Currently: February 2025

February has been a lot of months in single weeks. I was texting with a friend earlier this week about the fact that I go between feeling like I’m on autopilot to feeling frantic with all of the things that I get done. In many ways, it reminds me of what 2017 felt like, but I have more of a 1,000 mile stare than I did then. And, I’ve realized that I can only control so much. It does me no good to freak out about all the things I can’t control. My responsibility is to impact what I can control.

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Reading:

The Wartime Chocolate Maker by Gosia Nealon

I wanted to love this book. Having recently returned from a trip to Poland, I thought that I would be able to better understand much of what I learned about the Polish WW2 experience on my trip to Krakow. For me, the book started out a bit slow and hard to follow. Eventually I caught on to the switches between Katharina and Kasia, and I grew to love them. I struggled to understand the relationships she developed with Sebastian and Felek. The relationships between all the characters felt a bit superficial. I failed to connect to the stories about chocolate bombs and the use of Pertitin because the storyline never felt fully developed.

I loved the small bits we got about Kasia’s ability to taste chocolate and imagine what flavors. I’m not sure what secrets were being passed back and forth or what the significance of the chocolate factory was. I appreciated the honesty of what it was like to juggle German and Polish identities during a time when one was revered and one could be a death sentence. That allowed me to better connect with the conflicts faced by the characters. There was a great deal of human emotion to contend with when considering what the right choice for Zofia was, whether anyone else felt or realized it – but I wish there had been more development of her story, her arc, her actions that lead to her final moments. Kornel perhaps showed the greatest complexity – struggling with the feelings of a child, recognizing the severity of the situations that those around him were facing, and eventually finding his place as a place of solace for Sara and her daughter.

Do I think this is a necessary read? Yes. Poland and the challenges faced by the Polish people are largely discounted and minimized in WW2 historical fiction (and history collectively). Was it my favorite read? No. I was hoping for so much more from the character development to the storyline. Would I read it again after doing more research into the experiences of the people in Gdansk? Maybe.

Note: I received an advanced reader copy of The Wartime Chocolate Maker through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

Wellness:

I am proud to say that I have continued on my mediation journey throughout the month. However, I am not proud that I have not adhered to my plan for stretching. I shall start again in March. And, up until this week’s very cold snap, I was doing really well on my walking. I’m excited that it’s warming up so I can start getting that in again. It was really nice to come home to flowers on Friday night from our one of college partners. It’s always nice to hear thank you, and these flowers were a beautiful reminder that spring is coming!

One personal victory – I have a 2012 Emilia Wickstead dress that I bought from Vestiaire Collective in May 2021. It’s one of my favorite dresses that Kate Middleton has worn, and it was navy! Though it was a size smaller than I usually wear, I decided to purchase it when it went on clearance. I’ve almost resold it multiple times. On Friday, I had a couple of campus visits and it was really cold, so I decided to pull it out and just see if it fit. And IT DID! Now I just need to decide if I want to get altered from a midi dress to being knee-length.

I will fully admit that I have some pretty severe body dysmorphia in the way where what I see in the mirror doesn’t feel reflective of my reality. For example, I’ve lost 35 pounds since September. I don’t see my body any differently now than I did in September. This is clearly not the case, and why I was so excited when that dress fit. Some of this, I think, is learned behavior from having a pretty terrible friend group as a teenager who constantly made me feel like I was less than them. Other parts of it are still not feeling content with where I am right now. None of these are healthy behaviors, but I like to be honest about how challenging it can be to feel confident when what the world sees isn’t always what you see.

Celebrating:

We ended up spending Valentine’s Day weekend in Florence. When we were there over Christmas, we had a few bottles of wine that we couldn’t get home. They were gracious enough to hold on to them for us, but we decided we should go pick them up. The city was remarkably quiet, and it was so lovely. We had one afternoon where we were able to sit on our balcony and enjoy some rose and schiacciata alla Fiorentina, the traditional Carnival pastry. I took exactly one photo of Tom on this weekend trip, and we got no photos together. However, this moment, sitting on the balcony? It made me happy.

As part of our growing relationship with the team at the St. Regis Florence (it’s been 10 years!), they offered us a customized cheese tasting with our wines. We were able to spend a bit of time with a cheese sommelier and their wine sommelier. It was DELICIOUS. When people ask me why I go back to the same places over and over, I have to point to things like that. Who notices that you’re shipping wines to the hotel and comes up with an idea to help you better understand them? Folks that are really good at hospitality, that’s who.

Also, with a nod to Valentine’s Day, they put us back in the same junior suite where our story with them began. It’s a beautiful room that overlooks the Arno with traditional Florentine decor. It felt a little extra romantic to have that be our room for Valentine’s Day. (Winter sunrises in Florence are some of the best. You will not change my mind.)

Our quick trip – literally 4 days – was punctuated by the familiar faces that have made us come to love Florence. In fact, our last evening was a long conversation about the current political landscape and the impact on Europe with one of our restaurant friends. We are all connected. It’s no longer about all the tourist sites, though we love returning to the museums. Rather, it’s about the people we’ve come to know.

I was so emotional about all of it, that there was a brief moment on Saturday night when I begged to stay longer because I just didn’t want to come home. Tom entertained and offered it, but at the end of the day, I knew I needed to be responsible and come home to this whole mess that is brewing.

Travel Planning:

Our Spring Break trip to Chile has been derailed by a few things that popped up when we get back. We’ve been frantically looking for alternatives and went back and forth on a lot of things. Ultimately, I think we’re going to end up doing a few things we’ve already done because it’s easier. I’m a bit conflicted on that, but ultimately, I drug my feet a little too much… and here we are. It’s also the hazard of my job that things can pop up that don’t make it possible to keep my original plans and schedules.

When we return, I’ll spend a week in Boston on a whirlwind recruiting trip for work.

I still want 2025 to be a year of new adventures, and I’m feeling pretty conflicted about cancelling Chile. Obviously, we will add some new places in France this summer, but it’s not quite enough. I’m really feeling the need to push beyond our comfort zone and break through the travel comfort zone.

Side note: I really loved this post from Diane about unexpected surprises in France. Many of the things she mentioned are why we’ve returned so often and tried to go deeper in our experiences.

Eating & Drinking:

We made it to both February events at our wine storage. First Saturday was an Italian themed night, so I made my penne arribiata and my bolognese sauce to share. Both came out perfectly, even though it was a little hectic at the end to finish both pastas at the same time. I’m proud of me. Third Thursday was moved to third Saturday, and it was National Open that Bottle You’ve Been Saving night. We opened the 2010 Dom Perignon that I was gifted when my work was featured in Time Magazine in 2021. It was a nice occasion to share it with folks who would enjoy it since Tom and I would never be able to finish a bottle of champagne on our own.

We also did something new in January that we’re doing again this month. Fearing’s, the restaurant at the Ritz Carlton Dallas (where we had our wedding reception), does a monthly 5-course wine pairing dinner with their sommelier. Paul is known throughout the Dallas community for sourcing amazing wines with a fantastic price-to-quality ratio. Last month, we experienced the traveling grapes of Italy and Spain, which included wines from Oregon, Texas, and Argentina. Once the wines are selected, they give the chefs free-reign to create a menu. It’s super creative and very tasty. While everything we tried at the January dinner was fantastic, I really needed a moment for vanilla-orange ice cream that was severed alongside the chocolate hazelnut fried pie. It happened the be the only picture I took that night, too. That was something that Paul pointed out – no one at this dinner was on their phone. Everyone was completely present and enjoying the meal and the company.

Photo Editing:

I finally finished my post on one of the best hotels in the Alsace. It’s been a long time coming. Since February 2020, to be exact. I had this great plan that I was going to do a France in February theme, since that’s what really got us enamored with off-season travel. But, work happened, life happened, and I didn’t do it. Story of my life. No matter how hard I try, there’s always so much work to be done, and I always set my creative pursuits to the side.

I can’t really decide what I want to blog about next. I’ve been kicking around an Italy itinerary for wine lovers that focused on some of the most beautiful places that we’ve explored so far. Sometimes I want to write about some of my favorite Florence souvenirs, but I’m also still trying to find the perfect souvenir. Honestly, I should just go back to my draft posts and see what I haven’t finished. I start so many posts and then forget what I want to focus on. I guess that’s how you know I write all the posts you find on this blog though.