Currently: April 2024

April has been such an interesting month. With Easter being early, an eclipse in totality, and the ongoing FAFSA saga, it hardly seems like it should be the end of April. In fact, for much of April, I have said it is March… which makes zero sense. Alas, here we are at the end of April.

So much feels so heavy. It feels impossible to disconnect. I feel exhausted by so many things. At times, I feel extraordinarily lonely with work and how daunting everything feels right now. I was supposed to fly to Houston for a big event today, but weather disrupted that plan. Next week is my big presentation for work, as well as several large events, so I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all right now.

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links for tours and products I love at no additional cost to you.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Reading:

The Hidden Book

Full transparency: I chose The Hidden Book based on its cover. Kirsty Manning provides a thoughtful look into the lives of those impacted by World War II and through the eyes of their descendants, weaving a story that transcends generations. I feel like her writing really shines as she weaves the stories of Lena and the prisoners of the Mauthausen concentration camp. The human emotion is so vivid and so raw, it’s hard to not experience the fear, the sadness, and the helplessness of Manning’s characters as they confront the evil around them.

Perhaps slightly less sympathetic are the stories of Hannah and Roza, the mother and daughter whose experiences with Nico’s album lead to this journey through the past. I found Hannah’s struggle against her mother’s wishes to keep the book hidden a bit tiresome. Hannah wants the book. Roza says no. She never gives the why. You never see the same depth of character or humanity of Roza or Hannah that you experience with Lena.

I found the ending of this book a bit abrupt, and I was left wanting more from Hannah and her family. I wanted to better understand all of their motivations and their reconciliation with the past. While Hannah eventually published her family’s story, it felt shallow and undefined.

Overall, this is a beautiful story of humanity. It gives you a better understand of some of the less famous but still brutal concentration camps, and you’ll enter the mind of the young people who made to make difficult choices when confronted with evil. I would have liked to see more of the present-day character development, but it’s still a good read if you are interested in historical fiction and World War II.

Note: I received an advanced reader copy of The Hidden Book through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

Maria

I chose to read this book because The Sound of Music, both the Rogers and Hammerstein musical and the film, are a source of comfort for me. At first I was reluctant to get started, but once I did, I finished it in a single day.

Michelle Moran’s book, Maria, a novel about Maria von Trapp challenges you to abandon what you know about her popularly portrayed story and go beyond what you know. Moran does a wonderful job of weaving together fiction and reality. As someone who grew up watching the movie, became perplexed by the Rogers and Hammerstein musical soundtrack and its differences to the film, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Maria challenged me to think more critically about how other’s stories are told. You learn more about (the actual) Maria’s upbringing with facts that are glossed over in the mainstream tellings of her life. You learn more about the atmosphere of the home, her relationships with the children and the other staff, and a bit more about their life after leaving Austria. Moran does a great job of keeping the story moving and bringing out the humanity of all the characters that we’ve all come to know and love.

One of the best things about this book for me is how it pushed me to consider how popular narratives shape what we understand about historical events and figures. We must not accept their stories at face value and be willing to dive into multiple sources to ensure that what we’re consuming includes the totality of their experience. This isn’t meant to disparage the original Sound of Music musical or the beloved movie, but the totality of Maria’s experience is so much more complex and Moran’s story does a great job of capturing the complexity of the human emotion through the many choices she had to make in her life. I particularly appreciated the follow up stories of the Trapp Family Singers, which provided a deeper look at the reality of their experiences and what happened afterwards.

Advice for the reader: set aside your conventional knowledge about Maria and the von Trapp family going into this book. It makes it a little easier to digest and appreciate, though admittedly, it is difficult to do after appreciating their stories for so many years. Kudos to Moran for tackling such a beloved figure in such a thoughtful way.

Note: I received an advanced reader copy of Maria through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

Travel Planning:

Long Weekend in London

A few months ago, Tom found points flights to London for Memorial Day weekend. This week, I realized the points required for those flights dropped significantly, so I rebooked them. We’ve booked our hotel on points and can use a club upgrade certificate, so it should be a pretty inexpensive long weekend.

In my previous career (with its 5 vacation days per year), I would make this quick trip to London all the time. I would leave on Thursday night, take Friday off, and come back on Monday of a holiday weekend. The weather was always crisp, especially compared to Dallas. I’d see shows, visit museums, and enjoy an easy getaway. We did a similar quick trip to London for Tom’s birthday a few years ago, and he’s been anxious to go back ever since.

Summer in France

I need to buckle down and start working on this again. I haven’t touched the itinerary in about 2 months. I follow Heather from Ferreting Out the Fun on instagram (and you should, too!). She posted a few stories from Provence and visiting the Rhone Valley that gave me some ideas. There are just so many great places to go that I become overwhelmed with choice. But, summer is coming, and I need to get it together! Has anyone spent time in the Savoie region of France? I have become a bit more intrigued with it. Some of my favorite cheeses come from this area and I’m hearing that they have interesting wines. Tom is becoming more interested in the Languedoc-Roussillon and the Loire Valley.

I have strangely just realized that this will be the 4th summer we’ve spent in France. I offer you a brief look of our summer adventures in France.

Drinking:

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about wine on here. On our February trip to Paris, I asked Erwan at Secret Wine Door to put together a selection of bottles he thought we would enjoy. Two of the bottles were from Sancerre, most popular for its white wines. We had my mom over before Easter, and we opened the D. Roger Neveu Côte des Embouffants (white) and the Pierre François Xavier-R (red). The Sancerre red was a lovely surprise – light and fruity, balanced, and not at all what I was expecting. Even my mom, who is still learning to enjoy red wine, enjoyed it.

We are at the point with our Brunello wine club membership at Castiglion del Drago where we are considering upgrading to the next level. We’ve been on a bit of a collecting spree of older vintages after trying a 2004 Brunello di Montalcino. It was incredible to taste the tertiary flavors of wine. One, I didn’t know that I would be able to tell a difference. Two, it’s fascinating how wine changes over time.

Wearing:

Around the time we decided to spend spring break in France last month, Matches offered an incredible sale and I decided to order the Emilia Wickstead Marlen dress that I’ve been lusting after. Between the sale and the difference in European pricing, I saved quite a bit more than I would have ordering it here. It really is the most beautiful shade of blue, and I love it with my Sarah Flint block sandals in sand or gold! I’m probably going to wear this for my presentation Thursday!

The other big sale I took advantage of was at Neiman Marcus. I have been wanting a new pair of blue topaz earrings for awhile. Blue topaz is my birthstone, and my parents gave me a pair when I was growing up. They were stolen when I moved back to Dallas, and I have not replaced them. With an immediate cash rebate + 8 miles/dollar a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t say no. I ended up choosing a style similar to these, but with white gold accents. They go beautifully with my dress – and most of my other very blue wardrobe, lol.

Lastly, I know I’ve talked about the magic of the Trish McEvoy make-up planner. It seriously makes everything so easy. I love being able to just grab a case, put my brushes in it, and go. I don’t have to remember everything or make decisions, I can just decide what look I want, grab it, and go. I’m really loving the bright colors in the spring 2024 planner. The smooch lip color is great on its own, but I also love the Barbie pink lip gloss. I didn’t think I would be able to pull it off, but I really love it!

Photo Editing:

I’ve been catching up on a lot of new posts this month! It’s been a hotel heavy month for me.

IYCMI: Shortly after posting my March update, I shared our itinerary for Bordeaux and Paris. This was our second trip to Bordeaux. I’ve lost county of how many times we’ve been to Paris, but DFW-CDG is about to become my most frequent flight of all time. Isn’t that wild?!

I posted my review of the Park Hyatt Milan. Spoiler alert: it was great! We love the Park Hyatt Paris, so I expected to love it. However, the newly renovated Park Hyatt Milan is totally different and is completely wonderful. It feels more like a boutique hotel in a lot of ways. It’s a great use of Chase UR points if you want to splurge on a great stay in Milan. Milan hotels are expensive, and Park Hyatt is the middle of everything.

I also shared more about our stay at the Palas Cerequio wine resort, as part of our first trip to Piedmont. Palas Cerequio is an easy drive from Milan, but it feels a world away from both Milan and Turin.

Traveling south to Tuscany, I shared some of our favorite places to stay in Montalcino. Obviously, we can’t always stay at Castiglion del Bosco, so I wanted to share some more affordable options in the area. We’ve also figured out that choosing where to stay in Montalcino will significantly affect the type of trip you have. (It’s far better to walk home from enotecas after wine tastings!)

I’ve spent a lot of time writing about Tuscany on this blog, so I also finished a post on where to stay in Umbria. It remains absolutely underrated in so many areas. If you are looking for affordable Italy, I’m absolutely going to send you to Umbria. There’s so much to see, the wines are great, and it’s definitely less expensive than Tuscany. A lot of people will tell you it’s more rustic than Tuscany. In some ways, I guess it is, but you can definitely find rustic in Tuscany. They are both great and we love both for different and similar reasons.