Paris’ 6th arrondissement is a special little corner of the city. Yes, it does have a touristy side (hi, Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore), but it’s also just the classic Paris you envision when you think of the city. Picture-perfect buildings, florists with flowers spilling onto the sidewalks, grandeur and art somehow seamlessly […]

If you love France or are planning a trip, download one of my FREE travel guides! Walking through the Jardin des Plantes in Paris (one of my favorite gardens) at the end of spring/beginning of summer is always a true pleasure. I was feeling a little down because I had missed cherry blossom season in Paris, […]

The title explains it all. This band of artists/beauty seekers is PUBLISHING an ANTHOLOGY! We’re calling it “A Cultivated Life,” inspired by none other than Sarah. The whole idea spurted forth one day in Sarah’s kitchen, as sunlight bounced off all the copper and bathed the Pavoni in a warm afternoon dappled glow. Sarah, we […]

One of my last summer strolls in the city before whisking away to Provence and then the flurry of goodbyes. This was just a few weeks after I arrived back in the city, as I hungrily scurried the streets for beauty that only Paris does well. From the 7th to the 18th arrondissements, this is […]

Download the Free Provence Travel Guide One of my goals for 2020 was to stand in a field of flowers. Specifically, a field of flowers in Provence. I can now say that my 2020 is over as I accomplished this goal with three delightful artist friends, Sarah, Madeleine, and Hope. We hopped, skipped, sketched, squealed, […]

At this point, I will not judge you if you think I’m crazy and that I permanently live in a spring state of mind. Currently, I am meandering, skipping, squealing, and photographing (some of us are skinny-dipping) my way through Provence with my artist troupe — a last hurrah before two of us head back […]

[Written in quarantine but published now. I wonder if my questions have been answered?] It was a bight, strong, mid-morning spring sunshine that had me squinting. He was running into the field, zeal punctuating each footfall, after a butterfly. I didn’t bother crawling under the barbed wire to follow; he was already a hundred meters […]

It was supposed to be a Vanity (Af)fair. A perfect picnic under a lone cherry blossom tree at the height of the season; a colour-coordinated garden party to celebrate the beginning of spring. There are so many “it was supposed to be”s, for me and many others. Mostly, this year I was looking forward to […]

Any churchgoer is probably familiar with the dreaded three-minute meet-and-greet. For what is quite possibly the longest and most awkward three minutes of your life, you must make eye contact and shake hands with as many people as you can before the pastor hops on stage. For some, it’s an excuse to run to the […]

It felt like something was wrong. The streets were the quiet you usually find in August, on a spring Tuesday. Bags were piled on the floor, clothes and monitors and schoolbooks spilling every which way. The trunk of the car was brimming with food amongst the suitcases, no time for tetris. We piled in, one […]