Year: 2016

Travel: Bypassing Paris and Going For The Small Towns In France

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My last stop in Europe is always Paris. Where I spend a week simply taking it all in, pretending to be a local. What I discovered recently was the following small town destinations in France, I heard about but have never seen.  I added them to my list for a late Spring trip in 2017 with a good friend of mine:

Decor: Some Decorating Ideas To Consider

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While I was away, my handyman brother replaced the fan in my bathroom. Not something blog worthy I suppose, but it set the tone for me to finally pencil in the much desired renovation I want to do to my amazing studio with views of ocean beach, in San Francisco. I’ve been on the fence about it, since on some days I don’t want to bother with the hassle of it all. You know, having to move out of the room to get the remodel  done. But when I see the amazing array of decorating tips, I get inspired. So….third week of July it is, when I will begin my much-anticipated  renovation project. In the meantime, here are my latest inspirations:

Europe On My Mind…In Every Way

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Finally I am back in the city, and even though driving into town I rolled my eyes the second I got a glimpse of the fog and the dreariness, I have to say I couldn’t be happier to be back to some normality. I don’t mind the getaways, but lately I’ve found myself restless while I am away too long, missing the home cooked meals, and the order of things, and even how my skin and hair feels when I make an effort in my daily life, never mind all things writing I do best when I am in my comfort zone at home. Anyway, to cheer my up (I smile) I got online and searched for all things Europe. And here’s what I found interesting:

Long Weekends and Such…

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It’s the first of July already? I can’t believe we’ve completed the first half of the year – what I consider is the planning stages for the rest of the year.  Since Jan-Jun most of us are busy getting through winter, kids in school, college prep, proms, or wedding planning for those with adult children, graduations, and vacation planning. Maybe even scheduling a major reno project for the home, a backyard makeover, or simply a move across the country. We pause for a second for the fourth of July weekend here in the US, and then take off again. Well, by taking off I mean, going on vacation, getting the kids off to college, attend a few weddings, prep for the fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and then the potential brutal winters and the Christmas holidays.  A very mundane lifestyle. Anyway, since I am still in the country, I was hoping to drive up to a lake of some sort – Lake Tahoe, Plumas Lake or anywhere  I can be near the water, and enjoy a good …

Been Away Much Too Long

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I took a week away from everything to regroup. Well, actually to watch my good friend’s dogs while she went on vacation. I decided while placed out in the country, to take a break from all things writing, and online whatever we do day in and day out to pass the time. Before she left on her trip, she told me how badly she wanted to revamp her office space, and so I took it upon myself to give her the surprise of doing just that. The remainder of the time, I played with her beautiful doggies, made-from-scratch dinners, organized her book collection in alphabetical order, experienced Game of Thrones withdrawals, and simply vegged out, avoiding, as I stated earlier, everything online. You know what? Although it felt great to be away from it all,  living a much simpler life for a few days, I missed my blog and my writings so much that here I am  sharing with you some ideas for the 1) 4th of July celebrations,. 2)what is the one thing I …

Lifestyle: Don’t Let Life Pass You By

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The night before my birthday I tend to stay up. Not because I want to, but it just happens. I suppose to somehow see where I was a year ago and where I am now, and where I plan or see my self being in the next year. At four in the morning I read an article online titled How To Ruin Your Life Without Even Noticing and read it through. I realized that the article was intended for a much younger crowd. Those just starting out their lives, about to embark on their careers, considering getting married, having kids and all things someone under the age of 40 is programmed  to do. The article talks about how we allow the things we do make us very unhappy, whether we aim to do so or it just happens. And although the article is meant for the under 40 really, I realized I can surely remind myself of some of the things I do to create unhappiness. Here are a few of my favorite observations: You …

Decor: Minimalist Prevails

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I know the last thing on everyone’s mind is decor in the midst of the world falling apart or perhaps, revamping itself as its been done a million times before over the centuries. I  skim through the news every morning, then Facebook to see how everyone is going to react to the latest events in the world. The  most recent being  –  UK voting  to leave the EU and the aftermath. I normally don’t like to discuss these topics right off the bat with anyone, because I prefer to take it all in, evaluate the situation, read up on the background/history, cause and effect, and all things that resulted in the choices  one needed to make for the good or (in someone else’s eyes) for the bad of something not too many understand  looking in from the outside. I’ll step off my soap box now and shift gears to something not so serious, although the topic of minimalist decor, if you think about it, can seem as serious a discussion as say….politics. A bland choice to …

Lifestyle: To Eat Out or Not, Among Other Things

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I came across this article about Americans eating out more than ever, which then led me to another article about millennial choosing to eat out rather than cook, to something called grocerant. This got me thinking about how we end up reading articles online. I mean I don’t know about you, but I tend to start somewhere, then click on a link embedded within the article and then see a side article and read that one, to another and another, soon obsessing about whatever I wasn’t even thinking about reading in the first place. So you get what I mean – right? Anyway, so this round, I went from the eating out part to the millennials to the idea of grocerants and ended up with the following: See how that happened? Happy Tuesday everyone!!!