meet me at the villa

*music by JHunger Michelle & Elizabeth went on an adventure it was like a dream (a really, really good dream) neither of them had ever been to Italy before but they quickly learned the important words:  pazzo!  gelato!  va bene!  perfetto! the vistas were extraordinary, but what filled their hearts most were the people that welcomed them into this beautiful part of the world with so much grace and kindness it was, truly– like a dream they can’t wait to host Squamitalia! there in October so much magic awaits … View Post

indefensible amounts of beauty

My love for Elizabeth Gilbert is a well-documented fact. And, as with any great love, my adoration only deepens with each new glimpse into her attitude toward life. Case in point, the interview below. The sad truth is, had this conversation been recorded in Swahili and therefore completely unavailable to me to follow along– I would STILL be smitten just looking at her white strappy shoes on black sheer stockings– a fashion I sported when I returned to college after a year in Paris. I’m … View Post

Easy Street

One of my first jobs after college was to teach French and coach lacrosse at a boarding school.  What I didn’t know, was that I was also going to be one of the lucky faculty who got to take groups of freshman up into the White Mountains for a three-day orientation weekend where there would be much with the hiking, carrying cast-iron frying pans in your pack and sleeping on the ground. The prerequisite for this high honor seemed to be that you were under … View Post

stepping into a new chapter

I love beginnings.  (I also love a great ending, but that’s a story for a different day). Starting a new day, a new week, a new month—or the big momma of them all—the new year, provides (for the optimists among us) the chance to make things a bit better, improve upon those aspects of our life we’d really love to kick to the curb. I have certainly tried any number of approaches to maximize this opportunity:  resolutions, lists, promises, resolves, gym memberships, and the like, … View Post

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