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 […]
Tag Archives: Paris pied-a-terre
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A Nomad in Paris, Part III: A Tiny, Happy Place to Belong
Not caught up? Read Part 1, and Part 2. The last few days are winding down in apartment #2 on this nomadic journey of three Paris apartments in three months. The first […]
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 […]
A Nomad in Paris, Part II: My Patch of Heaven
If you’ve read Part I of my nomadic journey, you know I’ve been kicked out of my apartment by a leak in a neighbor’s flat that has rendered my home unfit. […]
A Nomad in Paris, Part I
Back in August of last year, I wrote about a leak in my building that rendered my little Paris home uninhabitable—mostly because of high levels of dangerous mold. I had […]
How Paris Does Groceries, Part II: Foods that Moo
Here, the second offering in a series about grocery shopping in Paris. This post: Dairy. Grocery stores, you ask? Mais oui, mon ami. What can be found in Paris grocery chains, would only be found […]
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 […]
The Path of the American
If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been having a tough time with an unresolved leak in my building that is damaging my dream home. Toxic mold has grown, forcing me […]
Fear and Loathing…in Paris?
Here I am, living the dream. I left my job in New York and came to Paris to stay in my little apartment for two months at least. I’m lucky, […]
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 […]
The Dead of August
August: when everyone flees for the seaside. I’ve never been in Paris during this time of year; I usually come just before la Rentrée, or “re-entry,” when everyone is coming home to […]
Evicted from Chez Moi (Temporarily)
I came to Paris for two months to finally live like a local, spend a long stretch of time in my neighborhood, in my little Paris nest. Up to now, […]
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), […]
Watch My Story on House Hunters International
Eons ago, Leopard Films documented the story of my search for a place in Paris, a search which began after my mother died from breast cancer. The episode is finally […]
Is Paris Becoming Brooklyn?
Starvin’ Joe’s Burgers, Blackburn Coffee, Bones, Ten Belles. Is this Williamsburg? Park Slope? Bushwick? From the industrial rustic design of Septime to the Brooklyn Lager proudly served at a meatball […]
How Paris Does Groceries, Part I: Snack Food
Welcome to the first in a series. In this post, I’m focusing on French junk food. Yes, you read right, and judge me not. I hear you: But the bread, the cheese, the open markets […]
Counting in French (Or, Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered)
I’m in a long queue at Monoprix Nation, which is the biggest in Paris, and overwhelming on a slow day. But this is a Saturday, last call to buy food […]
The Loudest, Tiniest Street in Paris
In New York, my apartment faces 7th Avenue in the bustling Chelsea neighborhood, so I expect a certain amount of street noise. And it is New York, after all. I’m […]
Opportunity Missed?
Aaaaaaarrrrrrrgggh! cried the Charlie Brown in my head. There it was, big and bold, a realtor’s sign posted on the widows of the apartment next door. VENDU, it boasted: SOLD. What? Whaaaat?! […]
Paris vs. New York (Do I Have to Choose?)
I rarely write about my New York life—not because I don’t love it, but because I live here most of the time, and take it for granted, I suppose. But […]
O (Tiny Parisian) Christmas Tree
My apartment in Paris is a third of the size of my New York apartment. At only 258 square feet, or 24 square meters, there is not a sliver of […]
My (Parttime) Paris Life 