knockaround – Teachers Have Lives Too!

Xiao Yi means “little aunt” in Mandarin, and that’s what I am when I’m down in DC. I try to make the trek down there at least once a month to see my little niece Jojo. One day she will start calling me xiao yi and I want to be there so she can put a face to a name. She only 7 months old right now though, so I guess I’ve got some time.

I hopped on the bus for the 4 hour trip down to DC friday night and met up with this guy. My old Viking friend Aurora also lives in DC so I took the opportunity to meet up with her and her little man Macaroni for a drink.

Saturday, My sister Kris and I hopped aboard her friend’s boat in Annapolis for a sail around the Chesapeake Bay. I spent my high school years on the San Francisco Bay sailing with the Sea Scouts, and it feels fantastic to be out on the water. I’ll take any and all invitations for sailing. I spent a lot of the day on the boat thinking about how different my life would have been if I had joined the Coasties out of high school or if I had gone to Cal Maritime Academy instead of pursuing biology and teaching.

Sunday was brunch day and auntie time with Jojo. My sister picked the place and her friend Sean joined us. We rounded out the afternoon with oyster shooters before dropping me off to hop on the bus for the ride back to Brooklyn.
down in DC5

Sean helped me snap a photo of my new Zara sweater dress. This dress is a bit out of my comfort zone with it’s clinginess, but it’s a weekend and it’s comfortable but edgy-ish all at the same time. I’m digging Zara lately with the simple lines and colors in their fall line up. Not too jazzed about the glitter in the fabric, but I guess you can’t win ’em all.

sunnies: knockaround – dress: zara – bag: freitag – shoes: madewell, borrowed from kris

Summer here in Brooklyn is on its way out. Relatively cooler temps have taken over and I report back to school tomorrow for a planning week, then the first day of students is on September 9th. It’s just about time to put the teacher hat back on along with the fall/winter layers. I think I’m ready for the school year… at least until the “start of school anxiety” sets in and I start getting nightmares and/or insomnia.

As a last hurrah, my friend (and fellow teacher) Grace and I decided to take a road trip down south. I’ve always wanted to check out the south, specifically Savannah, Georgia. I have this crazy romanticized image of Savannah, thanks to movies like Gone with The Wind and uh, *cough* Forces of Nature. I’m drawn to the south, with its lushness, the incredible and controversial history, the drawl (swoon) and most of all, the food (here’s some butter, y’all). Next on my list is a visit to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. For our trip, Grace and I took 2 days getting down to Savannah and two days getting back. We only spent one full day in Georgia, but it was just about enough time considering how small Savannah really is. The night we got in, there was a blue moon. Grace and I stayed at the 17hundred90 Inn, which is rumored to be haunted and a block away from a historic cemetery. We didn’t experience anything creepy, but after hearing all those ghost stories I did wake up in the middle of the night super freaked out and scared to even peek out from the covers. Grace laughed at me the next day, but I was seriously scared (of nothing)!

The next day, Grace and I walked all over the historic district and then made our way over to the family style soul food restaurant Ms. Wilke’s. The wait in line was well worth it and we gorged on all things fried, stewed and covered in cheese. We walked it all off though, through Forsyth Park and all the other little squares in the area. I really wanted to collect some spanish moss to bring home, but our haunted pub crawl guide Brittany told us the moss was full of chiggers.

Grace was nice enough to help me snap some photos of my new-ish dress, which was perfect for the hot and humid Savannah weather. This dress is as close as I’ll ever get to the ridiculous mullet trend that just needs to die. Proper in the front, party in the back! My new birthday shades from B were a perfect match.