My (Parttime) Paris Life

Learning to live like a local, one vacation at a time

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Author Archives: Lisa Anselmo

Janet Hulstrand on Demystifying the French

June 17, 2019by Lisa Anselmo 2 Comments

This article is part of my series, “Meet the Expats.” This time we’re talking to author, editor, and writing coach Janet Hulstrand, who lives in Essoyes, a village in Champagne. […]

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Meet the Expats

The Big Spring Clean Chez Moi (& Chez Toi)

March 8, 2019by Lisa Anselmo 11 Comments

A few days ago, I started to tidy up my Paris place to prepare for a visit from some New York friends. My apartment is only 258 square feet (24 […]

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Being Brave, Home Sweet Home

10 French Words that are Now Part of My Everyday English

January 21, 2019by Lisa Anselmo 13 Comments

They said it would happen but I didn’t believe them. Back when I was just visiting Paris, I’d heard some expat friends tossing random French words into their English conversation […]

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Learning to Live Parisian, Living the Paris Life, My Paris, Random Musings

This is YOUR Year (If You Want it to Be)

January 5, 2019by Lisa Anselmo 24 Comments

“Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!” Auntie Mame pronounces. “Live!” she urges her mousy assistant, Agnes Gooch. I’ve seen the film Auntie Mame about […]

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Being Brave, Learning to be Happy

Finding the Christmas Spirit in an Uneasy Paris

December 23, 2018by Lisa Anselmo 9 Comments

This holiday season in Paris was marred by weekly citywide violence that unfortunately became a regular part of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protests. To guard against further vandalism and […]

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Living the Paris Life, My Paris

Paris, Four Years After Those First Bold Steps

August 15, 2018by Lisa Anselmo 8 Comments

Today in Paris, many shops were closed. The streets were nearly empty. But this wasn’t just because of the August vacations, where everyone leaves for weeks at a time; this […]

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Being Brave, Learning to be Happy, Living the Paris Life

Dinner in the Park with 17,000 of My Closest Friends

June 5, 2018by Lisa Anselmo 12 Comments

I just had dinner in the park. With 17,000 of my closest friends. Okay, so the park was the Esplanade des Invalides near the Eiffel Tower. And the dinner was […]

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Learning to Live Parisian, My Paris

It’s Always No Before It’s Yes

April 24, 2018by Lisa Anselmo 6 Comments

I was having lunch with a friend in a café in the 3rd arrondissement, and she wanted a fruit salad but it wasn’t on the menu. Still, we were regulars […]

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Learning to Live Parisian, Living the Paris Life

Keeping House (In French)

February 27, 2018by Lisa Anselmo 35 Comments

This was originally written for my memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home, published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, but didn’t make the final edit for reasons of story flow. In this […]

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Challenges of Parisian Homeownership, Home Sweet Home, Learning to Live Parisian

5 Parisian (& French) Habits to Adopt This Year

January 9, 2018by Lisa Anselmo 4 Comments

Living in France has expanded my life—and my thinking. And while, for this American in Paris, there are plenty of causes for eye rolling, like the bureaucracy and constant strikes, […]

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Learning to be Happy, Learning to Live Parisian, Living the Paris Life

Christmas (Shopping) in Two Cities

December 24, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 4 Comments

This year, thanks to my schedule, I’m getting a dose of the holidays in both Paris and New York. I spent most of December in Paris, watched the holidays unfold: […]

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Life in 2 Cities, Paris vs. NY, Shopping Paris

The Little Book that Could: Celebrating Success with You

October 9, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 2 Comments

♥ Check out a special gift-with-purchase offer at the bottom of this post ♥ This week marks the anniversary of the launch of my memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How […]

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Learning to be Happy, On Writing

Paris is Closed for Vacation

August 26, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 7 Comments

“Is anyone left in Paris?” I wrote on Facebook. “I’m so bored I could cry.” Bored in Paris you say? Well, yeah. It’s possible. Particularly, when it’s August, and all […]

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Living the Paris Life, My Paris

Resistance is Futile: On Giving in to Greatness

July 7, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 19 Comments

I’m back in Paris after Part I of my U.S. book tour. It’s been an incredible time on the road, something I could have never imagined for myself three years […]

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Being Brave, On Writing

For Ma

May 15, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 14 Comments

As another Mother’s Day passes, I pause to think of my absent mother, or Ma as I call her in my memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life. We lost her in early February 2011 […]

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Random Musings

Samantha Verant on Making a French Family

April 10, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 5 Comments

Welcome to the second post in “Meet the Expats,” my series promoting other undaunted foreigners who have chosen to call France home, and brave expat life. Author Samantha Vérant (Seven […]

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Meet the Expats

Five Years On

March 17, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 12 Comments

Five years ago today, I found the apartment that would become the vehicle for my life change. This is the first year I will be in the apartment to mark this […]

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Home Sweet Home

On Letting Go

March 12, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 19 Comments

As I write this my heart is lead. I am heavy with the weight of attachment. I wrapped my life around an idea, threw myself headlong into something destined to end […]

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Learning to be Happy

New Year, New Beginning

January 3, 2017by Lisa Anselmo 8 Comments

Every January 1st, we promise ourselves a better life. This year will be different, we say. We stretch, we dream, we hope. But usually, around March, we shrink back into our old shapes, […]

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Being Brave, Learning to be Happy

In Paris, Christmas with a Little Cheese

December 23, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 6 Comments

“Don’t go to the Christmas village near Champs-Elysées!” my friend Fabien chided me in a message. “It’s so contre-facons, so fake!” Well, yeah. Sure. It’s totally cheesy. That’s the whole […]

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Living the Paris Life, My Paris, Shopping Paris

Celebrating My Book Launch—Carrie Bradshaw Style

October 25, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 12 Comments

After two years of writing and planning, launch week for my book, My (Part-Time) Paris Life, was upon me. And that meant it was party time! I had visions of […]

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On Writing

It’s Here: My (Part-Time) Paris Life, The Memoir

October 11, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 18 Comments

Well, it’s here. After two long years of hard work, my story has been released to the world. [Gulp!] Inside this pretty cover design by Kerri Resnick at St. Martin’s Press, […]

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On Writing

My Paris Memoir is Nearly Here! (Yikes!)

October 8, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 4 Comments

A box arrived from my publisher, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. It contained copies of my book, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home. This is really happening. […]

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Being Brave

The Surprising Story Behind My Book’s Cover Image

September 30, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 9 Comments

Many people have asked me if I designed the cover of my upcoming book because, well, I’m a creative director and that makes sense. I didn’t. My book jacket was designed by […]

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On Writing

Life Lessons from the Water Fairy

August 25, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 15 Comments

I honestly don’t know how to tell you this, but, well…I sprung a leak in my apartment. I hear you all, the collective thwack! of your jaws hitting your tables. “What?” you’re […]

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Challenges of Parisian Homeownership, Deco, On Renovation, The Leak

Coping in a World of Fear

July 26, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 20 Comments

Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Baghdad, Nice. The Donald is a Nazi! Hillary is a criminal! Police shootings, mass shootings, NRA, RNC, GMOs, Brexit, ISIS—ahhhhh! Stop the world, I wanna get off. I was finally finding center after my mother’s […]

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Learning to be Happy

Coming Home (Again)

June 27, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 24 Comments

Nearly two years after I was ousted from my little Paris apartment by destruction and mold thanks to a leak from the upstairs neighbor that took 18 months to fix, my luggage and I moved back […]

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Challenges of Parisian Homeownership, Home Sweet Home, On Renovation, The Leak

The Saga of My New Little Paris Kitchen

May 27, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 21 Comments

If you’re following along, you know I’ve been planning a kitchen update chez moi since 2013. But between the rising exchange rate at the time followed by a leak that made […]

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Deco, On Renovation, The Leak

(Re)Renovation Part II: The Healing Begins

May 18, 2016by Lisa Anselmo 13 Comments

In early 2014, signs of a leak began to distort the wall in my entryway. It would take nearly two years and an order from the French courts before that leak […]

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Challenges of Parisian Homeownership, Home Sweet Home, On Renovation, The Leak

The Book I Was Destined to Write (In Spite of Myself)

Featuredby Lisa Anselmo 10 Comments

In 2014, my life would change forever. I had decided to leave my beloved job, then a day later, received an email from a woman named Kat Brzozowski from St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books wanting to discuss turning […]

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Being Brave, Learning to be Happy, My Paris, On Writing

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THE LATEST

  • Janet Hulstrand on Demystifying the French
  • The Big Spring Clean Chez Moi (& Chez Toi)
  • 10 French Words that are Now Part of My Everyday English
  • This is YOUR Year (If You Want it to Be)
  • Finding the Christmas Spirit in an Uneasy Paris

What I’m Writing About

  • A Nomad in Paris
  • Being Brave
  • Beyond Paris
  • Buying in Paris
  • Challenges of Parisian Homeownership
  • Deco
  • Home Sweet Home
  • Learning to be Happy
  • Learning to Live Parisian
  • Life in 2 Cities
  • Living the Paris Life
  • Meet the Expats
  • My Neighborhood
  • My Paris
  • My Parisian Neighbors
  • On Renovation
  • On Writing
  • Paris vs. NY
  • Random Musings
  • Shopping Paris
  • The Leak
  • The Search

What You’ve Missed

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