Well, it’s finally over. On Feb. 13 seconds before the stroke of midnight, I had a glass of Spanish red wine in one hand, and a Negroni in the other. (And then I drank them). Aggressive, I know. But it was a long month without alcohol. I’ve previously posted about some things I learned during […]
Author: The Next Dinner Party
Vote on Our Next Post!
It’s Bidding Season! In Foreign Service land, this is the time of year when a list comes out with all the places Mr. Dame in Spain, and myself by association, could be posted to next. Imagine seeing a list of cities, some of which you’ve never even heard, and knowing “One of these will be […]
Five Important Lessons From a Month With No Booze
They say if you love something, let it go. Well, I did that with booze. I’m currently three weeks in to an alcohol-free month. I stupidly chose Jan. 14 through Feb. 13 as the dry month — a one-month chunk that contains a remarkable number of days. I cut out alcohol on a Wednesday, and […]
How a Spanish Onion Pulled Me Out of My Restaurant Funk
I’ve been a little down on restaurants in Spain lately. Maybe it was spending two weeks in Paris, where you’d have to try really, really hard to eat something that isn’t delicious. Or maybe it was the two-night trip north through Bilbao and Pamplona where the omnipresence of pinxtos (thought by many Spaniards to be […]
Quirky, Traveled Foyer
The foyer: It’s the first space that greets you and your visitors when the door opens. And it’s what your neighbors catch a glimpse of when you chase after an escaped fat cat as it jiggles down the hallway. I wanted an entryway that set the tone for the house: Comfy, stylish, and fun. But […]
Shamed on the French Metro
I was on the Metro today with several classmates, talking about writing and a lecture we were coming from when a Parisian woman turned to us and said “Do you know that 20 people died?” Our conversation stopped abruptly. I felt too embarrassed to even exhale. I fiddled with my leopard gloves, passing them back […]
Je Suis Charlie
Yesterday morning when I was walking to class in Paris, the city was all police cars and sirens. Oblivious being that I am, I blocked out the noise, figuring perhaps Paris is often loud with sirens. Near Notre Dame, I realized there was a bomb siren going off. This I chalked up to “Oh, must […]
Three Goals for the New Year
Happy 2015 from France! I’m back in Paris for installment two of my creative writing MFA program. Again, I am struck by how a city that smells of urine and is so gloomy (especially during this cold, gray January) can fill me with such delight. I’d venture a guess that it has to do something […]
A Cheap Ikea Coffee Table Turned Glam
I’ve had a black coffee table for years. I’ve had cats for years. I’ve learned that these two things are a bad combo. The surface of that coffee table seemed to collect more cat hair than the vacuum. And that’s saying something, because the amount of hair that I pull out of the vacuum on […]
100 Posts Later
This blog post marks my 100th since I started blogging shortly after arriving in Yemen in 2012. On August 23 of that year, I posted my first blog post, Marhaba from Yemen on YemenEm.com, which later became TheDameinSpain.com. Over nine months of living a (practically) cloistered life […]
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