the blog

Where Bloggers Live: My Favorite Things About Being Me

Welcome! “Where Bloggers Live” started out kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! We all like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives, so every month this wonderful  family of amazing women shares their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific
Read more

Living Outside the U.S. ~ The Real Trade-Offs No One Talks About

For the past three years I’ve lived mostly outside the U.S. It’s been exciting, disorienting and exhausting….but worth it. People love to frame the “living abroad” lifestyle as either a dream or a disaster. It’s neither. It’s a trade. You’re not escaping anything. You’re swapping one set of realities for another. The
Read more

Where Bloggers Live: April Showers Bring May Flowers

Welcome! “Where Bloggers Live” started out kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! We all like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives, so every month this wonderful  family of amazing women shares their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific
Read more

Back in the US: California Edition

I’m Over Here Now On February 25, I left my home of two months in Chiang Mai, Thailand and returned to the United States to spend some time with family. Last year, when I left Seoul at the end of my two-year visa, it took me about a month to recover from
Read more

Wat Chiang Man: The Oldest Temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Temples are everywhere in Chiang Mai; there are more than 300 scattered throughout the walled Old City, surrounding neighborhoods, and into the nearby mountains. While they’re all worth visiting, these three stood out to me the most. This post is part of a short series featuring some of my favorite temples in
Read more

Wat Pha Lat: A Hidden Jungle Temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai is a city of temples. In fact, there are more than 300 Buddhist temples scattered throughout the old city, surrounding neighborhoods and nearby mountains. While they’re all worth visiting, three stood out to me the most. This article is part of a short series featuring some of my favorite temples
Read more

Where Bloggers Live: Glimmers: Life’s Little Miracles

Welcome! “Where Bloggers Live” started out kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! We all like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives, so every month this wonderful  family of amazing women shares their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific
Read more

That Time I Took A Thai Cooking Class

On the agenda: a Thai cooking class with my TikTok friend, who’s in Chiang Mai for a week. These classes are everywhere here…half- or full-day sessions run by local cooking schools. Some are even accredited; enroll long-term and you can qualify for Thailand’s “soft power” (DTV) student visa. Thailand promotes its soft
Read more

Life This Week in Chiang Mai, Thailand: Jan 26-Feb 1, 2026

Monday, Jan 26 Kept things pretty simple today…and just toodled over to a coffee shop that I realized is very close to me. It’s called Double Eleven and it’s on the first floor of the other condo in this 2-condo condo complex. It was small but neat. Empty, except for The Guy, who I
Read more

Life This Week in Chiang Mai, Thailand: Jan 19-25, 2026

Monday, Jan 19 For dinner I went to Kao Soi Nimmin, a charming indoor/outdoor restaurant with lush ferns and tropical plants, the omnipresent Thai lanterns blowing gently in the light evening breeze, and a mouth-watering menu book. I wanted to taste their specialty, Kao Soi, the Northern Thai dish I’ve had here
Read more

Life This Week in Chiang Mai, Thailand: Jan 11-18, 2026

Monday, Jan 11 Intentionally did not do anything fun today. I wanted to spend The Day catching up on Thai vocab and grammar. Some things are just not sticking with me. It’s a very tonal language…which means the way you say the word is as important as the word itself, and they really
Read more

Life This Week in Chiang Mai Thailand: Jan 6-10, 2026

Tuesday, Jan 6 Today was mellow. I had my first in-person Thai class in the early evening, so I stayed in, worked a bit, finished a book – just enjoyed being a retired person. I got to class early, but it was okay as there is a little coffee shop next door
Read more

Life This Week+ in Chiang Mai Thailand: Jan 1-5, 2026

I’m Over Here Now! Since these were the longest 10 days in history, I made an executive decision and cut this post in half, so this is Part 1 and Part 2 will go up in a few days. It said it was 28 minutes reading time at its full length. Ain’t
Read more

Life These Weeks in Japan: December 15-31, 2025

Grab a snack, this is long. Monday, Dec 15 A not thrilling day. I went first thing in the morning to the local Yamato (Japanese UPS) office to find out about getting my package redelivered. I had to taxi there since all the Google Maps options were like “Train A to Train
Read more

Life This Week in Japan: Dec 8-14, 2025

Monday, Dec 8 When we last saw our hero, she was sleeping in Kyoto in a room with no windows. I got up pretty early to head over to Kyoto’s Gion district. It’s the city’s most famous geisha area; originally a cluster of teahouses serving visitors to Yasaka Shrine, but over time
Read more

Life This Week in Japan: Dec 1-7, 2025

Monday, Dec 1 A stay at home day. I finally sorted through my piles of plastic into the appropriate recycling categories: burnable, non-burnable, regular plastic, PET plastic…removed all the labels, crushed the cans and bottles. Trash disposal is even more complicated/labor-intensive here than it was in Korea. Tuesday, Dec 2 Just sort
Read more
[ctct form="17077" show_title="false"]