My travels to SFO went smoothly yesterday and I was happy with my decision to get there early. It was not at all crowded or difficult to navigate and the flight was on time. Once I arrived at LAX however it was hectic and crowded. Outside the arrivals gate there were so many people that I was very doubtful that my parents would be able to pick me out of the crowd. Luckily I was able to flag them down and we drove safely away from the mass of travelers.

That night after having vegetable stew with my parents, I went over to my sister Barbara’s house where we made a non-dairy apricot stuffing from scratch. It was so much to fun to cook with her. My nephew Roy was also there and we put him to work chopping vegetables. The next day we made a pumpkin pie (with soy milk) while listening to the Garden State soundtrack. I was so happy that I had given the CD to her and it reminded me of my Berkeley home.

Before I left for L.A., Justin and Kimi had made a full Thanksgiving dinner for all of us at Cloud Ninth and it was made without dairy just for me. I was so thankful and appreciative that my friends would go through such great effort to do that. I knew that if I wanted to have something to eat at Thanksgiving dinner with my family I would have to make it myself. It really was fun for Barbara and I and it tasted pretty good considering we had never made the recipes before.

The actual dinner was pretty standard (for my family anyways). All thirty of us crowded around a long table at my sister Joan’s. I had a glass of wine and thought about why I had made the trip. At first my only reason was because Barbara had begged me but I really was enjoying myself and am always happy to see everyone, especially my nieces and nephews. Also my parents are getting older and that always keeps me feeling nostalgic and wanting to be there.

Afterwards boredom set in and I decided to go out exploring. I drove to the Santa Monica Promenade in about ten minutes because there were no cars on the road. There were actually a few stores open (including Famima!) and all of the restaurants and bars. Lots of people were out and performers played music for us. On the way back I drove through Santa Monica, Venice and Marina Del Rey. It was so interesting to zip through areas that usually are congested with so much traffic. I loved it. Last year on Thanksgiving night, maiki and I drove to downtown L.A. and went to Japantown. Starbucks was pretty much the only place that was open and I remember how deserted the city felt. It was neat to be one of the only cars on the road in the middle of a big city. I decided that it was a good tradition to keep.

Yesterday I was reading the San Francisco Chronicle (that happened to be sitting on the table at cafe I was at) and was pleasantly surprised with the eco-friendly solution Lisa Gautier came up with for the problem of cleaning up the bay since the big oil spill. She has provided mats that have been made with hair to soak up the oil. The mats can then be composted with the help of oyster mushrooms which will soak up the oil and be safe for depositing back into the earth. The composting process takes about 12 weeks before the material can be used for planting. It has been a successful endeavor so far and has a benefactor that is providing the mushrooms. She is currently training volunteers to assist in the clean-up of beaches along the S.F bay.

I made a vegan pizza today for Blue because it was her last day visiting Cloud Ninth. This one had bell peppers, onions and olives and it came out perfect. It is amazingly easy when you can use pre-made dough—Trader Joe’s has the best— so I end up making them pretty often. Later Jason and I went for a bike ride up north along the bay. We made it to the Richmond marina before turning back. The sky was clear without a cloud to be seen. It was beautiful day but we were disappointed to see all of water taped off with signs that there had been an oil spill. There were still lots of birds in the water but many have died from the contamination which depresses me. I do hope that the clean-up goes well.

Today I spent the day in San Francisco with Blue. We had a lot of fun time being girlie and shopping all day long. I took her to the museum and she loved the Olafur Eliason exhibit, especially “your mobile expectations” which is his frozen car project. We shopped at the Westfield Mall on Powell Street and Blue bought some new boots. I found some cute argyle over-the-knee socks and a pot of amazing smelling body cream from Bath & Body Works. I have to admit that I have other pretty smelling lotions but this one in particular was too wonderful to pass up.