What a day it has been! As you can see in the video below (thank you to the family for documenting!) we were giddy and emotionally overwhelmed to finally meet. We piled into their vans and sped through the winding streets to their nearby village. Here we exchanged gifts and I freshened up.

Back in the car, this time squeezing in a mini cooper, with some jokes about Florian living up to the German driver stereotype, we headed for the heart of Toulouse. We walked along the canal, window shopped, and talked and talked.

Then we all met up again at Le Bibet, a “very much typically French” restaurant where “all the Americans want to go.” It was, indeed, very French and very delicious. I managed to keep up with conversation and cream.

Afterward a night walk back to the car, with the city lit up for night. They told me there are a couple universities here and the later crowds skewed young. There was music playing and casual dance parties by the canal and the bars were packed. But none of that could compare with the thought of a hot shower and soft bed, where I find myself now. I hope I sleep deeply tonight.

and then we hugged and cried longer, and several more times throughout the day. 💜

Stefanie and I have been pen pals since 1991. We wrote letters as kids, continuing as teens and young adults (but not as often). With email, and then remote friendships during the pandemic, we’ve gotten a lot closer over the last decade. We’ve often wished to meet in person. Today I’m making that dream come true! Stefanie is German and currently living in Pibrac, near Toulouse. We’re meeting today, and then embarking on a tour to Barcelona and Paris over the next ten days. I’m so nervous! Walking through the airports I keep catching myself think “what am I doing here? This is crazy!” So far the journey has been smooth. I’m writing this while waiting to board my connecting flight from Frankfurt to Toulouse. Pics of the journey:

Germany looks just like I remember from the window. The Frankfort airport is crowded. Wow, I have such poor German language comprehension! I assumed I could read a little but I’m totally relying on the English signs. I knit in the Lufthansa lounge with small snacks, then went out for a pretzel. Proud that I cobbled together my order “eine brezel mit butter, bitte” without using a translation app. Although now that I checked the app for spelling, I see my pronunciation was terrible! I wonder if I’ll pick up any more while visiting this German family?

They are boarding my last flight now, byee!

PS: TSA won’t let you take a can of pumpkin puree through. Darn it! Worth a shot.

Our first concert of the school year was for Jack’s high school orchestra. He’s become such a strong player – he auditioned into the highest level class! I’m afraid I don’t remember the names of these pieces, and I lost the program QR code. So just enjoy the vibes 🙂

It’s been a busy fall! I need to share some stories and pictures before my next big adventure (spoilers: I’m flying to France tomorrow! Eeeep!)

Lots of garden and baking this season – I love to see it! Some date nights too, and some small celebrations and some big hurdles! I’ll add captions below.

Sam has turned 12 years old!!! He had a super fun party with his closest friends. Ben GM’d a role-playing game. I 3D-printed dice towers for everyone. They ate mac and cheese bread bowls and chicken drumsticks. Sam was pleased I turned his chocolate cake into a Portal Cake as a surprise (served with raspberry coulis made from my garden). The sleepover portion included the boys watching “nostalgic shows from our youth” on Netflix, hah! They are so old 😉

Happy happy birthday, Sam! We’re so proud of your growth every year! You’re such a kind, cool guy.

I waltzed into the venue – no waiting! Took some videos and selcas, and settled in for the show.

I love seeing everyone dress up for shows. If not merch/fan t-shirts, people like to dress up in the style of a music video. The pearls reference Bite Me and the gray knitwear is from Fatal Trouble (this girl was so cute!! She took the bus from Louisiana to get here). I saw several other Fatal Trouble girlies in the stands. The last two below are dressed like characters from the Kpop Demon Hunters movie. They had a line for photos at one point.

I took all my concert footage and made a vlog. Please enjoy! Turn on cc for titles and commentary. More photos below (they aren’t as good as the video)

I safely walked back to my sparkling hotel with a pod of concert-goers. Eventually I made it to sleep.

My last morning I secured a late check-out and took it easy. Yoga, slow breakfast, some reading and games. I had an easy ride to the airport and walked straight through security. I enjoyed a live music performance and found another engene – we ended up chatting for almost half an hour! (She’s super obsessed!)

Back in Denver, I took the train home and basked in the dry air. It’s good to be home…but I had a really great time!! I can’t think of another low stress vacation like this.

Oh, here’s a bonus set of photos I took around Houston. Andy is so great at photographing location when he travels, I tried to find interesting sights like he would.

I also took a lot of elevator selfies because they each had different astronaut scenes that were fun to pose with.

Sam started 7th grade on Wednesday. The bus is crowded and uncomfortable, but he’s happy with his classes! Before and after:

Jack started 10th grade today. He also disliked his commute – it was 95 degrees today, so even a short walk was very hot. But he’s satisfied with most of his teachers and classmates so far. Before and after:

Here’s to a great 2025-2026 year!

I just got back from an amazing solo vacation! I have list of k-pop groups I want to see in concert and when Enhypen announced their latest US tour I grabbed a ticket. The best stop for my schedule and travel convenience turned out to be Houston. I’ve never been to Texas!! What better season than AUGUST, right? Also, Enhypen are heavily vampire themed, and the irony of seeing them in the sweltering heat was too funny! I didn’t try to get a partner for this trip. I wanted to travel solo to see if I can enjoy myself (spoilers – yes I can!) and I wanted the freedom to book everything, including ticket price, to my own comfort and convenience.

Tuesday morning I finished packing, did some yoga, and packed a sack lunch before Ben dropped me off at the light rail station. This was my first time taking the train to the airport and it wasn’t that bad!

Mom lovingly booked me a room at the Marriott Marquis downtown. The hotel was gorgeous and sparkly and just two blocks from the venue! But the cherry on top? They surprised me with an upgrade! I learned later that they put me in the Vice Presidential suite that normally costs almost $3000 a night! Insane. The room was incredible. I spread out and used every room. It felt a little wasted being alone in there, but it was so comfortable and luxurious even by myself. I spent so much time gazing out the windows at the amazing views. I had a perfect view of the concert venue. I arrived on Day 1 of the this tour stop, with my ticket for Day 2. I could see the fans lined up for the first night, and I watched them leave later too.

After unpacking I walked to the venue to scope out the plan for Day 2, and check the merch booth. I had my heart set on a certain keychain and was sad it was sold out. It was exciting to see fans though, and my lightband synchronized with the concert signal!

I walked to a foodcourt to see more of the town and grab dinner.

Not very tired, so I floated a lap around the Texas-shaped lazy river and gazed at the city from the whirlpool. Then I took a long shower, put on a face mask, and played online games. I watched the engenes (Enhypen fans) leave the venue and went to bed.

I woke early and had breakfast in the club lounge, then summoned a ride to the suburbs. There was a special pop-up shop at the Memorial City Mall! Only 2 of the 4 US stops got shops, so I felt I HAD to visit. Ben requested some juicy mall pics and I obliged. I arrived at the store 45 minutes before opening and the line wasn’t long yet. Freebies were passed out. I was very sad that they were long sold out of that keychain and the employee suggested I come back next week. Boo! I bought a towel (I have a growing collection that I use in dance class) and stopped at Uniqlo down the hall.

Now, I could have called a ride to lunch, but the map showed it was only a 17 minute walk! I can do that! I ditched my cardy, whipped out my parasol and sunglasses, and swigged my water bottle. Ugh. It was a terrible walk along highways and between parking garages. But I made it!

Dude, this barbecue was SO GOOD. I got the brisket and a bunch of veggies, with okra being the big winner. I thought the bread looked dumb, but it was actually a ncie contrast with bites of meat. I had 3 refills of diet coke while I cooled off and chatted with my family. I definitely caught a few looks from the local patrons – it’s mostly men 40s-60s, and none had brought their ita bag along!

Once again I had a choice – do I walk the 21 minutes to a shop with dairy-free ice cream? Or do I call a car? My feet were starting to blister, but I needed to walk-off this lunch before I’d have room for dessert – tally ho! This time the walk was mostly a windy sidewalk along the freeway. I made it to a pleasant outdoor mall with Jeni’s Ice Cream, the same company that stocks overpriced pints in my local King Soopers. My store doesn’t have dairy-free, but this one had two flavors and I got them both – Texas Sheet Cake and Lemon Bar. Both delicious! I savored the AC and watched birds struggle to steal a waffle chip.

I felt done with the suburbs and called a car back downtown. I had it drop me at the venue to check the merch booth one last time, even though it had opened a couple hours ago and surely was sold out of keychains. But NO! I got it!!! Seriously this made me so. happy. I loved the design and I finally got to give a blood transfusion the week prior to this trip. I used to give tranfusions regularly in dialysis. Despite 1 1/2 years at my new unit and many e-learning modules covering them, I hadn’t needed to transfuse blood until just before this trip. Hooray!

I walked back to my hotel and slapped on more sunscreen before spending a blissful hour in the pool. I stretched my aching calves in the infinity pool and massaged my feet in the hot tub. I watched the security line get longer at the venue across the park. I laid on the deck lounger watching the low clouds bloom and sun rays spray down. My music playlist was peak even on shuffle mode. It was fantastic.

On the way down to the club lounge for a light dinner, I met some young engenes on the elevator. I shared in their excitement but gasped: you’re going now? To stand in the sun for two hours?? They said they were nervous because they heard on twitter that someone waited an hour to get in. I showed them my photo from 7pm the night prior when you can easily walk in, no lines (the show was at 7:30). They said they just wanted to be ready, so I wished them well and to try to stay cool in the sun.

After a quick shower I dressed for the show (and gave up on making my hair look decent in Texas humidity). I reeeeelly didn’t want to stand in the sun, so I watched Enhypen music videos while eating cake and monitoring the crowd. by 6:20 they had the line processed, so I went down and walked straight in!

It’s late tonight and this is already a very long post. Part 2 coming soon!