i talk to myself and it's quite surprising

I had an excellent and productive first day of the retreat. I woke up unusually early for me, but I'm sure it's because of the timezones + the fact that I can hear people moving around and others are also early risers. So, I made a quick and dirty iced coffee with a Starbucks Via packet, and then I wrote in bed for an hour and a half while watching the ocean through my window. Yes, you should be jealous.

After that, I took a shower, grabbed a second iced coffee from the actual Starbucks down the street, and got a mani/pedi. I didn't completely love it, mostly because I have sensitive toes and they were too aggressive with cutting / filing - but it felt great to get my nails done for the first time in almost three months. My bougie ways are really suffering in the country, but it's probably good for me.

sssanyway, while I was getting my nails done, I started reading a book called SATURNALIA - so far so good, and I like her depiction of a Pennsylvania after a lot of climate disasters. After the mani/pedi, I came back to the house, ordered a poke bowl to get delivered, and ate it on the rooftop while chatting with Veronica and Barbara. Then, I thought about writing and instead took a long and delicious nap.

I spent the late afternoon in a long business-focused brainstorming / sharing session - I got some good ideas, but at this stage in the game I really need to be thinking about writing more than about tracking URLs. Then, we ordered food, which is a trick for fifteen people, but we managed (mostly by getting from two different restaurants - my Mediterranean was tasty, so #noregrets).

I spent the later half of the evening talking to Grace and Sylvie, and hoping that Sylvie will be my new friend coming out of this retreat (I'll probably make more friends than that, but Sylvie seems to be a winner). I also chatted a bit with Barbara and Anne, but I missed out on both the hot tub (because I was too cold) and a game of Cards Against Humanity (because they don't need to find out yet that I'm evil).

And then I came to my room and wrote a couple more pages, and now it's officially time for bed - goodnight!

old teeth and a curse for this town

I inadvertently stayed up too late and I'm falling asleep on my couch as I type this, but I had a v. nice day all in all. The last couple of months have been almost absurd in terms of what I've been able to do - between my dad being in the hospital a couple of months ago + my surgery immediately after that, followed by two weeks in Iowa and almost two weeks in Tahoe / SF, this really was my first weekend day here since August when I could actually lift things / walk around / hang out without my belly hurting. So, that was pretty exciting!

I mostly spent it thinking about food - I haven't cooked much at home in forever, mostly because of the aforementioned issues (and cooking when you can't lift more than ten pounds is not ideal). So I made a sweet potato and sausage hash this morning - it's one of my go-tos that I somehow haven't had in months, and it was delicious. Then I went to H Mart in Westminster in search of ingredients to try some new-to-me recipes. H Mart is a Korean supermarket with all sorts of imported Asian food products - and I always feel like it's amateur hour when I go there, since I don't know where anything is and spend a lot of time searching for things in the wrong place. For example, the dried anchovies were not at all where I expected them to be (and not at all something I usually buy). So, my shopping trip took a big chunk of time. But I got some cute little housewares along with the food products, and I got a milk tea to drink on the way home, so that was fun.

When I got home, I did a bunch of stuff around the house. Then, my new neighbors came over for a drink and some snacks - so far they seem nice, and I think we'll get along great. After they left, I put the dried anchovies to use - I'm going to try making soft tofu soup tomorrow, and it requires a dashi (stock) of water, dried kelp, and dried anchovies. I've never cooked with dried anchovies before, but pulling their heads off and removing the inner waste (similar to deveining shrimp) was oddly satisfying, and the dashi smelled amazing. So hopefully tomorrow's experiment turns out well.

I then ended the evening by looking at furnishings for my Iowa house, which was a fun exercise even if it's just an endless series of things that say they'll ship next July. And now I really should sleep - goodnight!

white knuckles and sweaty palms from hanging on too tight

Today was better than yesterday....not a ton better at the office, but I had some downtime that allowed me to get a few things done so it was better than nothing. The new office space makes me v. happy - the food in our new cafe is excellent, and it's nice having a barista area to work in (it makes me feel, momentarily, that I'm #funemployed instead of working for the man).

But I was also happy because I left at 4:30 to drive into Denver - I had a dinner that I got invited to by someone on LinkedIn, and it appeared that the group was mostly comprised of other fairly senior female leaders in tech, finance, science, etc. I didn't know anyone there (the person who invited me was the founder of the group, but she's based in NYC), but it was good to step outside of my comfort zone and the Boulder bubble and meet some new people.

The dinner was at Beatrice and Woodsley, which was a v. hip, SF-style restaurant near 1st and Broadway (which is also a far hipper environment than Boulder...I stayed near there in an airbnb when I was exploring moving here, and I probably would have moved to that area if I wasn't working in Boulder). There were about 35 women there in total, with a wide variety of experiences and interests, and I mostly really enjoyed it (even though it was a lot of small talk). I met some cool people, had some great food, and exchanged numbers at the end with a woman who seemed fun, so it was worth the drive.

But now it's 11:30 and I'm desperate for sleep - goodnight!

luck of the irish

I suddenly have a headache, so I'm going to bed and hope it will clear it up before I wake up. Today was good enough - I had a bunch of meetings, then lunch with Aga and Andrea, and then I cleared out of work at 1:30 so I could spend some time in Dublin. I walked down to the Chester Beatty Library, where I wandered around the exhibits for an hour or two - it's more of a museum than a library, and it was lovely (although I'd been there in 2006). Then I went to Avoca and bought some wool socks and a throw blanket. And then I went to a pub, where I ordered shepherds pie and a Guinness because I felt like I should (which is probably why I have the headache)...

...but the shepherds pie really wasn't that good, and so when I got a message from Aga asking if I wanted to have dinner with her and her sister, I abandoned the rest of it + half my beer and met up with them instead. Second dinner was much better (tasty fish and a salt cod croquette), and it was fun to meet her sister and hang out for a couple of hours.

Then we walked back to the hotel, and I took a v. brief nap before packing my stuff and doing a tiny bit of work. And now it's bedtime...I was supposed to fly out at 9:20am tomorrow, but I changed my flight to leave at 12:30, which means I can get a decent amount of sleep before heading to the airport. Yay me. Goodnight!

all the leaves are brown

I'm back in the US after a v. v. long couple of days. When last I blogged, it was late Thursday night my time...and now it's Sunday afternoon in India, but it's 1am on Saturday in San Francisco. In those intervening hours, there were no beds - only planes, ubers, lyfts, airports, and a brief visit to the Singapore office.

My flight from Hyderabad to Singapore was glorious, if only because it was less than half full and the flight attendants invited me to move to the back and claim a whole row to myself - which was long enough for me to be able to lie down, so I got a little more sleep than I might have. But it definitely wasn't enough - I arrived in Singapore feeling slightly like death, and I went straight to the office to try to recuperate. Luckily I work at a place where offices can help with recuperation - the Singapore office is one of the nicest I've been to anywhere, and the breakfast was to die for (all gluten, so literal dying, but soooo yummy). In a real shock, I ran into an old friend at breakfast (Tania, who worked with me and dear respected madam like ten years ago), so we caught up for fifteen minutes or so, which was great.

Then I answered a bunch of emails, drank as much caffeine as my heart could handle, and took a shower before meeting and having lunch with a team I'm going to be working with in Singapore. Then I answered a few more emails, had coffee with someone from that team, and went back to the airport, where I went back through customs, explored duty free, and had dinner and a bunch of wine at Wolfgang Puck before boarding.

The next eighteen hours passed in a blur - I slept pretty solidly from Singapore to Hong Kong, then went through security to get back on the place and continue the journey. From Hong Kong to SF I slept some more, had a nice chat with the woman sitting next to me (about to graduate from business school at Berkeley and looking at jobs in Singapore - I gave her unsolicited career advice, mostly in the form of 'whatever you do, don't take the job you're considering', but I doubt she'll heed it), read a book (PEAK, about the value of practice in improving performance, which seems obvious now that I write it like that), journaled, slept some more, etc., etc., etc.

Arrival in the US was seamless, thanks to Global Entry, and my CBP guy was friendly, so that was pleasant. Then I took a lyft into the city, checked into my hotel, wanted to crash immediately, and instead forced myself to sort through my clothes, unpack a bit, and figure out what/whether I need to wash anything to get myself through next week.

I also took a melatonin, and I'm hoping it kicks in so I can sleep eight hours - yes, I'm living the dream. Goodnight!

you better run for the hills before they burn

Today felt endless - I woke up this morning, was at the office by 8:30 (okay, 8:34), and was in meetings all morning/early afternoon. However, one of those meetings was a three-hour training that I could listen to from my desk, which I promptly used as a block to do some of my crazy involved expense reports, etc.

But I skipped out at 2:50 to have coffee with a friend of Natasha's who is looking for a job - and that turned into a cocktail across the street, since we had a lot to talk about (and I'm desperate for friends). Then I went back to work for one final meeting, then went to Walgreens to stock up on things for my respiratory/digestive/reproductive tracts (India requires inhalers, antibiotics, immodium, etc., along with ear plugs and face wipes and emergenc-y and my usual birth control).

By the time I got home I just wanted to crash, but I forced myself to finish unpacking my kitchen - and now it looks awesome, so I'm glad I did. Of course, I still have empty boxes everywhere in the dining area, and the living room is still a mess - but perhaps I'll take care of that tomorrow night. It would be ideal if the downstairs was in some semblance of order by the time I leave, but I'm making no promises.

Then, at 10:30, I did a bit more work, which turned into an hour and a half of slogging. This is my fault for not setting better boundaries...or for being too interested in the job and wanting to get to know it better, which is perhaps beginning to be too much to the detriment of the rest of my life. But we all know I tend to be a bit all-or-nothing with my focus, and at the moment, I'm all-in on this.

Now, though, I need to be all-in on sleep - goodnight!

backstroke everyday in chicago

I had a v. productive day in Denver - still no writing, but I'm getting closer to some decisions. I woke up this morning and showered in time to vacate the house when Katie left for work - but we went together to Black Eye (a coffeeshop), where we worked/talked while having coffee (a tasty pourover for me, which was way too hipster but also way too good) and breakfast (her pork tacos looked awesome but the tortillas were flour; I had bacon and eggs, which sufficed).

Then, I left her to go to Boulder - I had an appointment to look at an apartment, and I really liked it a lot. So much so that we have a gentlemen's agreement for me to rent it - he didn't have a copy of the lease on him, and also there's still a bit of work to be done (new counters, then installing the appliances), but the space was exactly what I wanted - quiet side street but still close to stuff to do; outdoor decks but no yard maintenance; large kitchen and nice living room/dining area so I can cook (and eventually entertain if I make any friends here); and extra space so I can have an office. He's also a real estate agent and very graciously told me that if he sells me a house, he won't charge me for breaking my lease to move out of the apartment - that's not in the cards immediately, but I admire his hustle.

So, that was all fun, and I felt really good about finding a place. It may seem hasty to rent the first place that I saw...but this isn't my first trip to the apartment rental rodeo, and I'm pretty good at assessing a city's available inventory through deep, hours-long stalking of rental sites and property values.

Then, of course, I needed to go window shopping for furniture - I need to buy a bed and a couch as the first orders of business, so I spent some quality time exploring Boulder's mall scene (verdict: every store I need, and by that I mean there was a Sephora). Then I drove back to Denver and met up with Katie - we worked at another coffee shop, then checked out a jewelry shop that she loves before coming home.

But I didn't stay here all evening like I usually do - I ate some quesadillas with Katie and the girls, but then I drove to Littleton (a southern suburb) to go to a book reading/signing at Tattered Cover. My friend Sherry (whom I visited in Austin) was in town to talk about her latest book and do a signing, so I went to be supportive. Her talk was great, and I got a book signed by her before joining her and her literary agent and the agent's employees for dinner at a nearby Chinese/Japanese restaurant. So, that was super fun (and tasty)....but after getting back to Katie's at 10:30 and then talking to Katie and James until after eleven, and then stupidly browsing furniture sites until midnight, it's definitely time for bed - goodnight!

i'm still waiting for it

So much for detoxing...I blame Aunt B and the magnum of red wine she took to her neighbor's 4th of July party, which we drank almost all of. The rest of my day was great and v. relaxing (I got 9+ hours of sleep! which felt like a super indulgence since it's been a long time since I didn't have to get up and be anywhere), but now I need to sleep so that I can get up and try detoxing again tomorrow. Goodnight!

it always comes as a surprise when i feel my withered roots begin to grow

I have come to associate Boston with somehow being both incredibly delighted and nauseatingly full. This is, of course, all Ritu's fault.

I could probably end the blog post there, but in the interest of posterity, I'll continue. I woke up at four a.m. thinking it was nine, but that was a trick played by my jetlag, so I slept fitfully until eight. Then I stumbled out of bed and talked to Ritu - we caught up on many tings while she force-fed me berries and yogurt and cheese and chocolate and tea and coffee. Then Bill woke up, at which point the champagne started, and didn't really stop until it was time to shower.

Our main plan for the day was a decadent 2:30pm 'brunch' at Bistro du Midi. I had two cocktails, tuna tartare, a delicious burger with goat cheese, and some sorbet, and was thus completely stuffed. At that point my body thought it was eleven p.m., and so when Ritu suggested that we walk in the park across the street from the restaurant, we walked for approximately five minutes before I sat down and then promptly took a nap in the grass. #noregrets

Eventually, I forced myself awake (Bill also fell asleep, and Ritu amused herself by taking pictures of us, apparently). Ritu's friends Anne and Dan showed up, and we started talking, and kept talking until I suddenly demanded water so that I wouldn't die. So we walked down the street, I drank water from a public fountain and probably got cholera, got some more water at a Nespresso store, and then took the train toward Ritu's house, where we all went to a bar and sat outside and enjoyed conversation and tater tots. It was a perfectly gorgeous, summery day in Boston (mid-80s, which made for a great night), so we sat outside until it eventually started sprinkling, and then Anne and Dan went home.

Of course, Ritu couldn't let us stop eating after that, so Bill, Ritu, and I went down the street to a cook-your-own Japanese barbecue place. I was still so full that I had a sprite and some miso soup and a bit of rice just to get Ritu from trying to force me to eat anything else (this strategy was only marginally successful). Then we came home, Bill expressed shock at the amount of washi tape I've been traveling with, and we listened to a bunch of Billy Joel.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

don't love me

Given that I didn't go to bed until after two last night, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I slept until 10:30. When I woke up, I didn't really want to see people or eat anything, so I made a cup of tea in my room and started rereading my book to work on heavy edits. I was blissfully reading for about an hour, thinking maybe I should just stay in bed all day, when I accidentally spilled my tea in my bed (first time I've ever done that, after years of precarious habits).

So, that put a damper on my lazy day. I stripped the sheets quickly to dry off the mattress protector before the tea could seep through, then took a shower since I was covered in tea as well. At that point I was starting to get hungry, so I went downstairs, made some eggs and toast, and then made some coffee and worked most of the afternoon. This mostly involved reading/editing, along with some desultory chats with Philippa (the film/book agent who I really like a lot).

But around 4:30 I was beginning to think that fresh air would help, so I went outside, wandered around the neighborhood, found an organic grocery store I didn't know about, and stocked up on some stuff. Then I came back, threw it in the fridge, and ordered Thai food instead of cooking. I then spent some time talking to Penny (whom I've mentioned before) and some new guy whose name I don't remember (let's call him Mansplainer...although that's a little harsh, since he was also entertaining). We got into a rather deep conversation about feminism and romance novels, with some delightful (for me to watch) subtext involving Penny and the guy flirting with each other, so that was all fun.

But I abandoned them to their flirtations, came upstairs, and read the rest of what I wanted to get through tonight. I also answered some emails and used some eye mask product under my eyes - on this trip I've gotten repeated astonished comments about my age and how I don't look thirty-five (enough comments that I don't think it's a fluke), and I want to keep it that way. But sleep is probably the better option for revitalizing my face - goodnight!

cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war

Today was as awesome as yesterday wasn't. I woke up and went straight to community breakfast, where Michelle had made me buckwheat pancakes (buckwheat, unlike wheat, is gluten free, and the pancakes were really tasty). Then, I wrote for a couple of hours - in the middle of the night I had a massive breakthrough on something that had blocked me for months, and I was definitely in the flow. I also met Philippa, who is here for the London Book Fair but hasn't participated in any community activities due to an unfortunate illness...and it was one of those serendipitous business-type encounters that can't be planned, but are still good regardless.

However, I had to slough off early - I had tickets to a 4pm play that lasted six hours, and I was *this close* to skipping it. I'd booked it two months ago, and wasn't all that excited to stop working and go...but I went, and I'm so glad I did because it was one of the best plays I've ever seen in my life. It was called 'Roman Tragedies', and a Dutch theatre troupe combined three Shakespeare plays (Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra) into one six-hour extravaganza. This sounds like it could be miserable. But 1) the acting was *incredible*, 2) the 21st century update was perfect, with lots of newsroom-style footage and clips of Trump, JFK, Mandela, etc., and 3) most importantly, you only had to stay in your seat for the first 20mins and the last 90mins. For the entire rest of the performance, you could either stay in your seat, or you could actually go up on stage, sit on couches or mingle around, order wine from the bars (which were also on the stage), and generally get a crazy intense up-close view of the action (both from watching the actors up close, and also from all the tv screens scattered around the stage).

It was inventive, interesting, thought-provoking, and led to a lot of consideration of fame, media, the news, and human nature. There's so much more I would say about it, but I'm tired and also had three glasses of wine, so I'm going to stop myself here. Suffice it to say that I stayed the full six hours and am so glad I went -- the stories that resonated 2000 years ago are the same stories that resonated for Shakespeare 500 years ago, and they resonate for us now, and there's a power to that that can't be explained (but that I am fascinated by).

And now, after coming home and eating peanut butter toast to make up for the fact that my dinner was a bag of chips and three glasses of wine, I need to sleep - goodnight!

i want to know, have you ever seen the rain

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record - you may be able to guess that today I mostly hung around the house and wrote. However, I also did laundry, and I took a break to have a cappuccino and a gluten free blueberry muffin at my favorite cafe (which happens to also be the closest cafe, but the fact that it has great coffee and mostly gluten free baked goods makes it a total winner). I spent a bit of time writing in my journal there, and it was pretty winning. Then I came back and worked until 6:30 or so.

But eventually I took a break to make tea and say goodbye to Dane (people leave all the time in this world; I also said goodbye to Malika today, but then replaced her with Nicole, because #lawofconservationoffriends). Then I had a tiny amount of whisky with Nicole and Sadek (Sadek rolled in with a bottle of Johnnie Walker gold label), and then eight of us went for a late dinner at a place called Big Easy, which pretends to be American. I had the lobster special, which was a 1lb lobster, fries, and a slushie alcoholic lemonade for £20. The place was entertaining, but we were seated literally two feet from the band (I couldn't push my chair back because it was up against the 'stage', which was an alcove the size of a closet), which defeated some attempts at conversation.

We got back around 10:30, and I procrastinated online until now, but I believe sleep is calling. Don't worry, though - my calendar is getting more interesting as I start to plan stuff, so these posts should get a bit more engaging (don't hold your breath, though). Goodnight!

number one chick when i step out on the scene

Today was supremely boring for you - I spent most of it working, which is, I suppose, what I should be doing. I took a break in the late afternoon to go to a grocery store and buy stuff to make a salad for tonight's community dinner - and I found black beans, so I think I'll make chili at some point this weekend. Then I came back and worked for a couple more hours, and I really didn't want to take a break to go to the community dinner...but I did anyway.

I'm finding that I'm not really gelling as quickly here as I did in Bali. It's not exactly a bad thing, but it feels a little strange. I think part of it may be that I'm in hardcore finish-the-book mode right now, and as those of you who've seen me in finish-the-book mode know, I'm not always capable of verbalizing things because I'm using all my words on the page. This makes small talk with strangers really tough and unappealing. So, this is a good lesson for the future: if I can plan out my deadlines more carefully/farther in advance, I should plan for the last two weeks of a book to happen when I'm somewhere either alone, or with someone who understands my energy.

But that's not to say I'm not making friends. I had fun at the community dinner, and then a bunch of us sat around and played Cards Against Humanity (the UK version, which has different cards!). I came close to winning, but Malika came from behind at the last minute. Then I came upstairs, and now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

i found someone to carry me home tonight

So much for not making friends. I had a pretty productive day today, and was mostly happy with what I got done, even though I got up a little later than I had been getting up (maybe the jetlag is wearing off). I also took a break to give twenty minutes of my time to someone who's doing a dissertation on coliving spaces, so she filmed an interview with me. And I walked down the street and got a cappuccino and a gluten free blueberry muffin, and that all made me v. happy.

But at 5:30 or 6 I went downstairs to make tea and consider what to do about the book, and I started talking to some people, and that turned into dinner at a Lebanese place with Jenn (who has worked for the Kardashians as a social media person), Jenn's friend Marianne (who is like 10-12 years younger than us and whom she met in Paris at some random meetup), Malika, Georgi, and Genevieve (Georgi and Genevieve just showed up for the weekend, and they seem super fun; Malika is also really cool). The food was excellent, but the service was slow, so we were there for over two hours - but it was all vastly entertaining.

Then we came back and went to the kitchen and merged with another party, and I opened a bottle of wine to share with Malika (the Lebanese place was dry, so my first drink was at ten p.m.), and I ended up going with Malika, another Sara, Johan, and Dane until after two a.m. But I had to go to bed before them - I usually try to hang until the bitter end, but I need to sleep so that I can get some work done tomorrow. This was already waaaaay later than I planned to stay up - I'd turned down plans with Gemma (from Bali, who lives in London) because I didn't want to stay up late tonight, but I of course screwed that vow up. Goodnight!

smoke on the water

Second-to-last night in Bali, and the last full night of sleep I'll get, so I should probably enjoy my bed while I can. I spent today working and taking care of business (where business = pleasure); I got up in time to be upstairs and working by 8:15, which is rare for me. But I spent the morning writing, while have a smoothie for breakfast (which turned into an ant apocalypse as they all swarmed my glass after I was done) and nasi goreng for lunch.

Then I took a motorbike taxi to Yoga Barn, where I had a 90-minute massage. The guy was really talented, and he also did a lot of stretching stuff with me, so my body felt great by the end. Then I had a late afternoon snack there while writing some more, and it was all feeling delightful, and I could have happily hermited out the rest of the day...

But instead, I came back here, showered, and then had a glass of wine on the roof with some people. Then, a few of us went out for dinner - we ended up at Hujan Locale, which is a v. trendy spot near Seniman Coffee. It's Indonesian fusion, and while my cocktail (an old-fashioned type) was good, I thought my risotto was a little bland (although adding the spicy sambal helped). We also joked about me burning my bridges with everyone here since it's my last couple of days - they can all apparently see the writing on the wall when it comes to my method of dealing with departures (pretend you're not leaving until the very end, then say something super awkward and disappear).

Tamara, Xavier, and Xiao all had to work after, but Talesh, Meg, Erin and I decided to grab a drink at Night Rooster (the place I went yesterday) since I'd talked it up so much, and it was #worthit. Then we came home, and now I need to sleep - I must do all the packing tomorrow, and get cash, and say goodbye to people, and write a bunch. Wish me luck with that - goodnight!

sugar coma

Nothing to report - I got up late because I'd stayed up late, and then I had lunch at Juno's, and then I wrote all afternoon. For dinner, I went with several people (including a new person, since apparently I have to keep making friends right up to the last moment) to Room4Dessert, which was tasty (again), but took waaaay too long. We ordered some regular food to start, and then we shared the 'full tasting', which was all nine desserts on the list - and rather than bringing them out smorgasbord style, they brought each dessert one at a time, with 10-15mins between each one, which took forever (so long we had to call our taxi and tell him not to come yet).

And then we got home, and I wrote for another hour, but I've hit the wall hard and need to sleep. Goodnight!

through the storm we reach the shore

Today was rather delightful, although it started with a hangover and ended with a rainstorm. I woke up later than intended, after spending an ill-advised hour at four a.m. reading twitter (please take my phone away from me), and then I showered and tidied up before venturing out of my room. My first task was to make tea, and while I was making tea I met some new Aussie guy who just showed up - he's something of a tech bro and seems to be investing in startups, but also makes money via airbnb, and he wants to write an ebook. This all sounds vomit-worthy, but he was more interesting than that bio made it sound, and he's here for a month, so I'm sure our paths will cross again.

Then I went upstairs and ate some nasi goreng (breakfast/lunch/dinner of Roam champions) and messed around online. I also had a long, delightful conversation with Tamara, who's also a writer...but I cut it short to have a video call with Adit (no one calls him the cat). We were talking about this book idea, and so we came up with some actions and next steps, which I'm pretty excited about.

But I couldn't work on it this afternoon - I needed to work, rather desperately, on my historical instead. So I packed up my stuff and went to Lazy Cats, taking a risk since it had been very rainy/windy earlier and looked like it might be rainy/windy again. In fact, it was so relatively cool/windy that I wore jeans today for the first time since arriving in Bali, which was a fun departure from my strange tropical wardrobe.

Lazy Cats was great for my productivity, and I would have happily stayed there even longer, but there were drinks planned tonight for Mandy, whom I haven't mentioned here before and will likely never mention here again since she's leaving tomorrow morning. I'd be totally happy if our paths crossed again, but one never knows. So I walked to No Mas, which is a second-floor bar with a cool vibe (and the dreaded live music, which is always too loud, although these guys were pretty good despite the volume). A whole bunch of people showed up, and it was all v. relaxed and desultory....

But the music was loud, as I said, and I was on the verge of going home (in fact, I had just settled my bill), when Clayton and this British guy he'd met on a volcano this morning at three a.m. and I decided to go get another drink (and food for me, since I hadn't eaten dinner). This slowly morphed into almost everyone from the original gathering ending up across the street at Art Cafe, which was much, much quieter. I had a glass of red wine and a tasty chicken sandwich, and I got into a super deep conversation about US and British politics with Alex, Sanj, Tamara, and volcano guy (whose name is Tom).

Alex and Sanj left abruptly to take Sanj to a late-night clinic before she died of diarrhea issues, but the rest of us stayed until eleven and continued to enjoy ourselves. I also got Tom's info, since he grew up in Devon (which is where my latest series is set) and said he'd send me some recs of places to go/things to explore while I'm in London, which would be lovely. And then we all parted ways - Tom (volcano guy) went off to wherever he's staying, and six of us grabbed a taxi. Just as we were piling into the taxi, it started to drizzle - and just as we got back to the hotel, the downpour started and we all risked getting soaked running from the car to the door. Rather fitting way to end the day, since I'd avoided getting wet all day and was feeling too smug about it.

And now I need to sleep - I need to be productive in the morning, since Clayton's birthday + going-away drinks are tomorrow (there are going-away drinks alllll the time in a situation like this) and I've convinced him to do them at the Four Seasons since I'm a fancy bitch and want to check that place out. Goodnight!

you look as good as the day i met you

I have a massive headache, so I think I need to stop staring at the screen and go to bed - but I think the headache came from too much sugar and not enough moving around, so presumably I'll be better tomorrow. I had intended to walk into town today for some fresh air and a chance of scene, but I got up too late (see: last night's unintended cocktails), and I could tell that we were headed for another storm this afternoon, so I didn't want to venture out and get soaked. I really don't mind, generally, that I'm here during the rainy season, but it would certainly change the pattern and flavor of my days if I wasn't subjected to a tropical downpour at some point almost every afternoon.

But being stuck in this part of tropical paradise and not being able to go to a different coffee shop in the same tropical paradise is really not a big deal. And I got some real writing done today - not nearly enough words, but a significant chunk of time put into it (and a breakthrough on one of the turning points of the story, which isn't at all what I thought it was, which means rewriting...but that's how it always goes). I also had some brief, lovely afternoon conversations - a whatsapp convo with someone on the homefront, and a couple of conversations with Nadia while getting snacks/water/tea in the kitchen (she's fascinating and entertaining and possibly even more of a secret misanthrope than I am, which I find delightful).

There was a community dinner tonight, but I wasn't feeling it - I wanted to keep working, and also didn't want to eat what was on the menu, so I snuck away by myself to Pacha Mama and had some delish vegetarian Mexican (you know I love the place, since I've been there four times in the past twelve days). I worked on zee book for another hour while I was there, and I was just wrapping up my work and my meal when Clayton and Sarah showed up. So I hung out with them while they ate, and we ended up having some flambed banana dish that was total perfection. The chef is actually from Mexico, and he's expanding the upstairs into a cevicheria, but it won't be open before I leave...so I'll just have to plan to come back next year.

When we got home, I spent the last hour and a half answering emails and taking care of administrative tasks while the internet was working. And now I'm going to sleep and try to get up early so that I can spend some time outside in the morning before the usual rainstorm - goodnight!

i don't know how to talk to you

Internet continues to be incredibly sporadic, but today was a fabulous day (no internet required). I got up, read, showered, and went to Yellow Flower Cafe, which is a few minutes up a footpath from here and looks out over the most gorgeous scenery - and my omelette was also the best omelette I've had here, so it fueled a couple of hours of great writing while sitting at the cafe and taking it all in.

Then I came back here and took a break that wasn't quite as cool as expected since the power went out - the infrastructure has been surprisingly stable since I've been here, but the rain is taking its toll, and so the power and internet were both messed up. But I wrote some more and had a smoothie, and then I took a break from my oh-so-difficult life to get a massage.

The massage was at Tamarind, which is walking distance from here (albeit up a super steep hill with steps cut into the middle of the road, so I showed up sweaty). I had an hour massage followed by an hour of foot reflexology, and the foot massage was super intense - but it was all so good that I booked another massage with them for a couple of weeks out.

On the way home, I was halfway here when the heavens opened up and it started pouring, so I ducked into the nearest place - a bar that turned out to be the most gorgeous emergency bar I've ever been in. The bar/restaurant are on several levels of a cliff overlooking a ravine with a rushing river, with lots of trees and other growth stretching up on the terraced cliffs around the restaurant. So I sat overlooking the water and had a glass of wine and read a book for an hour on my phone, and it was as perfect as it could be.

Then I came back to the hotel and showered and intended to work all night...but it was Xavier's birthday, and while I didn't know Xavier at all ten days ago, it felt important to go out and celebrate. So nine of us ended up at Element, where I'd gone last night when I was craving a beef burger - and we made far too much use of their two-for-one cocktails. So much use that we all ordered two cocktails to start, which meant we were all double fisting from the beginning. The cocktails ended up being $3 each, and I unintentionally had four...so this will be the cheapest hangover I've had in awhile.

sssanyway. Dinner was delish (although I had a chicken burger this time), and I enjoyed the evening. Then I came back here and accidentally fell asleep before blogging, which I've now rectified. And now I need to go back to bed - goodnight!

the ants go marching two by two

I should've gone to bed ages ago, but I stayed up talking to my parents, and then I messed around with booking massages at a couple of places I've wanted to try (my life is hard). However, today was good, all in all. I wasted most of the morning in bed, but I was quite productive in the afternoon. I also spent quite a bit of time talking to another Sarah here (there are three of us here right now, which is too many) - she and I have a lot of uncanny parallels in our lives, so it felt like one of those quick, deep connections that I would term a 'summer camp friend' (although some of my 'summer camp friends', especially among the India expat group, became real, lifelong friends, so ymmv). And we had a drink to say goodbye to Leonie, who was going back to Switzerland tonight - the weird thing about a situation like this is that people come and go, and the goodbyes are already starting even as I'm meeting new people all the time.

But I stopped working and went out for dinner eventually - a group of six of us ended up going to Moksa, which was a 10-15min walk from the hotel. The walk started off on the road, which turned into a motorcycle-friendly road/path, which turned into a footpath (that people still took motorbikes down, but it was too narrow for that), that turned into a sidewalk with open holes for drainage (not the safest thing in the dark). But Moksa is out in the middle of the fields from which they grow their own vegetables, and it's a vegan place that comes v. highly recommended.

The restaurant itself is gorgeous, and their plating is outstanding, as per usual in Bali. I had the raw Vietnamese spring rolls to start, which were tasty, and then I had the 'purple scallopini' as my main course - it was a couple of thick rounds of purple sweet potato, grilled, and plated with tomato, zucchini, eggplant, and some balsamic. It was delicious and gorgeous, although I joked that I probably burned all the calories from the meal just walking there and back - which was probably true since I just ate chocolate at 1am like a crazy person (I never crave chocolate in the middle of the night - and this was more of a craving for steak than chocolate, but you take what you can get).

Dinner was delightful, though, and I'm glad I tried it. Then I came back here, messed around online, considered whether I could catch the gecko currently living in my bathroom (verdict: no), and called my parents. And now I need to sleep - I have goals for tomorrow and they're not going to accomplish themselves. Goodnight!