Resistance is Futile: On Giving in to Greatness
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 […]
Author Archives: Lisa Anselmo
For Ma
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 […]
Samantha Verant on Making a French Family
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 […]
Five Years On
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 […]
On Letting Go
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 […]
New Year, New Beginning
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, […]
In Paris, Christmas with a Little Cheese
“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 […]
Celebrating My Book Launch—Carrie Bradshaw Style
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 […]
It’s Here: My (Part-Time) Paris Life, The Memoir
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, […]
My Paris Memoir is Nearly Here! (Yikes!)
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. […]
The Surprising Story Behind My Book’s Cover Image
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 […]
Life Lessons from the Water Fairy
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 […]
Coping in a World of Fear
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 […]
Coming Home (Again)
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 […]
The Saga of My New Little Paris Kitchen
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 […]
(Re)Renovation Part II: The Healing Begins
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 […]
The Book I Was Destined to Write (In Spite of Myself)
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 […]
10 Things I Miss About Paris When I’m in New York
I feel very fortunate to be able to live in two of the greatest cities in the world. But there are some downsides. Here, in no particular order (unless it’s […]
Drying Out in Paris
No, I’m not talking about that kind of drying out. In fact, after the intense month I had in Paris, I think my wine consumption may have ticked up a bit. I’d […]
It Was the Best (Half) Day in Paris—Ever!
This is the first in a series of profiles of expats in France, including noteworthy Parisians, who’ve taken risks to create the life they want. This one features photographer Carla Coulson, an […]
My Paris Apartment—4 Years Later
Four years ago, on St. Patrick’s Day, I found the tiny apartment that would change my life. I’d arrived in Paris for one day, saw six apartments, and picked one […]
The (Re)Renovation
Well, here we go again. And a mere four years after what was supposed to be the one and only. But a leak in my neighbor’s shower—a leak he refused […]
Is Ruin Really the Road to Transformation?
The department store below my New York apartment has been under construction for a year and a half. Seven days a week, from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., they jack-hammer […]
How Paris Does Christmas
A few weeks ago, a friend posted this on Twitter: “Parisians: even though you’ve seen it in the movies, unless you ONLY hang out in midtown, NY doesn’t really do Christmas […]
Peace in Provence
A fire blazed in a large fireplace at the far end of a grand salon with 10-foot beamed ceilings. Two overstuffed sofas flanked the hearth, begged to be lounged in. […]
Shaken, not Stirred
It’s been one week since terrorists shook up our world in Paris, hitting the heart of the popular district I call home. I’ve tried several times to write, but cohesive […]
Paris in the Greige Zone
A friend was complaining to me about her building’s hallways, specifically, the color they’d chosen to paint the apartment doors and accent trim. “It used to be a beautiful burgundy red. […]
Losing My Bold Soul Sister: Grief & Gratitude in Paris
“I’m so glad we’re friends.” These words were spoken to me by my Paris “sister,” Lisa Taylor Huff. They were followed by one of her long, hard hugs. I’d spent part of the day with […]
Fixing a Leak in Paris Takes Only 18 Months
Well, it’s done. (I think.) The leak that leaked all over my Paris apartment has finally been repaired. I’m pretty sure, anyway. You can’t blame me for feeling dubious. This has been carrying […]
The Re-Entry
For Americans, Labor Day marks the end of summer. In France, it’s similar, with September seeing the return of a flood of vacationers, many of whom have been away much […]
