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Soleil Roth

Traveling and tasting the world through my photos, sharing stories through my writings.

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Blog ·

Death Before Life

I’ve been thinking a lot about death in various forms. And I’m ready for death. No, I am not ready to die. But I am ready for death to come now, to make way for the life to come after it.

As I reflect on this year, I think about how a lot of things died. Small things like fun plans and trips, big things like real people, connections, hope and dreams; all meeting their unexpected halt. Not to be morbid, but to speak truth. And I think truth is like death’s mirror. They are familiar with each other and know each other, but its not until they really look at each other that they bring out the rawest parts of each other, reflecting each other’s beauty and pain in the same pair of eyes.

Currently I’m reading Women Who Run With the Wolves and I’m on the chapter about the Life/Death/Life cycle. Even though I haven’t finished it, I’ve come to understand the beauty of death. Our society puts a large emphasis on the closing of things; when things end, when relationships are over, when we complete something and reach a certain accomplishment when we get older than a certain age, that’s it. That is the end. We focus so much on the end that we don’t see anything past it. But there is so much more beyond it.

It’s true that we die. We live. We die.

But then.

After death, we live AGAIN. For new to grow, for what is meant to be to come alive, the old must die. It’s a common theme in the Bible, the whole message of Jesus, life AFTER death.

“…we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

This year many things have died for me. My sources of creativity and inspiration that I look to have died. My hope in people and certain friendships have died. My old ways of thinking and perspectives, shame, and judgments have died. And as all of those died, they each paved their own form and way of grieving.

But the grieving was just the start. To make way for the greater. Hope. The hope that now more than ever, old parts of me have died away so that new parts of me may begin to grow into their new abundant life.

Revival doesn’t just happen because 2020 was a shit hard year and we are ready to throw away all that happened this year, it happens BECAUSE of the shit hard year we’ve all been through. I hope none of us throw away the pain and hurt and transformative year we’ve all experienced because without the passing of our old selves, we don’t get a chance to become our much more grand and newer selves.

For hope to prosper, for change within ourselves and around us to happen, for renewal and blooming to occur, the question to ourselves becomes:

What must I give more death to today in order to generate more life? 

Expectations

Tell a Type A planner to throw her planner out the window and all hell ensues. Well, not that dramatic but nearly it. I acknowledge that my anxiety and stress are not life-altering, but my anxiety of the unknown and stress for the future were at their heights this year. And I saw my frustration and anger, from someone who is rarely angry and frustrated, bubble up in ways I didn’t know existed. Which made me even more stressed and frustrated. An unfamiliar yet vicious cycle.

When exciting things we all looked forward to and things expected were canceled, it didn’t just make us toss out all expectations, it also gave us a chance to readjust our focus. To take the small moments in between the big moments as more valuable than the big moment themselves. And in these small connecting moments, find that the expectations we had all along and imagined took more time and life away than it gave. Life is full of much more when accepting rather than expecting.

Perspectives

If I had to take one lesson away from my growth this year, I’d say that I know nothing. It’s pretty humbling. I’ve learned that unless I have lived or been through a specific experience, I really have no place to talk on it, or rather a biased perspective. People often like to talk more than they listen, which often creates a one-way window of communication. But it’s the eyes and voices of those who have the lived experiences, the trauma, the real and honest perspectives of the things we seem to have such strong opinions on that I think we should weigh the shoes we have yet to stand in weigh the most.

Lots of perspectives were exposed this year with clarity and lots of perspectives were shifted to different viewpoints. Some perspectives were hardened some were softened; nonetheless all were exposed. My perspective and beliefs on hard topics were fundamentally changed and truthfully, I’m proud of myself. For allowing myself to see a different way, to believe a different way. Belief is fluid. It changes with who we are, and that is a beautiful thing. Now I get to see the world from a wider perspective, a wider angle, and a wider heart.

Relationships

RELATIONSHIPS ARE SO FREAKING HARD AND LOVE IS HARD AND OH MY GOODNESS AS CLICHE AS IT IS LOVE IS SO WORTH IT AND BEAUTIFUL AND HOLY BUT HOLY CAN LOOK LIKE SHIT AND SADNESS AND STRUGGLE AND SHAME BUT AGAIN ITS ALL WORTH IT BECAUSE WE ARE LEARNING TO LOVE BETTER EACH DAY.

2020 has brought about my closest friends getting married and divorced, engaged, broken-hearted, and finding themselves all over again, and I have found that in love, there’s no right or wrong answer. As long as it’s done in love, it’ll be love. That’s it for now.

Hope

The picking and pruning and shaping of who I am this year was uncomfortable and weird and unnatural and scary, but I look back thinking about how I was being molded into so much more of who I am supposed to be and how in the pitfalls and valleys, my desire and closeness with hope is stronger than ever.

And in the times when laughter felt undeserved among the perils of the world and in the worlds around me, laughter didn’t mean any less, rather it meant more. The juxtaposition between things that seems so heavenly and things that seem so heartbroken makes the other that much more grand and meaningful.

All this to say, in a year that seemed ablaze and on fire, I hope we, myself included, take our ashes and shortcomings, hold them in our hand, and see that what was burned was just our old selves disintegrating, dying away, to make way for new breath, new life, a new year, a new us.

Blog ·

Twenty-Five

Dense. 

That’s the word I would use to describe this last year. Not just 2020, but my last year around the sun as I enter into my 25th year of this beautiful life.  

I was grabbing coffee with a friend and we were talking about how we were doing with all that’s going on in the world. I told her that the word that came up for me was that it’s been dense. My mind jumped to the idea of density like people per square footage, or a graph with an X-axis of space and Y-axis of moments and in application to my life, what I feel most accurately describes how I have experienced life in this last year. It has been dense.

I think back to where I was a year ago and I can 100% say I was a completely. different. person. Never in my life have I experienced the jamming, cramming sensation of so many life-changing experiences, failures, explorations, and growth in one year. I’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and everything in between has been an unimaginable beauty. 

I wrote something only a few weeks ago that I never shared with anyone, but what I think and know to be true especially during this time is that vulnerability is strength and brings us closer together than apart. We always have been and will continue to be in this together. 

I’m struggling. My heart and spirit has been strained. My faith has been tested. I’ve wanted to scream and sob and be silent all at once. I have been straight up annoyed with small things and numbed out big things. I’ve been brought to my knees and prayed so hard to end up in confusion and frustration and annoyance.

But I do believe there is hope and happiness waiting to be claimed.

Hope that the strain and discomfort I feel now is really a strengthening of my character, grace and compassion for others and myself, and my submission to our one true Hope. Happiness that as I’m getting pulled and molded in so many uncomfortable ways, I wouldn’t want to go back to where I was even though this place is hard now. Hope for the rest of the year, happiness of the things to celebrate and the people in my life right now. 

A note to myself and maybe whoever needs to hear: 2020 isn’t over. It’s just begun. Keep doing the work. Resisting is our natural response to hard stuff, but it’s the hard stuff that makes us stronger, better, more loving, and more unified. Don’t give up or tap out of 2020, I think it’s got a lot of good things still that is making us more of who we are supposed to be than ever. 

There has been so much good this year. Truly, I mean it. It’s been one of the most wonderful years of my life. My 24th year has been full of deep, unconditional love, travels around the world with my favorite people, incredible food, adventures and sunsets and hikes that fill one’s soul, a new independence, an exploration of unknown creative endeavors and so much more. Friends have gotten engaged and married, friends have bought their first houses, others have released their first books or gone full-time into their business, the list goes on for the ways in which I see my community growing and killing it in life which inspires me. 

I’ve also shed a lot of tears. I’ve grieved deaths and losses, been overwhelmingly stressed and anxious, treated my body with disrespect, had friends fail me and myself fail friends, applied to hundreds of jobs without a single yes, became angry, scared, and confused about my ethnicity and racial injustice, pissed off at the world and CO-VID and humans in general, felt drained, depressed, and disappointed.

Despite the chaos, I know that I am a wonderfully made, imperfect, learning human and this life is GOOD. I don’t take a second of the pain or sadness for granted.

These moments are not easy, but there’s a difference between acceptance and avoidance of the hard things. It’s a combination of both the easy and the hard that allows my caterpillar-turned-butterfly transformation to happen so that I become a better and wiser friend, daughter, future mom, woman, leader, and person in this world. 

So where does that leave me going into my 25th year? 

Twenty-four was a blessing in pure sight. It went so fast yet was deep and rich in moments, a density that I never expected. I’ve always loved a challenge and I’ve never been motivated to go bigger and work harder than ever in my life, even amidst a pandemic. For 25, I am confident of nothing except an abundance of gratitude, adventure, success, and joy, in ways I can’t even fathom or might expect. In terms of celebrating, I’m excited to celebrate the little things. Something as silly as putting real pants on (or maybe not), hugging friends without limits, full restaurants and FaceTimes with old friends, I never want to go another day without expressing gratitude and telling people how much I appreciate them. 

I still look at my 2020 goals every day and while they may not be fully accessible or even laughable at this point (RIP Italy, Iceland, Mexico City, and Japan, I will wait for you until it’s meant to be), it doesn’t mean I can’t achieve them. Thankfully I have a close circle that drives me to be better, that have weekly accountability calls with me and inspire me with their successes and achievements, parents that love me and support me in all I do, and a whole world out before me to create and serve.

When I do think about the world we’re in at the moment with CO-VID, I think about what CO-VID actually is; a virus. The definition of a virus is “an infective agent that is too small to be seen by light microscopy, and is able to multiply only within the living cells of a host.” I’m no science gal, but what I do understand is that a virus is infectious, minuscule, and multipliable. Then I think about things that also act as a powerful virus: Me. I am a virus, my actions, my influence.

Are we influencing each other right now in a way that something good spreads, or something bad spreads? Are we spread a culture that is slow to speak and fast to listen or vis versa? Are we spreading fear, hate, indifference, and our own personal selfish opinions or spread kindness, grace, love, and patience? Every single one of us is our own virus, and if I have the multiplying effect of a virus, I hope it’s a damn good, positive, and influential one. I hope I infect people with compassion, in small ways, and it multiplies in others lives. In the Bible, 25 signifies “grace upon grace”. I didn’t know that until I just looked it up, but I love how symbolic and fitting it is for this upcoming year. I see a change in myself and others as grace upon grace, the way I want to teach and learn from people as grace upon grace, the actions and experiences I have through the lens of grace upon grace. Spreading the virus of goodness and grace.

If I’ve learned anything from this last year, is that I have no idea of the things further in store for me. I could have never imagined being where I am now a year ago. So I guess all I’m left with is a drive, hope, motivation, excitement, and a passion for the unknown that I’ve come to be okay with. As much as I would want to cancel 2020, at the root of it I wouldn’t want to wish away a single second. I’m more ready than ever for this next year, even if I don’t what it will look like. I know it will be full, abundant, beautiful, grace-filled, and maybe even dense. Here’s to a quarter of a century!

Recipes ·

Thai Salmon Curry

Remember that time how I said I eat salmon every single day? Well If you didn’t know, I absolutely do. Anything that can be made with salmon, I will use salmon. This recipe is no exception.

It wasn’t until recent years that I started eating and even liking curry. And when I say curry, I’m referring to Indian curry. There are so many different kinds of curries out there—I’m talking Japanese, African, Malaysian, the list goes on—but the two most popular types that often come to mind are Indian and Thai.

While I usually opt for a noodle, rice, or stir-fry dish, I thought it was about time to try my hand at a Thai curry dish (not to mention I had half a can of coconut milk leftover from making I don’t even remember what and an unopened Thai Kitchen curry paste I’ve been meaning to use).

Curry, originating in the Indian subcontinent, is full of complex flavors and spices, with Indian curries being heartier, richer, thicker, and filled with warming spices, and Thai curries erring on the lighter, brighter, and fresher side. One thing I’ve learned while making curry is that they taste best when made with full-fat coconut milk. Try to avoid using the lite or low-fat versions of coconut milk here because it doesn’t make as thick of a consistency for a sauce.

No matter what kind of curry you have, curries are extremely comforting, full of flavor, and can be great to make for yourself or a large group. All you need is a few ingredients like spices, vegetables, a good sauce, and a big appetite!

Thai Salmon Curry

Soleil Roth
This healthy and hearty Thai curry is chock full of flavor and customizable to any preference! Perfect for date night or a large family dinner.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 can coconut milk full-fat
  • 2 filet salmon
  • 3 cup broccoli chopped into florets
  • 12 oz butternut squash cut in 3/4-1 inch cubes ( I used Trader Joe's zig zags)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Thai Kitchen red curry paste
  • 2 tbsp garlic chopped
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 cups rice cooked
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions
 

  • Heat coconut oil on medium-high heat in large saute pan. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  • Toss in butternut squash and broccoli. Saute for about 1 minute, flipping the vegetables.
  • Add1/4 cup of water and cover saute pan with lid. Let vegetables steam for 4 minutes.
  • While vegetables are cooking, mix coconut milk, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and red curry paste in a medium bowl.
  • Remove lid from pan and lower heat to medium. Place salmon amongst vegetables skin side down. Pour liquid evenly on salmon and vegetables.
  • Cover pan again with lid and let salmon and vegetables cook for 10 minutes.
  • Remove lid carefully and serve warm over rice.

Notes

If salmon isn’t your thing, you can use any other sort of protein, just make sure it’s cooked properly and that the cooking time is adjusted for the protein i.e. more time for a chicken breast vs. cubed chicken. Like to spice things up? Add another tablespoon of red curry paste or throw in some sriracha for extra spiciness.
Keyword Dairy free, Gluten free, Healthy, Large Group, One bowl recipe

Recipes ·

Pesto Antipasti Pasta

While I am from Washington and live in Texas, Italy is truly my second home. This recipe has a bit of Italian influence from the salami, artichokes, pesto, and of course pasta, though it’s no bowl cacio e pepe. 

Still, this modern Italian-inspired dish takes flavors of your favorite charcuterie board and transforms it into a bowl of pasta. It’s light and airy, a perfect spring or summer dish. Paired with a glass of white wine, I can almost feel the Mediterranean breeze on my skin. Or maybe that’s just the A/C from my apartment living room while stuck inside.

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Recipes ·

Breakfast Casserole with Bacon Roasted Potatoes

Mother’s Day is coming up and nothing says mom like casseroles. 

My amazing mom didn’t grow up on as many casseroles as my dad, as she was one of six kids and casseroles are essential to feeding a large group. This casserole is an easy dish to impress for mother’s day brunch, feed a large family or group, or even to make as meal prep for the week.

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Recipes ·

Salmon Veggie Collard Wraps

My two favorite foods in order: salmon, and greens. Luckily I was never the kid that you had to force vegetables on and to this day, I enjoy adding some sort of green to every single meal. I may not look good in green, but I do love eating mine.

But of course, there’s always the exception and there are a few select greens I just can’t seem to get on board with no matter how hard I try: collards, celery, and cucumbers. While the latter two are in tons of recipes from smoothies to mirepoix to snacks on their own, collards often fade into the background. I never ate collards growing up and the only way I knew they were consumed were cooked with meats like in classic Southern U.S. cooking.

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Recipes ·

Flourless Fudgy Black Bean Brownies

Pantry foraging is an art that a lot of us are crafting at the moment. But there’s only so many ways you can eat canned goods, and to be honest, they don’t always taste the best. As if fate knew, I happened upon a recipe that created dense, fudgy and healthy brownies from canned black beans. Getting fiber from legumes is one thing, but getting them from chocolate? Say less.

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Recipes ·

Coconut Berry Baked Oatmeal

My love of oatmeal knows no bounds. In college I used to eat oatmeal PLAIN. No brown sugar, no milk, legit just water and oatmeal. And if that wasn’t weird enough, I actually LIKED it that way. Before both of my half-marathons, my breakfast was tuna and oatmeal (protein and carbs, it makes sense). When I went to study abroad in Italy, the one thing I packed in my suitcase was a month’s worth of oatmeal because oatmeal isn’t really a thing in Europe.

coconut berry baked oatmeal

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Recipes ·

Roasted Sweet Potato with Feta, Fig, and Tahini

I’ve been baking A LOT due to quarantine. With that said, I can’t go a day without vegetables to keep my immune system up and body feeling good. Although it’s not broccoli or kale, sweet potatoes are a staple veggie in my diet as a natural, vitamin-filled source of carbohydrates. The saying “eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring” is so true and I think this recipe proves it by taking one simple ingredient and elevating it in the most perfect sweet and salty way!

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Recipes ·

Carrot Zucchini Walnut Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting

One of my favorite Easter traditions in our family was every year, one of our family friends had a backyard with shrubs cut in a maze that made for the ULTIMATE Easter egg hunt setting. But a maze of bushes was too easy, so to add a level of difficulty it turned into a flashlight Easter egg hunt aka in the dark. As I’ve gotten older, it has become a weekend for me to go back home, spend quality time with the whole family, and bake up a new recipe to share with the masses. Though this year won’t involve me going home unfortuately, the baking continues on. If you’re quarantined like the rest of the world, this holiday may involve less people but it doesn’t have to involve less flavor or delicious food.

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Recipes ·

Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cups

Not to throw down, but cheesecake has never been my favorite dessert. Nor has the Cheesecake Factory at that (sorry not sorry). But after finding myself with leftover cream cheese from a red velvet cake I made a few days prior and a party that I had yet to decide what to bring, I found myself baking about a dozen of these little cheesecake cups and keeping them all for myself because they were that good. Also sorry not sorry.

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Recipes ·

Roasted Veggie Kale Salad

I’ve been in Austin a few months now and there have been very few rainy days but when it does rain, I can’t help but be in a cozy kind of mood. A natural Seattleite version of being cozy means putting on a fuzzy Patagonia and curling up on the couch with a steaming bowl of soup, but here in Austin when it’s still warm while it’s raining, my version of being cozy takes on the form of a warm salad. Yes, I meant to type warm salad. Technically not all of it is warm, but the dark green and hearty lacinato kale topped with freshly roasted root vegetables makes eating a salad in the rain a new kind of warm and comfy mood. (Weird food fact: I don’t like liquid foods i.e soups, smoothies, etc…The minute I woke up from getting my tonsils removed, I immediately craved steak. So like a good mother, my mom chopped up steak into little tiny pieces so I wouldn’t have to eat jello, soups, anything liquid. Another reason I have the best mom!)

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Recipes ·

Brown Butter & Salted Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

I’m one of those people that bookmarks thousands of things, and more often than not, never look at them again. These drool-worthy beauties were bookmarked over a year ago from the Bon Appétit kitchen, but I think about them every single day. I mean just looking at the photos makes you melt, drool, and want to cuddle with them all at the same time. This is the kind of cookie that makes you feel cozy, cared for, and loved in a world full of crazy cookies.

Three key things that really make this recipe killer and that you’ll want to make sure are quality ingredients: the chocolate, the toffee, and the sea salt. There are so many incredible chocolate companies out there and I typically like to rotate through my favorites in different ingredients.

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Recipes ·

Pesto Butternut Squash Bowl

I’m not sure what’s worse, not having a good meal or not having a Trader Joe’s in your city. The latter I experienced growing up in a small town, but once I moved to Seattle I finally experienced the magical land that every other college kid on a budget had been raving about. From cauliflower gnocchi to kale pesto, Trader Joe’s makes it easy cooking cheap and easy. This pesto butternut squash bowl is made with only five Trader Joe’s items, so yummy and simple anyone can make!

pesto butternut squash bowl

Purchases from Trader Joe’s to make this recipe includes their vegan kale pesto, butternut squash zig-zags, mirepoix, and parmesan cheese which all come together to make an easy, nutritious pesto butternut squash bowl.

From affordable products to serving sizes that are more single-person friendly i.e. me, Trader Joe’s is a never-ending vessel of goodness. I’m sincerely sorry if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you and I feel your pain. Nonetheless, you can replicate the ingredient list by making your own pesto and cutting up regular butternut squash to make a similar dish that proves food can be healthy, quick, and fun! Talk about a Fearless Flyer deal!

Pesto Butternut Squash Bowl

Soleil Roth
Trader Joe's five-item recipe you can make for a quick, easy, and healthy meal.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian

Ingredients
  

  • 1 box Trader Joe's butternut squash zig-zags
  • 1/4 cup Trader Joe's kale pesto
  • 1 container of Trader Joe's mirepoix
  • 2 handfuls of spinach
  • 2 oz. shredded parmesan omit if dairy free
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a medium-large fry pan, heat up 1 Tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat.
  • Toss in the butternut squash and mirepoix and sauté until cooked, 8-10 minutes.
  • Toss in spinach, turn off heat, and stir until spinach is wilted.
  • Pour in pesto and stir until all vegetables are covered.
  • Finish with shredded parmesan and serve.

Notes

If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, do not fear! A mirepoix is just a 1:1 ratio of carrots, onions, and celery. As for the butternut squash zigzags, head to your local store and find a package of pre cut butternut squash cubes or find a butternut squash yourself and cut it up in small cubes. Buy your favorite pesto and cheese and you've done it!
Keyword Easy, Healthy, One bowl recipe, Quick, Savory

Recipes ·

Baked Salmon with Blistered Tomatoes

If you know me, you know I love salmon. If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be salmon. Gravlax, smoked, cured, grilled, baked, I’m not kidding when I say that I eat salmon almost every day of the week. Honestly, my name should be Salmon Soleil. I digress. So now presenting my first of many salmon recipes: baked salmon with blistered tomatoes.

baked salmon with blistered tomatoes

Growing up, I ate so much salmon that my dad (bless his heart) used to buy 1,400 pounds of salmon a YEAR just for my two parents and myself. Do the math, that’s a lot of salmon. And to this day, I still love it just as much. So it goes without saying my first recipe would be salmon. My favorite salmon is Pacific Northwest King Salmon on the charcoal BBQ that my dad makes, but there are many other ways to make it when you don’t have a BBQ. To get those healthy omega-3s, I prefer fattier cuts of salmon like Atlantic or steelhead salmon to sockeye or coho that have denser and less fatty tastes. If resources allow, buying wild salmon or salmon from a local farmer’s market is the way to go!

Cooking a delicious meal does not have to be difficult, as proven with this three-ingredient recipe using salmon, slivered almonds, and tomatoes. Baking the salmon makes the salmon tender while also blistering the tomatoes for a savory combination, topped with the crunch of toasted almonds. If you’re not familiar with cooking salmon, this baked salmon with tomatoes and almonds is a simple way to start and easy to make regularly!

Roasted Salmon with Blistered Tomatoes

Soleil Roth
Easy weeknight salmon to meal prep or serve for guests!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 3 people

Ingredients
  

  • 3 salmon fillets about 5 oz. each
  • 6 oz. cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds I got mine from Trader Joe's
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lemon sliced into thin circles width wise
  • 1 Tbsp paprika
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 F.
  • On a clean, dry baking sheet, spread out 1/4 cup slivered almonds on sheet.
  • Put into oven for about 3-5 minutes, checking for golden browning. Be careful not to over toast!
  • Once toasted, remove from oven to let cool. They will continue toasting on sheet after you remove from the oven.
  • While the almonds are cooling, line a baking sheet or baking dish with foil.
  • In a small bowl, mix paprika, salt, garlic, and pepper for seasoning blend.
  • Rub olive oil over salmon on both sides (or spray with cooking spray) and season with seasoning blend.
  • Place salmon fillets on baking sheet. Lay lemon slices on top of salmon.
  • Sprinkle cherry tomatoes around salmon fillets.
  • Bake for about 15-18 minutes and then remove from oven.
  • Sprinkle toasted almonds on top to finish and serve.

Notes

The thicker the piece of salmon, the longer the cooking time. If it is a very thick piece, I would reduce cooking temperature to 375 F and increase cooking time in 5 minute increments.
Keyword Fish, Healthy, Large Group, Meal prep, Salmon, Simple recipe

Blog ·

Austin Update Pt. 1

Three months. It’s been three months that I’ve been in Austin. Honestly it feels like three days.

I think back to a year ago, when the idea of living in a new place was just a little seed in the garden of my mind, and then I think of today, with my fully furnished apartment in a location I love, a running list of my favorite Austin places thus far and a longer list of the places I want to go, eating brunch outside because there’s a thing such as sun mid-winter here, after a church service I feel like I will soon call home with what already feels like people I will soon call family, and I think, I am proud of myself.

It still feels surreal that I am here. There’s one thing about talking about an idea, but actually acting upon it is an entirely different thing.

Building community from the ground up is scary, exciting, fun, and sometimes just down right weird. I think the last time I truly built a community from scratch was in kindergarten. Ever since then, there’s always been one or two people I’ve known to be with me as I cross into the next chapter of my life. I urge you to think of the last time you were truly in a 100% brand new setting, with no one or nothing to define who you were or are. It’s rare we are placed in those positions, but when you move to a city where you have no family and almost no friends to begin with, the whole idea of “starting from scratch” is the only available identity for wearing. There have been natural friends I’ve made through networking opportunities, I’ve been on a few friend dates (and let me tell you there were some strange ones), and then there have been the ‘friends of friends’ list that I am making my way down from my dear Seattle community. Out of it all, my experience thus far has been one of friendly faces and fun times that I am just starting to scratch the surface of.

I’ll be honest there have been a few lonely times as expected and ridiculous fears that I would be forgotten amongst my Seattle friend group, but the ways in which I have addressed those fears and lies, and reminding myself of the truth that my friends and family still know my name keeps me sane. A few things that I have been learning, listening, and living in the past few weeks from my time here…

The best kind of people are the people that welcome other people.

I’m usually the one doing the welcoming, the hosting, the “come join us” shtick, so being on the receiving end of that is unfamiliar but endearing. Southern hospitality really is a thing and I’m here for it. I have been welcomed in so many different ways and everyone has been so friendly I sometimes don’t know what to do except be friendly back and well, that’s how you make friends folks!

Never say no. 

Unless it’s illegal, then it’s a ‘maybe’. Otherwise, to make the most of my time, my days, my minutes, I promised to myself to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity and event that comes up, because you never know who you’ll meet, what experiences you’ll have, and what you’ll learn if you don’t do anything. Inaction is the worst kind of action, including staying at home for more than 24 hours binge-watching Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ on rotation.

Trust the uncertainty.

Job wise, I’m still on the hunt and at times I get a little anxious (or a lot of anxious), but I remember that I chose this transition with a fire in my heart and seeing the fruitfulness of it thus far makes me hopeful. I’ve always been one to go-go-go though I took this move as a transition period, to fully rest and gain energy for a new direction, and I am now realizing God is giving me the opportunity to do just that during this break time. I trust in His providence and promise of knowing what lies ahead and remind myself that in patience and prayer this chapter is getting prepared perfectly for me.

Embrace the journey.

Right now, I get to keep saying I “just moved here”, but soon three months will turn into six will turn into a year, and some other new transplants will get the title of new visitor arriving. If I am so fixed on where I was or where I want to be, it’s all too easy to miss out on what’s happening right now. Who knows how long I’ll be here (though tbh at least two years because I am not about to get up and drive cross country all over again), but it’s in the growing and the pulling and the pushing that I spend the most time, transforming little by little, day by day into who I am becoming.

Setting no expectations, I saw a quote the other day that kind of sums what I do expect to happen here.

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Long story short, I am a big fan of Austin and I can’t wait to update ya’ll on the great things happening in this city and my life. I can’t tell you what will happen just yet, but I can tell you what will happen. There will be challenges and desperation, joyfulness and whimsy, failures and victories, and a whole lot of tacos and outdoor patios to fill the time between.

Until ya’ll come visit me,

S

Blog ·

End of an Era

Ya’ll, 2019 was a REALLY GOOD year.

If I’m being completely honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to say I’ve had a good year. I know a lot of my photos and social media show my travels and friends and all the good going on in my life, but more often than not I spend the day to day overthinking and struggling with a lot of internal battles. But this year, this year was GOOD. REALLY good.

It was fun, it was full of adventure and love and laughter and all the things I hope to have every day. There were happy tears and sad tears, late nights and early mornings. I learned a lot about communicating myself better to and with others. I learned more about taking up space and valuing my own accomplishments. I learned to go towards things that scare me or I feel insecure about, and discovered an appreciation for the process of deconstructing and reconstructing of myself. This year allowed me to let go, embrace life in the present, pursue the unknown, be silly, gain confidence, learn to communicate better, and make moves towards the woman I want to become. And for that 2019, I am so truly grateful.

A few 2019 highlights

Went to Florida with my parents to visit my uncle

Hosted a stranger party (honestly iconic moment that would shape the rest of the year)

Started a podcast about said party

Got promoted at The Riveter to General Manager of Fremont, expanded location to 2x the size, and won Geekwire Startup of the Year

Went to New York Times Travel Show (where I met my amazing friend Jeff of Chubby Diaries ) and Austin Food & Wine Festival as press

First paid trip as a travel blogger to Greece

First published article in SAVEUR

Hosted multiple epic parties such as Galentine’s Day, Chip & Dip, Wine Wednesdays

Camped on Washington coast and in Zion National Park

Explored more of my identity as an Asian American

Backpacked for the first time in the Cascades and crossed off more to-do hikes in Washington

Attended/was part of my best friend Jackie’s wedding and also my brother’s wedding

Hosted second stranger party

Did a ridiculous 24 hour scavenger hunt with four incredible guys and actually won the whole thing out of 200 teams

Started teaching ice skating

Picked up rollerblading as a fun hobby

Saw Maggie Rogers, Jesse McCartney, Khalid, Normani, and Chainsmokers in concert

Made new friends, visited old, and lost some good

Adventured to multiple major Seattle islands for the first time including Whidbey, Vashon, Bainbridge, and San Juans

Spent two week showing Amber, my friend from the Netherlands, around Seattle and Victoria including Canada Day in Canada and 4th of July in America

Watched Fremont Solstice Parade aka naked bikers everywhere

Went axe throwing for the first time and wasn’t half bad

Took a seaplane tour of Seattle

Enjoyed hammocking, sailing Lake Union, tennis Tuesdays, and sunsets in Seattle

Dated for the first time and had such a blast!

Tried to go skydiving 3 times and failed each time

Had the best summer going on adventures daily with my Seattle favorites (hi Keith & Greta)

Moved to AUSTIN!!

Traveled to Ireland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, and England

Ate incredible food at previously mentioned countries

Visited new domestic cities like New Orleans, Detroit, and Dallas

Reunited with Italian host mom and study abroad friends after 3 years

Moved to Austin and had Jackie road trip with me down through Zion and Bryce Canyon

Went to Forbes 30 under 30 and met my favorite celebrities, Antoni Porowski and Adam Rippon

Met the first two top travel bloggers, Adventurous Kate and Nomadic Matt, that inspired me to write a blog

Attended my high school best friend Derek’s graduation and helped him plan his recent proposal to his new fiancé (so much love this year!)

Documented some good moments on film and experienced even more great moments in real life

And I’m sure there’s much more where that came from. To everyone that I’ve got to spend 10 minutes with to 10 months with,  I am so grateful to have you in my life in this year and hopefully many more.

Suffice to say, this year has been a blessing in clear sight. As a new decade is around the corner, I’m promising to myself to live this next year, decade, era, with an ever-increasing amount of adventure, excitement, vitality, passion, silliness, love and fearlessness as the last. End with a bang, start with a bigger one.

Here’s to 2020 being the best year yet!

(side note I hate that I recorded so many videos in portrait- things to improve on next year!)

Travel ·

Blissful Barcelona

“Las ramblas, I’ll meet you
Come on and dance with me in Barcelona
Drinking Sangría
I just want to be in Barcelona”

Ed couldn’t have said it better himself and you know this song was on blast as I landed in Barcelona.

Once I knew I was going to Ireland pre-moving to Austin, I decided to take advantage of the time in Europe and extend my return date to Austin by two weeks because why not? At that point, I just had to find the people and place to fill my days with. Enter Keith.

My best friend Keith had always wanted to go to Spain, specifically Barcelona, because a few friends had traveled/studied abroad there and I had been to Barcelona once before for about 24 hours which didn’t give me much memory of the city myself. A little (okay a lot) of convincing, and we managed to align our schedules so that we were both going to Barcelona… together!

One thing I really admire about our friendship is we think differently and learn from each other, which also applied to the planning of this trip. Typical Roth-style of travel is cram as much as you can in as many places as you can in the time you have i.e. be in a different town every night, on the road every day sort of travel, but this trip Keith suggested we call Barcelona home for the week and really get to explore the city in depth and I’m so glad he did.Saturday

Meeting at the airport, we headed straight to our hotel, Hotel Serhs del Port, that we called home for the week. If I could recommend a time to go to Barcelona, I would say the last week of September/first week of October is absolute perfection. While the Gothic Quarter is where all the main action and major nightlife happens, I would say for the price and location of our hotel, we were more than pleased with our choice. As far as transportation goes, Barcelona has a great public transit system and either by walking or taking advantage of the metro we were able to get to most of the places we wanted to.

Our first dinner was at PaloSanto in the El Raval neighborhood. It’s easy to miss as it’s a little hole-in-the-wall-esque, but is definitely worth going out of your way to eat at. Full out on all the classics like patatas bravas with spicy bravas sauce, a local Spanish cerveza and killer white sangria (because that is totally a thing), tortilla española, and tender octopus hit the spot and got us in the Spanish mood. I wasn’t feeling that good the first night so we called it an early night, but my broken heart would be mended knowing that we still had the whole week ahead in BarTHEYlona. 🙂

Sunday

We woke up our first day in Barcelona and were eager to hit Brunch and Cake, but when we got there the line was much longer than we were hoping for. Thankfully the waitress let us know about another Brunch and Cake location up the street that we were able to snag a seat at. The smoked salmon bagel was on point, but the low of the trip was Keith biting into the worst burger ever. This would not be the only terrible burger experience in Spain, so for your own sake skip burgers in Spain and stick with the classics.

After brunch, we visited the famous Parc Güell. Architect Antonio Gaudí rules Barcelona with his Catalan modernism and this park is one of his many masterpieces. The majority of the park is free to the public, but the area where the mosaic wall is that you see in all the photos of the park requires reservations in advance which you can do here; punctuality is enforced! Unfortunately the majority of the wall was being reconstructed when we were there, but we were still able to admire the view and I 100% reenacted Raven’s iconic leg kick from the Cheetah Girls.

Afterward we Ubered up to Tibidabo Amusement Park, Spain’s longest running amusement park perched at the top of the Collserola Ridge. There’s a few ways to get up the mountain, including by metro or the funicular. Once at the top you’ll get incredible 360 degree views over the city, sea, and inland towards Montserrat. I think we were the only people above the age of 13, nonetheless we had a blast being kids, going on different rides, and taking in the magnificent views. Note that this park is only open on the weekends, no weekdays, so you’ll want to check the schedule for when they are open. One of my favorite moments of the trip was seeing the most beautiful panoramic sunset over the city and mountains from the top of the ferris wheel like a scene out of a movie!

We may have gotten temporarily lost on the way back down, but after some strategic survival skills kicked in, we made it down the hill. We ended up having a late dinner at Margherita. While it was pretty good, something to note is that service is Spain is practically non-existent. Whether it’s waiting 15 minutes for water after you sit down, or not having a waiter pass your table all night, it can be a bit frustrating to get someone’s attention and feel noticed as a customer, but I guess they make up for it in the fact that all their food is amazing.

Monday

There’s no way you can go to Barcelona without visiting the most iconic site in the city, La Sagrada Familia. As one of Gaudi’s most famous works, this Roman Catholic temple has been under construction since —wait for it— 1882! (and is still being built today). Impossible does not even begin to describe the intricate and creative genius brain of Gaudí. Planning your visit to La Sagrada involves buying tickets online to skip lines, and you can add on the option of spiraling either the Nativity or Passion facade (we chose the Nativity facade). If you plan on visiting a lot of main tourist attractions,  you might want to consider the Barcelona City Pass, which includes free entrance to La Sagrada Familia. We skipped this option as we planned on exploring more off the track spots rather than many tourist stops, but it may save you some money and time if you are going to a lot of main attractions.

After escaping the beautiful chaos of La Sagrada Familia, we had the best tapas for lunch at Bar Cañete.  As noted in the name, most of the seating is at the bar which I’ve always thought are the best seats in the house to see all the action and to be closer to the food. Bar Cañete was on my list of must eat at places and everything we ate including the lobster croquette, the Barceloneta bomb (aka the best spicy meatball of my life), Cañete style shrimp in garlic, Galician scallops, and aged beef steak with foie and truffle were beyond top notch. I made reservations ahead of time to confirm I could get in on these first-rate tapas and if you have to choose one tapas bar to eat at while in Barcelona, this would be my first choice.

After a mini siesta watching the Spanish Netflix series Elite, we took a late afternoon stroll to Parc Ciutadella, a green oasis in the middle of the city that includes the Parliament de Catalunya and Barcelona Zoo. Somewhere in the middle of the park they have an area where you can rent a rowing boat and we goofed off a little bit rowing around the lake. The northwest corner of the park leads to the Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona which is a nice walkway to stroll in the evening and people watch.

Another subpar burger for dinner, we redeemed our sadness with a few drinks at Flaherty’s Irish pub. While we started at a fun traditional Irish pub, Barcelona is known worldwide for it’s nightlife. Whether its bar hopping, beachside clubs, live music and dancing, flamenco shows, or exclusive parties, Barcelona is the place to go out. This blog goes into great detail about the night scene more than I ever could, and mentions the option of the Barcelona Nightlife Ticket. We opted for Opium, though lined along the beach next to Opium are a few other great nightclubs that are supposed to be killer. You can’t go wrong going out in Barcelona!

Tuesday

The Picasso Museum was another tourist stop we made reservations for to see. In short, you’ll love it if you love Picasso. If you’re not a big Picasso fan, I’d suggest passing and hitting up another famous museum like the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Fundació Joan Miró, or Casa Mila by Gaudí.

We grabbed a quick bite at a cute corner shop called Funky Bakers to hold us over until lunch at Bodega 1900 by Albert Adriá. It’s no secret Barcelona has some of the best food in the world and is concurrently home to world renown chef Albert Adriá of El Bulli. Having watched his Chef’s Table episode, it makes sense that reservations for any one of his 6 restaurants books months and months in advance. While I still dream of going to Tickets, Bodega 1900 is his more accessible restaurant in the shape of humble tapas with the Adriá flair. Our favorites included the beef carpaccio, their filet and pan con tomate. Pan con tomate is a staple in Catalan cuisine and translated literally is what it is; bread with tomatoes. It is so simple and yet holds its own as a side and in reality, as a main. Tomato and bread is better than it sounds, good enough to travel to Spain for!

One thing Keith sacrificed for coming on the trip was being able to sailgate at one of the UW games but little did he know, I planned a surprise sail to make up for it/I really just wanted to go sailing in Barcelona. It was my first time booking an Airbnb experience and I have to say that I would definitely do it again. There were a multitude of sailing options, both day and evening, to see the city from the water side. We went with the Barcelona Sunset Sailing Cruise with Sebastian and once again, fell in love with Barcelona sunsets. If you come to Spain and don’t have paella, well did you even go to Spain? Paella actually originates from the Valencia region, but is made in every region in Spain today.  On the waterfront there are a collection of restaurants that serve fresh seafood and paella for dinner. Albeit they are a bit touristy, but popular nonetheless for food with a view.

Wednesday

Continuing our journey of eating as many Barcelona bites as possible, we hit up La Boqueria Mercato for breakfast. La Boqueria is Barcelona’s iconic produce market whose maze of stalls featuring local wines, fruits and veggies, meat and seafood, spices, candy, and yummy restaurants scattered throughout draws any foodie or foodie friend into it for it’s vibrant colors, energy, and tastes. It’s the perfect place for a quick bite or to stock up on snacks, especially jamon iberico de bellota, manchego and marcona almonds. Regarding eating jamon iberico de bellota, I’m taking a direct quote from my chef friend Kevin that is too good not to share: “Make sure it’s BELLOTA and hand sliced in front of you. PAY THE RIDICULOUS AMOUNT AND DO IT. WATCH SHIA LABEOUF IF YOU HAVE TO. Savor it and let it sit and mingle in your mouth. Make out with it.” If Kevin doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will.

Quite close to our hotel was the Parc del Mirador del Poble-sec and Port Cable Car you can take for a short but scenic 7 minute trip over the city’s port. Researching this online is a bit confusing because there are two cable cars that take off from the same place, the Teleferic de Montjuic and the Port Cable Car. We went with the latter, that crosses the water for aerial views above Barcelona’s marina. For this one there are two access points, one from the water on Passeig Don Joan Borbó and one from Montjuïc mountain, and you can opt for a one-way or roundtrip ticket. Follow these directions for the Port Cable Car and you’ll find your way!

After the ride, we grabbed an early dinner at Cerveseria Catalana. We had passed it a few nights prior and the place was packed, overflowing out into the streets so we knew we had to eat there. Thankfully we got a table a few nights later by going a bit earlier around 6 pm since they do not take reservations and it did not disappoint. Every single pintxos and tapas we ordered was scrumptious including the skewered shrimp, something to do with salmon and cream cheese, some other seafood goodness I can’t recall. We ate so fast we forgot to take photos, but I’ll always remember rolling out the door stuffed and satisfied.

Lucky us found out there was a football game going on during our week in Barcelona and even luckier us got tickets to a FC Barcelona game! Watching a European football game live, nonetheless at Camp Nou which is the largest stadium in Europe, is an EXPERIENCE. Truth be told, I was a little torn as Barcelona was playing Inter Milan, my alma matter Bocconi and studying abroad in Milan adding to my bias toward Italy, but nonetheless I repped the navy blue and maroon of Barça and I chose correctly because we won!

Thursday

For a little snack to start off our day, we grabbed some coffee and lemon poppyseed cake at ARTisa coffee before a long afternoon of cooking and eating at Cook and Taste Barcelona. Our chef Carlos taught us how to cook four Spanish classics including escalivada, gazpacho, paella, and crema catalana plus a lot of wine to wash it all down. It was a smaller, intimate setting and chef Carlos was very knowledgeable about the history and details of certain processes.  Taking a cooking class is a fun hands on activity for any age and a great way to get to know the culture of a place, this being the kitchen to do it at.

Wanting to ride like locals, we rented a motorbike from Mondorent to watch another stunning sunset at Bunker del Carmel. Important note: if you are planning to rent any sort of motor vehicle in Europe, you MUST have your international driver’s license (which you can get at your local AAA or AATA). Now that we made it safely back, we were lucky we didn’t get pulled over as we may have been were driving illegally…so I would say if you plan far enough ahead, definitely get your international driver’s license or risk life on the edge and do what we did (not recommended, but just as if not more fun). But it was all worth it for another jaw-dropping sunset!

As a self-proclaimed foodie, it’s always been on my bucket list to go to a 3 Michelin star restaurant. My aforementioned friend Kevin recommended a long list of fancy restaurants that was narrowed down to Lasarte. If I have to be completely honest, the service was way too formal for me, but at least I had great company and an actual full belly to laugh about it at the end. The presentation was impeccable, and the waygu ravioli and sweet yogurt made in the shape of a cherry I will never be able to recreate in my life again. After dinner we popped into Bobby’s Free speakeasy which from the outside looks like a barber shop but if you have the right connections (and the right password), you are taken behind the staged set and down into an energetic, bustling bar with a lively crowd and live music.

Friday

Breakfast in Spain is the smallest meal of the day, which makes churros and chocolate just the right size for a morning pick-me-up. Consider it the Spanish version of donuts and hot chocolate, but add more dipping and more drooling. Many places offer churros and chocolate, but there are multiple churrerias that specialize in making your perfect deep-fried delicacy dreams come true like Xurreria Laietana and Xuerria San Manuel Roman.

We had another fantastic lunch at Tosca del Carme, perused some cool local products at Origens Craft & Design kitty corner from the restaurant, and finished with a sweet treat at Rocambolesc where the Roca brothers, the team behind the best restaurant in the world El Celler de Can Roca, created an ice cream line with a gastronomic touch.

Getting in some last-minute shopping at the Maremagnum on the coast, we popped into Pasapalo for our last dinner. It’s a cozy little gem in a sea of great tapas bars and hit the requirements of good food and a good price. Our last drinks were enjoyed from the bar on the top floor of the W Hotel, and a bittersweet beach walk back to home.

If I had to describe the Barcelona trip in one word, it would be blissful. It didn’t just seem like a dream trip, it was. No matter where you go, I’ve always thought how well you travel with someone is a true test of your relationship with them and can either make or break the trip. Suffice to say, I’ve got great friends and great travel buddies, and Keith is both! There is so much to do and see in Barcelona, and I know we barely scratched the surface, but I’m so grateful we scratched it together for the first time. Takeaways from this trip are easy: Go somewhere fun, with someone fun, and have fun!

Want to know everywhere we went in Barcelona? Check out the map below for all our favorite places! Note: I added a few more places that I wanted to go to but just didn’t have the time to make. Will have to cross off on Barcelona round 2 🙂

Travel ·

Irish Charm

You didn’t think I was going to go straight to Austin did you? If you know me by now, you know that I’m a maximizer and if have the chance to squeeze multiple trips into the span of one, it’s called efficiency. (Also my brother was supposed to go to Ireland with my parents but last minute got married- WHOO-  so then my parents “didn’t know” who would take his place…WHOEVER WILL THEY TAKE? their one daughter says sarcastically while simultaneously researching best restaurant in Dublin).

I have been to Ireland once before in a vastly different context—cheap college students that took the country by public transit—and it was a magical trip. This time was with my two-generations-older-than-me parents and a car to get around the country. Both scenarios involved lots of beer, dairy, and good times.

Seattle has a direct flight to Dublin through AerLingus that takes about 9-10 hours and you can even fly overnight which makes the trip go by so much faster. Ireland by car is the best mode of transportation as Ireland is fairly small — the width of the country being similar to the width of Washington— so I definitely recommend renting a car if you can (just remember they drive on the other side of the road!). There are times we plan and times we don’t, and this was one of those “buy a ticket and nothing else trips”. Call me old school, but I still love turning to my favorite hardcopy travel guides such as Lonely Planet rather than searching for everything on the internet. This trip we took to a DK Ireland book and sketched out a route clockwise driven by some of the main points and places we wanted to hit (and which photos looked the coolest in the travel guide).

Day 1:

About 12 miles south of Dublin is a coastal town called Bray, a seaside resort destination for Dubliners and planned as “Ireland’s Brighton” early on. Ravenous after our flight, we had a delicious late lunch at Platform Pizza Bar, which I know isn’t technically Irish food but I had the best Moroccan salad of my life that I am inspired to make at home and I’ll call it Irish, and walked down the Bray Promenade to breathe in the fresh ocean air and overlook the calming character of Bray.

The first pretty picture I found in our travel guide was in Glendalough and once I see a pretty photo, I can’t get it out of my mind so Glendalough was our first mark on the map. The name “Glendalough” means “the glen of two lakes” in Irish and is part of the Wicklow National Park, around 50,000 acres of beautiful mountains, rolling hills, and a nature reserve, though most of it is conserved from the public. There are few trails within the park, the eastern end starting at the Vistor Centre and Monastic City and the western end where the Upper Lake parking is located.

Seeing as the centrally located Glendalough Hotel was booked, we stayed at the Lynhams Hotel which fit the bill and was cost-friendly.  My jetlag hit hard that first evening so I retreated to bed early from our first Irish pub but as my parents like to remind me, this was one of their favorite nights dancing and drinking the night away in a dinky bar filled with Irish locals. I’ll never regret sleeping, except maybe this one time.

Day 2:

There are two lakes, the Lower Lake and Upper Lake, in Glendalough, the Lower Lake creating a loop for a pleasant stroll while the Upper Lake cannot be walked completely around, but is the perfect place for a small picnic or day out in nature with friends.

Onward to Kilkenny, a medieval town with deep roots and history that give way to architectural magnificence. Fun fact: Did you know that the first witch ever recorded was from Kilkenny? Not to scare you away from this small yet soulful town. We didn’t spend much time here, but we did spend enough time to grab a beer at Pegasus nightclub and Langton, where we learned that the national sport of Ireland is hurling and settled the national debate between which cider is better: Orchard Thieves or Bulmers (DEFINITELY Orchard Thieves). Had we stayed longer we would have checked out the Kilkenny Castle and beautiful gardens and cathedrals around the city. We ended the day’s driving in Waterford where we stayed at the charming Arlington Suites a few minutes outside of town and had an early dinner at McLeary’s before calling it a night.

Day 3:

You don’t go to Waterford without going to the House of Waterford Crystal, where you can take a factory tour involving every stage of the timeless glass-making process; from blowing the glass to washing it to stenciling, marking, cutting, engraving and so on, you’ll see masterpieces like national trophies, dazzling vases, and intricate figurines come out at only the highest quality and brilliance that Waterford is known for.

Sticking to the scenic route, we took the Copper Coast Drive that spans some 15 miles between Tramore and Dungarvan in County Waterford. It is named for the 19th century copper mines that lie at its core and is known for its rugged and scalloped clifftops, small coves, and panoramic seascapes. You might’ve heard of the Wild Atlantic Way coastal which is Ireland’s longest and breathtaking drive—in essence the Irish version of Big Sur—but the Copper Coast Drive is like the Wild Atlantic Way’s lesser known but equally beautiful cousin.

For all my whiskey lovers out there, we weren’t leaving Ireland without touring and tasting the classic Jameson which we got to do at one of two Jameson Distillerys in Ireland. The County Cork Distillery is where all the Jameson in the world is produced, and the best way to learn about the history and whole whiskey-making process is taking one of their tours. Hint: there is free whiskey involved.

Apart from the memorable potato pizza at the Franciscan Well Brewery my last time in Cork, this time we opted for dinner at Market Lane which ended up being one of my favorite meals, rightly so as I apparently still had it bookmarked from my last trip about 4.5 years ago. Market Lane takes a modern twist on European and Irish cuisine; they use local artisan producers that are highlighted in dishes like pan-fried seabass with a caper and tarragon salad and turmeric cauliflower puree or a salted caramel creme brûlée. Whatever you order, it will be delicious, but order the creme brûlée.

Day 4:

For breakfast, we hit the English Market which has been Cork’s most famous indoor market since 1788 and one of my favorite places to peruse the local goods and produce. One stop you won’t want to miss south of Cork is Kinsale, a historic port and fishing town sprinkled with rainbow-colored buildings and landmark taverns. It reminds me a bit of Dingle, though with its own unique characteristics. It’s smaller towns like these that you really get the feel for day-to-day Irish life and discover a bit of your own Irish charm.

I knew my dad wanted to do a cheese tasting and since it’s not my first rodeo (or cheese tasting), I knew the best way is at the source of origin- a dairy farm. Google “cheese farm” or  just “cheese”, and it’s not that hard to find dairy in some form, though I typically look at the reviews to make sure its a factory and not just a shop or a gift store. Off-roading and exploring, especially when it comes to food, is nothing new to us so we eventually ended up at a trailer in the middle of nowhere where we found Victor, the owner of Bluebell Falls Goats Cheese, who ended up giving us the creamiest, freshest goat cheese and told us about his artisan cheese. Being part of Good Food Ireland organization, he mentioned that if we are in the area, one of the best restaurants in Ireland was MacNean House by Irish celebrity chef Neven MacGuire. Taking our chances, we jumped on their website and lone behold, fate had it that we snagged one last reservation at a restaurant whose waiting list is up to two years in two days!

You know the saying “the world’s small”? Well, it is and it just so happens one of my previous colleague’s family owns a restaurant in Galway (really in Oranmore about a 10-minute drive outside of Galway) called Glynn’s Bar that is full of family history and loads of fun on a Friday night. Part of traveling without a plan includes not being able to go to some of our first choices, thus after wandering a bit we landed at Cava Bodega for dinner and it did not disappoint. You can never go wrong with Spanish tapas (truly NEVER).  The standout tapas of the night was the Catalan spinach of all things, which made me want to marry Popeye just so I can eat endless spinach Catalan style. Other amazing dishes included monkfish with serrano ham, baby fennel, piquillo sauce and pistachio, and their baby squid I’ll never forget.

Day 5:

We stayed at the newly renovated Hotel Victoria and woke up to have one of my favorite breakfasts at Ard Bia at Nimmos. Set on the River Corrib, Ard Bia is a quaint and quirky cafe focused on slow but good food, perfect for a romantic dinner or small brunch with your friends.

Due to the dinner reservations in the middle of the country and mom and myself wanting to see Belfast, we rerouted our trip to Northern Ireland for the next 48 hours. Note, Northern Ireland uses different currency so be prepared, or have handy-dandy mom like I do who already has the correct currency and you’re good to go!

We were only in Belfast a short time so we did a bit of shopping at Victoria Square and ended the night with another incredible dinner at The Ginger Bistro , an airy bistro with incredible service and food (Don’t miss out on the scallops and the garlic and parmesan potatoes). I would have loved to stay longer and explore the city and it’s nightlife more, unfortunately we had other places to be and see so our time in Belfast was very fast! Please someone save me from my own puns…

Day 5:

If you are scared of heights, you probably should skip this part (sorry mom). If you like to live life on the edge (of a cliff) read on!

Near Ballintoy in the north of Northern Ireland is the nerve-wracking Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Swaying about 100 ft. above sea level, the bridge was originally created by salmon fishermen 350 years ago but has now turned into an exciting tourist attraction. For those brave enough, when you make it across the bridge you’ll be rewarded with stunning views of the Causeway Coast and even Scotland’s Rathlin Island. There is a small entry fee and varying opening and closing times so be sure to check the schedule before you get all the way out there.

After you make it back alive, drive about 20 minutes down the road to Giant’s Causeway. It is Northern Ireland’s most popular attraction so expect many tourists, but it is still worth the trip to walk upon the near 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns laid out as a black carpet for you to jump from puzzle piece to puzzle piece. Legend has it that Irish giant Finn McCool was having issues with the Scottish giant Benandonner who was threatening Ireland, so Finn in his rage picks up a piece of the Antrim coast, throws it into the water and the rock forms a path for Finn to follow to reach Benandonner. The more scientific (and boring) story has something to do with volcanic crashing, burning, and lava solidifying into interlocked basalt columns, but the giant story is way better.

I bet the giant was thirsty in his rage so it makes sense that Old Bushmill’s Distillery is plopped right on the other side of Giant’s Causeway. We skipped the tour this time and went straight for the gift shop, but if you have the time, take in the historical landmark and whiskey as Old Bushmill’s is the oldest licensed distillery in the world. We had a late lunch at the cutest coffee shop Lost and Found in Coleraine that focuses on simple, yet high quality coffee and food including friendly baristas to round it out. Heading in a southwest direction from Coleraine, we found ourselves on a leisurely drive through the Central Sperrins Scenic Route (there are four routes– North, South, East and Central), and is a highly recommended way to take enjoy the natural beauty of Northern Ireland.

We stayed at the absolutely adorable Abocurragh Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast where Bernie and her sweet pup take you in as part of their own family amidst rolling hills and a delightful homemade breakfast. If you are in this area, I would definitely stay here and if you aren’t, you should stay here anyways.

Day 6:

I forgot how much I love Dublin and to be quite honest, apart from my heart being in Italy, I could definitely live in Dublin. The friendliness of the Irish, the down-to-earth city vibes, the feeling of being safe, welcome and everyone’s always in the mood to have a drink and a good time makes it a great city all around. Dublin is fantastic for many reasons, ours being that it’s where Mom finally got her Irish coffee in Ireland, Dad got to drink at the iconic Temple Bar, and I got to get lost exploring Grafton Street. Major tourist attractions like walking through the library at Trinity College, touring the Guinness Factory, and people watching at St. Stephen’s Greens were all things I passed this time around having done them before, but left my parents to explore on their own as I left a day before them. Some new finds I enjoyed were shopping at stores like the Powerscourt Center and Industry & Co., breakfast at Brother Hubbard, and watching the 2019 Rugby World Cup on Europe’s largest tv screen at The Camden: a multipurpose venue with a bar/cinema/hotel/speakeasy/brewery/EVERYTHING. We split our time evenly between this extravagant space and The Camden Hotel by Key Collection next door.

From crossing cliffs over the North Atlantic to yelling at my dad to stay on the left side of the road when he continually swerved right, I’m a big fan of the Roth clan, especially in Ireland. Ireland is a great place to travel with friends and family, such as my own,  just don’t forget to take a family photo like we did! Summing up the trip with Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl, it just so happens the next song on the album was ‘Barcelona’…

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See You Later Seattle

Why would someone move from a place they call home and people they love? I’m not 100% sure, but I’ll tell you when I figure it out. So far, all I know is that I’m moving to Austin without a single plan of what I am doing and know only one single soul there.

When I made the decision a few months ago that it was time for me to move on to my next chapter, I could feel each root that I had grown here resisting a bit more. With each confirmation along the way, with every reassurance and excited conversation about what endless possibilities lie ahead in a new city, I told myself that once I made it official, I knew the remaining months would get progressively more bittersweet and Seattle harder to leave. I could have never thought it would be anything like this.

There’s only one other time I’ve been truly heartbroken and I can now feel the cracks beginning again. It sounds cliche, but it’s like walking around every day with the wind knocked out of you. I’m not sure when I’ll cry, but I know I will cherish this last month like it really is my last. My time here in Seattle has shown me so much about the world and taught me so much about life that I couldn’t forget even if I tried. From throwing stranger parties to competing in 24-hour scavenger hunts to maneuvering I-5 in a U-haul to playing laser tag at midnight in the parking lot of Seattle’s finest dining establishment, Seattle will always have a piece of my heart including the people in it.

People move all the time, and here I am just another person moving along in this world. I’ve built community in many places, but the majority of my core group of people are here. Some have stayed and some have left, but through it all, I continue to call Seattle home. To be honest, Seattle was a place I actually resented to start off with, but over time I have come to find the things I love about Seattle. And now that I have found the good parts here, I am ready to find the good parts of elsewhere.

This seems to be the easiest post to write, though it should be the hardest, no? I think because amidst all the emotions and anxiety I have, and the fact that I’m a post-griever i.e. I won’t cry until I am long gone from this little corner of my heart, I am unshakably calm about the unknown. And this would have never been my reaction six years ago when I moved here. So thank you Seattle for helping shape me into the person I have become thus far and to get me to the place where I can confidently take a step to a new place, personally and now geographically.

I told one of my best friends that because I have such a strong support system and close family and friends, I was moving. And when I was met with a confused look, I knew I needed to explain myself a bit more.

Growing up in Washington and having lived here all my life, I knew that one day I wanted to move. To challenge myself, to experience a new culture with new people, I’ve always been drawn to exploring and experiencing all kinds of places and people. And now, with nothing significant holding me here like a boyfriend, a husband, a kid or even a dog, there really is no better time than now. And if I’m being completely honest, I just want to be young. I’ve learned I don’t have to justify this statement though I have a dictionary-long explanation for why. But in short, I want to be young, to not try to be CEO at age 24, date around, take things slower and rest and sleep in, study and learn things I’ve always wanted to, incorporate more play into my life, dream big and maybe fail; a solo Soleil sabbatical if you will.

If I was in the opposite camp, in a place where I absolutely hated Seattle with no one who cared about me and vis vera, and I had decided to run away from the things I was unhappy about and around me, I have a feeling those same problems and issues would follow me no matter where I went. But that’s not the case. I have an overwhelmingly supportive, encouraging, motivating, and unconditionally loving foundation of people that I know will be there for me wherever I go, no matter what state I live in. It reminds me of that Winnie the Pooh quote “How lucky am I having something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” and this I can tell you, is a hard goodbye. So let’s not call it a goodbye.

Every so often I see people post on social media about moving and leaving their loved ones for another new adventure, and now that it’s happening to me, it feels somewhat surreal. As I step into this new chapter with nothing, there are a few things I will be needing:

  1. trust
  2. a lot of Facetime calls
  3. even more in-person visits
  4. help getting rid of my stuff (Sept. 1 I’m out!)
  5. mail and/or care packages- though nothing meltable
  6. PNW mountain dirt and ocean water
  7. recommendations on good eats and things to do down South
  8. prayers for health, community, connections, safety, and a whole lot of fun

It’s never a goodbye, but a see you later. It’s never permanent, only temporary. Washington will always be home to me, as its the place where my family and friends are. I’ve learned life is a lot of “yikes” moment mixed with “power moves only” moments, and I can’t wait for the moments that lie ahead in Austin. So this marks the countdown to enjoying every single day in the present, and let’s do this last month right Seattle.

S

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