After twenty years of practicing intellectual property law and then surviving a life-changing illness, I left the corporate world and became a full-time mom. In the late eighties I studied law in the US, Brussels and the Hague, and later worked in Atlanta, Denver, DC area, London, Singapore, and Silicon Valley during the internet boom and bust. In the interim I wandered the globe, setting up house wherever I roamed, befriending the natives and immersing myself in the local food and music cultures. I danced in the local clubs, shopped in the local markets and cooked whatever was fresh and in season. And I sought out local cookbooks and music in whatever language I could find.
I was born in Bangkok, Thailand. We moved to a small town in the Low country of South Carolina, then to an even smaller town in south Georgia, where I learned to appreciate congealed salads, any and all things deep-fried, proper iced tea (sweet) and cornbread (not sweet). I consider myself a Georgia girl who speaks Thai with a southern drawl.
Growing up, my food obsessed family planned vacations around restaurants. From Antoine’s to cinderblock crab shacks, no place was too fancy or too un-fancy as long as the food was good. An avid traveler and cook, I have amassed a collection of over a thousand cookbooks from my travels and hope one day to add my (forever in the works) cookbook on Thai dishes from my family’s Chantaburi province to the collection.
We live in a center hall colonial in the woods in Virginia. I’m married to a wonderful guy. We have an older daughter who’s grown and flown and a daughter who is away in college and is rock and roller. We share our home with a neurotic rescue tabby named Frankie and a mischievous Ragdoll cat named Bubba Ralph. Mr. Fred the red fox lives in the gully in the woods behind our house, and Speedy Gonzalez the black racer snake lives somewhere in the basement crawl space.
Oh, and one more thing: I love birds, especially bluebirds.
Hi Nullie!
I love all of your background and although I thought I knew you, I really didn’t know all such as how many different places you lived (the Hague! how nifty). I especially want you to know that my first time at Antoine’s was so memorable about as etched in my memory as the first time at the Plaza in NYC at the Edwardian Room where in the 80’s the fanciest (and most expensive at $30) French Toast I’d ever known was my brunch and felt like royalty. Thank you for your memories. I’d love to have you write more about your travels or a memory etched in time to share with us.
Love your forever friend,
Tess
You are all growed up Nullie. Your blog prompts me to push (encourage) you to be a writer. I am happy you landed well and have a supportive family that brings out the “you” in you.
I hope you gave that Stratocaster to your rock and roll daughter! I’m still in touch with a few from the Musician’s Network. Last I heard, they are still going. We started a small legacy at Tech. You should be proud. I hear they are a mess from the connections I still have in the music department. To be honest, I’d be disappointed if I heard otherwise. We were an ecletic bunch of misfits and it is still one of my fondest memories of college life.
I’m still rooted in good ‘ole Jawja. It has changed quite a bit, but it will forever be home.
Enjoy those muscadines, relax, and enjoy the ride.
Your friend,
Scott