Well we’ve been married for a month now, and I believe our marriage will resemble fine cheese or wine – it gets better with time!

We are settling into our new apartment, and although there are still some boxes strewn, it is really feeling like home. The other good news is that we don’t smell the neighbor’s “doobies” as much anymore. There’s nothing like waking up to pot wafting through your bathroom window as you shower for the day. Talk about waking up the nostrils! <insert sarcasm here>.

Last week, we wandered over to our neighboring town’s farmer’s market. It’s called Hot Harvest Nights (catchy, no?) and it’s a necessary summer activity. I LOVE farmer’s markets. We followed our usual food trail by starting at the kettle corn booth. This allows us to stuff our faces with sugary, salty goodness while shopping for healthy food items like kale and green beans. Hey, we don’t pretend to be granola heads! After weaving our way up one side of the street (with a stop at the Afghani “pizza” stand for samples), we stopped at the best tamale stand in the Bay Area. Spicy pork and chicken tamales are a great way to break up the vegetation.

Also, last week I got to have lunch with my sister, Kendall. She was up in the area for her job, so we met for lunch at my new favorite hot spot in Redwood City – Martin’s West Gastropub. It’s a modern but rustic and cozy pub that serves traditional Scottish fare with a gourmet twist. We feasted on scotch eggs (a hard-boiled egg, covered in a layer of sausage, and breaded/fried), pasties (flaky pastries filled with cheese and kale), tandoori fries and sticky toffee pudding. Yum!

Kendall reeeeeeally liked the scotch eggs. Can you tell?

Now it’s a week later, and we’re off on a new adventure – our first “mini-moon”. Once a month, for the first year of marriage (at least) we have vowed to go away for the weekend somewhere. It could be camping, or luxury living, but either way, we’re going! For this August mini-moon, I have no idea where we’re going, as Matt has planned it and it is a surprise. Weeee! Stay tuned to see where we went….

Well here we are. For the third time. Hopefully, in the blogging world, the third time’s the charm! As I thought about my new patchwork quilt of family, dispersed all around the country, and my even bigger friend-family all over the world, I was so sad that they wouldn’t be able to be a part of our new life. Not just the dressed up landmarks, but the every day. The nitty gritty. The snacks between meals, if you will.

The result is the birth of this new blog, Open R(h)oads. The title, aside from a shameless wordplay exploration of my new name (hyuck), represents how I want our lives to be in many ways – not hidden, but open, visible, semi-transparent (plain transparent was too much for Matt). Also, it hints at the traveler’s perpetually “open road”, which I like.

Let me manage your expectations, however. I can’t promise to be good or consistent at this. It may flop! But I figured that if you’re a loved one, you will forgive us (me… let’s get real here).