Dearest Isla, On your 3 month birthday and on the eve of beginning medical school again, I spent some time going through photos of the past few weeks. Oh, how much you have grown! Some highlights: You have mastered so many different faces while still surprising and delighting us with new ones. You have been…
All Stories
Welcome Isla
Welcome Isla Seraphina Wells Maiorana. Born June 16th, 2018 at 9:51pm. You came into the world at 7lb 7.9oz and 19 in and we are so glad to finally see your adorable face.
Pregnant
So, I started this post over a month ago and now that it’s starting to feel like baby could come any day now, I should probably go ahead and post it! So yeah… we’re expecting a baby! Her due date is this week! Insta and FB have a way of encouraging us to only share…
Oakland and SF
Oh hey, old home! We spent about a week soaking up Oakland – more visits with friends and family – more reminders of happiness and life. For the four years we lived here, M and I would try to walk around Lake Merritt every chance we got. Sometimes during the sunniest, hottest part of the…
Point Reyes
January might not be the ideal time for a trip to Point Reyes, but it is one of our favorite places on earth and we have enjoyed visiting as much as possible over the last few years. Hehe holding my belly and smiling – gotta fake it til you make it, right? But actually though……
Los Angeles
Upon arriving back in LA, we snacked a bit on the beach while the sun set. And after checking in to the cutest place (The Ellison Suites), we headed back out to explore Venice Beach and make our way to Cafe Gratitude for dinner. We ended up in LA two times and instead of giving…
Joshua Tree
After spending time with family in Michigan and Kentucky over the winter holidays, we flew to Southern California to soak up some sun and visit with family and friends. We planned this trip with the theme of: make Julia want to live again. Was it an immediate cure? No, but it did help. I was…
Catalina Island
In all our years of living in Northern California, we never really ventured south past Big Sur. And because I desperately needed Vitamin D and wanted islands and mountains (and the tickets were cheaper), we planned a trip to Catalina Island. Exploring Catalina Island is not easy if you are not there as a backpacker/camper….
Devil’s Lake
i remember that i exist only in relationship to other people and systems. i accept that i cannot change others, but i can hold standards for my own life. i willingly engage in and support transformative justice processes for accountability and getting in right relationship. i create more possibilities in the face…
Moving to Madison
After a month in New York with family and friends, it was time to head to Wisconsin!! AHHH!!! I stopped in Michigan to pick up Matt and then we headed on to our new home! Along the way we stopped to swim at Warren Dunes. The water was a bit chilly but after a…
California to Wisconsin
At the end of June (2017), Matt’s mom drove out from Michigan to California to help us move across the country. In the days leading up to the move, we spent as much time with friends and family as possible, and many came over to help us fit all of our material possessions into her…
Nashville Wedding
OK — I am trying to play catch-up with my pictures. I find that if I don’t share my photos here, they languish away on my hard drive and nobody (including myself) ever sees them again! It’s now January 2018, but I have some free time, so I’m going back and sharing moments from 2017….
Monterey Bay Aquarium
1. Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color. Suppose I were to speak this as though it were a confession; suppose I shredded my napkin as we spoke. It began slowly. An appreciation, an affinity. Then one day, it became more serious. Then (looking into an…
Russian River Cabin
i am your friend. a soul for you soul. a place for your life. home. know this. sun or water. here or away. we are a lighthouse. we leave. and we stay. —nayyirah waheed
Goat Rock Beach
“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible; to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk…
Getting Lost at Armstrong Redwoods
“The question then is how to get lost. Never to get lost is not to live, not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction, and somewhere in the terra incognita in between lies a life of discovery.” – Rebecca Solnit This friendship. This group of four. More than most of my friendships,…
Bolinas Ridge Trail at Point Reyes
if you are softer than before they came. you have been loved. – nayyirah waheed With our move across the country coming up, we are trying to make the most of every day. Point Reyes has been one of our favorite places to return to over the years. Back in March we headed out to…
Napa Valley Birthday Celebration
“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes; for those who love with heart and soul there is no separation.” – Rumi By far the hardest part about moving is leaving our friends. Leslye left us to travel and rock climb around the world (seriously, she is the coolest). But the weekend before she…
Pinnacles
Last June, July, and August, I submitted applications to about 25 medical schools. I wrote at least 60 pages of essays describing why medicine, my past experiences, and my future goals. I traveled around the country for 11 interviews and by the end I was pretty exhausted. Finally, in February, I returned to our little studio in Oakland,…
2016 Review
Greetings from Detroit, Michigan! I am super lucky to be here celebrating the holidays with Matt’s family. The past week has been full of restful sleep, yummy food, good conversations, and adventures around the state. Yesterday we went to Point Pelee in Canada for the final sunset of 2016. It was really cold and windy and…
Mount Alava
This weekend we finally made it to the National Park of American Samoa! During orientation we visited the visitor’s center for the National Park which is located downtown. After living next to Acadia National Park (on an island off the coast of Maine) for years, I was super excited to visit the only National Park…