What Ana Does

It's time for the annual book review and tally. Lots of good books enjoyed in 2021, especially during our big move. I certainly benefited from the break from reality each night during the most stressful of times. Here's the list, with my favorites up at the top! Lore by Alexandra Bracken (took a bit to get into this one, but so exciting and engrossing once I got it) Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo (finished the series, so amazing) Shipped by Angie Hockman Second First Impression by Sally Thorne Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor by Ally Carter A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren People you Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle (unfinished) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (unfinished ... but will pick it up in '22) Bombshell: A Hell's Belles Novel by Sarah MacLean (my favorite romance writer!) The Wisteria Society o...

We're MOVING!  One thing that this COVID pandemic has made super-clear to us, is that living near family and life-long friends is no longer just a dream or luxury, it's a must.  We moved out to Illinois nine years ago with two baby girls and a goal to live within our means in a larger home with no commute and a big yard. And we succeeded. It's been a really great place to raise our kids and build a life, but we don't have any big personal connections here.  I made friends with the girls' friends' mothers, but those relationships have started to disappear as their friendships haven't survived adolescents.  Meanwhile, we have friends and family we see annually on the East coast that continue to be important to us. And in normal years we get to see them enough to satisfy our itch for close social ties. But this year, when travel has not been possible, we've really seen how our life is lacking without that connection.  It's something we even talked about...

2020 is that year you never think will arrive. Kinda like 2000 was. It was this far-off signpost and then all of a sudden it's here. 2019 was major.  We moved home from France, sad. We renovated a bunch of rooms -- including our bathroom but also our laundry room and home office. We adopted a puppy and learned that puppies are cute but way too much work. I got to see my entire family TWICE in one year, this is crazy unusual. We vacationed in Hawaii, which has been on our vacation list forever. I went back to full-time work, which I'm pretty jazzed about, too. And a lot of little goals were reached, as well. Looking forward to what we can accomplish in 2020!

I always enjoy looking back at my posts over the last year and see which were the most popular with the readers who stop by. Here's this year's honors list. 1. Three New Plastic-Free Swaps  My rocky journey into plastic-free has been popular, since a lot of people are doing the same exploration. In this post, I shared a few new swaps I was enjoying. 2. My Latest Podcast Picks (read it)   In my daily life in Paris, I listen to a lot of podcasts as I'm walking, riding the metro or rattling around the apartment. I shared a list a few years ago, so I decided to update what I was enjoying. 3. Can I Do a Capsule Wardrobe? (read it) This one was fun, because I was gung-ho about the whole concept -- which I kept reading about over and over again. Ultimately, the answer I got didn't surprise me. 4. Holiday Gift List Roundup 2018 Edition I love a shopping list, and this one was fun to share. There's a lot of good stuff out there. 5. Let's All Celebrate Sem...

Today marks one week in Paris! Cue the trumpets! So ... what have we been doing here for the last week? Well, not a lot. You guys, it's still winter break and the kids are home and "bored." And we're in a temporary apartment. So, any semblence of a daily routine is not even possible. Also, we're still combating "sleeping in a new time zone" syndrome. Which has some of us staying up way later than usual ... and some of us (me) sleeping until 10am! We're not groggy or sleep-deprived during the day, we're just all struggling to get to sleep or to stay asleep through the night. Not to mention, we're all suburbanites, so these city and apartment noises take some getting used to. The kids are doing better than we thought with all the little noises, the creaking floors and the upstairs neighbors. Though, it's cutting into all of our uninterupted sleep. In some way, our days are spent doing what we'd be doing in Illinois: going to p...

Let's look back at the top 10 posts of the year ... 1.  My Paris Purse Predicament - read it here I'm not a fashion blogger by any stretch of the imagination, but my Paris purse "crisis" was one of my most-viewed posts of the year. 2.  The Fox on the Wall - read it here There's something fun about documenting a funny craft project for a post. And this one turned out so cute. Was glad others thought so, too. 3. Cabinets Need Color - read it here Our basement remodel was fun to document, as well. Though the big things happened in 2016, there were still some outstanding projects at the beginning of this year ... and, let's be honest, there's still a little punch list. 4.  What I'm Digging at the End of January - read it here 5. and  the June edition - read it here I like putting together these roundups of my favorite things. They're an easy way to share all the 6.  Packing for 7 Days in London - read it here This post was inspired by P...

It's been a while since I've posted which is unusual for me so here's the catch-up on a few things. San Diego Convention Center I just spent last weekend in San Diego for the cabi convention. I recently became a stylist selling cabi at home shows and I'm not going to talk about it much on this blog but ... just know I'm testing the theory of stepping far out of your comfort zone to make a real big change in your life. We'll just see how it goes. The basement is complete as I've posted before except for a rather longish task list that includes painting the second coat in the bathroom, trim painting and touch up, and tackling the finish on the pine cabinets. But, as I'm told is common, I'm burnt out on these home projects. Especially over winter break when the girls were home. So burnt out. But I may be feeling the itch to get my paintbrush out soon and get this list done. The stay at home experiment has been rather eye-opening and inter...

I've been feeling a little blue today. Just overall cold and bummed and low energy. So to cheer myself up I made a list of my 2016 accomplishments ... so far ... I sorted out all the holiday decorations , trashed some stuff (except for the Dancing Homer-Santa, I can't seem to part with it) and neatly put away the decorations into tubs, keeping like things together, and labeling each tub. (* I got a label-maker for Hanukkah.) There are two books that have been languishing on my ToRead piles for years: Longbourne and The Night Circus . I DO want to read them, but other books keep making more noise. I'm determined to clean out the pile, so I pulled the audiobooks from the library and started on Longbourne this week -- which I absolutely love. You can tell the author is a true fan of the Pride and Prejudice story, weaving it into the storylines of the house servants.  I dumped Facebook from my phone. It was sucking up my time and it wasn't all that interesting, ...

I love the start of a new year. The concept of shedding the old and welcoming the new. A pin that separates the past from the future. Like everyone I'm making all kinds of goals and plans and promises for this new year. I'm optimistic about what's to come. And grateful about the many wonderful things that happened in the last 12 months. Happy 2016!!  The Stars in My Pretty Dining Room Related posts: More about my pretty dining room

It's always fun for me to look back at the posts that got the most views of the year. Here's the 2015 list: 1 -  Throwback Thursday - Paris  (Oct. 15): That fantastic black and white picture Dave took of the three of the lovely ladies in Paris wearing scarves. Oh man, that was a great trip! 2 -  4th Annual NCY Weekend (April 29 ): Chronicled our annual weekend in New York. 3 -  Master Bath Gets Rugs (June 30): I invested in more FLOR carpet tiles and the results are amazing. To this day I still look at the floor in my bathroom and not hate it like I do the rest of the room. Little victories. 4-  My Favorite Mornings (Feb. 28): This was a picture of the coffee table in the living room spread out with all my favorite things and enjoying my Sunday morning of ME time. 5 -  New Kitchen Chairs - Perfecto (Oct. 19): We got new chairs in the kitchen that push in. This doesn't sound like a big deal but I love my kitchen a little more without having cha...

OK people, I want to post my 2015 resolutions , so I will feel like a jerk when I don't follow them --because somehow having them out on a public blog makes me feel more accountable. Toes BUT before I dig into that list, let's review the 2014 resolutions from this blog post ... 2014 Resolutions: 1. Lose 10lbs. Check! Thanks to watching my calories and upping my exercise with T-25. And was able to keep off the lbs by meal planning and continuing the morning shake for the rest of the year. Though, let's admit that December was a disaster. 2. Make a doll. Nope. But I did learn to quilt. So, I'm going to count it. 3. Continue house improvements. Obviously! The update list included: the entryway, the blue wall in the kitchen, the laundry room, and new windows. All posted on this blog. But still lots and lots to do. 4. Continue landscape projects. Not as much as I wanted to, but attempted some things on the front garden, added peonies and hydrangea to the ba...

Here's the posts that received the most pageviews in 2014: 1. My San Fran  list of things I love and don't love about that city, with some pretty pictures of sights -- including the Ferry Building. 2. I briefly entertained the idea of wallpapering my entryway , and picked out some pretty geometric paper, in February. The entryway instead got a board-and-batten redo instead at the end of May ( seen here ). 3. My odd habit of throwing rotten fruit and veg into my backyard got a lot of pageviews, for some reason. Maybe the nice photos? 4. Last, my early attempts at  bento-style lunch boxes for Leah , and some of the lunch-box shots that followed, were viewed a bunch. There you have it!

Here's the cool thing about Winter Break ... it's long -- just over 2 weeks. And this year I took more days off than usual. And the break is front-loaded with Christmas and all my family visiting, so the second week is mostly unstructured. This is how it goes: The start of winter break is crazy, chaos. I've already spent every weekend the last two months preparing for my visitors and their comfort. We move beds, wash sheets and check-off a slew of house projects. They arrive and it's five days of movement and merriment. Then, they leave. Usually, I'd view a week off as a great opportunity to get things done. Shopping, home improvements, trips with the girls. But, that's the magic of the second week of Winter Break. I'm done. I have little motivation and nothing specific calls my name. It's too cold to paint a room or refinish furniture. I have a lot of post-company cleaning and laundry to do but once that's complete -- what? Nothing. So I spent...

Celebrating the new year with 14 Things About Me ... which is kinda becoming a blogging staple post. And they're kinda fun. I have three sisters and a brother. And we all live in different states.  I have a Kindle and still love buying books. It's a 50-50 split. If it's a smutty romance or light YA read, Kindle it is! Though, to be honest, there are some books I've bought for the Kindle and decided I wanted the paper copy. eBooks bad for the book industry? Not in my house.  I'm terribly uncoordinated and sometimes forget which is my left and right hand.  I have fantasies about being a yoga instructor. I often create elaborate stories in my head to fall asleep -- and will continue day-dreaming about them, if they're good.  If I still can't sleep, I image redecorating different rooms in my house. I'm usually asleep before I get to the window treatments.  Amalie , French Kiss and Ace Venture Pet Detective are my top three all-time favorite movies....

I just reread my last post and it sounded a little too ME ME ME. And I'm a Mom, so that brings on Mom Guilt, which is a monster I may never vanquish. To appease ... In 2014, Leah will...  - celebrate her GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! - get closer to a homework "plan" - get a goal in soccer - start piano lessons - read read read! - learn to ride a two-wheeler In 2014, Alice will... - figure out how to go to sleep without the drama - graduate pre-k! - start Kindergarten! - learn to ride a two-wheeler, too - start soccer in the fall - be in a recital with her big sister (if I didn't miss the registration cutoff) and continue to be the all-around, super-great kids they already are!

This new year is going to be IT! THE YEAR! Here's how I know ... it's an even year and, in my life, many of the BEST things happen in an even year. Births, graduations, exciting trips -- all in even years. So, good things are coming. What will you be reading about in 2014 on this blog? Here's the rundown: - dropping a minimum of 10lbs. I know it's cliche to set a weight-lose goal in the new year, but this IS happening, people. I've got goals, help, incentives and a 10-week challenge. But, never fear, this blog will not turn into a weigh-loss diary -- because that's just lame.  Selfie in NYC - making dolls. I've been inspired by the dollies that I see on Etsy and in the Kiki and Coco book to hand-make a doll. Or two. Or more, if it's fun. I ordered a doll from Etsy that I'll use as a sample and we'll go from there. If all goes well, no surprise what the nieces will get for Christmas next year.  - continue house projects. Thi...

So my New Year's Resolution for about the last five years has been to exercise more. I've got a basement, now. And a gym membership. And the kids are older. Basically, I'm running out of excuses. The fact that I'm still a working mom with a full schedule and unwilling to wake up at 5:30am to exercise still exists, however. Anyway, this year's attempt at checking off that resolution included some exercise DVDs. We designated a spot in our unfinished basement as a gym. Set up an old tv, the old DVD player and stereo. We used the old rug from the living room and placed pads underneath for maximum protection from the cement floor. Dave even installed a pull-up bar he made from plumbing supplies! Dave invested in P90X starring URI grad (Go Rhody!) Tony Horton. And I found Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 at the grocery store. And we attempt to get up at 6am each morning to workout. After a few weeks of doing both I've come up with this: P90X, prefer...