What Ana Does

Our shipment finally arrived from Paris and I'd been so excited about getting it, but also stressed about where everything was going to go once it got here. And boy was I right to be stressed. Because there is so so much stuff to find a home for. And it's spawning so many little house projects. Just a hundred things to do. Moving In ... Again We always unpack the boxes as quickly as they come in, so we don't have a mountain of boxes to deal with at the end of the day. So, a lot of things got piled on tables and the floor. Plus, I've got a puppy pen in the family room, so we're lacking some important space. Last, we have no room in our kitchen for anything. So the additional FULL kitchen of supplies that arrived drove us totally nuts. What to do with all this stuff?! Sadly, though, this puts an end (officially) to our Paris adventure. Seeing the things we used in Paris makes if feel like it's really all over. It's done. And it's making me sa...

Moving day is here and it's hard to watch this amazing, light space empty out.  We loved this apartment, and we made a lot of great memories here over the last 14 months. Next chapter begins. 

We are not new to corporate moves and relocations. Even before this Paris move, we were relocated from New Jersey to California and back. So we've learned a lot about the best way to prepare for the whirlwind. In a corporate relocation, movers are brought in to pack your stuff -- this way they can insure everything THEY pack. Even though we don't actually "pack" boxes there is a lot we can do to smooth the process from beginning to end. 1. Sort and trash/donate/recycle all that you can. It's the perfect time to ask all family members to go through their stuff and junk what they don't want to move. Leave no stone unturned. Think office supplies, kitchen items and bathroom items as well as clothes and shoes. We need to get rid of the small plug-in things, as they will not work in the States. (Anyone need a lamp?) On our first corporate move ever, I unpacked two empty shoe boxes and a trashcan with used kleenex at the bottom. Lesson learned. They will lite...

It's with a sad heart that I write that, indeed, our Paris adventure is come to the end. We came for the opportunity of Dave's career and job, and now that career path is moving us back to Illinois. At first I was pretty distraught. Though I've known, obviously, that eventually were going to to be moving back, in my head I was thinking it would be this summer and I was preparing mentally for what that relocation would look like. But the call came in quicker than we expected with a more aggressive timeline than I would have chosen. We really wanted the girls to finish out the year in this school instead of putting them through a mid-year school change. Again. But that's just how the cookie crumbles. Now that I've had time to consider and digest it all, I'm ready to go. I love my life here. I've made friends for the first time in many years. I have an enviable life as a Parisian housewife with daily market trips and coffees with friends who are in the sa...

The View of the "Grand Salon" in the Sun Lately, there's been a lot of talk about leaving Paris and returning home. For good. Yes, we knew this Paris expat position was for a limited time and contingent on David's job placement and career growth. We're so grateful for this experience, to begin with. Until Christmas break, our expectation was we'd finish out this school year and return to Illinois in July. But, after some meetings over winter break, it became clear that our move date will be even sooner. At first, I was devastated. Really. I absolutely love living in Paris, despite all the negatives ( post here ). For one thing, I have real friends for the first time in years . As an introvert, that's a huge thing. Being surrounded by other expat moms (and dads) who are trailing their spouses, it's easy to make fast friends -- and some meaningful friends, too. It's fabulous. I also figured out a good SAHM schedule that balanced qualit...

Don't get me wrong, I love being home, back in the States, seeing my Mom and my beautiful house and my Target. But having two residences, one that has less than half of our things in it (it's half empty), isn't all that it's cracked up to be. There's an odd feeling of being in a half-finished house and thinking a sofa should be somewhere, when it's not there. Like a phantom limb. Also, my favorite homebody pastimes are rearranging furniture, books, display items. Also decluttering and optimizing a space or a storage. Tasks that are not really doable or much less rewarding in a house with half the furniture. For example, I can't declutter a book shelf, when all the other bookshelves are in Paris. I can't move furniture in my dining room around when there's only a table and some chairs in there. Etc. Sure, I've had some fun with arranging holiday decorations, but it's not the same. And I'm only here for two weeks, so it's not ...

I'm not a negative person so this isn't a post I want to write, but it's part of this expat experience, so I feel obligated to whine a bit after 11 months of living in Paris. So excuse my bitchin'.  I posted about drizzle , the smokers and dog poo on the sidewalks when we first arrived ( read here ). Still very annoying. I've spotted young teens and even mamas walking their babies puffing away on a cigarette ... and I just want to scream. And vapers, yes I see you, and yes I'm very seriously grossed out by it. Yuck. Also, Paris is a large metropolitan city, so of course we've got your usual city issues: it's dirty, cars everywhere, our neighborhood drunk homeless guy, etc. We worked in New York City for a decade, so all things we are familiar with. But anyway ... there are a few more to items to add to this list: First,  motorcycled and motorized scooters (Vespa-like) are completely  lawless . They drive on sidewalks, up the wrong way on one...

Today marks six months living in Paris. Ah! It's still kind of unbelievable (pinch me and I must be dreaming) and fantastically sweet. And I feel so so so lucky to be here. Honestly, every day I say "we are so lucky." It's also the last day of school. Ahh! So, I walked Leah halfway to school, and dropped Alice off at her primary campus and just took a moment to digest it all. They've been growing up so fast lately. They really love their school and the friends they've made here. Again, we're so lucky for this community nestled in the west side of Paris. Once I was ready, I hit my favorite markets in Passy and got food prepped for the all-school picnic lunch. I was hoping to manage a zero-plastic picnic, and I got really close but decided to get chips and cookies as treats for the girls. Darn treats! Looking back at the last six months, there have been some ups and downs. It's taken me a while to get settled and comfortable. Though, I l...

Leah's school is opening a new Middle School campus next Fall and I got to tour it last week. It is two buildings that were once a business complex, I believe, that are now in the final stages of converting to a school.  Just imagine how a private school in the Paris would set up state-of-the-art classrooms and you can start to picture all the little touches of awesome inside these buildings. Standing desks, huge science labs, a sunny art room and a green screen room in the basement with the theater department. Just to start.  I'm pea green with envy.  The Historic Building, Science Labs are on the Lower Floors The Newer Building and the Brick Courtyard The Drama Classroom The one downfall is there is very little outdoors space within this campus location. So their after lunch "park" time will be in an enclosed space instead of the large Eiffel Tower-facing park they get to hang out in now. Leah's pretty excited about the whole thing, too...

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 ...

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...

I've never lived in a 115-year-old building, so I'm a total nerd when it comes to the little clues left by the original builders and owners. For example, in our kitchen there's this nice-sized cabinet that hangs into the courtyard of the building. It's got this vintage little lock on it and sits under one of the two kitchen windows. Windows Are Frosted in Kitchen Because the Courtyard Area isn't Pretty When we were getting the pre-move-in walk-through, the real estate agents joked we could use this cabinet until we got our fridge delivered. Because, yes, this was early refrigeration. A Look Inside Maybe it's because it's winter and the weather has been freezing, but the inside of this cabinet is definitely colder than the rest of the room. The glass and ceramic items we keep in here are chilly to the touch when we pull them out. It would have been a great spot to store cheese, wine maybe, and maybe cream. I'm just guessing. And, sure, I con...

You guys, it happened. I blew it up. Two things, actually, in ONE DAY! Background: When we were packing for France, I was very strict about not bringing items that needed to be plugged in. Specifically lamps and kitchen appliances. (Why we didn't have any light in our apartment for the few first days.) Why? Because I had read the voltage, which is higher here in Europe at 220-240 voltage, could damage/kill the item. So, I specifically didn't pack them. I DID pack my one-year-old sewing machine, thinking I would just take the chance. It was worth the risk to have it with me. It was new, so maybe the engine had something to protect it again power surges. And the converter might help it, right?  Wrong! I tried to use it last weekend and it blew. It's now a very large paperweight. Sigh. A few hours after I killed that beloved appliance, I plugged in the drill battery to recharge, and that blew as well. In fact, it nearly started a fire. So, yes, I was completely justi...

We are SOOO fortunate to have a fourth bedroom in this apartment, which we'll use as a guest room. And an office. And a video game room. Here's the space just after we moved in when it acted solely as an office. See my calendar made from shipping paper on the wall? BEFORE: The Guest Room As Office Before we moved, I had a plan for all of the rooms, except this one. I was pretty sure it would be a guest room, but I didn't pack any furniture specifically for it. In hindsight, I wish I did, but there just wasn't time to consider it before the movers arrived. It took a few weeks to put together the right strategy. At first, there was talk of getting a daybed or a convertible sofa. But ultimately, we decided to make it as comfortable for guest use as possible and put a nice full-size bed in the corner. But also buy some light-weight chairs for when we don't have guests and want to use it to watch TV or play wii. Dave went to Ikea and got some Poang (iconic and...

The first week the kids rode their scooters (or les trottinettes) to school, I was a wreck. They careened down the sidewalks, going to fast. They just missed knocking over people on the sidewalks, or would follow so closely to people walking ... it would drive me crazy. "Leah! Slow down!" "Alice, Be Careful!" What is the social expectations of kids commuting to school on scooters? Who has the right of way on a busy city street? But than, after about a week, I started to chill out. So what if they speed past pedestrians? Or messed with traffic patterns while trying to cross the street?  The girls are getting cigarette smoke blown in their faces every time we go out. (Blargh!) They are being force to halt as people just stop to window shop or look at their phone. Or walk their scooters over cobblestoned streets and huge sidewalk cracks. Not to mention swerve to miss dog poo left on the street. This is a small village in a residential district of Paris. A...

I want to come clean about my packing whoopsies and missed opportunities. Not because I feel guilty, because I really don't. Not at all. I did my best. And I'm feeling pretty proud of getting us here. But, as we've been unpacking and making this beautiful, old apartment ours, I keep finding things that (DOH!) I really should have packed. Or things I just plain overlooked. Things That I Forgot: My family enjoyed making fun of me for moving only a small selection of our silverware . Specifically the four, only four, forks that made the move. But, I remember specifically putting a bunch of silverware in the dishwasher the night before the movers arrived and that's where they stayed. Whoops! We picked up a set at IKEA. It's fine. I also didn't pack enough towels for the entire family. Nor did I pack enough of the girls' socks . And, while I did pack the fancy wine bottle opener we have, we didn't pack up a bottle opener . (We used a wrench from the ...

View From the Dining Room Paris has so many beautiful neighborhoods and districts, it would have been impossible to choose one just out of a hat. Instead, we went the logical way, and picked the same district as the girls' school. Because of that, we live in the leafy 16th arrondissement in a neighborhood called Passy . It's an easy walking commute to the girls' schools, instead of a daily metro ride. Not that the metro isn't convenient, it's just crowded. And the girls, Leah in particular, could be more independent with just a walk. We stuck to the outskirts of the district, too, so that Dave would be closer to the highway and didn't have to deal with in-city driving. So, all in all, we're in just the right place for the daily life we were aiming for. Sure, we could have settled in the Paris suburbs, had a larger home, small garden and two cars ... but then what would have been the point of the move? We wanted that urban experience, and that's...

If you were sitting with me right now, your ears would be ringing from the sound of construction on the roof and the hammer drill ripping up tile in the apartment downstairs. (I can now easily identify that awful sound thanks to this summer's fireplace project , when I had to use that machine for a few hours to pull up a small amount of tile from the hearth.) The apartment downstairs is being renovated. We got a peek of it when we had to walk through it to use the servant's entrance to see our gas meter. In the quick tromp through it, I noted the original moldings, the maze of small rooms, a stunning wooden armoire and the cool red and cream square tile on the kitchen floors. All very antique ... and very clear this apartment hasn't been touched in years. Example of red/cream tile that's so common in old French homes (from Manger )** Wires were lying around everywhere, because they're also "installing electricity as part of the renovation." ...

As is common in these lovely old apartments, our front entry is a long, wide, central hallway with doors into the kitchen, living room, dining room and water closet. It's the lovely main artery of the flat with tons of vintage molding. And when once we moved in, it looked like this: Center Hallway - With Light Bulb Hanging From a Wire! Charming! I was planning for this hallway, of course, so I made sure to pack the navy Flor tiles from our foyer (and I'm so grateful we did), as well as the white Ikea benches. They look almost custom to the space and both are super-useful. The little shelf is also handy to hold keys, socks, grocery sacks and whatever else ends up there. The Hallway Is So Big Rey Can Practice  So really, there was just a few things that I needed to do to complete the hallway so it was most practical: hang coat hooks, buy inexpensive light fixtures and accessorize with some art. We picked up some GREAT stainless steel lights from Ikea that were very i...

Leah's First Day (She Was Embarrassed)  "How are the girls doing?" We're constantly being asked from family and friends at home. The answer ... They. Are. Great. First, they both LOVE school. They got buddies their first day to show them around and they quickly made them best friends. Their teachers have been supportive and, with the exception of French which they find very difficult, they've been getting very involved in their classes. Alice's school is within two blocks, and she loves to scooter there. Leah is further away, and she's looking forward to commuting with friends -- we're working up to it. Both are such suburban kids; they have no idea how to safely cross a street. Yet. We're learning. Other than school, the girls finally got the cell phones we promised them and they're freaking out over being able to call and text. While at the mall Sunday, I got a call from Alice from the other side of the store. They jumped to set u...