As a lot of you know, I spent most of 2018 fulfilling a lifelong bucket list dream of living in Paris, France. my husband, Brett, and I had talked about living abroad someday as a non-negotiable must-do practically since the day we met ten years ago, and after about a decade together we were finally able to make it happen.

there were so many amazing things that came of diving in and moving to Paris - you can see my apartment tour here and read about my favorite language learning tools from all my French lessons here - but today I’m sharing some personal life lessons that really hit me in the feels while living there.

read on for my list of 6 major things I learned from living abroad!

We’ve officially arrived at the part of the pandemic where all the headlines have started celebrating the ‘return to normal,’ and while I love to see it as much as anyone, I’m also - for lack of a better term - kind of freaked out. Kate here, and today I wanna unpack why it’s more than okay if you’re anxious about going ‘back to normal.’

Part of the reason this influx of ‘get ready for back to normal’ content seems so off-putting to me is because it all seems to be presented in a cheeky, lighthearted voice usually reserved for ‘get ready for back to school!’ tips. And I get it - we all could use a healthy dose of light-hearted ANYTHING right now, me included. But does anyone else feel like we’re all just kind of glossing over the fact that this is still very much going on, here and elsewhere??

as a lot of you probably know, I’ve been learning French intensively for about a year now. I always had a fascination with languages and wanted to learn a second one, and over the past year I’ve started getting a bunch of questions about my favorite language learning methods.

today i’m sharing my favorite language learning resources and tools, plus the biggest tips and tricks that have worked for me and helped me stick with learning French over the past year!

If you’ve been following us on social media, you’ve probably seen a bunch of dreamy desert scenes pop up in your feed this past week. That’s because I (Kate) have spent the past 6 days running around sunny Palm Springs, CA speaking at an extremely cool conference for creative women entrepreneurs called Altitude Summit - and I haven’t been able to stop taking pictures of literally everything.

If you’ve never heard of Altitude Summit, or ‘Alt’ Summit for short, you’re not alone. I didn’t know what it was until about six months ago, but I’m definitely glad I do now. It’s basically a super inspiring coming together of artists, entrepreneurs, writers, speakers, and creators of all kinds - and it’s full of nothing but dreamers!

Today I wanna share a little photo diary of some of the highlights of my week at Alt, and a few powerful takeaways I left with.

If you’re a dreamer like me and have major wanderlust, there’s a good chance that Tokyo is on your travel bucket list — and for good reason. This city of more than 9 million is full of delicious food, unique entertainment, and historic sites.

I’m still reminiscing (and drooling) over the ramen, tbh.

Traveling to Tokyo (or just dreaming of it)? Check out my Tokyo travel tips below for recommendations for restaurants, entertainment, and activities!

i used to be the kind of person who had to bring my whole. entire. life. with me when i traveled. anyone else?

no joke, i used to end up checking two bags, going over the weight limit on both, and basically dragging my entire life with me wherever i went. totally exhausting! i finally got sick of the airlines losing my bag and waiting at baggage claim every trip and decided i was gonna be a carry-on only person.

though it definitely takes a little planning in order to really pull it off, i think it’s one of the smartest travel decisions you can make. read on for our top tips on how to travel with just a carry-on!

I have a lot of posts coming soon about my favorite spots, wardrobe, and what I learned living overseas, but today I wanted to share some photos of my little Parisian apartment! This spot has all the quintessential Parisian charm and was the perfect place to call home for six months.

happy 2019!! hope you all had a restful and wonderful holiday break. for a few years now, my NYE tradition has been hanging in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with some of my close friends to give the year a sunny sendoff. today i’m sharing a couple snaps from the week and two of my new favorite restaurants that you HAVE to try if you’re ever down in the Baja peninsula.

here are some highlights from the trip:

Paris is a city known for an endless list of amazing things- its beautiful light, the history, the hundreds of artists and writers who have created masterpieces there…the list goes on. one thing i didn’t realize until moving over here is that until recently, this city hasn’t necessarily been known for their coffee. i learned this relatively quickly, as it wasn’t long before i discovered that it was indeed possible to order a disappointing cappuccino. disappointing baguette? almost never. but the coffee scene was something that took me a minute to navigate.

today i'm sharing a few highlights from my first tour in australia! this was also my first visit to australia in general, so i was kind of freaking out in excitement about it. i was there for almost two weeks, and over the course of my tour i stopped in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne. i am so crazy in love with this country now and i can't wait to go back! here are some favorite snaps from our travels:

when i was a kid, i used to bring a little notebook along on vacation (more than likely it was some super lit Lisa Frank one) and write about all the stuff we did on our trip. i SO wish i knew where those notebooks were. not only does travel journaling help you preserve awesome memories, it also provides a really cool on-the-go creative outlet. i find that when i'm traveling, i don't get as many chances to be creative unless i'm really mindful about it, and this new style of travel journaling that seems to be all over insta just might be the answer. the notebooks are small, easy to pack, and the pages are blank which means endless possibilities. my favorite journals are the ones that combine writing/diary entries, photos, and sketching or drawing. 

a couple weeks ago, i shared part I of my Cinque Terre photo diary from earlier this year. this was undoubtedly one of my favorite trips i've ever taken, and considering i've been walking around NYC this week in 24 degree weather i thought it might be time to share more photos of these summery, sun-drenched italian shores. for the second part of our time in Cinque Terre, we stayed in Manarola, one town north of Riomaggiore (where we spent the first part of the trip). we did a lot of hiking along the cliffs which was breathtakingly beautiful, and ate an outrageous amount of pasta. so hopefully those canceled each other out. here are some highlights:

this past spring i checked off one of my major bucket list destinations: cinque terre in the liguria region of italy. it was even more beautiful than all the photos i've seen, and the people (and the FOOD. and the WINE.) were absolutely incredible. i have so many photos from this trip that i'll be sharing them in two batches, but here are some highlights from my first couple days. i stayed in riomaggiore (the southernmost of the five little towns) for the first part of my trip, and it was totally magical.  

as the former president of non-existant support group Overpackers Anonymous, i know a thing or two about bringing too much stuff on trips. that's why i'm starting this packing guide series, where i'll share my fave wardrobe picks and tips for bringing everything you need on your next adventure and leaving everything you don't at home. it's taken me a good 12 years of crazy coast-to-coast, over oceans travel to figure out how to pack a good suitcase, so hopefully this series can spare you some of the nightmare situations i've encountered along the way (helllooooo London trip 2009 where i tried to traverse the entire rainy city in suede high heel boots. poor choice to say the least)

not sure about you guys, but around this time of year i find myself on a lot of planes and in a lot of airports around the country. i think it's safe to say that holiday travel is always stressful AF no matter how you slice it, but we're here to help you keep that stress level to a minimum so you can fast forward to sharing those holiday spirits with friends and fam. we put together a fool proof list of our favorite airplane carry on bag must-haves so you're stocked up with all the essentials you need while in transit this season.  

in the spirit of the holiday season (also sometimes referred to as the incessant exhausting travel season) almost upon us, i've been thinking a lot about travel plans. one thing i've been trying (key word here is trying) to implement in my life is a packing discipline to help myself limit the amount of shit i bring with me when i leave my house. while i haven't mastered it yet, i think i've found the key to slowly forcing myself into minimalism: it's called the weekender bag.

ohhhh, amsterdam. you are exquisite. this city is the first place i ever visited in Europe back in 2009, and i immediately fell in love. even though that first trip was in November and it was freezing and raining and i got hella lost, it was fantastic. this past summer, i got to see and explore the city in it's warm weather glory while on tour. here are some highlights:

there's something about landing in a different timezone after a suuuuper long flight that is kind of awesome. some part of me seems to enjoy the challenge of seeing how easily i can trick myself into thinking it's normal to be awake and walking around when i would otherwise be fast asleep at home. this past May, when i flew to Dublin, Ireland to start my 2016 European tour, I gave myself a full day prior to the first show (as I always do) to get acclimated.