While I haven't really followed the Olympics over the last two weeks, I've loved seeing the spotlight back on Rio de Janeiro and it's brought back some great memories of my trip there two summers ago. My husband and I headed to Brazil for the World Cup in 2014 and even got to cheer for France at Maracanã Stadium. Well, I cheered more than he did, of course ;-) In addition to Rio de Janeiro, we also traveled to Belo Horizonte where we cheered on England even though it was already eliminated from the tournament, the Minas Gerais where we witnessed what it's like to be in a really small town when Brazil wins a game and Foz do Iguaçu on the Argentine border where we saw that it was like to ...
Travel
Highlights From My Long-Weekend in Montreal
I first fell in love with Montreal when I was seventeen, so much so that I moved across the Atlantic right after high school to attend its prestigious McGill University. Recently, my college flatmates and I met up back in the city where we had lived together for four years for a quick 3-days mini college reunion slash girls getaway. Here are some highlights from my trip down memory lane back to the city I still love so much. WHAT BROUGHT ME TO MONTREAL? As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I went to college there and hadn’t visited in a while (like 8 years a while!) So I was definitely overdue for a visit and when one of my university floormate and flatmate who lives in Calgary ...
Get Some Travel Inspiration From These 10 Montréal Instagrammers
I'm headed back to Montréal soon and my list of places I want to (re)visit and restaurants I want to check out is growing bigger every day! Since I lived in Montréal for 4 years, I'll be skipping most of the tourist sites and I've been looking for a little travel inspiration from Montréalers on instagram. Here are some of my fave: One of the best decision I ever made in my life was moving across the world when I was 18 to attend McGill University. I'm not going to say when that was, but I had a Nokia cell phone that couldn't take pictures back then so I can't wait to instagram my old campus for the first time! On the social platform, my alma mater mostly sources its content from current ...
Weekend Highlights: Flower Crowns, Mucha and Football
Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? After keeping a low profile last weekend and throughout most of the week (I've had the worst cold!) I made up for lost time and had quite a wonderful 3-day weekend. It all started with rosé and flowers on Friday. One of the best part about having friends from different parts of the world is learning about their culture and traditions (oh, and the amazing food too!) On Friday, my friend Bianca showed us how the Finns celebrate summer solstice. Midsommar is one of the most important national holiday in Finland (and it's a big deal in many other Nordic countries too.) While her rooftop does have a fire pit, we didn't light any kokko (bonfires) to ...
Postcard from Los Angeles: All the Street Art
You don't need to head to the Getty or the Broad to see some fabulous art in Los Angeles. Just looking around you, you can't help but notice a ton of great murals adorning the urban landscape throughout the city. Here are a few cool pieces that I stumbled upon during my recent stay in Los Angeles. I grew up in the Marais, so I have razor sharp eyes when it comes to spotting a Space invader piece. This particular one can be seen near the Black Cat in Silver Lake. Also in Silverlake, these colourful staircases. 52 staircases lace the hillsides of Silver Lake, dating back to a time when most residents didn’t have cars. Two of them, #StairTempo and the Micheltorena Stairs, received a boost of ...
So You Wanna Visit the Broad Museum?
Today, I dedicated 3 hours of my life to visiting Los Angeles' latest contemporary art space, The Broad (note: it's pronounced brode not brawd... ) Opened in September 2015, the brand new museum has already become one of the city's most instagrammed venue, thanks to some amazing (and very photogenic) art from the private collection of philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, as well as a stunning building designed by world-renowned architectural firm Diller Scofido + Renfro. When I said I dedicated 3 hours to the museum, I should specify that only one of those was spent inside. The other two I spent lining up outside in the standby line. I learned a few things visiting The Broad, so here are a ...
Weekend Highlights: Work, Work, Work (and a Little Disney Fun!)
Greetings from California! I'm actually here for a work conference and working pretty much non-stop throughout the weekend. Since the conference is at the Disneyland Hotel, I did manage to squeeze in a little bit of fun (and Disney magic) though. Like during our staff work dinner Friday... After a long day of stuffing conference bags and making sure everything was set up, we all had dinner together at Wine Country Trattoria. The food itself was not highly memorable... I love Disney but fine cuisine isn't their forte. What was great about the dinner was that the restaurant is located inside California Adventure Park, one of the two themed parks at the Disneyland Resort complex, and we had ...
Weekend Highlights: Road Tripping in Pennsylvania and a Brewery Wedding
It's wedding season! How many do you have lined up for the summer? Over the weekend, we headed to Berwick, Pennsylvania, to see our good friend David tie the knot at a local brewery. This being me and Berwick being in the middle of nowhere, I broke the trip up and squeezed in a little (rainy) keystone state sightseeing... We left the day before the wedding and spent a night at the Candlelight Inn in Ronks, in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. It rained the entire ride up but cleared up just enough by the time we got to Lancaster Central Market for a late lunch. Lancaster Central Market is the oldest continuously operated farmers' market in the country. It's smaller than Reading ...
Postcard from Chicago: Treats in the Streets
During my latest trip to Chicago, I stumbled upon this really awesome piece of street art. And by stumbled, I mean I had researched the artist in advance, figured out it was the most accessible piece I could get to given where I was staying and my tight work schedule and ubered there ;-) Artist Jim Bachor has been filling the city's many potholes with whimsical mosaics since 2013. In a nod to Belgian surrealist painter Magritte, one of his pieces states "this is not a pothole" in black and white tiles. I loved his most recent series, “Treats in the Streets,” because it combined two things I love: street art and food! The treats in this instance are classic frozen treats mosaic, like the soft ...
I’m in a Marseille State of Mind
I've had Marseille on my mind lately. Part of it has been following along my friend Tammy's adventures in house swapping and remote working from Marseille (you can read all about it on her blog Florida Girl in DC.) It's definitely made me look at my mom's hometown completely differently! And the other part, of course, is that Marseille seems to be everywhere lately. First, there was the recent release of the movie Marseille in France. And now, there's the countdown to the much anticipated (at least by me) release of Netflix's first French-language original series Marseille. The trailer looks SO GOOD!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WvqgV7-kSc The show's 8 episodes (52 minutes each) will ...