I am from Walnut Creek. As I have had to introduce myself many, many, many times throughout the last two weeks, that has come up a lot. I haven’t lived there in over eight years, but that is home, for now. Maybe someday I will think of somewhere else as home, but not today. So, for posterity, a walk down memory lane (I visited this summer)…

The view as you drive into my hometown from San Francisco/Oakland (on the 24). That’s Mt. Diablo in the background (pronounced like a non-Spanish speaker would say it).

This is downtown…the sign in the middle says “The Ballet School”. This is where I took my first dance class.

Il Fornaio. A favorite. Along with the H&M on the left, that you can’t see and wasn’t there when I was growing up, but I think it makes a nice addition. The shopping and dining options in downtown Walnut Creek are fantastic.

The fountain at Broadway Plaza.
Yogurt Park…oh how I love thee.
One of my favorite little alleys in the world. It reminds me of Europe. Only cleaner.
My house…the one I grew up in from 0 – 18. The new owners have changed some things in front, but it’s still my house…with my favorite pomegranate tree. How lucky were we on the far right?

The backyard. It’s too bad the new owners ruined it with a fence. The pool, when you get there, was so pretty as the focal point. Now it’s surrounded by an ugly, wooden fence. Why not wrought iron, I ask you?




My high school. Doesn’t it kind of look like a prison? Well, the cement part?

The cemetery where my mom is buried. It’s absolutely beautiful. (Technically, I think it’s in Pleasant Hill.)

It was her birthday when I was there, so I took some flowers and a balloon.

And the big house my dad built after my mom died and we all moved in with him (well, during the summer anyway). It’s funny. It’s a beautiful house and has a great setup and yard for parties, but I would take the little thrasher house (trust me, it was at the time) I grew up in any day of the week.


And views of my city and the hills.