I can’t bring myself to watch Bambi again. It’s too sad. But every time it rains, I hum that song and try to recall the pretty lyrics to sing for the kids whose mom has kept Thumper and Flower from them all these years…
Drip, drip, drop /Little April shower / Beating a tune / As you fall all around Drip, drip, drop / Little April shower / What can compare / To your beautiful sound Beautiful sound / Beautiful sound /Drip, drop, drip, drop Drip, drip, drop / When the sky is cloudy / Your pretty music / Will brighten the day…
Do you have any children’s movies like this, that you haven’t brought yourself to watch again? Or ones that love to let make you cry? Old Yeller or Dumbo, perhaps?
Hope some pretty music brightens your day today! Some links of note…
A crack-of-dawn flight to Cancun, a drive to the small port of Chiquila, and a ferry crossing to Isla de Holbox: so began our family’s week in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo—the Mayan Riviera.
I’d read about Isla de Holbox years ago, in an article about the whale sharks who gather by the hundreds during the summer off its shores, but had sort of forgotten about it until I started looking at travel guides for trips around the Yucatan. Part of the Yum Balam Nature Reserve, the island sits between the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and is separated from mainland Mexico by a lagoon, which welcomes all kinds of sea birds—and even, sometimes, flamingos.
We would be too early in the year to see those gentle giants, but I was right to think we’d appreciate the island for plenty of other reasons. I would find myself thinking about it and appreciating it more every day after, everything from the color of the water, the feel of the sand, the stickiness of the mangoes, to the spottiness of the wifi was just right.
Here are some of the highlights of our three nights on the Holbox. Later I’ll post about our visits to the ruins at Cobá (and nearby cenotes) and a stay in the resort area of Mayakoba…
Today’s “5 Things,” looks a bit different than our regular series posts. Typically, we ask some of our favorite locals, in cities all over the world, to share insider travel tips on where to eat, shop, stay, and play in their neighborhoods (plus, what to pack to make the adventure complete). But today is special as we welcome back Eva Jorgensen of Sycamore Co. in honor of her forthcoming, beautifully inspiring book, Paris by Design. Several years ago, in preparation for a trip to Paris, Eva searched for a book focused on the art and design of Paris. With her background in fine art and stationery design, she wanted an intimate look at the creative life of the city—a practical guide with beautiful places to visit that someone with an artful aesthetic would appreciate. Turns out, she couldn’t find it! So she decided to find a great team of collaborators—including some of the city’s most fascinating residents—and create it herself! In honor of the book’s launch on April 9, we are honored to have Eva share some of her secrets to this magical city with us today!
When I was a kid, there was a process to bedtime. Showers and books and prayers and back scratching and finally, lights out. If I was lucky, while my mom was scratching my back, she’d tell me a story from her childhood. And if I was really lucky, it would be from her time in Paris. As I got older, I realized that so much of my mom’s sophisticated aesthetic was influenced by her former life in that place. And because of her, I’ve been a Francophile my entire life. Just like that Hemingway quote predicts—the City of Light stays with you. It really does.
Although I don’t live there yet, I’ve been lucky (and scrappy!) enough to spend extended periods of time there on several occasions—on study abroad, for an internship, as a volunteer, and most recently, on sabbatical with my husband and two kids. I was just there again for a week in February, and will return in June. Basically, I go as often as I can! And I am an endlessly curious researcher (for better or for worse). Ask my friends and family and they will tell you I am always consuming the latest book or article or movie or Instagram account about Paris—marking places on the map to check out the next time I’m there.
The locations I picked to share with you are all places I’ve been personally and absolutely loved. Most of them aren’t famous tourist attractions, just places that make me happy and that would be fun to share with a friend.
