Currently December 2022

Currently | 12.24.22

Well, wow. Where did 3 months go? I have never missed 2 months in a row of my Currently series, let alone 3! And I realize that a lot of friends and family get their “what’s Andi up to” news via this monthly post.

So what HAS Andi been up to (with Mr. Misadventures of course!)??

In mid-September we headed to France for a month. Our plan was to spend one week in Vichy and 3 weeks in Normandy (1 week in La Manche, 1 week in Calvados and 1 week in Côte Albâtre). But things did not go as planned.

We went to Vichy because my belle mère (mother-in-law) had been visiting us and we “escorted” her back home. We like Vichy (where she lives) and decided to stay the first week killing our jet lag, etc. I was working our entire trip so our mornings were spent wandering around and then I started my work day at 12/1 pm and continued until 8/9 pm in the evening. I have been doing this for years and it works brilliantly.

On the Saturday after our arrival, we were supposed to move on to Normandy but my MIL had a medical emergency and we stayed an extra week in Vichy. We used the extra time to visit a few spots in the Auvergne region as it is beautiful in the fall.

We took 3 days to cover everything we wanted to hit in La Manche (D-Day beaches, etc.) from our Airbnb in Calvados and then focused on the heart of apple, cider, calvados, and camembert country! We stayed in an adorable typical Norman-style house (which happened to be connected to Charlotte Corday) surrounded by cows and apple trees. Wasn’t great internet for working but it was lovely.

We moved on for our fourth and final week in France to the Côte Albâtre (alabaster coast). This is where you can find places like Etretat. There are miles and miles of white cliffs, beautiful views, and lots of hiking opportunities.

Air France gifted us with the return of direct flights between Paris and Raleigh and we got home in time to spend 36-hours at home doing laundry, etc before grabbing a plane on Sunday to Chicago for a trade show for work.

It was freezing but gorgeous and when I was speaking to dozens of customers I made sure I had plenty of Stan’s donuts which we discovered during our trip to Chicago in April. But this whirlwind week after traveling for a month was the reason there was no Currently for October.

In November, my Mom came to visit and we enjoyed mild weather that allowed us to enjoy our back porch in a manner we were not able to do the previous year. And just about 5 weeks to the day we flew home from France we hopped on a plane for Portugal.

First stop, 2 weeks of vacation in the Azores. We spent 10 days in Sao Miguel and 3 days in Terceira (you can check out my adventures on Instagram for the moment). We ate, drank, and explored. I wanted a break from my work and my blog so I unplugged except for working on my campaign for Jambu. Hence the reason there was no Currently in November.

We said good bye to the Azores (we will be back!) and headed to Lisbon where we are spending 6 weeks. I worked for 3 weeks nearly all of it in the rain. We only had a day or two where we could really get out and explore without getting drenched. Lisbon had more rain in one day (Tuesday, December 13) than they got in one month last year.

Speaking of last year, our time in Lisbon is very different than last year. We spent four weeks here starting December 30 through the end of January. At the time, PCR tests were still required to get in the country and masks were mandatory and frankly, tourists had not returned yet.

We basically had Lisbon to ourselves and blue skies too (although it was cold temperature wise). Now the tourists are back, even though it’s off-season and more people are just out and about in general. We have escaped the city 3 times so far. A weekend in Sintra, a weekend in Braga and a day trip to Coimbra.

I am now officially on vacation until January 9th and am going to soak it ALL up!

Now, onto December and what's been happening in the Misadventures world.

Watching | Emily in Paris S3

We finished it in 2 days. I will watch it again to document the film locations for my blog post. Seasons 1 and 2 are there and I will add Season 3. The outfits are even more over the top this season, Emily still continues to make faux pas and despite many of my expat friends in Paris hating it, I am entertained. Then again I am a huge fan of SATC which was just as crazy.

I will say that I didn't love the story line (what there is of it) but I am also not expecting a lot.

I also have 2 more episodes of House of Dragons to get through. Mr. Misadventures lost interest after episode 1 but I am determined to finish it! I finished season 6 of This is Us. Loved the show wasn't a huge fan of the last few episodes.

Can't Wait to Watch:

• 1923, the continuation of 1883 and the prequel to Yellowstone.
• Jack Ryan Season 3
• Vikings Vahalla Season 2!
• The new film from Omay Sy Tirailleurs (read about it in English here).

Reading | My Lisbon

I read Every Summer After very quickly and really liked it. It's a love story that takes place over decades. It isn't happy, it's gripping and an excellent read. I am in the middle of My Lisbon: A Cookbook from Portugal's City of Light which is a Portuguese cookbook with stories from the author, chef Nuno Mendes.

Up Next…

• The Summer I Turned Pretty, and Where the Crawdads Sing I got them all and they are teed up for my vacation.

Best Bite | Rice with Octopus

If I had said “everything in Portugal” you probably would have thrown a tomato at me, but it's true. It is hard to find a bad meal. We are eating so much octopus, squid, cod (and here), duck rice, and all the pastel de nata I can find. We also have discovered some new treats I will share soon.

This particular dish we had in Terceira at a small cafe called Verde Maçã. We had no idea that they were going to blow us away with this dish. It is so complex for such a simple dish and the octopus was prepared perfectly!

We went back the next stay as they offered American-style brunch and I had the delicious banana pancakes also pictured above.

Working On | 2023 Goals

I have a group of blogging friends that keep me honest. They have all been blogging for more than 10 years. I think I am the only one that has a day job and is not 100% focused on my blog so I try to keep up with these dynamic ladies and contribute the best I can. For our next mastermind, we will be discussing our goals for 2023 so I am currently working on them.

Feeling | Disappointed

The rain. Yuck. In reality, I love rain. BUT we have a very small condo in Lisbon and we need to get out in the mornings for some fresh air and exploration because as of noon every day I am stuck at a desk. The rain has dashed all our plans and it is a much different experience than last year. We have back up plans (museums, etc.) but I would love a few dry days!

(Not) Loving | My Time Constraints

I have SO many blog posts in the pipeline, just waiting to be polished up and published, but frankly, my day job is my first priority and it has been quite a roller coaster the last 6 months. I am hoping to get some done while on vacation here in Portugal. For example, if you subscribe to my updates you probably saw that it is raining the entire weekend of Christmas so guess what Mr. Misadventures and I are doing? Working on the blog!

Published in the last 3 months

• The Best Walking Shoes for Traveling Comfortably & Stylishly
• All About Camembert
• 42 Latte Recipes To Make At Home
• The History of the Breton Shirt

That’s my month, what’s CURRENTLY going on with you?

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