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Words by Jenna

Copywriter by day, foodie and runner by… also day.

Category: Other Creative Things

Dear Oliver

February 2, 2017February 2, 2017 Posted in Other Creative ThingsLeave a comment

You came to me on my birthday. Ears expressive, rump round and disposition sweet, you went on to make me happy for three more birthdays. When I was happy, you celebrated with a dance. When I was sad, you were ready with a hug. You were always there for me and you always loved me. You came into… Continue reading Dear Oliver

Protected: So this is indifference

January 22, 2017 Posted in Other Creative Things

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Protected: Last night

November 21, 2016January 22, 2017 Posted in Other Creative Things

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Happy Mother’s Day

May 11, 2015January 31, 2018 Posted in Other Creative ThingsLeave a comment

Instead of me giving a gift to Ma on Mother’s Day, Ma gave a gift to me.

Behind the scenes with William Palank and the Leica M240

March 23, 2013March 23, 2013 Posted in Other Creative ThingsLeave a comment

I recently had the privilege to work with SF-based travel and commercial photographer William Palank on this video introducing the new Leica M240, which fewer than 20 photographers in the world possess.

ipad 2 leica lingerie photoshoot william palank wireless

Three Restaurant Stories (and Why Food and I are Meant to Be)

January 8, 2013May 6, 2015 Posted in Food, Other Creative ThingsLeave a comment

I love restaurants as much as they love me.

food jenna chan limoncello masa's paris persimmon restaurant restaurants san francisco singapore taillevent taillevent paris tiramisu trattoria trattoria gallo d'oro

Love Poem

December 11, 2012December 26, 2012 Posted in Other Creative ThingsLeave a comment

[The following blog post is dedicated to all the loves that could have been.]

love poem poetry star-crossed lovers

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There will be times when your next task seems impossible, your goal too lofty and unreachable. Well, you go “pole-pole” (“slowly” in Swahili) and before you know it, you’re at the top and it’s over and everything is beautiful. Life is full of challenges of all kinds. Life is also what you make it. However high your mountain, it’s worth making the hard decisions, doing the difficult and unpleasant work, and enduring the heartache and pain in order to reach the top. To get what you want. To make the life of your dreams. To do right by you (and you alone). To be who you want to be.

I feel like a whole new woman. I feel rejuvenated and invigorated. I daresay I feel like myself again. Being high up above the clouds, far away from the world you know, has a way of shifting perspective and affecting priorities. Some things that seemed to matter a month ago just don’t anymore. The fog has been lifted. My ideal life and self are in sharper focus. It’s clear now that what I had at the end of 2018 are neither what I want for 2019 nor good for me. What does all that mean? Saying no because it won’t truly bring me joy instead of saying yes because I think I *should* be okay with it. Saying goodbye to people who don’t treat me the way I want to be treated and embracing those who do. It means no more compromises that make me die a little inside. It means changing my situation if I don’t like it. It means letting go. And thinking with my heart. The world is a big, wonderful, magical place and all that’s perfect for me is out there. I’m 34. I know myself and really like myself. I switched to my current career seven years ago. I love it, and I get better at it all the time. I want romantic love. I’m still looking for the right one. My friends are few but some of the most amazing humans ever. In that fog, I’d forgotten that I have a track record of not settling for less. Why start now?

My favorite animal is the #elephant, so obviously I was on ☁️9️⃣ in Kenya 🥰 📹: 6. Why did the elephants cross the road 7. Two bulls in a spat 10. A baby elly playing with water

#KENYA WAS WILD 🇰🇪🐆🐘🦓🦛🦒🐃🦁🐒🦅🐗🐢🦌 Selenkay Observancy (Porini Amboseli Camp) 1. Maasai warrior walk 2. All the impalas 3. Cruiser life 4. ELLYS IRL OMG 5. My own “toothbrush” from the toothbrush tree Ol Kinyei Observancy (Porini Mara Camp) 6. Stranded by a busted cruiser 7. This bushbuck kept hanging around my tent 8. NBD, just enjoying a sundowner while watching lions devour a wildebeest 9. Found an abandoned ostrich egg (Both booked with Gamewatchers Safaris #notsponsored)

Eighteen hours ago, I cry-laughed into my balaclava on the highest point in Africa 🌄🇹🇿 This adventure was everything I’d hoped for and so much more 🙏🏼#MtKilimanjaro 2–6: Reverse order of the camps we stayed in (not shown: Kosovo Camp, which didn’t have a sign, and Mweka Camp, which was after we summited) 7: The entrance gate (Dec 29, 2018) 8: The exit gate (Jan 5, 2019) 9: Certificate of completion

These hands work hard for what I want, and for the people and experiences that are important to me. Normally I’m good at keeping my eyes on the prize. But increasingly since July, I’ve been agitated and anxious to a degree I’ve never felt before. I’ve never been so exhausted, so unfocused. I developed insomnia and nocturia, but last night, I actually slept. On the plane. Without a sleep aid. For six hours! The day before my ascent, in the solitude of my room, my head was free of the endless questions and needless worry that have plagued me especially in the last two months. I’d hoped for this. It’s only the first day, but I’m cautiously optimistic that this trip—the time, the distance—will give me the clarity to sort out the things that have caused my anxiety, that for that reason can’t possibly be important after all. And I’m keeping my eyes on the hope that when I return to SF, I’ll feel like the excitable, energetic, outgoing, *real* Jenna I’ve missed. If all along you thought I‘ve been these things, then I put on a good act or you ain’t seen nothing yet. So this is happy new year to you. I’ll be ringing in 2019 on the side of a mountain in Africa. With any luck, I’ll come down a better woman—or at the very least, the real me.

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