My husband and I are fully vaccinated! We both received our second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine last week, and I am so excited! After a year of sheltering in place and working from home, I am ready to go back out into the world and be around people again.

Ordering-in is just not the same experience as going out to a new or familiar restaurant. I miss dining out by the water in La Jolla. I miss sushi in Ocean Beach. I have heard there is more great cuisine in Pacific Beach. My birthday is coming up and I want to dine in at a sushi bar, somewhere I can watch them craft the special rolls. I also want to go back to Fat Fish Cantina & Grille in Mission Beach and feast again on their exquisite lobster tacos!

I am ready to start traveling again. My husband and I are currently planning a trip to drive across the country later this summer. We hope not to rush any of it. We want to be able to stop and enjoy all of the scenic views, check out any peculiar local attractions, and enjoy some unique restaurants along the way. Our expedition will first take us north east toward the midwest. We want to visit my husband’s family in Indiana. After spending quality time with my in-laws, we will head to the deep south and visit my family in Georgia. After catching up and sharing more than a year’s worth of hugs, my husband and I will meander back to our home— San Diego!

I am also ready to renew my season pass for the San Diego Zoo. I love going to the zoo! Our zoo is more than just enjoying all of the different animals— it is an immersive experience. Instead of enclosures, the San Diego Zoo mimics natural habitats and has developed the zoo around that idea. If you like pandas, thank the San Diego Zoo for having saved the adorable specie from extinction. The Zoo is also a giant botanical garden with untold amounts of exotic plant fauna. Not to mention, it is excellent exercise walking up and down all of the hills and the park’s multiple levels. And all while having a blast!

I want to expand my comfort zone and do things that I may not have thought to do or taken time to do before. I suppose there is nothing like a pandemic that locked us all up inside our homes for a year to make me appreciate all of what life offers and how we live it. So let’s live it well!