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 day on the weekends (my favorite), but usually as the sun was setting after work (my second favorite).
I know we will look back on our time in Oakland as a blissful time. The weather. The people. The food. Pre-medical school and pre-babies.
It’s also the first place we moved to together. Besides all that is college, Oakland is the place where we did the most becoming. The most adulting.
And life was so good. That might sound weird for me to say, but there were so many days where I would find myself just marveling at how happy I was.
I never did an Oakland post while living here, but my favorite moments:
Sitting in the sun at the Grand Lake Farmer’s Market watching kids dance to a musician and everyone walk by with their fresh vegetables and flowers. For a year or two there was a gluten-free bakery (Bacano) that would set up a tent with their delicious treats. And we almost always got a crepe to split, with cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, and pesto and every bite was divine. Occasionally I would get fresh squeezed orange or tangerine or apple juice and… heaven. The whole scene was heaven.
Getting home after a long day and the sun still streaming through our one window (which was almost always wide open). Our apartment cooked during the day and I’d walk up the hill, then up two flights of stairs, kick off my shoes and usually collapse on the bed in front of the fan. Upon opening the door, I usually went left to the bed and he usually went right to the kitchen to put groceries away and start to cook or make a snack. Our apartment was only one room, so collapsing on the bed still meant that I could be a part of whatever M was doing.
Oh my gosh, the fresh vegetables all year round.
Weekend excursions to Point Reyes and (less often) to Yosemite and Big Sur.
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Congrats on pregnancy! I used your MCAT tips and now I’m heading to med school in late 20s and considering having children during training. Love that there are women like you paving the way!!!!