I was born near an ocean. I don't know when my first plane trip was, but at age 2 we flew to Canada to visit relatives. It was my first time out of the tropics and it snowed. I told my parents the sky was broken. The first time I moved to a different country was age 3.
I'm adding miso to a lot of unexpected things lately with good success. I don't know what I'm serving this week, though.
How unexpected?! I want details
Not terribly unexpected. I just add it for richness any time something needs salt and umami. Yesterday I made chicken and dumplings. That isn't something I usually make because I find it bland so I threw in a 1/3 cup of miso (and cut back the salt). I could have gone with more.
It all started because of an apple sauce / miso ham glaze I ate over the holidays.
Based on what I see, all girls wear either leggings, baggy jeans, or athletic shorts on the bottom and crop tops, oversized Ts, or hoodies on the top, adjusted for levels of modesty as appropriate.
This is what I see and what my 12 year old wears
(minus the crop tops - she's tall for her age and long waisted so I tell her she can get regular length shirts if she wants to wear something cropped. Cropped Ts show almost a foot of stomach on her instead of the inches on her friends). Urban Outfitters is her group's favorite store but most of her clothes come from old navy and target (half of urban outfitters doesn't pass my smell test and the other half is more than I'm spending on something she'll outgrow next month.) There is a Salt Tree at the mall. 95% of the stuff is off limits, but the oversized hoodies/tops that do work are dirt cheap.
A few fun accessories might make her feel more like her peers.
I wasn't sure where to put this but since we just started our legislative session in CT yesterday I thought I'd start a thread for discussing state and local issues.
i wonder if there is something about how flhighway on and off ramps are built in Connecticut. Around me, it would take a a lot of effort to make this error. On ramps are usually set up gentle and natural while entering a off ramp would require sharp, strange turns.
Fellow Michigander - when we went in May, jeans and long sleeve tees were fine. A fleece for evenings. This was 5 or 6 years ago.
Another Michigander here and I went in March and was fine with what I'd consider my winter coat for short walks into stores during winter.
That would be more than enough for any day in SF. People around here don't really have proper winter coats. It's when someone forgets to layer over a long sleeve t-shirt that they get it trouble. The weather is never that cold. It's just colder than visitors expect in May/June/July/August.
However, it's the opposite if you come in Jan/Feb. The temperature is often around the same as a cool June day so visitors are amazed at how warm it is.
Outdoor dining works year round - and needs a heat lamp year round.
My grandma was famous for going to her niece's wedding and writing a new check (present) in the lady's room after seeing the spread. Grandma was very upset that the only food was balogna sandwiches and I kind of can't blame her.
If we were going to an event for someone my husband knew, he would ask me how much he should write for a check as the gift. In my younger pettier days, I would tell him the recommended amount but that he really should wait and see what was served before writing the check. I was half joking, but lucky for his friends, he never did stoop down to my pettiness. It's a long complicated cultural backstory but the gist is that if you are throwing an Indian wedding and the 1097902432 events that go along with it, you should serve seafood/meat and alcohol at pretty much all of the events except maybe any religious ceremonies. This is to show that you are throwing an all out event for all of your guests to enjoy. If you only serve vegetarian entrees, then you're cheap. If you also cut the alcohol then why are you bothering to call this a wedding in the first place?
Sometimes I think the vegetarians had no idea how passionate the pescatarians and carnivores felt about all of of this but they just KOKO with their vegetables and savings.
I'm also trying to drop all this negative energy in the last few years as I raise my kids to not embrace all of this.
Just to clarify: You are saying vegetarians should serve meat and fish to their non vegetarian guests? (And I'm guessing that people who don't drink should provide alcohol?)
Muir Woods can get super crowded on weekends— think Disneyland levels of crowds—which detracts from the nature. (Disclaimer: haven’t been since COVID.) I suggest going on a weekday or choosing one of the further afield Redwood groves like Armstrong Redwood State Park in Sonoma County or Henry Cowells State Park outside of Santa Cruz.
My favorite place to hike in the entire world is Point Reyes National Seashore which is a long undeveloped strip of land that goes through most of Marin County, the area north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Bear Valley, Tomales Point and Point Reyes Lighthouse are some good hikes. You can eat fresh oysters in the small town of Olema.
These are my neighbors
Muir Woods went insane for a few years there before COVID. It is no longer crazy crowded because they require advanced reservations for parking. We've been once since and it was back closer to how I remember it. We tend to do other redwoods activities rather than Muir Woods proper (we get our fix at playgrounds, the library, our favorite waterfall hike, etc.)
OP - I would be happy to script out a Marin day if you want. Views, hikes, snack stops, etc.
Cold here means "50/60s with fog and wind" and often feels surprisingly cold to visitors who only hear the numbers. I've had relatives from Alberta say they aren't "accustomed to it" which obviously doesn't mean they aren't accustomed to much, much colder weather, but rather it felt colder than they anticipated at those temps.
We have beautiful beaches. They aren't for swimming (ever) or laying out on the average day in May. But they are scenic.
However, if you are the one who usually organizes everything it's not unusual that they failed to rise to the occasion when you weren't there to plan it all. It's a whole trope.
Okay, I'm seeing what happened here. Everyone else went on vacation wanting to relax. It's Palm Springs. It's not like you went somewhere for adventure or culture. They get there expecting to chill - go out for some meals and order some delivery. But here is OP insisting they go grocery shopping, cook their own meals and clean the kitchen. They let her have her fun and run all those extra errands alone. And now she resents it.
If everyone else would have done something completely different in your absence (and no one even accompanied you to the store), then everyone else wanted to do something completely different.
The idea of heading to Palm Springs to cook, clean and grocery shop all week? That's not vacation. that's a change of scenery.
This is what I was thinking. They even wanted to hire a private chef. Grocery shopping was not something they wanted to do on vacation.
Dramatization of OP and sonrisa on vacation together:
[The families get off the plane and stroll through the airport.]
OP: "We should really get rental cars."
Sonrisa: "Great idea!"
[Sonrisa day dreams about visiting the hot springs, seeing some Desert X installations, photographing Joshua trees, and a leisurely lunch at an out-of-the-way cafe.]
OP: "Exactly! Without rental cars how can we grocery shop and cook a bunch of meals for this big group?"
[Sonrisa snatches her card back from the rental car agent, grabs her kids, and runs head long to the taxi stand.]
Okay, I'm seeing what happened here. Everyone else went on vacation wanting to relax. It's Palm Springs. It's not like you went somewhere for adventure or culture. They get there expecting to chill - go out for some meals and order some delivery. But here is OP insisting they go grocery shopping, cook their own meals and clean the kitchen. They let her have her fun and run all those extra errands alone. And now she resents it.
If everyone else would have done something completely different in your absence (and no one even accompanied you to the store), then everyone else wanted to do something completely different.
The idea of heading to Palm Springs to cook, clean and grocery shop all week? That's not vacation. That's an expensive change of scenery.
We have a house rule: If you need to skip school, then you are sick enough to stay in bed, no screens or toys or books. I will stop in and comfort you occasionally, but a sick day is for recovery. It was my mom's rule when I was a kid and works well.
Wait, why can’t you watch tv when you’re sick? I feel like recovery and watching tv goes hand in hand! I rarely got sick as a kid and don’t much as an adult but when I did it was definitely couch time with the tv on to relax and recover.
It was my mom's way of avoiding malingering. it makes sick days boring. lol.
For me, it's because we have a small house and I can't work if someone is watching t.v. (It's 6 feet from my computer).
I hope that I'm not starting a trend with him thinking that's okay
We have a house rule: If you need to skip school, then you are sick enough to stay in bed, no screens or toys or books. I will stop in and comfort you occasionally, but a sick day is for recovery. It was my mom's rule when I was a kid and works well.
I can't believe you took a trip costing $5-10K+ and are arguing over $9 of chewing tobacco. (but not about basic car safety? Or voiding your rental car agreement?)
Yes that stuff is nasty, but you still drove them to the dip store (and apparently paid for it?). If you were that offended, he could have caught an uber or at least pulled out his own wallet for the dip.
And if the instacart fees would really have totaled $500, then wouldn't everyone have just grabbed an uber to the store? which either (1) would have been muuuuch cheaper, so there never would have been $500 in instacart fees, or (2) not much cheaper, in which case they definitely spent as much as you on the transportation they did pay for.
I agree with pizzaandtulips that there is someone who is BEC in this scenario. However, the more I read, the more I fear it'll be *you* after this is all done.
Don't do it! It'll cost you so much more in friendship/respect down the line.
Perhaps it's time to engage in a vice of your own to take the edge off? Or at least a can of CBD water?
It's been brutal locally lately. I know four people who lost their jobs starting with the Twitter insanity up to two more in today's cuts at Google. Plus others who have been on edge because they were put on alert to expect rounds of layoffs (even if they haven't been hit). Sending out good thoughts to all of you in tech.
Are they assuming the man is the only golfer and basing it on that? But, also, ew...
Ugh maybe, but my email stated a family of 5 membership. I thought that indicated we would all play.
So: (1) They are assuming you have a husband when you say "family of five" - what if you have a wife? Or it's you and four kids? (2) They only care about his age? Some weird assumption is going into that (only he plays golf, he is the oldest so his age is relevant for the "under 35" discount, or whatever) (3) Even if there are two/three rates depending on age, why can't he just give you all three?
Conversely, is there a chance your sister and Jane will run into each other down the line and she will find out about the offer and be hurt you didn't pass it along? Would working for your sister be a career step up for Jane? (your fear she might leave implies it might be). You are in a tricky situation.
Do you really think your sister would poach your valued employee? If you don’t trust her not to do that, then I wouldn’t bring it up. If you trust her to limit her hours, then yeah, I would bring it up to Jane. I would just make sure she knows you don’t expect her to say yes just because it’s your sister, and that you’re in no way pressuring her.
Honestly kind of
My sister and I are close, but she and her husband, who she works with, have a way of steam rolling things to get what they want.
Another thing to consider: Will this be a healthy work environment for Jane? It might not be, given this (as lemon cupcake said, this could really affect how she feels about working with you).