Taking Off
Phew, I can hardly believe we made it. Today we’re boarding the plane (all 8 of us!) and embarking on our adventure to France. Send happy thoughts our way for our kids to survive the entire flight....
View ArticleLuggage & Travel Day
Another practical post to start off the week. Today, I’ll be sharing the luggage we chose and reporting on our travel day. Our luggage search was fairly extensive. First we window-shopped, just to get...
View ArticleFinancing a Move Abroad
Here’s another practical post. Many readers have written in asking what the real costs of moving abroad are. It’s a great question. So let’s do it. Let’s talk about the nitty gritty of how much money...
View ArticleSchool in France
Are you curious about how we’re handling school while we’re in France? Today, I thought I’d write up a little report for you all about it. But first, let’s admire these pretty French school notebooks...
View ArticleHow We Shop & Eat in France
There have been sweet comments and emails asking more about food in France, so we took the camera to the market this morning and snapped some pictures so I could write a proper post. We love the food...
View ArticleWhat to Pack When Moving Abroad
So what in the world should you pack if you are moving to another country and what should you leave behind? Great question. And the answer is a vague “it all depends”. Are you moving to a furnished...
View ArticleMaybe Just a Few More Months…
Have I told you our plans? For the last several months, we have been thinking about what’s next for our family. After approximately 1 million discussions, we decided that if possible, we’d really like...
View ArticleAnother Year or So
Hello, Friends! Remember Plan A? It looked like this: Move to France for one year. February 1st 2011 to February 1st 2012. Then, last January I announced an adjusted plan. Let’s call it Plan B: Stay a...
View ArticleTwo Years in France
By Gabrielle. February 1st marked 2 years that we’ve lived in France. Two years! It’s flown by so incredibly fast. And I feel emotional every time I think about it. We hoped and suspected it would be...
View Article5 Tips: Finances When Moving Abroad
Image and text by Gabrielle. The other day, we were wiring some money from one of our U.S. bank accounts to our French bank (funds for the cottage!), and I realized I’ve learned a few things about how...
View ArticleFor Rent: La Cressonnière
Image and text by Gabrielle. Earlier this month, I wrote a post called Rent The Life, all about unusual and picturesque places you can lease and live in. And I received a bunch a funny + sweet emails...
View ArticleHomesick Foods
By Gabrielle. Image by Katharina. Well, hello. Here I am waving to you from Oakland, California!! We made it. We arrived Monday night. My siblings and nephews (Jordan and Jared and Liz and Sara and...
View ArticleSeventy Five Percent
By Gabrielle. We are home! It doesn’t quite feel like home yet, but it’s getting there. And we love this house! I feel like I’m still recovering from last week. We knew clearing out the storage unit...
View ArticleBritish Schools vs. American Schools
Earlier we discussed Dutch schools and French schools, and today, I thought it would be fun to discuss English schools too. Let’s start with Jessica Rushing. Jessica is an American mother of 4 kids....
View ArticleFrance Update
Some fun progress on our year in France. We heard back from the homeowners of a house that we are very interested in renting. I am trying hard not to get my hopes us — but the pictures are so charming...
View ArticleVive la France!
Oh my goodness. We’re really doing it. We found a house and sent off our contract and security deposit last night. So. It’s now officially official. WE’RE MOVING TO FRANCE! Next up: shopping for plane...
View ArticlePassport Covers
We know that this move to France is going to be really stretching, and overwhelming in lots of ways for all of us, but especially for our kids. So to help get them thinking about it in a positive way,...
View ArticleLa Cressonnière
Would you like to know about the house we are renting in France? It’s a house with a name instead of an address — which makes me smile every time I think of it. I’ve never lived in a house with a...
View ArticlePlane Tickets & Books
I’ve decided Thursdays will be my days to write about our France preparations and share anything practical we’ve learned. Updates this week: We bought our plane tickets — whoo hoo! And we’ve been...
View ArticleAccordion Folder, Movers & Storage
Here’s another one of those practical posts about France. It’s features the accordion folder above (which has lately become a beloved object of mine) and how we are moving and storing our belongings...
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