The Big Spring Clean Chez Moi (& Chez Toi)
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 […]
Category Archives: Home Sweet Home
Keeping House (In French)
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
(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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Nurturing
The first of my three rental apartments in Paris came with a terrace fitted with three window boxes of geraniums. At least they resembled geraniums. Something like geraniums poked out from dirt so hard […]
Watch My Story on House Hunters International (Again!)
If you missed the debut of my episode of House Hunters International, it’s airing again, October 3rd at 11pm e/p on HGTV. Leopard Films documented the story of my search […]
La Rentree (Re-entry)
August in Paris is coming to a close, which means Parisians are returning from their vacations. You can tell because the Métro is busier, the streets are more bustling and […]
A Tribute to Ma
On August 7th, my episode of House Hunters International debuted in the States on HGTV, which I watched via Slingbox at 4:30am Paris time. Afterward (and in some cases, during), […]
My Paris Place: Two Years & Counting
Two years ago today, I found my little Paris apartment. Wait—strike that. Two years ago today, I found a tiny 24-square meter life raft in the middle of the hell […]
Christmas in Paris Next Year?
I just spent a wonderful Christmas with my sister in Florida. Eighty degrees but still Christmas-y. This was the first year since mom died that I felt the holiday spirit […]
Ou est le Feu?
These things always happen just when I’m about to leave Paris. In August, it was a flood in my bathroom. This trip? Fire. On the morning of my departure to […]
With This Key, Responsibility
After several stays in my new pied-à-terre, something has occurred to me: my trips to Paris have ceased to be vacations. This is to say, I’m no longer truly unplugging. […]
Change of Ownership
On March 17th, I celebrated one year since I found my Paris apartment. It would take three months before I took ownership officially, but it felt like mine from the […]
Lisa’s ‘Hood
While exploring my new neighborhood, I came across a shop that stopped me in my tracks. I whipped out my iPhone to snap a shot. The sign, written in English […]
The Housewarming
La pendaison de crémaillère: the hanging of the iron rack thingie that suspends the cooking pot over the fire. It’s the French version of the word, “housewarming.” In centuries past, […]
Yes, This is Paris
When most people invest in a pied-à-terre in Paris, they settle in the central part of the city—the chic 6th or 7th arrondissements, or the trendy Marais—where resale values will […]
Paris Au Beurre
The original tagline of my blog was: I Got an Apartment in Paris So I Could Buy the Butter. This is not me being clever; it’s the deep-down, primal, driving […]
Under Water (Part Deux)
During my first stay in my new Paris apartment, my main water pipe, located in my bathroom, sprang a leak. My contractor, who was on vacation, left it to me […]
Under Water
It was my first stay in my new apartment after nearly three months of renovation. I arrived to find a perfect little gem. Everything was exactly as I dreamed it […]
The Homecoming
[Note: This post had been unpublished while we filmed House Hunters International. I’ve recently republished it.] I hadn’t seen the apartment since June, when it was covered in an inch […]
My (Parttime) Paris Life 