beach living and other thoughts

last week's vacation in myrtle beach, sc, through photos...

brookgreen gardens:

beautiful old trees dripping with spanish mossspot the turtle in the photo above?we went on a boat tour of the creeks running through brookgreen. we spotted two alligators!

by the sea:

mom, reading on the balconydining al frescolook at the reflection in the sliding door!on vacation, i drank water from a wine glass, with a slice of lemon slipped in. such a small touch makes a world of difference. makes it feel special. ^_^imprints in the sandour outfits matched!

i leave for shanghai exactly two weeks from today. i think about it with apprehension. i am excited about the possibilities for adventure, getting to know the city intimately, seeing how i do on my own. at the same time though, i have no idea what to expect. that's part of the appeal, but it's also why this is so intimidating. there's the business component--operations, supply chain (in which i have no background, no classes)--and there's also the language component. i have no idea how my chinese will hold up, especially in a business environment. at this moment though, i'm more excited than anxious. a few days ago, or yesterday even, i was more anxious, less eager.

i watched scoop tonight (woody allen, scarlet johansson, hugh jackman) & enjoyed it. clever, charming~it had character, but nothing to take too seriously. debra messing's the starter wife series is premiering thursday & i want to see it.

my dad was in cleveland this weekend for a volleyball tournament, and my mom and i had a guest over for lunch today. my dad is usually the one who cooks, but since he was out of town, i made lunch. i woke up at 8 this morning to go to the store to buy cod for martha's lemon-parsley fishcakes. i also made roasted potatoes from one of ina garten's cookbooks, salad (with avocado~i love it in omelets too), and the raw blueberry tartlets i made for mother's day (the tart crusts turned out much better~they actually looked like tarts & the presentation was excellent). lunch was a general success (the fishcakes could be tweaked).

i'm going in for a wisdom-tooth-pulling consultation on wednesday. i don't want to have mine pulled~scary! nervous.

[btw, it turns out this blog can be viewed in china (at least for now), so i don't need to move it.]

anyways, good night.