Jetlag's a beech

Jetlag this time around means I sleep from 11 pm to 2 am, then am wide awake for the rest of the night. Luckily J gave me a totebag full of magazines to take on the plane ride back so I just spent the last 3 hours skimming through Vogue and InStyle.

This trip is just the dose of America (and bay area) that I needed. The first three days here were filled with non-stop catching up with friends - from laid back suburbia with J and R to modern city life with S to celebrating and catching up with some of my oldest and dearest friends from college over late night scotch and late morning coffee, brunch in the Ferry building, artisan ice cream and a lousy movie (One Day, everything a love story should not be). The backdrop to these happy days has been the gorgeous (if freezing) bay area, which has always been home to me - beloved exactly for what it is: yuppie, hippie, scrappy, entrepreneurial, innovative, pretentious, laid back, fresh, organic, eclectic, sometimes gritty. To me, SF embodies the term "je ne sais quois" - it just has that certain something. It's not the most exciting, it's not the safest, it's not the most beautiful, it's not the most climatically appealing. But it's wonderful and amazing and perfect in its own way, precisely because of all its imperfections.

What I love so far about my trip back (in no particular order): the gorgeous drive from the east bay to SF over the bay bridge on a bright, sunny and traffic-free day. Speaking American English. Customer service. Trashy American magazines. Shopping - Bloomie's (of course), but also great new brands I'm discovering for the first time such as Madewell (I went crazy stockpiling soft cotton t-shirts and tank tops) and All Saints (love how it's edgy and romantic at the same time). My delivery of VitaFusion gummy vitamins, the most delicious vitamins ever. Big open spaces - from J & R's spacious, sunny and baby-ready new house in the suburbs to S's modern urban loft - I LOVE having SO MUCH SPACE! Driving with the radio on. Cool, non-humid weather. Fresh air that smells of trees and spring and dew. Catching up with friends. Jasmine green tea ice cream on a freshly made waffle cone at Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous. The smell of Bloomingdale's (it totally has a distinct smell). Walking through Union Square.

A nice big dose of home is just what I needed - I feel so refreshed, almost ready to go back to the chaos of Hong Kong.