situation! Good thing neither of us gets vertigo as the majority of our ‘flight’ was spent upside down shrieking “who’s flying the plane!?”. We’ll just stick to au pairing for now….

Being tired and hungry we took a bike cab to the Little Italy district, with a driver who made us laugh the whole way, we filled up on pizza, pasta and Sangria before having dessert that was nothing short of magical. We found a whimsical little French dessert place where we designed our own sweet creation on iPads. Hello {chocolate cake, chocolate gelato, vanilla cream, Oreo crumbles and caramel sauce in an M&M meringue crust}, where have you been all my life?

Next stop was the gorgeous Balboa park, where we caught a beautiful sunset as we strolled through the gardens before returning to the hostel to get ready for a night out. We signed up for a club crawl which had us visiting a couple of the popular clubs around the neighborhood where we danced the night away! I haven’t partied like that since my early University days; what a memorable girl’s night out!

Finally on Sunday morning we nursed our headaches as we tucked into the hostel’s pancake breakfast, before checking out and heading to Coronado beach for a refreshing swim in the beautiful blue Pacific.  Our last stop was Casa Guadalajara in Old town for a Mexican lunch and margaritas (because let’s face it, it wouldn’t be San Diego without tacos and tequila!).

After a refueling of gas and Starbucks we headed home, laughing and talking all through the drive, sharing stories, sharing memories, sharing life.  And that’s the news from sunny San Diego, after that report all that’s left is to sign off (in Ron Burgundy’s voice of course)

What I didn’t expect (in a weekend round-up)

Another lovely weekend has passed and it reminded me of some of the unexpected things that have been happening in my life during my adventure in America. A year ago I would never have pictured my life the way it is today, yet I would not change it for a moment.

I never expected to be part of an extended family…

One of the defining characteristics of the au pair program is that you are meant to be seen as part of the family you are living with, but I never expected to have an extended family that are so warm and embracing! On Thursday night we had a barbecue with, as Ben would say, “all our people”. My host family’s very first au pair, Mika, from Denmark was visiting and everyone came out to see her. I’ve experienced such love and welcoming from this family and to see that it extends for years after an au pair leaves really touched my heart. I can’t imagine leaving, but I also can’t wait to come back!

I never expected it to be so hard sometimes…

Friday was a crazy morning, somehow in the 90 minutes before leaving the house about 26.4 tantrums were thrown at various velocities for reasons ranging from having to put on pants to the ‘wrong kind of scrambled eggs’ being made for breakfast. Having been involved with kids for more than a decade I was perhaps arrogant enough to think I had it all down, I never expected to be driven so crazy! Yet the thing with kids is they seem to know just how to push you to the very precipice of pure insanity before reverting back to being adorable love bundles! I took the boys to the Santa Barbara Zoo where we had a great day hanging out with Mika as well as my friend Carol and her girls. It ended up being a wonderful day of dinosaur-show-watching, giraffe-feeding, animal-viewing and train- riding. Looking in my rear view mirror on the drive home it was hard to imagine that those two sleeping angels could ever do a single thing wrong….

I never expected to fall for someone…

On Saturday evening I had the most wonderful date with my boyfriend, Carlos, who took me to a painting night where we swirled wine in our glasses and Van Gogh skies on our canvases. Four months after meeting him I’m still surprised that even though we come from different worlds, we have so much in common. I never expected to meet someone, let alone someone who looks at my weird quirks and perpetual awkwardness and still smiles. Someone who makes me laugh everyday and challenges me to be a kinder, better person all the time. Knowing him is turning out to be one of my favorite adventures.

I never expected to make such genuine friends…

On Sunday I spent the day with Carol at Hurricane Harbor water park and had a super fun-filled day (where I was also far braver than I expected on some of the scary rides!) I knew I would make friends who I could spend time with and share activities, but I did not expect to be blessed with very dear friends with whom I can share life, both widely and deeply. Just like those water slides, this year has had some crazy twists and turns and it’s good to know someone is in the tube with you (and they’re possibly screaming too!).

If these seven months have been so much more than I expected I can’t imagine what the rest of my time here has in store!

I left my heart in San Francisco

If I were to rate the top weekends in my life, this one would be there without a doubt; it had minimum planning and maximum enjoyment and perhaps that’s wherein the wonder lay. There was music and art, food and drink, laughter and conversation, exploring and adventure…all the things that awaken the soul!

Back in April, my Colombian friend Laura and I  bought tickets to see Mumford & Sons at the Outside lands festival, we booked flights out and beds in a hostel. And that was it. While the planner in me was going crazy wanting to micro-manage every little arrangement, the spontaneous little hippy inside of me had to hold that uptight girl down and beat her with her own clipboard in order to keep her from going crazy making lists and colour coded schedules. I’m glad hippy-me won.

We landed in San Francisco early Friday morning and all I can say is thank God for Google and kind strangers! As directionally-challenged, US public transport rookies we soon found ourselves lost on a detour, but we eventually successfully navigated to the hostel to drop off our back packs and we made our way to the Golden Gate park for the festival.

 It was a gorgeous, sunny day and there was an infectiously happy vibe around the festival. We strolled around the park taking in both the natural beauty and that of the art on display. There was a plethora of amazing food choices (with even a dedicated ‘choco-land’ and ‘bacon-land’!) and plenty of craft beers and ciders on tap at “beer lands”.  Laura was excited to find Colombian food; so I got to sample delicious arepas, washed down with pineapple cider.

One of the quirks of the day was “camp grounded” a digital detox area where cellphones and digital devices were banned. I didn’t think it would be so challenging to go half an hour or so without my phone! There were arts and crafts to do, journalling prompts and my favourite; “the typewriter range” where I typed a little haiku to go. In another crazy moment we stumbled upon an interesting performance by face painted men in kilts and somehow ended up on stage singing along to an Irish drinking song! In embracing all we could of the day we had our faces painted and our hair  braided and headed to the main stage to catch the last two acts before the much awaited Mumford & Sons.

I cannot begin to explain the rush of seeing them live! out of thousands of people we were about 10 rows from the front and it was electric! Their two hour set was a whirlwind of singing and dancing, stirring melodies and poetic lyrics. I remember at one point feeling there was nothing more I could do than close my eyes, throw my head back and laugh my uncontrollable joy and wonder to stars.

I could have come home after that and still called it an epic weekend, but we still had two more days of exploring to do! And so we set out with our paper map of circled locations to navigate the city. We wandered through Chinatown (the largest in North America, with the greatest Chinese population outside of China) before riding one of the iconic cable cars down to Fisherman’s wharf, where we walked  and shopped before enjoying a famous sourdough bread bowl with clam chowder at Boudin bakery. Next stop was the bustling Pier 39 where we watched the sea lions lolling about on the docks before heading over to the famed Lombard street (apparently the most crooked street in the world with 8 hairpin bends in a one block section!). Other incidental finds for the day were the cable car museum, Yerba Buena Gardens and an innovative urban instillation called “whispering dishes” where you sit 50 feet away from your friend and can still hear them whispering! We fell into bed that night with aching feet and tired eyes after a full day of awesome discoveries.

On Sunday we took a train down to the Mission district to view the street art and mural projects. Not only did we see some beautiful art but in the mostly Latin-American neighborhood we found a little cafe stocking South American products, Laura found some Columbian treasures and I found Inca kola, a Peruvian soft drink I fell in love with during my 2012 visit there. It was every bit as delicious as I remembered, perhaps even more so after 3 years of anticipation! We hiked up a crazy steep hill to Billy-goat park, a tiny hidden treasure with beautiful views of the city before finally making our way to the big one: the Golden Gate bridge. It truly is magnificent and we were so blessed to visit it on a completely clear day with no clouds to obstruct it grandeur from view.

When we finally made it back to the airport (this time with no navigation issues; we had became pros) we both sighed contented, loaded sighs and agreed it was one of the most perfect weekends.

I’ve long echoed this thought, that ‘I am in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met’ and San Francisco definitely stole my heart. I fell in love with the city, but more so, I fell in love with myself; with the girl who laughs, sings and dances, the girl who talks to strangers and doesn’t necessarily always have a plan, the girl who wanders, but is not lost.  The girl with grace in her heart and flowers in her hair…

And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

-Mumford & Sons, After the storm.