What Ana Does

Lately it seems my anglophilia has been overriding my francophile-ing. As in, I've been digging a lot of British things -- and I think I'm long overdue for a trip to London. Right? For instance, Netflix is streaming Jamie Oliver's cooking show "Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Food Fight" and it's giving me life this week. The Britishisms are killing me ... "get it in your gob" and "in the bin" and his signature lisp. Not to mention all the focus on food waste. I mean. I'm in nerdy-"cooker" heaven. Then the obvious, I was in tears watching the Prince Harry and Meghan wedding . Who wasn't?! What a great little Cinderella story and the whole wedding was done with such sweet dignity. And who among us didn't think that sunshine was from a special someone looking down on the whole thing. *Sniff* Yup, I've got my commemorative teacup and mugs , care of a British Shop in my neighborhood and some sweet friends. And I...

Have you seen the cover of National Geographic this month? Gah! It's such a kick in the pants. Here's the link to check out the articles and be completely devastated by the pictures. The thing about this plastic crisis is: it's something we can all get involved in and make a huge difference. There are some environmental causes, such endangered elephants and rising sea levels, that make us feel basically powerless to help out. (Unless we can send financial support or fly to Africa to volunteer.) I can buy a more fuel-efficient car and turn my lights off when I leave a room, but you don't really feel the connection, right? But with plastic ... just bringing reusable bags to the supermarket and that's less plastic right there. Done. And it eventually becomes this really simple habit. And then you start remembering your reusable water bottle or coffee mug when you head to work. And that becomes a habit. And just those two things is a WHOLE LOT LESS plastic. An...

There's been a lot of headlines about what " Millennials are Killing!!!!!! " But, when I look at some things on the different lists, I think some have just reached their appropriate end. Like fabric softener -- what even is that?! Does anyone still use it? I went through a bunch of lists (links below) and pulled out a few items I thought were awesome (yes!) or just interesting. What industries/items are millennials killing ... Chewing gum - I'm totally behind this. If you know me, you know I hate gum. (And chewed-up gum makes me nauseous. Blargh!) 👍 Bars of soap - Millennials think they're "gross." I have always agreed, but now as I am looking for no-plastic products, soap bars are a much better environmental choice. 👎 Banks  - they distrust them. But I think this trend is really more about tech killing the bank teller -- I can do just about anything on my banking app. 👍 Department Stores  - Again, this just seems like the appropriate end-of...

We are not generally spontaneous people, especially when it comes to travel. So when Dave called from the office on Thursday and said he was looking at driving to Brussels , a three-hour car ride away, I worked my magic, found a great deal and within the hour we were booked for a weekend in Brussels. (Leaving the next day!) The thing about being spontaneous is I can't do the level of research I usually do when we travel. I researched the Italy trip for three months. I had about a day for Brussels. Less for Bruges, which we added to the trip in the car. So, yeah. I was flying a bit blind here. I found two very "us" things to do in Brussels on Saturday. We started our day at  Mini Europe , a little park north of the city with these cute, miniature buildings from cities around Europe. Hysterical. And, just nearby,  Star Wars: Identities Expo  -- a traveling exhibit of Star Wars props and behind-the-scenes stories. Total geek out.  Everything else we did was by she...

There are currently four neighborhood boulangeries I am bouncing between to pick up our daily baguette (always "tradition" and not "Parisienne"). And some days, a pain au chocolate. Yum! But not all bakeries are built the same. Here's a quick rundown of the four and their attributes. And, yes, they have proper names, but we don't use them. What I Call the Bakery: Mozart  Hours: Open all week. Closed on Saturdays. Only bakery open all day on Sundays. Baguette Quality: Not the best, but pretty good and consistent. Counter Staff: This one is crowded, so the ladies behind the corner like you to be brief and curt. No chip-chat. They get huffy if you need more than a minute to decide whether to add a croissant. What I Call the Bakery: The Other Mozart Corner  Hours:  Open all week. Closed on Sundays but open on Saturdays. Baguette Quality:  Inconsistent but usually slightly better than Mozart. Counter Staff:  Not as busy, so they're nicer. Will help ...

Alice loves looking through Instagram pictures from AllThatIsShe , an artist from northern England who creates these wonderful images of herself and with her two girls. Check them out . So one weekend, Alice got the idea to try to create some images of her own. And, fortunately, we have a blue bed sheet that can look like water and the sky. These are a few favorites that I posted on Instagram. The tricks we found were to stand as far over the subject as you can without falling off the chair (this can be dicey), create some good lighting (we were near a window), and edit/crop the pictures well to remove any sign of the floor. A good filter is useful, too!  There are a few other artists and novices creating these kinds of images with sleeping babies, which we also love. Check out this one . And a bunch of them on Pinterest .  Related posts: See other fun things I dig

Spring has finally SPRUNG in Paris and it's so green (thanks to all that rain) and more lovely than we were imagining. The Parisians have been out picnicking in our park all day and into the night. And leaving the city on weekends. The Spring Walk Home Compared to the winter walk home. The Winter Commute There are a bunch of French holidays in May. The girls are off this Thursday and Friday (Victory Day and Ascension Day) and then again in two weeks for Whit Monday. I get asked a lot if our kids have more days off here than in the States, and while they get more consecutive days off -- Spring break was two and a half weeks -- they get far less single days off. In the States, it seemed like each month had a long weekend for one reason or another. Plus, they will be in school until the end of June here in Paris. Illinois is out at the end of May. Related posts: More Spring posts

Other than resolutions and the odd ambition here and there, I haven't thought much about my goals or an ideal 5-year-plan in a few years. But, the last time I did -- in April 2014 -- I aimed high and you wouldn't BELIEVE how many of those goals I hit.  Here's that post.  (Living in Paris is actually on there. Crazy!) I sincerely believe there's power or magic in saying your goals OUT LOUD and often. Publicly. I've read this before but didn't buy it until recently. I'm currently living the life of a Parisienne homemaker, so it's the perfect opportunity to really dig into some of my ambitions. What do I seriously want to pursue? Either here in Paris or when I get back to the States. It's a lot to consider. So here's my game plan: Step 1: Gather a list of what I'm passionately interested in. It's a big question: What deeply interests me? Looking at what I write about on this blog is a good start. And looking at past year's go...

We had such a great time on our family trip to Italy. It was easy to get around, most Italians speak English or enough to get by. And the weather was phenomenal -- we lucked out there. And the busy season doesn't start until May, so sights weren't mobbed (or as badly as we expected). And gelato. Every day gelato!  Here's a handy resource page of our Italian trip details and links to the things we did and saw. (I did a lot of research before we left.) I also included one tip for each city and something that made me gasp or get teary.  FLORENCE We flew into Florence from Paris on Air France (and boy did we get lucky around their strike dates) and grabbed a 22€ cab to our hotel.  We stayed at Palazzo Mannaioni on Via Maffia. We got a suite with a kitchen and two bathrooms (such a luxury). It was clean, updated and perfectly located. From this hotel, everything in Florence was an easy walk.  The whole family ended up getting hair cuts at this hair salon ...

I'm on this "journey" to make my kitchen very close to plastic-free. And the first step has turned into becoming more aware of the plastic I'm buying -- spoiler alert: it's a WHOLE LOT MORE than I thought. I didn't think it was going to be easy, but I didn't think I was buying as much plastic as I was. Yikes! So, now, while I'm out doing my shopping, I'm discovering so much by just being more aware. Here are some things I'm learning: Banana chips are basically free. Why didn't I know this? I can fill my 1 liter glass jar with banana chips for about 2€. That's crazy cheap. I'm now campaigning to get my kids addicted to banana chips. I'm also pushing dried fruit (apples are like candy) nuts and granola, staples from the bulk bins that are also inexpensive. Tip: nuts are cheaper if you get them in mixes ... I don't understand why. You'll find bulk bins in the least likely places. There's a chain of mainstream s...