In order: at the airport in San Francisco, San Francisco and Oakland from above, Montreal from above, the longest airplane waiting line ever (we were #18!).

Backward

It’s weird going back home after you’ve been away for so long. Everything looks the same, but it’s not. Most of all: you changed. But this new life you made for yourself happened so far away it might as well be a dream.

I wouldn’t entirely rule out the possibility my plane slipped through a rift in space-time and landed me in the life of a parallel world’s alter-ego. That’s how alien it felt.

Often people would ask us: “Does it feel good to be back in Quebec?” Answer: “Hell no. It feels wrong.” But that’s not why we were here anyway. I can’t think about Quebec as a home anymore. When I think of Quebec, I prefer to think of my family and friends. I wasn’t back to Quebec, I was back to “my people”. And as much as I love SF, that’s important.

Beside the people, I can’t hide I was happy to reconnect with some of the food :) The reunions ranged from disappointing – BBQ chicken and suburban restaurant chains – to (almost) ecstatic – poutine, maple sirup pie, Montreal smoked meat sandwich, syrupy mead… yummy! I wanted to document my meals on Instagram, but I was so excited (not just by the food! the company too!) I always forgot to take pictures – or would only think about it once the plates had been seriously ravaged.

It was a sweet & sour trip. Sweet: the people, the good food. Sour: too much food and Alex’s grandfather’s health. Let’s just say a large portion of our trip was spent in a hospital room, and it’s never a fun place to be. During times like these, it feels selfish to live abroad, unable to lend much support :-/

Forward

I noticed on our previous trips how coming back to San Francisco felt more and more like coming back “home”. This time was no exception.

The trip to Montreal confirmed it’s not home anymore. Add to that a better, more stable work situation for Alex here in San Francisco and a whole year spent getting acclimated to this new city, and you get a girl ready to settle a bit more. I’m seriously thinking about hanging some frames on the wall and making the kitchen easier to use. I won’t go in full-blown nesting mode like I did in Montreal, but I think I lived at the other end of the spectrum long enough. I feel safe buying a toaster and a kitchen cart.

On another note, for the second consecutive year, I missed the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. Which made me realize… that 30 before 30 list I made is completely bogus.

What I truly really want for my 30th birthday (that number still makes me “gulp”!) is to have completed my novel. I was just too scared of failure to put that as a goal before. I’m so used to be an aspiring writer.

There. I said it. I now have a few months of either doing something about it or stressing about it – or very probably both.

Here you go, thanks for reading! Do you have any projects you’ve been nursing for so long you just can’t visualize yourself completing them? Please share, so we can try to comfort and encourage each other ;)

In Chinese astrology, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon – considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac! The theme of a Dragon year is fast change and exciting challenges – how fitting considering the big changes we’re about to face?

The Chinese New Year parade is a big deal in San Francisco and I couldn’t wait to experience it first hand. The celebrations begin the first day of the Chinese New Year and spread for two weeks to culminate in the biggest Chinese New Year parade in North America.

We decided to walk through Chinatown to get a taste of the fair before heading for the parade. As you can see on the picture above, we weren’t the only one! We made our way on Grant street, which was packed with street vendors, kiosks, tourists and locals. I didn’t know where to point my camera, I was so totally overwhelmed by everything happening around! Firecrackers left on the sidewalk would fire up under our steps – and I could only grin thinking how all of this was so completely different from what I usually seek and love… and yet I would move to China in a heartbeat! (It was considered a possibility at some point, since the company Alex works for also has offices in China…)

This building features these lanterns year-long, it has nothing to do with the festivities… but isn’t it beautiful?

After our little incursion in the heart of the fair, we headed toward Kearny and Post, where we were planning to watch the parade. We were 45 minutes early, but most of the good spots on the sidewalk were already taken! We posted ourselves in the middle of the street and proceeded to wait for the parade to begin.

It was a beautiful day, perfectly reasonable temperature-wise, but one gets cold standing for hours without moving much – even surrounded by tons of people! Alex had warned me it would get cold, but he entirely forgot to follow his own advice…

The parade began a couple of blocks away from where we were, but we could hear the firecrackers and the music closing on us, making the anticipation rise a few notches.

I didn’t bring my flash on purpose, thinking it would bother the performers, but everyone had their flashes on… Sorry for the blurry pictures!

It was a fantastic parade, full of colors, firecrackers and great performances!

Here are my tips if you plan to attend San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade in the future:

• Arrive early (an hour should be good). Lots of people were there with blankets and folding chairs.
• Dress warm! It might be mild and comfortable at first, but I guaranty you it will get cold! Bring gloves! And a hat! And a scarf! And maybe double-socks…
• From what I heard, the performers get tired toward the end of the circuit and show much less enthusiasm. One thing to think about when choosing where you want to watch…
• Many street blocks get closed, making it difficult to leave early. We had to go down the BART station to get out of the block where we were.
• Restaurants around will be packed crazy!
• If you want to take pictures, I think the best location would be around the bleachers in front of the Macy’s. That’s where they film the parade, so huge spots light the place. This is also where the judges are located, so the best performances happen there!
• The parade is nearly 3 hours long – that’s without the hour you waited to get a good spot, and the hour it can take to get out when it’s over – so you  may want to bring snacks. It took us a good hour and a half before we could find a restaurant with a reasonable waiting time… By then we were almost shaking from hunger! (I was fantasizing about a milk shake with a cake slice blended in! Does it exist?)

We left early, too cold and tired to make it to the end… but our quest for a restaurant magically brought us back to the parade right in time to see the spectacular 250 feet Golden Dragon – brought to life by 100 martial artists! I will take it as a good omen for the coming year :)

Here’s to a terrific Year of the Dragon! I wish you all YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

I am an utter Christmas fiend – with a well researched year-round Christmas music playlist and movie queue, a color-coded gift buying Excel sheet, and crazy sparkling eyes whenever Christmas goodies appear in grocery stores. I scare my closed ones. I love Christmas. A lot.

I have also never known anything else than white Christmases my whole life, and as much as I looove the weather here in California – I love the weather here in California! – I must say I need a bit more work now to get in my usual Christmas mood. Of course I was thrilled about the idea of attending the first official lighting of a giant Christmas tree :D

I dragged Alex to Union Square early that afternoon to make sure we’d have a decent spot to take pictures and see everything. Sure enough, the space around the tree was empty when we arrived, and despite wandering around a bit too long – “Look, a giant anthropomorphic sundae giving out chocolate! Look, an ice skating rink!” – we still managed to have a spot right behind the red fence around the tree – a tiny little place for one person I had to defend against two rather rude East European tourists during the whole event >:(

After a 45 minutes wait, I was starting to feel cold – which was alright: just like at home! The ceremony started at 18h with choirs singing Christmas songs – the Grinch definitely stole… the show – followed by a performance from figure skating champion Johnny Weir, a word by the newly elected Mayor, and then Santa Claus himself led the countdown to the lightning of the tree.

3-2-1-click. The tree was lit.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was rather anticlimactic how quick the thing was over. I mean, couldn’t they have lit the tree somehow gradually, starting from bottom to top and then – after a dramatic pause – the big red star crowning the tree? I don’t know.

The thing was over as soon as the lights were on. Everyone started to walk toward the exits of the park – which is a bit tricky in that particular park. It took us a good 10 minutes to get out of there, and we had to go through the bushes. That’s when I saw the monster crowd that was gathered in the streets around Union Square. Phew.

That’s also at that moment that I realized we would NEVER get a table at the Cheesecake Factory overlooking the square – hell, we could barely make it to the door!

Still, it was a great kickoff of the Holiday season and I’m now all fueled up for a full month of Christmas extravaganza.

I know my boyfriend is thrilled ;)