Seeya, 2017... Bring on 2018!

The physical cards returned this year! Hooray!

I am ending 2017 as I spent a lot of the year--away from home. I've been temping and freelancing, the best part of which is the flexibility to travel! I spent half of January in Europe, half the summer in New England, and half of November in India. I may be ready to settle down into something longer term, but we'll have to see what the new year brings.

The first two photos on this year's card are from the Europe trip. When I was 15, I was very lucky that my parents met a French couple working at the embassy in DC who asked if they knew anyone interested in hosting a Parisian girl for the summer. Agnes stayed with us for a few weeks and it worked out so well that I went to her house the following summer, and she returned to ours, and so on and so forth. I even lived with her parents for almost a year after I graduated from college! She and her husband now have 4 kids and it's been years since we've spent more than a day or two together. I loved staying with her family for over a week, getting to know her kids, and reconnecting with some old friends and places in that magnificent city. I tried a few new things as well, including a day trip to the monastery at Mont St. Michel, which was wonderfully free of crowds (visit Europe in January, there's a hot tip for you!). I also visited Rome for a few days on my own--can you make out Pope Francis at the window?--and returned to another fabulous city, Barcelona, where I was hosted by a sweet former IDB officemate. All in all, I was thrilled to be away over the inauguration, though regretted missing the epic Women's March. I had such FOMO seeing all my friends' postings that I bought a bright pink scarf in Rome...

Life in DC offers plenty of opportunities to protest, however. In the third photo you see a versatile small sign I made from foamcore--it's light and fits in most bags, so you have it on hand whenever you need to stop by Lafayette Square and yell about something. Friends and I got into a rhythm where we'd hit a rally, then go have a drink and catch up. A very satisfying way to socialize.

Photo 4 is from the extremely Instagrammed Yayoi Kusama retrospective at the Hirshhorn modern art museum on the Mall. I bought a temporary museum membership that apparently should have worked only once to get into this very hot exhibit, but somehow I managed to make it work 4 times. Loved it.

Photos 5 and 6 were both taken in Falmouth, Mass., where I went for the 4th of July and then again for nearly all of August. My parents, sisters, nieces and nephews enjoyed the partial eclipse from the back yard of the family beach house, and we used my sister Ellie's small geodesic dome as a photo prop for extra special shots during the eclipse.

I got to see the family again over Columbus Day weekend in New Haven (photo 7), where we celebrated my birthday. My nieces and nephews are getting bigger and more entertaining and fascinating every day. It's such a joy to get to see them all often and know them.

Photos 8 and 9 were taken during my second trip to India, also led by my amazing yoga teacher and friend Gopi Kinnicutt, owner of the wonderful Bhakti Yoga DC. She and also-fantastic co-leader Braja Kisiori took us on an adventure through the pilgrimage town of Vrindavan and the spectacular state of Rajasthan. I loved it and want to go again and again!

Let's see, what else happened this year...?

I started wearing glasses for the first time!

I worked for the IDB (again!), Accion, and the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development!

I went on 2 weekend retreats, one with an Episcopal priest and one with my yoga studio!

And went to plenty of concerts, plays, restaurants, and such!










As I write this, I am with some good friends in very chilly St. Mary's County, Md., spending several days cooking and eating lots and lots, and staring out the window at the Chesapeake Bay. Hoping for good things in 2018, for me and you and all of us.

Welcome, 2017

Greetings and happy holidays (we're still in the 12 Days of Christmas)! I didn't do physical cards this year - hopefully they will return. But I still wanted to send out a greeting and share some highlights and events of my 2016. I surely didn't escape its notorious brutishness, but thanks to wonderful family and friends like you, there were plenty of good times as well.

In January, I ignored dire travel warnings and headed to NYC for a college friend's daughter's Bat Mitzvah, which was soon dubbed "Daphne's Blizz-Mitzvah." My intrepid college roommate Esther Choo was so fearless she even brought her infant daughter with her. The Starbucks near the synagogue were all closed, but thankfully Scandinavians are used to snow and we managed to get breakfast at a Swedish cafe. Daphne did a beautiful job and it was extra sweet to see my other college roommate, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, presiding over the service. Mazel Tov! And somehow, my train south made it out on time the next day!

In February, I made my first visit to the republic of Texas to visit old friend Lisa and her sweet family, who had recently relocated to Austin. I discovered the joys of breakfast tacos, queso, and burnt ends, and Lisa also absolutely delighted me by driving me by the home of Coach and Tami Taylor from the TV show Friday Night Lights.

In early spring I had a lovely retreat day at a center in Maryland with members of the women's fellowship group at my new church, All Souls in Woodley Park. It's been great settling into the community there, and right at the end of the year we welcomed a new rector, who I'm also enjoying getting to know. 

This summer, both my parents turned 70, and we had great family celebrations for each! In June, we surprised my dad with a VIP tour of Fenway Park before a game at which the Red Sox obligingly beat the Mariners, and in July we gathered in Mom's native Hudson Valley area for a weekend at a luxe cabin-style vacation home. 

I had some DC fun over the summer too - the center photo was taken near the Folger Shakespeare Library before seeing a play there, and the one to its right was from the DC "Diner en Blanc" - a sort of pop-up dinner party for 3,500 people all dressed head to toe in white. Silly, but beautiful (and the best people-watching, bar none). 

Fall brought my cousin Alex's wedding on Cape Cod, which was a great time! The day after, I also got to see the odd sight of the horses from the Falmouth Carousel of Light being dropped off on my parents' lawn awaiting the availability of their winter storage home. 

Fall also brought the election. Voting for Hillary Clinton was incredibly meaningful and joyful for me, and nearly two months later my feelings of disappointment and loss are still extremely raw. She would have been an excellent president.

 Christmas, as always, was a sweet and wonderful time, though. I spent several days in New Haven, where my sister Amy and her family live and where for the past year-plus my parents have also spent their non-summer months. On my way up I also stopped in NYC to see Hamilton! I bought the ticket way back in January and even with almost a year of anticipation, the show totally delivered. Believe the hype! So that was great, but even greater was getting to spend lots of time cuddling the two newest family members - Caroline Rose, born to my sister Amy in March, and Fern Louise, born to my sister Ellie in August. They are two sweet and smiley little girls and we are all looking forward to watching them grow up as best of friends. 

Caroline in polka dots, Fern in mushrooms

A few other highlights not pictured but worth mentioning: in April, my good friend Gopi Kinnicutt opened an awesome yoga studio, Bhakti Yoga DC, in the Mount Vernon Triangle area (5th and K NW). I can't recommend it highly enough. I also got to go to Mexico for a few days in mid-October for the wedding of friends Monica and Brian near Cancun. 

So now it's 2017! Should be an interesting year in my hometown. I also am currently unemployed, and looking! My time at the Inter-American Development Bank came to an end along with 2016 - amid budget cuts and a lot of uncertainty, most consultant positions have been eliminated in the department where I worked. I had some great experiences and worked with awesome people over the last 5 years there, but it's also past time for me to find a new challenge and adventure. Given the political situation we're facing, I'd really like to do something where I can contribute to improving the world and helping those who may be most affected by the new administration's policies. So if you have ideas, I'd love to hear them. I am also spending the frequent flier miles I amassed from work trips to Latin America on a visit later this month to my very dear friend Agnes in Paris. First things first!

With love and hope,

Elizabeth