The Crosses We Bear

I sit looking out at the pristine blue water as I sip Jasmine tea and ruminate on A Moveable Feast. It's my first Hemingway experience and I'm devouring every bit. A friend said “I feel as if I’m rolling around in butter when I read Hemingway.” I agree with her completely. His writing is so rich and moving.

She walks in and sits at the small table next to me. She’s dressed in a smart designer skirt, matching jacket and leather belt at her small waist. I guess she’s around 32 years old. Big sunglasses and conservative diamonds on her ears and fingers. I’m thinking she’s in PR.

A few minutes later her friend arrives. Brassy, blonde, large sunglasses on her tightened face, enhanced lips shining with gloss and hands dripping with diamonds as she clutches a large designer bag on her shoulder. “Oh my god. I haven’t seen you in so long. Love your glasses. They’re the same as mine. Isn’t D&G just the best?” She leans over and presses her large lips in an air kiss on each cheek of PR girl. “How ARE you?”

Big sigh from PR. “I’m not doing well. Scott won’t let me have the house cleaner more than once a week, and the nanny just can’t do all that extra cleaning. And we have a dog, so the house is a mess. I’m trying to plan Scotts party at the wine bar and don’t know what to give as gift bags to everyone. And not sure if I should go with a full cake from Susie Cakes or just have them make the cupcake tower. What do you think? I’m also trying to find someone’s nanny who will watch kids at the park next door so that people can come even if they do have kids.” (She takes a small breath….) “It’s all just stressing me out. I’m having pains in my chest. The doctor is testing me for asthma and bronchitis. And also for some allergies. Maybe I’m allergic to gluten. I don’t know. And the dentist is concerned about my TMJ. I have that bite guard thing that I wear at night and don’t know if it’s helping. But I can’t sleep without it. What about you?”

“Oh honey,” Ms. Busty Blonde says. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure the doctors will figure out what’s wrong with you. You are seeing Doctor Yugishito in the city, right? I hear he’s the best.” Big inhale as her triple D chest rises and falls. “I’m trying to plan this wedding for next year but Jeffery just won’t sit down with me and look at the photos and the quotes. He says I should plan it and he’ll show up. I want him to go to Italy with me in July because you know I have that place rented on Lake Como, but he just won’t commit. So I’m gonna grab one of my girlfriends and go. Can’t wait for all the shopping in Italy. I can get a lot of things for the wedding.” She takes a bite of salmon and a sip of Chardonnay. “Maybe you can get Lisa’s nanny to help at the party. You know that one from Guatemala? She’s sweet.”

Wearing my invisible ninja suit, I watch out of the corner of my eye as they nibble on chocolate lava cake and sip an after lunch espresso. I think about how large and real these problems are for the two friends. And feel glad that they live in Marin and not in Calcutta….

Organic yogurt safari

I had a lot of fun today on a yogurt adventure. I was invited by my good friend Susie who was invited by the good folks at Whole Foods to come and tour the new store in Mill Valley which is set to open in a few days. After the tour we were going to tour a yogurt making operation in West Marin.

It turned out that the workers and staff were working frantically to get the store ready to open so we couldn't get in their way, but we were loaded on to a nice big bus, given a delicious whole foods lunch, a nice cotton bag full of goodies such as olive oil, chocolate, pasta and other stuff and were driven about 45 minutes to Sonoma County to visit St. Benoit Yogurt. It was really interesting and was out in the middle of the beautiful farms and rolling hills where so much of our cheese, milk and beef comes from. St. Benoit is a very small operation and each container of yogurt is made by hand. It's unique because they use all local, organic ingredients, it comes in a cool pottery jar, which keeps it fresh and can be returned after use to the company and they will reuse it. And it tasted divine. I tried the strawberry, lemon and plum flavors. It was a quite a delicious little field trip.

Wine is the spice of life

I had a lovely couple of days in the Napa Valley. Susie and I were invited by a woman who was on the Tibet trip with us to come and tour her wineries and have dinner at her home. It was so incredible. When we walked in for our first tour, people were there to greet us, and our names were on the little sign in front. We went on a long tour of the winery, through the wine caves, learning about winemaking and the rich history of Far Niente and ended up in a great room where we were treated to a wine and cheese pairing. It was such fun and everything tasted so incredible.

Next, we drove a short distance to the second winery, Nickel and Nickel and had a great time touring and tasting about 6 different red wines with a nice group of people.

We went back and met up with our friend for dinner at her lovely home. We had delicious pasta, fresh salad and amazing wine outside on the veranda that overlooks the vines and laughed and talked well into the evening. It was such a amazing day and we felt very lucky indeed.

Susie and I spent the night at a sweet little guesthouse in the middle of a vineyard and woke up to the smell of hyacinth and grape leaves. We had a yummy meal at Mustard's and then slowly made our way back to Marin, stopping off at a few interesting stores and wineries along the way.

Good wine is a gorgeous thing and I really appreciate the dedication, skill and hard work it takes to make it.

Bookclub

I have been part of a wonderful bookclub for the last three years. My friend Christy came up with the idea and it has been a great thing in both of our lives. Women have come and gone but a core group has been there for quite a while.

This is no ordinary bookclub. We are a group of interesting, funny, smart women who care so much about each other. We are always watching out for each other and we have each others backs.

We met last night and it was so great to see everyone again after two months away. We just finished reading City of Joy which of course meant so much to me after spending time in india and with the author, Domenique Lapierre. Everyone was very moved and touched by this book, me included. I had seen the movie a few times but the book is so much richer and such a great story of people's love and strength in times of such intense adversity. It blows mind when I think of what people in india go through on a daily basis just to survive. Domenique is a very gifted writer and I'm so glad that this book came into our lives.

We haven't chosen our next book but will in the next few days. Whoever hosts the meeting usually gives some suggestions and we all decide what we're in the mood for next. It's always a good, lively discussion no matter what we read and we always have a very fun time together. But we are out of control on the food we bring. There is always WAY too much of it. Always delicious but always lots of leftovers. I was wishing last night that we could send it all to the people in India who have none...