Escaping the Empty Nest

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Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

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In Case You Missed It:

Paris in the Snow

When it snowed in Paris this February, everybody was shocked.
It was the first time it had snowed in several years, and the city just couldn’t handle it. The Seine is still well over its banks, so Paris had two weather events happening simultaneously--flooding and snowing. How much can one city take? Actually, it could take a lot. People were still...(read more)

Hey, Empty Nesters! Let’s Get on the Millennial Bandwagon!

No, I’m not saying we should move back in with our parents. Hear me out. You, empty nest women, have been taking care of everybody and everything for decades. You’ve worked hard, managed kids or husbands or parents, helped your loved ones study and move, bailed...(read more)

My Fully Furnished Apartment

Our US furniture was unworthy of being shipped to Paris. I had to start over. For the first time, I was able to shop slowly and chose things I liked instead of deciding which Ikea sofa went with our garage-sale end tables. I scoured flea markets and furniture stores. I consulted Parisians and expats. Our shipment of American household goods (books...(read more)

Practicing Fear: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring

When I checked the listing of concerts in Paris last weekend, one caught my eye: Rachmaninoff’s first piano concerto and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, in a big echo-y cathedral. Rachmaninoff is big and splashy and thrilling and swoony and if an orchestra and a pianist and a...(read more)

London Has Been Waiting For Me

I first visited the UK as a child. My older sister had moved there, and my mother and I went to visit her. Being from Texas, I was raised knowing that I lived in the best place on earth, so it was a shock to go to another country and see that they had interesting people, delicious food, green grass, castles, bookstores, cool accents, and men wearing...(read more)

12 Days of Paris

Living in Paris is lovely year-round, but Christmas time is especially beautiful. It’s cold outside, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying the season. During these Twelve Days of Paris, I’ll show you some things Parisians see during this time of year. Joyeux Noël!...(read more)

Are You The Ti?

When we moved to Paris, we joined a big, old, formal Presbyterian church. The building has stone floors, stained glass, a cavernous vaulted ceiling, a steeple, rooms for every purpose, real wooden pews, and bona fide catacombs. The choir wears robes. The clergy wears robes. There is an organ with pipes the size of a drive-in movie screen. It’s the...(read more)

The Truth about Paris Style

Style tip--match your clothing to nearby artwork. If you google Paris style, you’ll get a thousand articles that tell you to cuff your jeans at the ankle, wear a striped shirt, and eat delicious food while miraculously remaining a size two. That kind of help I could do without. Then I moved to France, and I saw that these women have truly got it going on. They...(read more)

Too Bad Harvey Weinstein Never Watched MAS*H

If those guys had watched M*A*S*H, they would have noticed the male characters’ gradual evolution from womanizing, philandering, harassing playboys to civilized men. In M*A*S*H’s early years, most of the male characters were lovable serial adulterers. The fact that they...(read more)

Thoughts on Turning 51

Last year, when I turned fifty, it was a little like getting my period the first time: I was disgusted, but also fascinated with my new supplies and thrilled with the landmark status. This year, I find that turning fifty-one is not as momentous of an occasion, but it was definitely worth observing. It’s quieter, more settled, and a whole lot more secure. I just...(read more)

A Friend Who is Transgender

I’m so glad the internet gives us the opportunity to time travel! Yvonne-of-one-month-ago could use a little help.
Dear Yvonne-of-one-month-ago,
Something new is coming your way. So make yourself a cup of chamomile, curl up in your favorite green armchair, and read this. You’ve...(read more)

Lying in French

My parents were both country people, and they taught me everything I needed to know about animals. There are two kinds of animals: livestock and protectors. Livestock willingly give their bodies, or the products of their bodies, for our food. Protectors keep away snakes, rodents, tarantulas, coyotes, and burglars. Protectors may also herd cows. Pets fall...(read more)

Hazelnuts

My maiden name is Hazelton. Yvonne Hazelton. Yes, I know, it’s quite a mouthful. When kids wanted to tease me, they called me Yvonne Hazelnut. I guess I should be grateful that there was nothing more perverse they could think of. There weren’t any hazelnuts when I grew up in Texas, so kids were just grasping at straws. Nobody knew...(read more)

I'm Yvonne, and this is my blog.
The kids are leaving, I’m retired, and I’ve got miles to go before I sleep. If you are as perplexed and excited as I am about the second half of your life, come eat, travel, and figure it out with me.