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Some days, I love my quiet life in yoga pants, with no alarm clock, snuggling with the Bean, and taking my French lessons. Other days, I really miss being a professional who engages with and contributes to something every day… taking on the world in 4-inch heels!

Maybe I am meant for part-time work. Three days a week! Americans are notorious for working too much, right? 🙂

But, I also like money… so there’s that.

A Midnight Journey to the Past

Even though we’ve seen it before, Chuck and I watched “Midnight in Paris” last night, to get us in da mood for our upcoming journey to France! I’d forgotten how good it is. Not only is it quirky, charming, and visually pleasing, but it poetically captures nostalgia in a way you don’t think about very often.

Throughout the movie, characters wish they lived in another time – a time each perceives as a “golden age.” One wants to revisit the 1920’s Jazz Era, while others pine for the Victorian Belle Epoque, and still others yearn for the Renaissance.

I know the point of the movie is that every era has its light and its darkness, but it’s still fun to consider – which era would you revisit, if you could take a midnight journey to the past?

10 Japanese Travel Tips for Visiting America

Advice the Japanese give their own countrymen on how to handle the peculiarities of American culture.

“NOBODY IS IMPRESSED BY HOW MUCH YOU CAN DRINK. IN FACT, SHAME ON YOU. THEY HAVE FREE TIME ALL WEEK LONG! THEIR VENDING MACHINES ARE RIDICULOUSLY LIMITED AND DISHONEST. THEY TEND TO HORSE LAUGH, EVEN THE WOMEN. BUT DARN IT ALL, THEY’RE SO WEIRDLY OPTIMISTIC YOU JUST CAN’T STAY IRRITATED AT THEM.”

This is hilarious!! Oh man, Japan’s gonna be great.

10 Japanese Travel Tips for Visiting America

A Charming Savannah Birthday Party

Chuck and I had an amazing long weekend in Savannah in celebration of his 30th birthday. We had visited once before – on our wedding anniversary in 2012 – and the second time around did not disappoint either of us. We did the whole 9 yards: a ghost tour in the Historic District, low country-style tapas, a book fair at Telfair Square (at which Paula Deen made an appearance), a luxuriant and romantic dinner at our favorite restaurant of all time, a night out dancing at the Bohemian Riverfront rooftop bar, a picnic at City Market, a nap in the sunshine at Forsyth Park, and fresh seafood on Tybee Island.

The food in Savannah is what really gets me! One morning I ordered TWO breakfasts, because I just couldn’t decide. I also particularly enjoyed a salted caramel brownie and chocolate covered strawberries that I found at an adorable, French-inspired cafe tucked away by one of the squares. It’s such a piglet city! And I have no regrets.

Anyway… Wishing the very happiest of birthdays to the Love of My Life ❤

 

Both homes getting some sad kitty weather tonight… Hope everyone stays safe!