A new, weekly peek into my life as I navigate living abroad, chasing travel adventures, and figuring things out along the way.
If you’ve been around for a while, you might remember when I used to write on Substack. I loved sharing those little life updates, but somewhere along the way, I lost the spark. Lately, though, I’ve been craving that same, unfiltered connection again (especially as traffic is increasing here!). So, here we are! Each week, I’ll share the highlights: the trips I’ve taken, the outfits I’ve been loving, the meals I can’t stop thinking about, and the everyday moments that make this season of life feel special.
I’m so glad you’re here—let’s dive in.
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Trip Planning for 2025 | If you met me back in 2017 here’s who you’d meet: a 26-year-old, hippie gal, traveling with just a backpack. You’d find her booking a flight the night before, hopping on the back of a motorcycle with a local, and hardly looking at Google Maps to find her way. You’d get drunk together, dance the night away in some tropical location, and meet up the next day to reminisce on yet another wild night. Now, I might not be 26 anymore, and some of the trips and things I did were a bit questionable (risky to say the least), however, thinking back over the last 7 years of trips, those are the ones I remember the most. If you want to know more about that, let me know in the comments! Now, as my husband and I are planning out a bit of what we want our year to look like, we are trying to figure out what kinds of trips we want to take. We decide on two categories: preferably warm adventures focused on relaxing and exploring, and look & see destination trips for places we are curious about living. Here’s places we have so far:
- Seychelles
- Mallorca, Spain
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Hurghada, Egypt
- Scottish Highlands road trip
- Capri, Italy
- Portland, Oregon and the PNW
- Chicago
- New Jersey
- The Carolinas
Style & Fashion Picks I’m Loving | We are still in a very cold season in Zurich, but I am determined to get dressed and revamp my wardrobe for spring. A few things I am eyeing to add to my wardrobe are:
- Everlane’s Ballet Flats (I cannot choose a color, help me decide!)
- This Favorite Daughter Crocodile Embossed belt (so chic!)
- I am having an obsession with green and chocolate brown right now, and this bag from Madewell is screaming my name.
- I love Longchamp purses and this red checked mini one is SO cute!
Shop What I am Eyeing for Spring
Self-Care | I will admit this was not something I prioritized last year, but I am determined to do more things for me because I deserve it (can we all say that a few more times please?). One thing I told myself I was going to do this year was get my nails done again. I’ve been doing them at home for years, justifying it by how much money I am saving, but I’ve got to tell you, there’s something so nice about having someone else do your nails. I found a place that I love, and I have been going even 4 weeks and that, fits right into my budget. Oh, and also, I’ve decided to weekly self-tan because that makes me feel like a new woman! This is the one I use and a week later, it’s faded perfectly and you wouldn’t suspect a thing. It’s also on sale right now at Sephora.
The Best Thing I Ate This Week | We are an Ottolenghi cookbook household and if you don’t know who or what I am talking about – RUN TO YOUR NEAREST BOOKSTORE, or (buy a copy on Amazon). His cookbooks are solely what I cook from when I need some inspo in the kitchen. This week I made a recipe from his newest cookbook ‘Comfort‘ and I was shocked to take my first bite and realize it tasted so much like Hainanese Chicken Rice! If you don’t know, I used to live in Singapore and this is a very traditional dish that is pure comfort. I am going to re-create this again this week using chicken to see if I can get it even closer to the real thing.
Currently Watching/Reading/Listening To | We’ve been watching ‘Paradise‘ on Apple TV and are HOOKED. It’s so freaking good and the acting and production are outstanding. Have you started it?
Life in Zurich | I have decided I no longer want to embody this “American abroad”, Zurich go-to persona, because that’s not my identity, nor is it something I am happy with. If you are new here, my husband and I moved to Zurich a little over two years ago and we both admit, this move wasn’t our greatest decision. While we don’t regret it, we do maybe wish we had made another choice. There are a lot of aspects of our life that are not fulfilled, and while we cannot change our situation right now, we are trying our best to seek out moments and things that bring us happiness. So, anyways, we had ourselves a little Saturday, belated Valentine’s Day date night (because I was sick with the flu on Friday). We had drinks at a new to us bar called Bar Münster and dinner at Hotel Bourbon. Both were fabulous, oh! And I had the best cocktail (I think ever) at Hotel Bourbon – it was a ‘coffeevardier’ aka Bourbon whiskey, Campari infused with coffee, red vermouth, chocolate, and it was amazing!). It was a fun night out that brought us a little joy in the city we live.
Links Worth Sharing | A few other things I love that I think you will too.
- This white shirt for date night-it’s on sale for under $60!
- Bedding (the best sheets ever I promise you).
- My current skincare favorite (you need this is you struggle with hydrating and wrinkles).
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup! I love sharing a bit more with you, in a quicker, informal setting. I’d love to make these chatty, because we know this is hardly happening on IG these days. So tell me – What was the best thing you ate, wore, or discovered this week? Let me know in the comments! I will respond back to each and every one of you.
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