We spent a week on the west coast in July. Santa Cruz is like a second home and even though I go there fairly often to visit family and friends, it never seems to work out for the four of us to go together. The last time the kids had been there was when they were 4 years old and they did not remember it at all. It was so fun to show them all the beautiful places I know and love.

IN SANTA CRUZ we rented a very rundown Airbnb which was so bad it was comical. The weather was foggy and cold the first couple days. Classic Santa Cruz summer. We did love the lemon trees though and made so much lemonade. When life gives you lemons… We went to so many good food joints. Verve Coffee, Tacos Morenos, Zoccoli’s. We hiked and we biked, in forests of eucalyptus, and along West Cliff drive. We went to the beach in front of the Dream Inn, the only day it was really warm and sunny. We did the Boardwalk one night and the kids got to ride the Giant Dipper, the oldest wooden roller coaster in the world. We had dinner on the wharf with my mom where we saw sea lions. We shopped in countless vintage clothing stores and surf shops. My friend Joan works at Pacific Trading Co. and I was treated to a personal shopping experience there with my own rail of clothes to try on. I wanted it all but ended up just buying one amazing pair of Mother jeans.

IN MONTEREY we ate at a Mexican place with and outdoor patio and then went to the Aquarium. That took up a whole day.

IN THE BAY AREA we went all over. We drove up the coast at the end of our trip and stopped in Pescadero, ate at the Arcangeli Grocery Co., then Half Moon Bay, then continued up highway 1 to SF. We saw the sights in San Francisco like North Beach pizza, Coit tower, Fisherman’s Wharf. No cable car rides sadly but drove up and down lots of steep hills. We visited my cousins in Oakland and explored the area, stopping at the epic Homeroom Mac & Cheese and then to the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda where you can play hundreds of games from every era. We detoured up through Berkeley, checked out the campus and stopped in a cool coffee shop.

We had such a good time. There was some serious roughing it, a couple nights with all of us in one room, and a brutal red-eye flight on the way home. But in the end we loved the experience of being in California together as a family.

LIFESTRAW WATER BOTTLE

I just got back from a trip to Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista. I have family, friends, and clients there and really enjoyed getting away for a bit.

Packing for a trip is a challenge for me, and probably for a lot of people. I want to make sure I have everything I need but I really don’t want to check baggage. I managed to fit everything into my small carryon, but then the airline gate-checked it anyway!

So, one week. 7 days. 7 outfits, right? Yes, and no. Here’s what I decided to take:

7 pairs of pants: Black jeans, wide-leg blue jeans, skinny blue jeans, white chinos, hiking pants, black sweats, white shorts
7 tees: long sleeve striped t, long sleeve black t, green t, gray t, white t, blue bowie t, gray tank
5 second-layer tops: Patagonia fleece, cable knit sweater, gray cashmere sweater, navy sweatshirt, striped turtleneck
2 pair leggings, 2 sports bras
5 pairs of shoes: Blundstone boots, Veja sneakers, Nike sneakers, Birkenstock Bostons, Troentorp clogs
1 coat: green quilted

DAY ONE: Flying from Philadelphia to San Jose. I wore my new wide-leg J.Crew jeans which I knew would be comfortable for sitting on a plane for hours, a thrifted Comme des Garçonnes striped tee, my Patagonia fleece, green H&M jacket, and my Blundstone boots because they were too bulky to pack.

DAY TWO: Walking my friend’s dog in the pouring rain, then lunch and shopping with my mom in downtown Santa Cruz. We ate at El Palomar, one of my many favorite taquerias. Then I went and bought a Santa Cruz Skateboards sweatshirt for myself and tee shirts for my family at Pacific Wave. Later that night, my mom and I met up with my brother and had dinner at The Crow’s Nest, watching the sun set over the ocean. Perfection. I wore my LL Bean hiking pants, long sleeve black tee, Patagonia fleece, green H&M Jacket, and Blundstones. (The rain stopped and the sun came out in the afternoon, so I swapped the boots for sneakers.)

DAY THREE: Dog walking, shopping, and client visit. I had so much fun hanging out with my bestie, eating at Zoccoli’s Deli, shopping at the amazing Pacific Trading Company, and then dropping in on my super cool client Current eBikes. I wore a pair of AG jeans, my oversized Bowie tee, and Troentorp clogs. My outfit may seem too casual to meet a client, but not when it’s Santa Cruz.

DAY FOUR: Drive down to San Juan Bautista. We headed south to the beautiful old mission town of San Juan Bautista. The drive was beautiful, lots of green rolling hills, cows, and fields of artichokes, garlic and strawberries. They had a ton of rain and you could see the areas that got flooded. Not good. I wore white Everlane chino pants, a LL Bean cotton cable knit sweater, and Birkenstock Bostons. 

DAY FIVE: Met up with a bunch of women for our annual getaway. We hiked, talked, ate, talked more, ate more. I wore a pair of black LL Bean sweats, Everlane cashmere sweater, and Nike Daybreak sneakers.

DAY SIX: Headed back to Santa Cruz. Took a very windy bike ride along West Cliff Drive to Natural Bridges, took a nap to recover, then went out to dinner at Burger. I wore GAP leggings, my new Santa Cruz sweatshirt, and my Veja sneakers.

DAY SEVEN: Flight home. Boo. I wore black LOFT jeans, a striped turtleneck, and Troentorp clogs. I ended up borrowing a duffle bag to pack the extra stuff.

I didn’t need the shorts at all. I could have done without the white pants. Since I knew I was going to buy the sweatshirt I could have left one sweater out. And just taken the Nikes, not the Vejas. Most worn items: black sweats and Patagonia fleece. I was so glad I took my Bostons. Although they aren’t good for rain, they double as slippers. So, if you’re traveling to California in March it’s all about being warm and comfy.

You know what I love? Being able to listen to a song whenever I want. The other day I remembered a song I discovered in high school. I think it was high school. College? I don’t know. Anyway, it was Forbidden Colours by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian from the soundtrack of Merry Christmas, Mr. Laurence. I was very into the band Japan and lead singer David Sylvian in high school. My friend Steve had turned me onto Japan. We listened to a lot of obscure music. So, I found the song on Spotify and it took me down a Sakamoto rabbit hole. I started to think about my lifelong love affair with Japan. 

I suppose it has something to do with my dad’s love of asian culture. Growing up, my brother and I went to Judo class with my dad every week. I learned a few words in Japanese, but mostly how to count to ten. The Japanese family that ran the place were so warm and friendly and I was very in awe of the two teenage daughters who were black belts. I didn’t make it past the white belt. But I have such fond memories of going to the dojo, that smell of sweaty canvas…

My dad was fascinated by the Samurai ‘Way of the Warrior” and tried to instill in us the values of discipline, selflessness, honor and knowledge. I remember sitting through Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai when I was 6 or 7 years old. It was subtitled. Everything we did, or said we couldn’t do, my dad encouraged us to focus, to persevere, to approach it with resolve. That Zen mindset was repeatedly instilled in everything my dad taught me.

In addition to Judo and Samurai and Buddhism, my dad loved asian food. He still does. He taught himself to cook when he became a single father and so my brother and I grew up eating stirfry tofu and cabbage and many other things white kids living in the 70s never heard of. He cooked a variety of Asian dishes and shopped at the neighborhood Japanese market, the Mikado. We ate with chopsticks a lot of the time, and the running joke in my family is that my dad eats ice cream with chopsticks.

Later, I became more than a little obsessed with Japanese fashion when I got a book on it for Christmas that introduced me to designers like Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawabuki and Issey Miyake as well as the rich tradition and history of Japanese clothing. I almost chose a career in fashion.

I went to art school and majored in photography. It was in college that I tried Sushi for the first time. I worked for a photographer who would treat us to dinner. One time he asked me, “Do you like Sushi?” I had never eaten raw fish but didn’t want to look uncultured so I tried it. To this day, it’s my favorite food. It was also in college that I studied Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima. I read The Sound of Waves and Forbidden Colors and I saw the movie about his life, Mishima, Life in Four Chapters which was like nothing I’d ever seen.

After college I saw the movie Dreams by Akira Kurosawa. It’s a compilation of short segments based on his dreams, ranging from beautiful to terrifying. And later I saw probably his most famous movie, Ran. And I rewatched Seven Samurai. I appreciated it more as an adult. It’s so good. 

My brother got heavily into Japanese anime and convinced me to watch My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki with my kids. It was a big hit. So amazing. I loved it. So was so unlike anything made for kids in the US. 

That’s just a few things that I love about Japan. Now, if I could just find some way to visit.

Packing for a trip is a perfect way to obsess endlessly about the exact right clothes I’ll need. My OCD kicks in as I ponder what to include so that every item coordinates with every other item and I’ll have everything I’ll want, never be too hot or too cold and have it all fit in a small roller board that will fit in an overhead compartment.

I spent a week in Santa Cruz, California (and the Bay area and the Monterey Bay) back at the beginning of April. Having lived in Santa Cruz for 10 years, I knew there was a good chance it would be cool and possibly a little rainy but I was hoping for the best. I even packed a swim suit even though no one goes in the ocean in April.

I finally settled on 1 dress, 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of jean shorts, 4 tee shirts, 4 long sleeve tops, a light jacket, 1 pair of clogs, 1 pair of sandals, 2 pairs of sneakers. Here are some of my try on shots:

A graphic tee, J Crew jean shorts and J Crew sandals.

Comfy Gap top, Madewell jeans and white Nikes.

Comfy Gap top, Madewell jeans and black Nikes.

Banana Republic black turtleneck sweater, Madewell jeans and black Nikes.

J Crew Tippi sweater, AG jeans and Troentorp clogs.

Gap tee shirt, Madewell jeans and black Nikes.

Banana Republic sweater, AG jeans and white Nikes.

Graphic tee, Madewell jeans and Troentorp clogs.

Madewell eyelet top, Madewell boyjeans and Troentorp clogs.

Gap striped dress and Troentorp clogs.

I had planned to take my Madewell transport tote but switched it out at the last minute for a plain black backpack which I thought was really smart and much more comfortable for travel. I also swapped my army jacket for my a trench coat but ended up wishing I had brought my Uniqlo puffer. I also wished I’d brought a hoodie like my one from Old Navy. I ended up buying Santa Cruz Skateboards sweatshirts for my kids and wore one almost the whole time. I didn’t wear the shorts, the dress or the bikini I brought. Have you figured out that northern California can be cold? It did finally warm up and it was beautiful. I ate a lot of tacos, saw lots of my west coast family and friends and had a really great time.