When I used to think of the word 'sweatshirt', I couldn't help but think it was a dirty word. Literally. It brought to mind shapeless, yellowed-cuffs college attire that was emblazoned with some fraternity/college you didn't attend/freebie business logo and hadn't seen the wash since you had last visited your mother. Ahh, how times have changed.

Now, sweatshirts can not only be cool and hip, they can even be pretty. The once bottom rung attire choice has gotten a style upgrade with the likes of trendy dip-dying and feminine add-ons like eyelet, sequins and sparkles (in a completely non-Vegas trailer park way, of course). And with spring in full swing, it's the perfect way to stay warm under your raincoat without rummaging through all your freshly cleaned and put-away-for-the-season winter sweaters.

{clockwise} Zara (similar) / Old Navy / Vardagen / H & M / ASOS / Zara / J.Crew / Hello

For many years, I believed that green was not the color for me. I avoided all lime, grass and emerald hues, thinking that they somehow didn't work for my pale, Irish coloring (clearly, I needed to branch out). But then one day a little over a decade ago, I tried on a bold green sweater on a whim... and what do you know? I fell in love. These days, I have quite a collection of emerald pieces in my wardrobe.

As spring has sprung this year, after a particularly long and grey winter, I am reminded of how Pantone's color of the year is also the color of the season. Sure, there are blooms of varied colors and glorious blue skies, but emerald is the color that arrives first, leaves last and shines with the most brilliance and abundance in the season's sunshine. It is the color that breathes life into the world around us, waking it - and us - up after months dominated by grey and white. I for one feel recharged by this shade and am inspired to pull more emerald out of my closet and go wiggle my toes in the green, green grass.    



*This post is a submission for Pantone's Do You Feel Emerald? blog contest

nfortuntately, the glorious almost summer-like weather that arrived this weekend coincided a second, and much worse, bout of the flu this season. After five days of body aches, sneezing so violent I worried I might actually dislodge a lung and a pile of tissues on my beside table that rivaled the leaning tower of Pisa, my excitement even for 20-degree temperatures was lost somewhere inside my foggy, fever-addled brain. 

But my husband, fresh back from walking the dog Sunday afternoon, was so inspired by the amazing weather - and equally concerned about my being shut up inside the apartment and miserable for nearly a week - that he insisted I put on some clothes so he could, at the very least, drive me around in the sunshine. Somehow I managed a swipe of mascara, pulled my hair up in a ponytail and dusted off my sunglasses that hadn't seen, well, sun in many, many months. Even better than finally being able to break out sunglasses was the fact that I slipped on my Minnetonkas without socks. Without socks! For me, that is the first true sign of spring. I even kicked them off in the car and wriggled my bare toes in the warmth with glee. 

While I didn't last terribly long before I started sneezing uncontrollably and my eyes started watering to the point of blindness, it was worth it to enjoy the warmth of the sun and the sights of springtime coming to life. My husband even noted I was smiling for the first time in several zombie-faced days. The endless parade of bicyclists down the riverside paths, the masses out walking their dogs and just strolling through town, the hillside castles standing a little taller in the bright sun, the Seilbahn back in commission, taking people up and down over the hillside vineyards in Rüdesheim... all signs that this is only the beginning. And that perhaps it is finally time to put my snow boots away for the season.    

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

he first thought I had when I saw this weather forecast for the weekend, after a week of rain, mind you, was: I am going to the park on Sunday, taking off my top and laying in the sun. After three years here, I can finally understand the desperation that sets in after months of wondering if the sun has in fact burned up and now ceases to exist. That appalled shock I used to feel when stumbling upon German women casually soaking up the springtime park sun in their white, lacy bras - which is not because I'm a prude mind you, topless beaches are OK by me - has turned more into an intense desire to take my own clothes off the minute the sun graces us with its presence. Take the time to go home and change into the more 'appropriate' bikini top and it could be dark and stormy by the time you return. It's also inspiring to see Germans, the wonderfully anal planners and rule-followers that they are, do something so spontaneous just because it feels so damned good.

So until the cursed rain stops and the sun shows its face this weekend, I will be tucked away indoors, nursing a serious case of SAD, and now unfortunately, also a bit of cold/flu. But as soon as that sun shows its glorious face and the temperatures reach 20C, I'll be running to the nearest patch of green, throwing down a blanket and soaking in the vitamin D with the rest of the Germans - bikini top or not.



Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

o this was Berlin last week. The start of spring in our chosen new home brought buckets of snow, chilling wind and temperatures so cold, my eyeballs nearly froze. Even amidst the slushy streets and precarious icicles of death perched on building ledges high above, threatening to break free and impale us at any moment, we realized that somehow we still loved this city. Even the early darkness couldn't dampen the spark of excitement we feel when we are there.

There is just something about the endless opportunities big cities provide. Whatever kind of food you might feel like - Korean, Mexican, Indian, Jewish deli sandwiches - there's a place to find it. Whenever Bailey may tire of one park, there are countless others only blocks away for her to discover new smells and make new doggy friends. In true city fashion, there always seems to be something going on - art gallery shows, concerts, any number of various gatherings centered around any interest one might have. My husband and I spent most of the early part of our courtship in San Francisco, we were engaged in Paris, we decided on a whim to get married in New York City's Central Park - only to leave the country two months later to start a new life overseas. We have such a love affair with these great cities, it's about time we called one of them home. 

This trip to Berlin was really to get Bailey there and see if she could take to the big city life we so enjoy - and it turns out, she took to it even better than we could have hoped (although I'm sure endless snowballs and bribes of roast beef under the table at restaurants didn't hurt). We all explored some new neighborhoods and rediscovered ones we knew we loved. We found even more amazing food spots that blow even the best of Wiesbaden out of the water - actually decent coffee, sweets that don't taste like marzipan and bread that is neither sour nor brown. It is like the best of Germany with a dash of what the rest of the world has to offer as well. As much as people complain about German unfriendliness, we have received more smiles and kindness from strangers there than we ever expected. And not once did anyone take our flawed German as a sign to switch over to English, meaning we were increasingly confident every time we opened our mouths to speak. 

Yes, I think we'll get along here just fine...

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

...in other news, we may be rethinking our move

t seems that Berlin goes all out for the start of spring. This year it looks to begin with a blizzard.  Seriously, I've already seen the hashtag #snowmageddon show up in reference to Berlin's weather. Not exactly the kind of ushering into a new season I had in mind, but I suppose that is Berlin. After enduring what was the darkest, most depressing winter of our three years here, we're starting to wonder what we were thinking with moving to an even colder, even darker part of Germany. Are we masochists? Do we enjoy suffering from the crippling effects of SAD?

Even in our little corner of the country, the weather these past few weeks have been nothing short of infuriating. We thought early spring had arrived with a week of unseasonably warm weather, glorious sunshine and bright blue skies. Then the snow came back. And it not just came back, but dumped on us more spectacularly than it had all winter. Case in point:

Then, it nearly all melted away and we were back to snowless sidewalks and blue skies...

... only to be hit with this the very next day. Ugh. 

Now that we're currently seeing blue skies and minor patches of remaining snow where the sun has not yet reached when we look out the window, we head to Berlin tomorrow for weather that is looking a lot more 'White Christmas' than the first days of spring. Now I love the snow, especially coming from snowless coastal California, but this never-ending winter is really starting to wear on us. There were definite reasons why we picked Berlin over Barcelona for our next city, but the doubts are seriously creeping in right about now... I suppose we'll see how we feel after the next few days up there.  

If all else fails, perhaps this place in Deià is still available...

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische
Crappy weather forecast courtesy of the wetter-deutchland.com app

ere I thought San Francisco weather was finicky. The sun and considerable hike in temperatures this last week seemed to be making a strong case for early spring, but it looks like we are going right back to full-fledged winter next week with not only negative temperatures, but with snow as well. The high I've had from these blue skies and rare vitamin D streaming into my system have had me deluded that it's summer already and it's time to break out the short sleeves and sandals. Alas, 15°C is still a far cry from 25°C, but it's even further from the -5°C that is forecasted for next week. *sigh...*

To make this giant step back into winter even more painful, I've spent the better part of this sunny, glorious week in bed with the flu. Instead of basking in the warm (okay, lukewarm) rays of sunshine, I've been bundled and shivering in bed, and instead of bird watching (okay, people-watching) on benches, I've been watching a season's worth of bad television (Pretty Little Liars - don't judge, fluffy nonsense was all my fever-addled brain could take). As much as my body has been fighting me on doing much more than shuffling from the bed to the kitchen for tea and then back, my mind and soul are desperate to shake off the numbness of this week.

Thankfully, the fog in my brain is lifting, just as the grey skies are rolling in, and I expect to be back to my old self... by the time the snow starts falling again. Dammit.

So suck it, Punxsutawney Phil. And thanks for nothing.




Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

Today being March first and with the spring equinox just weeks away - or earlier, if you believe Punxsutawney Phil's predictions - it is time for spring blossoms, and therefore, spring color, to begin. With the depressing, oppressing grey winter, I have been a little too eager to jump right to summer with neon brights (been loving me some highlighter yellow and hot pink), but perhaps it's time to slow things down and take joy in the soft, budding colors of spring. 

Now, I'm not a huge fan of pastels. I think baby blues, powder pinks and pale lavenders just wash my pasty self out. But mint, oh magical mint green... I don't know what it is about this color that I've come to be to love so much, but I might be obsessed. Perhaps because mint is so much more than just a color, the smell and taste simultaneously invoking relaxing, uplifting and soothing feelings, the shade invades your senses as though it possessed the same qualities as mint itself. Even with all my intense desire for this color over the past year, I've barely managed to add to my mint collection and I'm getting a serious itch to now that the season is just right. 

Lucky for me, it seems this popular hue is still going strong and is showing up everywhere - in all its solid, color-blocked, striped, polka dotted, sequined and initialed glory. My favorites right now are the subtle polka dotted sweater, Madewell's darker mint skinnies (because, let's face it, some of our asses just don't belong in super pale pants), that monogrammed leopard pouch (I will forever be a prep and obsessed with all things monogrammed) and my all-time favorite shoes, now being offered with a pop-of-mint sole. Of course, I am still pining for that oh-so-spring iPhone case and the go-to Essie shade, Mint Candy Apple. Oh mint, you just make me happy with your pleasing hue!      

So here's to that glorious season called spring. May you be full of blossoms and sun - and, as predicted, come early!




see this collage and its details bigger here

inque Terre was every bit the dream I expected it to be. In person, it feels as if you are living each day in a postcard. The towns were amazing, the views were amazing, the sea... ahhh, amazing. The only thing that was less than amazing was the weather. It was May and the skies and temperatures were still very much in spring territory - grey, cold and rainy. It put a bit of a damper - literally - on the seaside holiday I had in my head, including the Mediterranean swims I was hoping for, but somehow we managed. 

We stayed in Riomaggiore at the most impressive apartment (that window, above, was seriously ridiculous and half our photos with it in the background look as if it's just a beautiful painting up on the wall, rather than an opening to real life outside) for an incredible deal for what we had. We did our first apartment stay on our trip to Paris, and I must say, I'm hooked. Your own kitchen, no housekeeping to get in your way, the feeling of living like a local - you can't beat it. It also makes things like making coffee in the morning and being able to live on take-out rather than expensive restaurants more of a reality. I can't recommend it highly enough. 

Other than one whole rain-soaked day we all spent indoors reading The Hunger Games, we managed to do a good amount of exploring around the five villages. We did the Via dell'Amore (Lover's way), which is a cliff-side trail that went between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where we stopped for some of the best gelato (out from the train station and up on the left) and focaccia (La Cambusa) I've ever had. The sun finally started to come out that day just as I was admiring the clear, teal water in the most perfect swimming spot in all of Cinque Terre, only to realize not only would I have to peel off four layers of clothes, but the water itself was still ice cold. A few brave girls went for it and everyone in town gathered to watch and cheer them on. We did manage to make it down to Monterosso's rocky beach in time for a little laying out in the sun and to dip our toes in the freezing sea while it was still light enough to do so.

On another day, we made it to Vernazza, the town most ravaged by the floods last fall. While much of the main street's buildings were still being worked on, seeing the photos of where they had to dig out from shows how far they've come. We enjoyed lunch there on a massive outdoor patio literally right on the sea and even though the food was mostly so-so tourist fare, it felt good to bring at least a bit of business to this town that's still  rebuilding. 

We also made a stop in Corniglia, the only one of the five villages not at water level, which meant a massive, nearly 400-step climb up the cliff from the train station. Our brief stop there offered tasty frozen lemon drinks and beautiful views - not to mention a charming canine mascot who overlooked the main square - but I felt this town lacked a bit of the charm of Riomaggiore and Manarola. And I promise that was not just the burn in my backside talking (gotta work all that pasta and focaccia off somehow, I suppose).

That final night we hurried back to our apartment to enjoy our last Riomaggiore sunset (really the best view of all the villages), which serendipitously turned out to be not only the most gorgeous sunset of our stay, but one of the most gorgeous I'd ever seen. The bi-polar weather created the most amazing canvas of sky and clouds to create the appearance of a world on fire. The spectacular display made it especially hard to realize we were leaving this magical place the next day...    

Next up: Leaving Riomaggiore for Pisa and Florence.

Daily Crop Cap by Jessica Hische

Some photos courtesy of Mom