Just a sampling of the baby toys and gear for our two-day road trip to Wisconsin! Bonjour! As I wrote recently, L'Husband and I finally took our first family trip with Le Bébé. We rented a house and spent two whole nights in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Find my tips and gentle suggestions for traveling with… Continue reading Road Trip with Baby – Packing List
Bonjour! I recently spent a weekend in Chicago at the American Library Association Annual Conference. June in Chicago is busy and warm, bustling and dynamic. It was fun to be back in the Loop after so many years away (with a quick holiday visit with L’Husband two Christmases ago). This post shares photographs of my… Continue reading 48 Hours in Chicago in Pictures
Bonjour! Well, dear reader, it finally happened! After three years of pandemic-era lockdown, L'Husband and I took our first trip. We rented a house and spent two whole nights in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, just a pleasant three-and-a-half hour trip north by car from our home in central Illinois. This post shares some tips for traveling… Continue reading Road Trip with Baby – Tips for Sanity
Bonjour! To celebrate many things - namely, being young and being alive - L’Husband and I recently spent the night in Chicago. In addition to the large, real concerns of the pandemic, political turmoil, and social strife (le sigh), it’s been a busy year for ma famille, from selling a home in Vermont to purchasing… Continue reading Christmas in Chicago
Guten Tag! It’s time for another German takeover (the good kind… too soon?) here at Joyful Living. Thanks to a long-standing friendship with meine Lieblingsfreundin, Christiane, I love German food and culture, including a Brotzeit spread for dinner and making my own Orangina. And since I'm not travelling much (i.e., at all - le sigh)… Continue reading German Breakfast Box
Bonjour! As summer winds down and I settle in to my new home and work routine, I'm trying to take quiet moments for simple pleasures where I can find them. I love being outside in nature, especially by the water (how I miss Lake Champlain in Vermont!), so when my aunt invited L'Husband et moi… Continue reading Pancakes by the Lake
Bonjour! I love to travel in Europe and look forward to doing so one day … in the far and distant future (though I did fly recently, le yikes!). Travel opens the mind, changes the routine, and introduces new ideas and ways of doing things. And the food! In the meantime, I enjoy incorporating what… Continue reading International Food Finds at Walmart
Bonjour! Y’all, I just flew on an actual airplane. Tellement, I mentally prepared for the weeks, if not two months, preceding this eventuality. After doing nothing and going nowhere during the pandemic (does the grocery store and carrying out food count?), L’Husband and I trekked from Vermont to Illinois via car - sans Le Chien… Continue reading Y’all, I Flew on an Airplane and Did Not Freak Out
Bonjour! After more than a year holed up at home, L’Husband and I venturing forth and driving from Vermont to Illinois. A recent post recapped some of the highlights of Day One of the drive from Vermont to Pennsylvania. Today's post continues the fun and covers Day Two of the drive from Pennsylvania to our destination of… Continue reading Road Trip, Day 2: Pennsylvania to Illinois
Bonjour! After more than a year at home, L'Husband and I are on the move. Our first trip since moving to Vermont in Fall 2019 turned out to be a road trip back to central Illinois. Sadly, Le Chien did not join us, and we drove out over two days with an overnight stop in… Continue reading Road Trip, Day 1: Vermont to Pennsylvania
Joyful Living with Katie Kritikos 