It is raining here. Not complaining. It is lovely and we need it. Here’s another lovely and welcome thing as the days in Tennessee get cooler and shorter. A virtual travel day over at Delicious Baby. Debbie took her family to Barcelona last year, as did we, and writes about it in this post. After [...]

Old Town, San Diego If we only had had a tin cup…

As I write this on Thursday afternoon, my husband is passed out on the hotel room bed. His shoes still are on. My girl is face down on the couch. Shoes still on too. She’s not totally asleep, but rather hypnotized by some cartoon where one character sounds like Gilbert Gottfried. Me? I’m too tired [...]

It was unusually cold in Northern California last week. So cold that I put socks on with sandals as we strolled high-style Carmel. I whined to my husband that I was the most un-chic woman in the entire region. “Just keep speaking Spanish. They’ll think you are European.” Ah, si!

My husband is fortunate enough to have deep roots in Northern California. He was raised in the Bay Area and spent many childhood weekends, and some adult years, in Sonoma County. Hills, valleys, grapevine fields, quaint general stores. We have spent many holidays here, but this is the first trip with Maria. We are visiting [...]

new orleans street music We were in New Orleans this weekend. The daughter of our dear friends — with whom we have traveled to Greece and Spain — was married to a wonderful young man. The couple — gorgeous, smart and perfect for each other — are 25. I got all nostalgic in my joy [...]

I spent this weekend in Austin, the other Music City, with my two best friends. We met in between our respective cities (Nashville and Denver) to unwind and recharge from our jobs as mothers, wives, writers, publicists, Pollito pushers. Mission accomplished, though I was wide awake at 6 a.m., while the other two slept. Thank [...]

Cadaques We went to Spain mainly because, having traveled there a couple of other times, we love it. We also felt that immersing our daughter in the language would juice her bilingual brain. But, we did not know that Catalan, not Castillian, would be the primary language she would hear. We went to Barcelona and [...]

The butcher and his wife We stayed in a renovated 18th century house about two hours north of Barcelona. The downstairs was all arches and walls of brick and stone and it is where owners of old used to keep their animals. In the mornings, we were woken by birdsong so loud it almost felt [...]

Afternoon walkTorroella de Fluvia, España Ten years ago, my husband and I sat in a plaza in Rome looking at a building built before Jesus walked the earth. “I am but a speck in time,” I remember thinking. It was a liberating experience. Since then, in moments of distress or angst, I try to remember [...]