The Silent "I"

California Girl

 

Beach at Laguna Niguel, California

My husband is fond of telling people that sixteen years ago, he dragged me to California "kicking and screaming". I don't remember kicking anyone, but I was pretty vocal about the fact that California was never on my wish-list of places to live, and that it would be a temporary stay. I made my husband swear a blood oath that if and when we ever had kids, we would move back to Austin to raise them.  I had family and friends and favorite haunts in Texas; California was a brave new world and I was sure I wasn't cut out for the lifestyle.

Growing up in the midwest, my impression of California was that it was a free-spirited, anything-goes kind of place, full of pot-smoking hippies, actors, and surfers.  I didn't know how I might fit in, even though I had previously made myself at home in Ohio, New York, Chicago, and Texas. I was willing, however, to try, as long as I had some assurance that if I hated it, the stay would be temporary.

Sixteen years and a house, a child, and a career later, I've grown to love California for its indescribable beauty and innovative spirit.  California is my home now, and I don't want to live anywhere else. I've been spoiled by the temperate climate, beautiful scenery, and opportunities around every bend in the road for some new adventure.

Pacific Sunset

I spent the past weekend in Southern California, and was struck by the beautiful beaches and serene, but glorious technicolor sunsets over the Pacific. The sky turned the colors of cotton candy, reflected in the waves of the Pacific, the beauty is enough to make you weep for no othe reason than you are there, and alive to witness something so glorious in its simple beauty. 

While Southern California can boast about its beaches, theme parks, and mountains, Northern California has its share of wonders as well. Where we live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are no more than an hour from the beach, the mountains, or what I think is the most beautiful city in the world--San Francisco.  Lake Tahoe is a 3 hour drive, for gorgeous boating and hiking in the summer, or hitting the slopes in the winter. In Northern California, kids traditionally have a week off from school for "Ski Week", making up for the fact that there are no snow days due to the year-round mild weather.

I live in the town where Facebook, Google, and Pinterest all got their start, and every cafe is full of young men and women making deals, creating apps, writing code, and dreaming big dreams of making their mark on the internet and on the world. Palo Alto is a fun and exciting place to live and learn and dream. There is an iconic ad for Hewlett-Packard that shows the founders, (Bill and Dave to the locals) peering into a small garage in Palo Alto and seeing the whole world. In Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Francisco and all up and down the Peninsula, companies work hard to innovate and bring new ideas and products to the world.

I also love the diversity of our community here, where you can hear multiple languages on any street corner at any hour of the day. Children at my son's elementary school spoke 30 different languages at, the most common being Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Hebrew. People from all over the planet gravitate to the Bay Area for work and school, and some never leave. Each culture leaves an indelible mark, and we are all richer for the experience.

I really doubt that I will leave California now, and if I did, you'd better bet there would be kicking and screaming involved. I'm a California girl now.

 I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. Photos by Glennia Campbell, 2013. All Rights Reserved.

Christmas Across America Tour: A Very Merry Roadtrip

We're on a two week roadtrip across America this week, checking out how Christmas is celebrated from California to Ohio and back again. 

This year, my mother insisted that we come home to Ohio for Christmas.  After checking flight prices for the three of us, and hearing about the virtual strip-searching going on at airports across the US, Frank suggested that we drive from Palo Alto to Ohio.  I was worried about the weather in the Rockies and the plains states, but Frank had another idea: a trip south and across historic Route 66.  Alex and I both have two weeks off, so we said, "Why not?" and started planning our reverse-Joads-across-America tour, with stops in Barstow, Kingman, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Branson, and St. Louis, en route to Indiana and Ohio to see the family.

After a frantic last day at work yesterday, we loaded up the car with presents, snacks and clothing for all kinds of weather and headed out.  The most difficult part seemed to be getting out of the driveway, after running back in time and again to get some other essential item we had forgotten. 

Finally, I said, "We've got our wallets and our kid.  We have everything we need. We're in America. Whatever we forgot, we'll buy." 

That is, after all, the American way.

For me, no southbound trip can begin without a stop at the Casa de Fruta in Hollister, about an hour from hour house.  It's a legendary roadside complex that started as a farm fruitstand and has grown over the years to include a restaurant (Casa de Restaurant), candy store (Casa de Sweets), wine story (Casa de Wine) and a mini-train ride for the kiddies (Casa de Choo Choo).  For some reason, I love this place. Maybe because it has been the launching point for some really fun roadtrips to Los Angeles and Disneyland in the past. Maybe I just like dried fruit. Who knows?

Stopping at Casa de Fruta is like a talismanic ritual for me; in my mind, I have associated purchasing over-priced dried fruit with sunny skies, no traffic, and no grumps in the car.  I was devastated to find that by the time we arrived at 8:30 pm, the fruit stand was closed. We had to settle for the Casa de Restaurant, and got some hearty, down-home grub to sustain us on the long drive ahead.

The forecast for the Bay Area called for rain, but Frank assured me that we would be heading away from the storm, so we were good.  He was obsessively checking the Weather Underground app on his phone to see when we would get out of the drizzle.  The annoying drizzle didn't stop until we reached Colinga, unfortunately.  Couple that with spells of the infamous tule fog on I-5, and you have less than ideal conditions.  If only that fruit stand had been open...

It was actually not a bad drive, and we crept into Barstow at 2:30 am.  We didn't have a hotel reservation, so we pulled in to a well-lit Quality Inn, crossed our fingers, and lucked into a room at a super-cheap midnight walk-in rate of $59.  The price included a full breakfast (not the usual coffee and stale donuts affair) and free Wifi (hey Marriott Hilton, take note of that). 

So, we're off, on what I am calling our "Christmas Across America Tour," where our intrepid little family will be seeing some natural landmarks, historic sites, goofy roadside attractions, and lots and lots of highway for the next two weeks.  We plan to wind up at my parents' house in time for Christmas Eve.

Check back here and follow me on Twitter (@glennia) for updates and photos.

Road Trip Tip of the Day:  Don't reserve rooms for every night of your trip. Many fine motels have cheaper rates for walk-ins to fill unused space. 

 

Yahoo! Mother Board Summit: The Mother of All Conferences

Recently, sixty-five moms from all over the US and Canada descended on Palo Alto and Sunnyvale to attend the invitation-only Yahoo! Mother Board Summit.  The moms are a high-powered group of bloggers who are plugged in to all the latest trends in marketing and social media, and were invited to participate in a one-day conference at Yahoo! Headquarters in Sunnyvale. I was fortunate enough to be invited, and had a wonderful time connecting with old friends, and meeting some great new friends.  I was happy, for once, to not have to travel to a meeting.

I have been on the Mother Board for three years, from its inception.  At the beginning, we answered surveys and tested out new Yahoo! products and gave the marketing team feedback.  In the past year, it has grown into a community of 80 bloggers who support and advise each other through a Yahoo! group and on the pages of the Yodeling Mamas blog. 

The Mother Board Summit was a mix of practical advice for bloggers, marketing focus group for Yahoo! products and services, and socializing over great food and drinks.  The women on the Yahoo! marketing team and Voce Communications did a fabulous job of organizing the content, and shepherding the attendees from place to place.

World Cup: Where to Watch in Palo Alto/Stanford (San Francisco Peninsula)

My hometown of Palo Alto, California is a melting pot of cultures, and as international community as you are likely to find anywhere in the world.  Home to Stanford University, Palo Alto is an upscale mecca for students, entrepreneurs, and regular folks alike.  When the World Cup takes center stage every four years, Palo Altans and our neighbors from around the world gather to celebrate our national allegiances, and commiserate our losses to soccer powerhouses like Germany, Brazil and...Ghana?

This time around, I was determined to find a way to celebrate the event with other people, so I investigated where there were gatherings to watch the games being held in South Africa.  Although the HD TV in my house is just fine for viewing, it's more fun to watch with a group.

Here are some of the places I've watched these past few weeks, in case you're looking to watch the elimination games in Palo Alto or Stanford:

Pasta? Palo Alto: Pasta? as the name suggests is an Italian Restaurant in downtown Palo Alto on University Avenue.  The food is good, but the mood was somewhat subdued on the day I dragged my co-workers out for lunch to see the game. It was not nearly as exciting as some of the other venues, because I think the crowd was a mixture of soccer fans and people who just wandered in for lunch.  Pasta? is located at 326 University Avenue, Palo Alto, and is normally open from 10 am - 10 pm. 

Tresidder Student Union & Coffee House (CoHo): The Stanford Coffee House or CoHo as it's known on campus has two large HD TVs set up for game-viewing.  The day I was there, a group of Dutch students were lined up in front of one of the TVs like big orange birds on a wire wearing soccer ball hats, cheering on their team.  CoHo has not only coffee drinks, but also a great selection of salads and sandwiches.  It gets crowded at lunch time, so plan those 11:30 am games ahead of time.  I was also told that there are TVs set up in the lounges in Tresidder for viewing, but I didn't see where these were located.  CoHo is located at 459 Lagunita in the Tresidder Student Union, and is open 7 am - midnight weekdays and 9 am - midnight on weekends.

Sustainable Foods Information Fair

After the wonderful, thought-provoking cooking demonstrations at the Cooking for Solutions event,  I wandered into the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  As part of the weekend's events, there was a Sustainable Foods Information Fair inside the Aquarium and out on the deck overlooking Monterey Bay.  Aquarium-goers were treated to a variety of booths, talks, and cooking demonstrations by some outstanding chefs, including Rick Moonen, Jesse Ziff Cool, and Sam Choy, all of whom are leaders in the local and sustainable foods movement.

I wandered out to the deck, where there were a number of tents set up by Whole Foods Market, and a Viking cooking station and grill for the demos.  Chef Rick Moonen of RM Seafood at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas was getting ready to start his demo, and joked around with the crowd. Chef Moonen is a featured chef on Top Chef Masters, where established, world-renowned chefs compete for the title of "Top Chef Master." 

Moonen recently released a new cookbook called Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook's Essential Companion, the product of four years of work applying his culinary expertise to making preparing seafood at home less daunting for the average cook.  He was passionate about seafood, sustainability, and the debt that people owe to the oceans. I bought a copy of the book, since my husband recently converted to a semi-vegetarian to lower his cholesterol levels.  I've never been particularly good at cooking fish, but I aim to try it out.  The recipes look fantastic, and hopefully I will get over my fear of fish with this book.

Chef Moonen, like the three chefs I saw in the morning, was an engaging, charming speaker with a passion for his craft. He prepared a grilled salmon with a homemade barbecue sauce that we all got to try, that was just delicious. His secret weapon? Clam juice, which he claims could "cover up a multitude of sins" in the kitchen.

"Spring Awakening" Opens in San Jose

A little bit of magic Broadway found its way to San Jose this week, with the opening of the Broadway hit Spring Awakening at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. Armed with a charming and dynamic young cast, a pop-rock score, and lively dance numbers, this 8-time Tony award winner is sure to be a hit with teens and young adults. 

The cast, capably led by Christy Altomare as Wendla, Jake Epstein as Melchior, and Taylor Trensch as Moritz, tell the story of teens in 19th Century Germany exploring their budding sexuality.  At turns comedic and tragic, the emotions are amplified by an indie-rock score using a modern vernacular, making it more like "Rent" than an Andrew Lloyd Weber period piece.  It's quirky, creative, and fun, with serious cautionary messages for teens and adults.  I enjoyed the piece overall, and think it is one that parents could use as a lynch pin for serious discussions about sex, suicide, sexual abuse, and abortion.  I don't recommend this for kids under 14, due to the mature themes, brief nudity, and strong language. 

To me, the standouts in the cast were Steffi D as Ilse, a troubled girl who runs away from sexual abuse at home.  Steffi has a wonderful, emotive voice, perfect for ballads and rock numbers alike.  I also enjoyed watching Andy Mientus as Hanschen, whose oily, brazen seduction of an innocent classmate, Ernst, was a scene-stealing moment.  My husband thought he looked like Spike from Buffy the Vampire, and with his white-blond hair and swagger, I thought that was a fair comparison.

Where the show fell down for me was in the story line.  Based on an 1891 play by Frank Wedekind that was banned for nearly 100 years, due to it's treatment of issues like homosexuality, teen suicide, and abortion.  It seemed as though someone sat down with a laundry list of horrific events that could befall a teen and stitched them together into a loose storyline. 

While the first act is all about discovery and confusion, my husband noted that the second act could have been called "Rude Awakening."  The second half of the play seemed to reinforce nothing good can come of sex, including death, despair, and reform school.  There didn't seem to be any sense of redemption or reconciliation, though the closing number talks of hope of rebirth and regeneration.  I don't think the story naturally led to that conclusion.

I was also not thrilled with the reinforcement of the notion that all adults are the same, depicted literally by having every adult role played by the same man and woman. The adult characters seemed uniformly oblivious and unsympathetic to what the kids were going through, whether they were parents, teachers, or clergy.  I can definitely see that from a child's perspective, that might appear to be true.  I can understand why this show has such a large teen following, particularly for kids who feel marginalized or that their parents just don't understand the pressures they feel. 

Our town recently been rocked by a serious of very public and painful teen suicides that has ripped the fabric of our community.  It was particularly timely and poignant to watch this played out on stage, and the music seemed to be very much on point, particularly in showing the anger that kids feel that no matter what they do, as the song says, they're "totally f*cked".  I hope if nothing else, this should could open a frank dialogue between teens and their parents.

Spring Awakening is part of a national tour that runs through Sunday, November 1 at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. For tickets, click here.  For information on other cities and dates, check out the Spring Awakening tour website.

PHOTO 1: (l-r) Kimiko Glenn, Gabrielle Garza, Christy Altomare, and Sarah Hunt.

PHOTO 2: Steffi D. as Ilse

Photo Credit: Paul Kolnik. Photos used with permission of Carla Befera Public Relations.

Disclosure: I received two complimentary media passes to attend the show, but no other compensation for this review. Opinions expressed herein are solely mine.

World Breastfeeding Week

This past week was World Breastfeeding Week, but I've been so caught up in work, planning a birthday party, and recovering from my last round of illness that I almost let it go by without mention. I received a couple of interesting press releases and information on this topic that I wanted to share here.  The first was this interview clip from Julie Menin's Give and Take.  In this clip from the interview series, CNN host Campbell Brown talks about motherhood, work-life balance, and looking for role models for working moms.  One particularly resonant anecdote is the one she tells about pumping, and express mailing breastmilk to her husband when she moderated a Presidential Debate. The full interview can be seen in four parts at Julie Menin's website, and will air on select cable channels.

I also received information from a marketing program aimed at increasing awareness by giving out information and breast-feeding friendly supplies as new moms are discharged from the hospital.  When Alex was born 9 years ago, I got not one but two diaper bags from the hospital chock full of...formula.  I thought it was a nice gift, but I was set on breastfeeding.  The only information on breastfeeding I got was some strong encouragement from the nurses and an instruction to watch a video.  Several painful, exhausting weeks later, I threw up my hands and went to see a lactation consultant, but felt like an utter failure.  Eventually, I figured out how to do it without making my toes curl from the pain, but it would have been helpful to have some additional information and supplies.

This has been the norm for a number of years now, so I was pleased to see that an alternative is now available.  The breastfeeding-friendly version of the discharge bag is called the Healthy Baby Bounty Bag.  Starting this month, the bag will be distributed in approximately 200 hospitals across the country, to about 300,000 new moms.  The bag contains milk storage bags, disposable nipple pads, samples, coupons, and information on breastfeeding.  The bags are sponsored by Lansinoh, makers of a lanolin cream that I could not live without when Alex was an infant.

I asked if this would be available at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, our local hospital, but unfortunately, it is not.  This might be a good project for our local Palo Alto & Menlo Park Parents' Club to take on.  I hope these bags will help other moms ease into breastfeeding a little smoother than I did.

 

 

Water, Water, Everywhere...And Now I Need a Drink

Ten day ago, I was taking a shower when I noticed that there was no hot water. I didn't think much of it, other than I should probably check out the waterheater.  I walked into the closet, and noticed that the carpet was soaking wet. I looked up, thinking that we must have a ceiling leak from all the rain the week before.  Somehow, 2 + 2 was not equaling 4 in this equation, and I didn't think the two things were connected.

Later, I was in the laundry room, and thought I heard water running inside our garage, so I went out to investigate.  What I found was a river running through our garage, winding its way through a canyon of boxes, old  furniture, and debris collected over the twelve years we've lived in the house.  The water was traveling through the garage and out onto the driveway.  I dug my way through the clutter in the garage to the mouth of the river: our decrepit, antique waterheater. I felt like Lewis & Clark forging their way to the Missouri River headwaters.

Frank was out of town, so I called a plumber, and after three tries, finally hit upon one with an emergency answering service.  I really think that Joe the Plumber should have stayed in his line of work and gotten a license. People need plumbers.  Pundits? Not so much. I've never heard anyone say, "If I don't see George Will or Arianna Huffington right this minute, I will certainly keel over dead."  They might, however, say, "There's a river running through my garage, and if I don't find a plumber soon, I may need a sailboat to get out of the house."

My Kind of Town: Palo Alto

There are times when I'm glad that we're not traveling, when we just stay home and enjoy the place where we live for a while.  Sometimes, it's fun to be a tourist in your own town, to look at everything with fresh eyes, and to remember why you call it home.

My town, Palo Alto, California, is located mid-way between San Francisco and San Jose.  Palo Alto features a mild climate, a hotbed of intellectual and cultural activites, and great restaurants.  When I first came to Silicon Valley on business trips in the 90's, I marveled at how it seemed to always be 70 degrees and sunny.  "Just another day in paradise," a colleague told me.  After weathering 110 degree heat in Texas, and sub-zero temperatures in Chicago, it did seem like the perfect climate.  While it's not always 70 degrees and sunny, it seems to be that way more often than not.

Palo Alto is perhaps most famous for being the home of Stanford University and the heart of the Silicon Valley.  Technically, Stanford has its own zip code and is separate entity altogether.  Like many college towns, there are tensions between the university and the local community from time to time, but for the most part, it is a symbiotic relationship.  We need them, and they need us, so we just have to work it out.

Around here, the local folk heroes are entrepreneurs who started out with nothing but a dream and ended up with a technology empire.  Those stories, the ones involving two guys with an algorithm who go on to start a global empire, are the legends are the stories handed down from generation to generation.  Forget Johnny Appleseed, did you hear the one about Bill and Dave's garage, the birthplace of Hewlett-Packard?  Or the lucky building on University Avenue where Logitech and Google were both started?  These might not sound significant, but to Palo Altans, it's part of what makes our town unique. 

Here are some of the things we love about Palo Alto:

Museums

The Museum of American Heritage is a small museum located in the historic Williams house, near downtown Palo Alto. There are some interactive activities for kids, temporary exhibits, and the museum offers classes for older kids on how to build transistors, crystal radios, and short wave radios. If you have a budding engineer or entrepreneur in the family, this is a must-see.  Surely, this is how Hewlett & Packard started out.  Another great place for kids is the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo , which features interactive exhibits, an indoor playscape for small kids, and a small zoo. 

Technically not in Palo Alto, but Stanford, the Cantor Arts Center houses a collection of fine art, antiquities, and often quirky temporary collections.  It's a great place to spend a rainy day with kids, but on sunny days,  you can sit outside and enjoy the Rodin sculture garden and let them run around on the Andy Goldsworthy piece called Stone River, outside the front door. I like to meet my friends for lunch at the Cool Cafe, where chef Jessie Cool serves up delicious, inventive twists on American cuisine with fresh, organically grown ingredients.

Restaurants

Caffe Riace is a great Italian restaurant that is a little off-the-beaten path.  It's not on a commercial street, so you have to know where it is to find it.  One of our neighbors directed us there about eight years ago, and we have been going ever since.  The owners are an Italian family, and every time we go there they greet us like we're their long lost cousins who just got off the boat from Sicily.  Most of the seating is outdoors, in a lovely patio with large bronze statues and colorful artwork all around.  It's a great place for a romantic date, or to go let the kids run around the fountain.   In eight years, we've never had a bad meal--or even a mediocre one--at Caffe Riace.  Frank's favorite is the Osso Bucco, a veal stew that is so tender it barely needs chewing. Alex is crazy about the home-made gelato for dessert.

Joanie's Cafe on California Avenue is a great place for a hearty breakfast or a tasty lunch.  It's a small place, so on weekends, there is almost always a wait.  The owners are French, so it has a bit of a Parisian cafe meets California Diner feel, with a few outdoor tables.  The friendly, amiable waitstaff, who always make you feel welcome whether they know you or not.  For breakfast, the scrambles, omelettes, and waffles make for filling stick-to-your ribs fare.

Palo Alto's downtown area boasts a myriad of high-end boutiques, restaurants, cafes, and offices.  You can't walk ten feet without running into a coffee shop, since this town seems to be run on caffeine.  Some standouts include the University Cafe for coffee and a full menu of light meals and pastries, and Caffe del Doge, an espresso bar that serves up exotic espresso mixes in martini glasses.  New on the scene is Madison and Fifth, where I had what was probably the best risotto I've ever eaten in my life. 

Entertainment

Most people who live here live on fairly small patches of land, because real estate is at a premium.  Luckily, you're never very far from one of Palo Alto's many parks.  Our favorites are Juana Briones, with a new playscape that was just installed last year, including a train to climb around on, a climbing wall, and tireswings.  We also like Bol Park, with its jogging trail, large open field, and close proximity to the famous Barron Park Donkeys, Perry and Niner.  Perry was the model for the donkey in the Shrek movies, and you can go by and visit him and his buddy.  In the summer, if you're a parent with a small child, you can't beat Mitchell Park, which boasts a creative water spray area to cool off in, and separate play areas for toddlers and big kids.

If you are interested in the performing arts, Stanford hosts an eclectic Lively Arts series that includes world-renowned musicians and dance groups, everything from Japanese taiko drums to American folk music to baroque ensembles.  For theatre, we love the Peninsula Youth Theatre (though it's technically based in Mountain View).  PYT features some of the most amazingly talented kids around.  We usually go when we know someone in the cast, and have always marveled at the professionalism of the costumes, sets, and performances.  We also like Theatreworks, which often stages performances in Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Community Center.

And finally, if you want to take a peek at life in Palo Alto, coming soon to a theatre near you is Palo Alto: The Movie.

When we first moved to Palo Alto, I always had a bag packed, ready to go back to Austin at a moment's notice.  I had always planned that we would only be here temporarily.  Over the years, I've learned more and experienced more about our community, and now I now can't imagine going anywhere else. Quirky, eclectic, cutting-edge, and endearing, all of these qualities make Palo Alto home.