“It is impossible to live without failing at something – unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default”. – J.K. Rowling
This week has been a bit hairy so I thought I’d post some of my favorite photos of mountains I’ve hiked as they always calm my soul. Photos above from France, Nepal and Guatemala. This fall, I will be adding Bolivia to my list of great hikes.
Stay tuned…
In honor of today’s release of Save the Children’s annual State of World Mother’s report, I am sharing the emotional aspects of my birth story to help advocate for the one million newborns that die needlessly and helplessly within the first 24 hours of life. By sharing my birth story, I am joining moms from across the United States to help bring awareness and advocacy steps in making the first 24 hours of life count. The bottom of this post will have more information on the results of the report and how you can help spread the word.
Me and my son Max, right after his birth. 11/11/04.
I will be completely honest. I was never sure that I wanted to become a mother. At 32, I felt my life was already fulfilling enough, being happily married, working hard in my career and enjoying traveling to crazy places, running marathons and having all the freedom I could possibly want. Perhaps I was selfish but I was happy.
All this changed the day I was half way around the world, doing my very first dive in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, when I got the call. That terrible call that I will never forget. The call to tell me that my two-and-a-half-year-old nephew had unexpectedly died. I was in shock. It couldn’t be true. How could a healthy, beautiful happy child that I had seen only two weeks ago be gone just like a flick of a light. How could something so ungodly awful and tragic happen? I felt raw. Numb. And deeply distraught. Although I wasn’t a mother and I couldn’t possibly understand, I loved that little boy with the bright blue eyes and the dashing smile. It was that tragedy that made me realize how short and precious life truly is and how I couldn’t imagine not possibly being a mother myself.
The Marais district stretching through the 3rd and 4th arrondissements has many amazing sites to see. As mentioned in my earlier post on Le Marais, this gorgeous popular district in Paris was once home to many of the aristocracy who built their famous maisons in spectacular architecture and opulence of the times. A few sites in the Marais are definitely worth your time.
The Hôtel de Sully is a hôtel particulier, or private mansion, which was built between 1625 and 1630 for the Duke of Sully and today represents one of Paris’ finest examples of Louis XIII architecture. Although you can’t go inside, a walk around this gorgeous work of art is worth your while.
“Look at everything as though you were seeing it for either the first or last time. Then your life on earth will be filled with glory”. -Betty Smith
Before heading to France, I purchased an olloclip three-in-one lens for my beloved iPhone. As an avid Instagram follower, I began to notice all the incredibly cool travel shots with funky angles. I asked a fellow Instagrammer and blogger, 2Summers, who told me about the olloclip. The olloclip is a quick-connect lens solution for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPod touch that includes fisheye, wide-angle and macro lenses packaged all in the size of large gum ball. For the size of the lens and the price ($69.99), it is an amazing little lens that is so easy to carry and convenient, that it beat dragging around bigger lens for my “real” camera as I walked for hours upon hours in Paris.
Here are some of the shots I got with my olloclip. I didn’t take as many as planned since I used my main camera way more than my iPhone, however, these shots should give you a feel for what this little guy can do. Pretty amazing, huh?
The first three photos are all taken out of my hotel room window in the Marais, looking down at the street below and the last two are in lovely Montmartre. (Note: I didn’t take any pictures with the macro lens yet, just the fish eye and wide angle).
This week’s photo challenge is to capture a photo or set of photos which are taken from above an object. Just coming back from France, I could hardly resist these photos I took looking over some of the beautiful, delightful things I saw in the world of haute cuisine and fresh produce stands. Beware….these photos are certain to make you hungry!
Yesterday I had the opportunity to listen in a conference call along with other social good bloggers to hear World Food Program USA Board Chair Hunter Biden and WFP USA President & CEO Rick Leach discuss the “Live Below the Line” Challenge to help solve global hunger. The fact that 1 in 8 people in the world live in constant hunger – which means 925 million people will not get enough to eat this year (more than the populations of the United States, Canada and the European Union) is not only a tragedy but the world’s number one health risk.
Tucked away in the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris’ Right Bank lies the magnificent, historic Le Marais. Literally translated as “The Marsh”, this district of Paris is where the aristocrats moved and built their ornate “masions” over former marshland as Paris blossomed in the 17th century. The historic gorgeous maisons of the aristocracy remain, as well as the sensational Place des Vosges and other noteworthy sites. Yet by the 19th and early 20th centuries, a new presence entered the area as the nobility moved out: The Jewish Community who were later pushed out and tragically persecuted during the Nazi era and the Vichy regime.
Today, Le Marais is one of the hippest, architecturally beautiful arrondissements in all of Paris. Tree-lined streets are dotted with gorgeous boutiques, swank cafes and beautiful restaurants that offer the traveler a real Parisien experience. Furthermore, Le Marais’ proximity to so many wonderful historic sites not to mention the Bastille, Place des Vosges and Rue de Rivoli, the premier luxury shopping street, make it a perfect place to base oneself for a stay in Paris. If you want to experience Parisien life in all its splender and authenticity, Le Marais is the place to be.
Here are some pictures from this gorgeous arrondissement, starting with a view from our lovely hotel room in Le Marais.
