Well, I was home for Christmas…and it was fantastic. I got to spend plenty of time with the family, see some old young and vibrant friends, get some rest and relaxation, read East of Eden (read this!), finish multiple crosswords, and visit favorite restaurants. And there were a few holidays to celebrate in there as well.
My flights each way were smooth and the trip took off right away with an absolutely fantastic meal at Grange in Ann Arbor with the parents. Grange was a fairly new place at the end of my college career that I always wanted to try, specializing in locally sourced ingredients. All three dishes we tried (whitefish, apple cider braised beef, and roasted chicken) were phenomenal and a leisurely spent dinner was a great way to catch up with the padres. Christmas Eve brought lots of gift wrapping and my mom’s excellent traditional dinner of clam chowder and crab legs with a Chilean white wine. A good candlelit service at Plymouth Congregational was enjoyed after dinner before settling into a warm fire and It’s a Wonderful Life. Christmas day brought a lot of appreciated gifts and a day spent with all of the family in Grand Ledge.
The in-between week was great for morale. We got up to Court One, picked up Aladdins (twice!), went to see the Descendants, got coffee and chocolates and did crafts at the Great Lakes Coffee and Chocolate Co., made excellent family dinners, did yoga, went shopping, played Dance Central with the Krupps, had a mini spa day with Mom in St. Johns, watched bowl games and the first few games of the Big Ten basketball season, and went to Sansu for sushi.
New Year’s Eve was spent the way I enjoy it most…at home with a bottle of champagne. A fairly quiet night earning my personal best in bowling, savoring Chinese hot pot in the fondue pots, drinking cassis royales and playing Dance Central, cheersing at New Years and watching Dick’s Rocking Eve. On New Years Chad and I headed for Ann Arbor to sit stand in the Blue Rage to watch UM eke by Minnesota in basketball. After the game I met up with BFF Sarah and spent the WHOLE night catching up and lounging around. A sleepover at Sarah’s was awesome. I do miss her so much. My last full day in Michigan started with a brunch at the Northside Grill for their apple oat bran pancakes, a lot of watching of the bowl games with my friend Vince and Sarah before the all-glorious dinner at Jerusalem Garden to continue getting my fill of Middleastern food while in Michigan. I leave Detroit so early tomorrow morning. I just realized that I will be waking up at 1:30am PST for my flight and plan to go straight to work and then straight to Buckley’s to watch the Sugar Bowl. I do owe Vince big time for the ride to the airport.
It’s been a great break and I feel rejuvenated and refreshed. It does seem weird to be going back to Seattle though. I have come to realize that I kind of have two lives; my Seattle life of the present and my Michigan life of the past. The two are not connected in any way whatsoever. My friends, my career/school, my acquaintances, my places of interest do not join. I can recollect my Seattle life but after 10 days in Michigan it honestly seems fuzzy. It makes me a little nervous but I am sure that after a few of these visits this fuzziness will fizzle. I do know that no matter how many times I make visits to home it will never be easy to say goodbye.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 