musings about food, travel, creativity and life

Food/ Beverage

Summer, Sun, and Soccer

  Yes—Summer, Sun and Soccer— I’m in❣️ Watching World Cup soccer has provided many treats and insights into world cultures.  So much emotion, so much color, so many Norwegian Viking Row celebrations!  For me, seeing the world through the World Cup lens is a counter=balancing […]

Bunny Time💛

💛🐇    I love bunnies.  My current collection of bunny-themed items is at about 80— I have stuffed cloth bunnies; ceramic and wooden ones; silver charms; plates, napkins, rubber stamps, a purse, a spoon, a letter opener, a spice rack, a music box,  an outdoor […]

Hello, World❣️

  Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers❣️ I’m sending much love and appreciation your way and hope the day fills your heart with joy.                                             […]

Just 24 Hours…🧡

We had been talking for quite a while about going to one of our favorite foodie destinations—Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola (home to my all-time favorite biscottis!)— to hear the Hot Club Pacific Jazz group which performs there every Thursday evening. Finally, we did […]

Looking for Comfort and Joy

  With all that is going in our world right now, finding “comfort and joy” feels challenging at times.  But I’m not giving up hope. I am going for both. And I hope you are, too. Some days for me that means doing two meditations […]

Harvesting Words 💛

 I love short quotes that seem to “say it all.”  I have quite a collection of them, having saved them since high school. I remember an innkeeper in Door County, Wisconsin, who used to place a quote at each guest’s place setting for breakfast.  It […]

Gather Together 🧡

So…there we were in Grocery Outlet buying a bag of popcorn for the road when I saw the “home decor” item in the photograph above.  I had to have it.  It seemed like a perfect reminder of what made our recent week in Tucson and […]

Summer Pleasures💚

  Today marks the date, seven years ago, that I started this blog.  Happy Birthday, Blog🥳  And thank you!  You’ve given me, and I hope others, little reminders that life can and does provide points of joy, big and small—through precious moments, people, pets, places, […]

Home—Ah, Yes!

  Home—an oasis of comfort and beauty, a place of simple pleasures and little joys.  It is where I watch our plums coming into their own and birds flitting from feeder to bath.  It is where I water my newly planted basil and parsley and […]

Wisconsin Winners❣️

Here we are in Madison, Wisconsin, enjoying all the summer fun this town offers. The weekly Saturday Farmers’ Market around the Capitol building is one of my favorite activities.  All the shoppers and lookers walk counter clockwise around the square, slowly, which makes it easier […]

Here’s to “Joie de Vivre”❣️

We just returned to Madison from a two week escapade to London and Paris, our first international trip since the pandemic.  Oh, my.  It was filled with all the “Joie de Vivre” elements I love about travel, and life: ⋅great food,⋅beauty, art, fashion, ⋅wonderful people, […]

A Second Spring

                               ”It is spring again.  The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”                               […]

Yay, Spring!

     As the world continues to wonder “what next?” Spring brings signs of new life. The hills are all shades of green, every yellow daffodil and Gerbera daisy is open and shining bright, and two juncos are caring for two eggs in a nest […]

Bay Area Treats!

                                                                         “Food is memories.”—José Andrés Memory Lane was on our […]

“Take Heart”

  With Valentine’s Day just about here with all of its hearts, flowers, and chocolates, how can I not talk about LOVE.  Ah, yes—LOVE. Two heartfelt reminders keep popping up for me: ❤️”Take Heart, ” as in,  be strong and hopeful in the midst of […]