What Ana Does

We just spent nine days seeing Florence, Venice and Rome. I had the days pretty well scheduled (details to follow on a different post) after doing a whole lot of research. Highlights were Venice -- which I thought would never live up to our expectations, but than did and included a gondola ride, seeing the gigantic Colosseum in Rome, St. Mark's Square and the various churches we got to feast our eyes on. Here are a few photos: The Colosseum, The Area Floor and What Was Underneath The Roman Forum Taken From Palatine Hill It Was So BIG! And Look: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian Columns, Just Like They Taught Me In Art History Class We Learned To Make Three Kinds of Pasta  Courtesy of our Gondola Driver. What an Experience! St. Marks! Blew My Mind! Had we gone with older kids or even if our family was in to the Italian Renaissance, this would have been a different trip. With lots more museum tickets purchased. But I know this family, so it was a lot (my leg...

In the bedroom assignments for our Paris apartment, we got a small room with one window, but the largest closet. And it's nearest the full bathroom. It was the obvious choice. It's quiet and cozy and has a great view of the Eiffel Tower, especially at night. Other than the birds chirping that can sometimes wake me from a deep sleep, it's a great bedroom. I cleaned it up for a few pictures last month (before the trees got their leaves) while the sun was shining bright. It could use more art on the wall and maybe another small piece of furniture for books and picture frames, but it's pretty much all we need. And yes, our clothes actually do fit in that closet and bureau. Considering the walk-in closet we came from, that was a pretty big accomplishment. Related posts: More Paris Apartment pictures

We've got the guest room all outfitted, but we wanted to find other ways to get additional sleeping spaces for kids, too. I saw this daybed platform and mattresses in a catalog here and fell madly in love. I've never seen anything like it in the States, and it's so multi-purpose! You know I love a piece of furniture that can adapt and change as needed. Guest Daybed and Additional Seating We set it up as additional seating in the living room, but we'll likely move the mattresses to the floors in bedrooms for sleepover parties and the whole platform to another room for additional guest sleeping spots. Related posts: See more Guest Room posts 

I'm not doing this plastic-free kitchen thing on my own. I've been including the rest of the family and trying to gently bring them in on this plan with me. Because I'm the main food buyer, I have the most power, but when the kids are in the market with me, I ask them to help me choose the glass containers instead of the plastic. Last week, Alice and I stopped at the market after I picked her up from school for Nutella -- her favorite thing. So I asked her to find the glass container. The plastic containers were small ... and it just so happened the BIG jar was the glass jar. The Big Glass Nutella Jar This zero-waste transition is looking really good to her right about now. Related posts: More of my Sustainability stories

Our first guests are here for the week and our guest room is ready to receive them. So exciting! Here's the BEFORE picture of our guest room. I was using it as an office and dumping ground for things I didn't know what to do with. BEFORE: Guest Room And here is the triumphant AFTER photo, with the new bed and grey linens from Ikea. I tried to keep to the grey and yellow color scheme, since those were the colors already in there or readily available.  Remember the other bed options I found? See them here . Unfortunately, the leafy trees now obstruct the view of the Eiffel Tower. But a fresh set of towels and a little sunshine coming through the windows... Welcome to Paris!  Related posts: See the progress on the Paris apartment Guest Room

I've been having fun digging through the history of our neighborhood called Passy here in the 16th district. Like every nook and cranny of Paris, it's full of history! Passy is Roughly In That Red Circle The Overview: Before it was swallowed up by the city of Paris in 1860, Passy was just a small village on the outskirts of the capital. As you might know, Paris originated on the two little islands in the Seine River, where the Notre Dame still stands, right around 3rd century BC. It was conquered in 52 BC by the Romans. And the original inhabitants eventually took back their city, and country, and crowned their first king in 987 AC. (I'm just summarizing here, from source .) As Paris prospered and grew, helped by the River Seine, it started to pull in the neighboring villages. Which eventually included Passy to the west. In the mid-1600s, hot springs were discovered in Passy attracting wealthy French and English families who built their country homes here. It...

Lately I'm enthralled by the fact that one year is equal to one trip around the sun. The more I think about it, the more it makes time into a physical thing instead of something so ephemeral. Like we're going somewhere (traveling!) without giving it any thought. Even to just end up in roughly the same place as we started. But if the earth was a car, we could look out the window at the passing galaxies and cosmic landmarks, and see the same sights each year. Maybe we do and don't even realize this. (Now that I think of it, I'm sure astrologers and cosmologists definitely do.) This is all to say ... it's my birthday and my 42nd trip around the sun. And I tend to like even years over odd ones. And I have a lot of big things planned this year (the goals planning is going splendidly). And to be spending it in Paris, in our apartment, feels surreal. And it's even been sunny today with only a small chance of rain. And I went to a Mary Cassatt exhibit and wal...

Finally the wayward mattress was delivered this week, so all the big things in the guest room have been set-up. Hooray. And, guys, this is THE LAST thing I will order to be delivered while in France. Seriously. It's terrible and awkward communicating with the delivery men in a language I don't yet understand. Ugh. They call on their way, they call when they're downstairs. I have no idea what to say. I fumble over words. It's, ugh, challenging. BUT, had to be done. Almost Ready! It's pretty comfy, too! Just need a few accessories to finish it all up, and we'll be ready for our first guests. Stay tuned for the final "after" picture of this lovely room. Hooray! Related posts: Read more about our Paris Apartment

Last week I was all gung-ho about pushing my kitchen to be more plastic-free. I even had a plan . But here's the update: This is going to be a bigger challenge than I initially thought. I knew this change wasn't going to happen over night, but this is certainly going to take some serious doing. It's this new awareness that's surprising me most of all. I thought I had a good idea of the amount of plastic I bring into my kitchen. But once I really scrutinized what's at home and then the markets -- and what goes in my shopping cart -- I'm COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY. It's A LOT of plastic. Let's start with coffee . When we moved to France, I got a cute little Nespresso coffee machine that makes me cute little cappuccinos each morning ... with single-use plastic capsules. Yes! No! I guess I could clean each little capsule and recycle the plastic, but that's not really the point, is it? It's all about the swaps, right? So, the swap here is to t...

Predicting that Easter weekend would be slow around Paris, we decided to ditch the city and head to Disney Paris for one night. It was the right decision. Disney Paris has two parks, a Disney Village and a three (maybe four) on-site Disney hotels. And that's pretty much all that's around there. We saw everything and had a great time. The experience is very similar to being in Florida -- except, it was FREEZING. It was strange to see Disney with visitors dressed in coats, scarves and hats. It's also much smaller. Disney Studios took us less than a day to see.  We decided that it was a great way to spend a weekend, but not a destination we'd fly to Europe to see. If you're here, than, sure. Come for a little quality Disney time. But, if you're in the US, Florida is just way better.  Minnie Ears and a Happy Girl Daughter and Father Smiles Sleeping Beauty's Castle Before the Light Show This Girl and Her Ice Cream. Note the Gloves! ...