Lynne Baer

Sweet sixteen! H and I made the drive up to @applehillofficial this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Cider donuts from @rainbow_orchards_ca (the scent of these babies transporting me back to so many similar fall days in New England), walking through the flower fields at @appleridgefarms , barbecue lunch @drewbeanfarms , and then wrapping up our day at the @californiastaterailroadmuseum :)

My favorite part of Bay to Breakers: where I race across the city by train and have brunch on the beach while Hyoun runs Hayes Hill 😂

More news we’ve been sitting on, but it’s now official: we will be performing with Andrea Bocelli in Napa in June! On H’s birthday, no less :) Ticket prices for those performances are seriously Taylor Swift/Beyonce levels 🤯, but we do have multiple other concerts this spring, including Carlos Simon’s Here I Stand: Paul Robeson (an Oakland Symphony commission), and Beethoven’s 9th, and we’d love to see you there. Details available on the Oakland Symphony website, or just ping me for the info. Neighborhood redbud tree for the reach and the beauty.

I didn’t #votebybike this time! Instead, knowing we have a race coming up, @hyounpark and I jogged the mile-plus up to our local ballot box to drop off our votes. Afterwards, we walked over to @penndelsbakehouse for post-election treats: an apple strudel for me, a chocolate cookie and necessary caffeination for him. And then we ran home. And I managed to do both of the running legs without a walking interval! In order to not obsess over what is now out of my hands, I’m focusing on said upcoming race. I don’t think I’m making my original stretch goal of running the entire @bsimevents 5k without walking intervals; being sick last week set me back from my PRs in New York. But I think I might be able to do it by the @hotchocolaterunseries in January, the first 5k I ever did back at the beginning of this year. And I might even be able to run the entire @orcarunning Cookie Run next month, since it’s slightly shorter than a 5k *and* it’s likely the temperature will be in the low 40s, maybe even the high 30s.

Happy Reverse-The-Curse-iversary, friends! 20 years ago tonight, I made sure to miss the requisite two innings of the final game of the 2004 World Series by going out to dinner with friends to celebrate @michayr ’s birthday (@dalirestaurant , stuffing ourselves on queso rebozado con miel and albondigas de cordero and gambas con ajo). When it was all over, the Sox had neatly swept the Cards under the ruddy glow of a total lunar eclipse, and amid the utter chaos in the streets of metro Boston, I stared up at the moon and smiled peacefully, overwhelmed by all the changes in my life in the preceding weeks, but once again believing that change could bring good things, too, if I just had faith. And patience.

Boston friends, I’m here! Now through Saturday night. Would love to see people if you’re around. Staying in Arlington Tuesday Friday Saturday and the Seaport Wednesday Thursday.

Usually, when the Space Weather report announces the rare potential for sighting the aurora borealis in Northern California, they mean like Siskiyou County, 300 miles north on the Oregon border. Tonight, we saw the Northern Lights in the hills just north of Berkeley. Stunning.

Election traditions: I bike to our ballot box while @hyounpark sprints up there, we drop off our ballots, and then we go get food. Bonus: running into my mom at the lobster truck!

So relieved the rain cleared up in time for the Lunar New Year 5K @hyounpark and I did this morning in Chinatown! I know, what, these words coming out of my mouth? But @bulletproof_diva and @marialivinlyfe and @homobikedad convinced me to sign up for the Hot Chocolate 5K in January, and I figured that was manageable, a one-time thing with friends and chocolate and a nice jacket for swag, and also Golden Gate Park makes for a pretty course. Then Rachel persuaded me to come out for @thelittlehill 7K in February because community ties and meeting your neighbors and climbing my second of the four big hills in our town (Cutting and Moeser down, Barrett and Potrero to go) and cute bandanas. And then I told Hyoun we were doing the LNY 5K because the tech tees had dragons and also I needed cute long-sleeve exercise tops. His reaction: “YOU’RE FINALLY COMING AROUND AND IT ONLY TOOK 18.5 YEARS! 😍😍😍” And now the @oaklandmarathon 5K is in two weeks … which is kind of establishing a pattern of me averaging a 5k every month? >_> Lesson learned: make the swag cute enough and I’ll fall for it. (I know, I know, @la_canadajen has been priming this pump for years, too, as a friend and @orcarunning ambassador ;) )

Disneyland countdown 90 seconds behind (thanks, streaming), broiled persimmons as our round fruit for Media Noche, elderflower lemonade out of goblets from a dear old friend, marzipan cookies with thematically appropriate dinosaur sprinkles fresh out of the oven, random booms from the neighbors’ fireworks, and @hyounpark next to me, partner in all things, as always. Happy new year, everyone!

Imagine the setting. There are about 170 choristers onstage, along with the Oakland Symphony. We’re at final dress rehearsal for today’s holiday concert. It’s Oakland Symphony Chorus, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, along with choirs from Cal State Hayward and like four area high schools. The orchestra conductor has his baton up for the downbeat of What’s Love Got To Do With It, when *several dozen cell phones START PLAYING THE @BeReal CHIME.* Oh my god the youth energy, 🤣, I love it. Happy holiday concerts to everyone else performing today!

Reminder to Bay Area friends and family: Sunday December 10, 4 pm, Hyoun and I will be performing with Oakland Symphony Chorus and a whole bunch of friends at the Paramount. Holiday tunes familiar and novel, beautiful a cappella, and a tribute to Tina Turner! Limited tickets still available on the Oakland Symphony website; hope to see you there!