"You are building the most fabulous life."

Happy Thanksgiving, campers! Today, I'm grateful for all of you. 

I am, as always, thankful for my fantastic friends and above all the love and support of my family. This year, however, I'm ruminating on something a little bigger than in years past. 

2017 has brought enormous change for me, and I am beyond thankful that it has been so positive across the board. Had you asked me last Thanksgiving where I would be this year, I would have probably shrugged and assumed it would be living in downtown Minneapolis, working at Travelers, hanging out with the same people, maybe dating, maybe not. Instead, I live in California with two of my best friends, working for one of the most renowned academic institutions in the world. I wake up every morning to palm trees, never wear a coat, and weekend in wine country. And I am happy - incandescently so. 

A friend of mine once commented on an Instagram photo, "You are building the most fabulous life!" The phrase has tuck with me for the last few years - especially in light of my 2017 resolution to be intentional in all things. It's been a mantra, at times when my life hasn't felt so fabulous. I'm thankful, though, that choosing to be intentional, to step out of my comfort zone, and to keep building that fabulous life has led me to where I am today. I am grateful that taking a huge leap has been as easy as it has been, and that I can truly say today that I'm this happy and fulfilled by my life. 

So on this Thanksgiving, here's to the friends I've made and lost, the family that has had my back through everything, the roommates who make me smile every day, the abundance of delicious California wine waiting for us on tonight's Thanksgiving table, and to you - today, may your hearts be as full as your plates!

Gettin' jazzy with it!

Proof, friends, that I truly won the parental lottery: It's early September, and I have decided I want to go to the Monterey Jazz Festival, in a BIG way. My Aaron Burr-crush Leslie Odom Jr. is headlining the Saturday main stage, and I am a jazz fiend. Sadly, Roommate David, who loves jazz more than anyone I know, is on call that weekend and can't go. So I text my parents, expecting them to laugh...and instead: 

Before I knew it, we had called each other half a dozen times, and my parents had not only booked flights but also bought us tickets...all before my lunch break. And that, friends, is how I found myself in mid-September driving us down to oh-so-charming Monterey, for a weekend of some of the best jazz performance I've ever experienced!

Held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, the Jazz Fest is anything but bougie - and that just adds to the experience. Locals mingle with tourists and weekend warriors as snatches of music drift through the air - a high school jazz band in one building, an open-air soul-funk group in an amphitheater, snippets of the greats coming from the history presentations. I was in heaven. 

We made our way over to the Yamaha tent and had a blast discussing instruments...they even let me demo a flute, the first time I've touched one since senior year of college! For those concerned, I definitely still know all the Notre Dame fight songs...#nerd.

Parched after my masterful performance (HA!), we hit up one of the beer gardens, where I started with a Brother Thelonius. 100% of the sales from this jazz-themed beer went straight to supporting jazz education in California - the entire festival benefits several different jazz organizations and has provided major funding since its inception 61 years ago!

We spent the day bouncing around from building to building, seeing as many different artists as possible. Highlights: the California High School All-Star Jazz Band, Monsieur Periné's Latin/Afro/Caribbean/French melange of magic, Bruno Mars-esque Con Brio and their high-energy dance party in the amphitheater, and The Suffers, full of soul and so charismatic.

We took a quick dinner break and headed to the pier for fantastic seafood at the Old Fisherman's Grotto - being seated right by the windows and watching the sea lions frolic in the bay was a beautiful, amusing setting for a meal!

As soon as we had finished with our dinners, it was immediately back to the mainstage for the evening's highlights - the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra teaming up with the Gerald Clayton Trio to premiere the festival's annual commissioned work. This year's piece was a nine-part "jazz symphony," if you will, following the trajectory of America over the last year or so. It was all-encompassing - atonal and grating alternating with incredibly lush and harmonious, overlaid with the spoken word and resolving in an absolute maelstrom of sound. I about died and went to heaven, and loved it all the more for sitting next to my father while a father-son duo made magic onstage.

And of course, the main event (for us, anyway) - Leslie Odom Jr, who made my month when he opened his set with a stripped-down, jazzed-up version of his iconic "Wait For It" from "Hamilton." From there on out, we enjoyed a rollercoaster through the best of jazz and classic Broadway - selections from "Rent," "Spring Awakening," and "Hamilton" interspersed flawlessly with original, pared-down jazz pieces that showcased his small ensemble to perfection. He even cracked jokes and riffed on his recent Nationwide Insurance commercial - the man is, in my opinion, a flawless human being and I can't wait to see him AGAIN in a few weeks at my beloved Orchestra Hall over Thanksgiving!

We took it so, so easy on Sunday - a leisurely brunch at First Awakenings, an old sardine factory, then a slow, gorgeous drive up the coast and over the mountains back to Redwood City. We provisioned ourselves, Schweg-style, for the afternoon...

...and, as Dave was still on call, and as Dave is one of my parents' favorite people ever, we had a fantastic dinner al fresco at home. Dad's perfect filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes, crusty fresh-baked sourdough bread, and an Italian salad - plus, of course, plenty of champagne! 

I headed back to my parents' hotel with them and watched the Emmys before calling it a night. They flew home early Monday morning, and I immediately reset the Schwegfam countdown clock...exactly 30 days to our New York trip! 

In short - I fell madly in love with the Monterey Jazz Festival, and am beyond jazzed that my parents shared the experience with me. Already looking forward to a repeat trip next year!

101 in 1001 #5: See a Broadway show...on Broadway!

You guys, hi! I’m fresh off a very lengthy blog break (partly intentional, partly accidental) and a fantastic trip to New York City with my parents and brother to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We had an absolutely outstanding weekend – shopping, drinking, sightseeing, and dining to our hearts’ content – but the unequivocal highlight of the weekend, for me, was seeing my first (and second!) Broadway show and checking off my 101 in 1001 #5!

I’ve grown up absolutely obsessed with Broadway musicals. My first trip to a show, the touring production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Donny Osmond, took place at the tender age of six…and my family never looked back. As anyone who reads this space knows, we all fell HARD for “Hamilton,” my dad and I share an affinity for “Phantom” that goes back over a decade, and I’ve seen too many touring productions on stage to even count up at this point. As much as we all love musicals, though, I’d never actually seen a show on Broadway before. Needless to say, when my parents floated the idea of a trip for Dad’s birthday, including seeing shows, I was all over it.

One of my deepest recent Broadway obsessions is with “Dear Evan Hansen,” the darling of the 2017 Tonys which has been universally praised for its richly emotive performances and the gorgeous music, penned by Pasek and Paul of “La La Land” acclaim. Ben Platt, starring as the anxiety-crippled, socially awkward title character, is ending his run at the end of November, and I couldn’t not see his Best Actor Tony-winning performance – especially after my parents and sister Em had already seen it and unequivocally raved about it.

Despite the fact that the ticket cost me nearly a third of my monthly rent, Friday night saw me absolutely losing my mind in the third row of the mezzanine as this stunning show truly left me speechless.  I rendezvoused with my family during intermission (we weren’t all sitting together, thank GOD) and was near-incoherent in my awe. While Ben Platt’s performance is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the rest of the cast wowed in their own right, and the innovative staging and show design created a completely immersive experience.

I remembered with paralyzing detail how painful and awkward and stressful it was, at times, to be a teenager feeling like I didn’t totally fit in, to think in agonizing detail about how others perceived me and to worry incessantly about who I was. That teenage angst, coupled with the struggles of parents to understand their children and fulfill their own needs and desires, seemed to overwhelm everyone in the audience; the women sitting next to me had never heard the music and didn’t know the show’s premise, and collectively went through an entire packet of Kleenex in the first act alone.

After the show, we parked ourselves outside the stage door in hopes of seeing the cast up close and personal, but the closest we got was seeing Rachel Bay Jones (Tony Award winner for best featured actress!) drive by waving from her SUV after sneaking out the back door. I had a total fangirl moment, though, when we realized we could see into the reception room backstage, and watched Ben Platt greeting VIPs. To quote the musical, heavy-handedly, we were literally waving through a window...and it made my night!

While “Dear Evan Hansen” plumbed the deepest depths of my (admittedly soft-hearted, emotional, quick-to-cry) spirit, our Saturday night show, “A Bronx Tale,” left me grinning from ear to ear. We had originally purchased phenomenal seats to “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812,” but the show closed early in September after a fair amount of casting drama. We searched around for other options aimlessly as a few more shows we were interested in closed, and ultimately landed on “A Bronx Tale” as a nice change of pace from the wringer that is “Dear Evan Hansen.” Based on a true story, and the ensuing Robert De Niro movie, the show focuses on the early life of a young Italian boy growing up in – you guessed it – the Bronx, being pulled between the rival good-and-evil forces of his upright, moral father and a local mobster.

While the show won no Tonys and earned much less critical acclaim than my beloved “Hamilton” or “Dear Evan Hansen,” the music (by Alan Menken) and the dance-heavy, big bold cast created an enchanting experience for the largely Italian, New Yorker audience. I’ve had “One of the Great Ones,” a rollicking love song, stuck in my head since Saturday night- and let’s be real, if every show was an emotional rollercoaster, I’d never make it through an evening at the theater without crying my mascara clean off.

So incredibly thankful to my parents for letting us celebrate in the greatest city in the world with them, and for planning not one but TWO Broadway experiences for us! I’m so hooked on the theater world, and have a feeling there will be many more cross-country flights in my future…after all, “Frozen” and “Mean Girls” both open next spring, wheee!

Schwegmanigans by the Bay!

As fun as wine country with my Schwegfam was, it only took up one day of their 3.5-day trip to Cali, and the fun didn't stop as soon as we left Napa. In fact, it started before Napa, the second Dick, Jodes and Jonathan showed up at my place on Thursday afternoon...

Emily didn't arrive until just before dinner, so I took my parents and Jonny over to San Carlos for a lengthy lunch...of the mostly-liquid variety...at Cask. 

Emmy got in, we headed back to San Carlos for a fantastic dinner of small plates and wine pairings at The Wine Project, and then back to my place for a palm tree sunset...

...and a belated-birthday celebration courtesy of Sprinkles Cupcakes! (Em's birthday is July 2, so she was NOT expecting this almost three weeks later...but my parents are awesome and never let a birthday go uncelebrated!)

Friday was Napa day, so we pick back up on Saturday. First, a bit of backstory - while my whole family has met Laura repeatedly over the last six years, Dave was a brand new face for them, and the Schwegfam likes few things better than new (victims) friends to (force to hang out with us) win over with our charming shenanigans. 

So when the Schwegs met Dave for the first time that week, it was kind of a bizarre love at first sight thing. Jonathan and Dave had, of course, already become bros during his earlier trip to the Bay, but my parents and Em were rapidly enchanted. To the degree that, when we decided to go out to breakfast on Saturday before heading to Stanford, Dave's attendance was NOT OPTIONAL in their eyes. Dave, however, had plans to enjoy one of his few days off going hiking. Fortunately, he's a gracious and lovely roommate/person and agreed to go to breakfast. At Stacks, when an extra mimosa showed up randomly, my parents, Jon, and Emmy all attempted to twist his arm into drinking it, despite his planned strenuous hike after food. 

Dave demurred, with the following exchange: 

Jodes: "Dave, honey, are you sure you don't want the mimosa?!" 

Dave: "Yeah, no, I just really don't like champagne." (Pause for look of slight horror on faces of entire Schwegfam.) "Oh, no, don't get me wrong, I LOVE alcohol...just not champagne." (Pause for look of dramatic relief on faces of entire Schwegfam.) 

Dave, you're a saint of a roommate and thank you for coming to breakfast with my wild and crazy family - we love you!

Long story short, Jonathan drank both the mimosas while wearing his sunglasses indoors because that's just how Jonathan rolls. 

I blame said mimosas for his incredible maturity the moment we rolled up to Stanford's campus...

I was so excited to show off campus to my family! I've really loved exploring it and spending more time there with work, classes and activities after-hours. The day, though, was rapidly nearing 90 degrees, and while the Schwegfam is incredibly good looking and very smart compared to the general population, we're not exactly known for our Stanford-level academic ability. So we just had fun instead...

Specifically, we walked around campus sweltering until we beelined for the bookstore, where Emily channeled her best inner Stanford student...

Dick...oh excuse me, his frat-boy alter ego Rick...joined the class of 2021 and got his letter jacket to prove it...

,,,and we screwed around making general fools of ourselves for a nice healthy amount of time. Schwegmans LOVE college bookstores. It's one of our things. 

Since Em couldn't decide whether to go the business, medicine, or law route, we decided to throw in the towel and seek cooler temperatures in San Francisco, starting in the Mission at Clarion Alley, a graffiti project that focuses on protest artwork. (We were a teeeeeeny tiny bit out of place. Oops.)

Once we saw our man Prince (RIP), we were good to go and headed toward Dandelion Chocolate for ALL THE SAMPLES and Brasserie St James for mediocre service and excellent cocktails. 

When we were in Northern California over the holidays, we stumbled into Fog Harbor Fish House on Pier 39 for a happy hour that turned into one of the best dinners of our trip. Dad, being a creature of habit, really wanted to go back, so we did! As much of a tourist nightmare as Pier 39 can be, it's worth checking out if you're a newbie to the San Francisco thing...and I highly recommend Fog Harbor for drinks, snacks, or a full meal. 

One of the biggest draws of Fog Harbor? Their house-made sourdough bread is baked every hour and served HOT tableside...like so hot that it's hard to pick it up at first. Both times we've been there, we've devoured multiple baskets of it. It's crack-delicious. 

Emily had insisted all evening that she wanted no further recognition of her birthday, but Dad is a sucker for any kind of party-style humiliation (and for free dessert). To get him back for the sneak-attack strawberry shortcake, Em, Jonny and I stealth-swiped the bill...a coup, if you've ever dined out with Dick and Jodes. 

All that was left was taking in a stunning San Francisco sunset to conclude our Saturday in the city...that Bay Bridge photo Em captured honestly makes my heart beat a little bit faster. 

In true Schwegfam style, we were pounding mimosas by about 9am on Sunday at Mayfield Bakery in Palo Alto, a brunch we were all kind of eh on...cinnamon beignets aside. 

After brunch, we headed back to Stanford to take in the panoramic 360-degree views from the top of Hoover Tower! I can access it for free anytime with my employee badge, and the day was so clear we could see all the way to San Francisco. 

After we wound down at Stanford, we took Jonny D to the airport and headed back to my place to relax and enjoy one last glass of California sauvignon blanc before my parents ran Em back. Little did we know, her flight would be delayed by three or four hours...so we turned right back around to pick her up and race back to my place for a little Iron Horse Reserve Cuvée!

Too soon, it was time to say goodbye to the rest of my Schwegfam loves, the only way I know how: with a raised glass and a "Cheers!" for the road. 

I can't wait for the next trip they make out my way...or for our next Schwegfam Five reunion in Minnesota over Thanksgiving! 

Schwegmanigans: Wine Country Edition!

YOU GUYS there are like fifty pictures in this post and I can't even begin to narrow it down further because this was SUCH a fantastically fun day. 

My family came out to visit me about six weeks after I moved this summer - ostensibly to see my new city, tour Stanford, etc. - but in reality, our end goal was simple: CHANDON. 

As I have told you all ad nauseum, my sister Emily is a ridiculously gifted designer whose work was selected by Domaine Chandon for their limited edition "American Summer" champagne bottles this summer. With wine country the same distance from my new home as cabin country is from the Twin Cities, I've made it my new favorite weekend destination - and Chandon has become the winery equivalent of Cheers for me. (This was my third trip, and I've subsequently made a couple more...oops!) 

We were so excited to bring Emily to see all her work in action - and the winery staff were almost equally excited when we told them she had done the design work. They comped us a bottle of their reserve label cuvée, one of my favorites, to enjoy outside! 

...and enjoy we did. In addition to the bottle that we received from Chandon, I also had a wine club shipment to pick up, and they waived the corkage fee to open it on site. I also receive free tastings or full glasses as a club member...so needless to say, we had QUITE a few bubbles in our systems by the time we rolled out a few hours later. 

We quickly made our way to the Adirondacks out back, and while we started out perfectly respectable, I PROMISE...

...things rapidly devolved as we cracked into bottle #2. Jonathan will clearly make an excellent and HIGHLY professional sommelier someday.

I absolutely adore these people beyond all measure and reason. We had way too much fun popping bottles, taking pictures, and telling, I shit you not, EVERYONE we came in contact with that Emily had done the design work. I think she was ready to absolutely murder Dad by the time we headed out. 

Fortunately, Dad had provided for us with a massive haul at Bouchon Bakery down the street...he does this great thing where he kind of blacks out at any given bakery counter, and all of a sudden we have like three times as many pastries as any family of five could justifiably need. He also went HAM on the macaron selection, and they were an ideal re-up after all the bubbles. 

As temperatures soared into the 90s, we headed for our second stop of the day, Alpha Omega's gorgeous outdoor tasting patio. Could this setting be any more idyllic? 

The girls did a custom flight of white wines - perfect for the heat - while Papa Bear and Jonathan went full-out with the Beckstoffer To Kalon tasting - three wine archive-quality cabernets plus a current offering. It was, in a word, sublime. 

A little bit wined-out, we turned to one of my favorite hidden gems in St. Helena, Goose & Gander. With a Michelin-recommended cocktail program in their charming basement bar, it was the perfect mid-afternoon stop to beat the heat and take a break from wine for a time. Bonus: Dad adores their hand-chipped, crystal-clear giant ice cubes... 

From there, it was back down the road to Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch for a happy hour glass of wine and some snacks while we waited out the worst of rush hour traffic back into the city. We loved their grass-fed meatballs and mini ham sandwiches!

As usual, an unbelievably lovely day in wine country with my Schwegfam faves :)