Have I mentioned how much I love French? I have never before had this much fun learning a language. Not in high school when I was the most consistently tardy, unmotivated, yet energetic student in Mrs. Belanger’s Spanish class; not when I did a seven-week Spanish immersion course at the Foreign Service Institute, or when […]
The three of us – Adam, our friend Sarah, and I – recently shuffled across the epic mosaic floors at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, Tunisia and gazed at the intricate tile walls depicting ghoulish sea creatures or fertile signs of the Zodiac. “Can you imagine how long this must have taken?” Adam said, […]
My husband, inspired by Benjamin Franklin, tracks metrics about his life performance. Everyday, he records whether or not he accomplished certain goals, like drinking fewer than x number of alcoholic drinks, exercising, meditating, and much, much more. He’s been tracking all this DAILY for more than a decade. I’m much less of a tracker. Mostly […]
When we moved into our Algiers home, I did what we always do and set to rid the place of the clunky and fancy government-provided furniture. I did, however, decide to keep a wood desk that was in the house. It wasn’t bad, especially after I switched out its shiny chrome knobs for matte black […]
It’s officially the holiday season here in Algiers. Our Christmas tree is up, our house is aglow in twinkle lights, we are going to lots of parties and eating our weights in decadent foods. We are preparing to host our Fourth Annual Holiday Spirit Cocktail Contest Party in just a few short days and I’m […]
It was near the end of our time in Rabat when I decided I’d make pillows out of the cool African mud cloth I’d bought in Marrakesh. I had a new sewing machine and I had the fabric. I just needed zippers and so I went in searching in the Rabat medina, a place that […]
You might be aware of my ongoing love affair with Paris. From the first time I stared down the endlessly beautiful streets in 2015 to my right-in-this-moment Paris visit (my ninth trip here), she just never disappoints. I’m currently in Gray Paree where, for the second time in 30 days, I’m enrolled at a language […]
I was recently in Madrid where I did something life-changing. Adam and I were guiding our friends on a food tour of some of our favorite spots. We were in Casa del Abuelo, a 113-year-old brightly lit bar that specializes in sizzling shrimp in garlic and oil, the aroma of which wafts down the little […]
Hello readers! August was a slow blogging month but a fairly busy IRL month. I went home to the States for a nine-day visit with the family in Michigan, and then to Washington DC for a few days for good friend’s wedding. Adam stayed in Algiers for most of that, although he did fly to […]
The home decor shopping in Morocco is ridiculously good and best of all are the rugs. I left our 10-month tour in Rabat with about 10 rugs, which is not too shabby, but not as many as I would have liked. Adam didn’t share my love of rug shopping and there were times I had […]
