image credit Tom McGovern used with permission There were many things I came to love during my nearly five year stint in New Haven, Connecticut. The blooming cherry blossoms in the Spring, the local restaurants (you won’t find a chain restaurant anywhere in the city limits), the outdoor life once Winter decided it was time to go, and then there was the pizza. Oh, my, I never knew pie could taste so good. The thin crust baked just right in a…
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Someday I’m going to Brazil. It is on my travel bucket list, after all. We used to plan Summer holidays with friends in that beautiful South American country. Sadly, they have yet to come to fruition. However, no matter where I reside, I seem to always have a Brazilian living in close proximity. That’s how I learned that sweetened condensed milk is actually the sixth food group in this land, pretty handy for what I’m about to introduce you to….
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I have never taken the time for a girls’ weekend with friends. I’ve done girls’ night out, lunches, breakfasts, and day outings, but never an extended period of time, with just my girlfriends. I’ve been married for 14 years, come this October. Those of you that have had girls’ weekends, bravo! The truth is, life is so busy, it’s difficult to find the time. With our family, we treasure travel time, and each weekend together, and work to maximize our…
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As a family we really enjoyed downtown Boston. While we adore San Francisco, and New York, we love Boston because of how clean and open the city feels. The North End of Boston with the ocean breezes is absolutely lovely. While San Francisco can feel overwhelming and crowded, and New York can feel stifling and slightly smelly, we didn’t find that in Boston. Granted, we weren’t in Boston during the winter, I don’t think we would’ve survived if we tried winter…
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This summer we had the unique opportunity to spend two months in the Boston, Massachusetts area. While there we tried to squeeze as much out of our time on the East Coast as possible. Our first weekend exploration adventure began in a quaint town just 30 minutes from where we were staying in Andover, MA. If you’re driving from Boston, it’s only 50 minutes. Newburyport is absolutely darling. If you’re looking for boutique shops, homemade ice cream, gelato, strolling down streets…
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It’s Winter in the Southern hemisphere which means citrus season in South Africa. Lemons and oranges are a plenty, and it’s wonderful. If I need lemon juice, I just go outside and pick some lemons off the tree. I don’t have an orange tree, but no worries. The side of the road is dotted with merchants selling bags of oranges for only R15. That’s comes out to only a little over $1. Every week I buy a bag, and every…
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I got pregnant with my oldest in a bamboo hut in a refugee camp on the borders of Myanmar and Thailand. We were working with Karen refugees that were chased out of Myanmar for their beliefs. Now they resided in a camp managed by the Thai government. We were welcomed there but still had to abide by the rules. One of those rules was lights out at 7 PM. Not much to do in a dark bamboo hut after 7…
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Today I’m going to introduce you to the best thing ever. Are you ready for this? Think of your palate exploding with chocolate, coconut, and banana, and you have a South Africa banana braai. Not only am I going to give you the how-to, but I’m going to throw in some free history lessons along the way. Let’s start with braai. What the heck is that?? braai ~ (pronounced bry) a structure on which a fire can be made for…
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Atlantis. Just the name conjures up mysterious treasure, mythical stories, and mountains of adventure. The Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas offers up all of that intrigue. My husband and I visited Atlantis in October of 2008. It was a sales incentive trip through his company. It was an amazing trip, but I desperately missed our young daughters, who were just four and two years old at the time. We kept thinking, during that trip, of how lovely…
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