[The view from my window.] My room was down the hall from the main apartment. From my window, I could see the Eiffel Tower far off in the distance and I spent many nights staring at it. We were on the 7th floor. This is important so I’m going to repeat it — WE WERE…

My husband took it upon himself to search for my Parisian “lover” on the internet. It took him all of two minutes to find Thibault, including pictures and video! Apparently, he’s a banking big shot in Paris. Unfortunately, he didn’t outrun the march of time either. I’m a little pissed at my husband for instantly…

I don’t remember where I was going but I remember a hot bus ride and no available seats. Yup, I was just traipsing around all over the city by now! I was wearing a bubblegum pink miniskirt, an oversized men’s shirt, a bowed headband, frosted pink lipstick, button earrings, and white Keds with cuffed socks….

Using the map trick again, I plastered it to the window and said: “Arc de Triomphe, si’l vous plaît.” I rode the hot, crowded train by myself, determined to see this landmark. Climbing out of the tunnel into the bright sunlight and stifling heat, I was shocked by the throngs of people I ran into….

I woke up with a resolve that I carry to this day. I got dressed and stopped at the corner grocery shop for a pack of LuLu cookies and made my way to the metro station. Metro map in hand, I held it up to the window of the information booth and simply said: “Eiffel…

It didn’t take long for the drama to start. When I arrived in France, I found my cousin in a volatile, explosive relationship with the man for whom she had moved to Paris. I had my own room down the hall from the main apartment but it was easy to see, hear, and feel the…

It was 1986 and there had been some bombings in Europe but I managed to convince everyone that a month long trip to Paris, France, at the invitation of my older cousin who was living there at the time, was a good idea. My cousin is the first to admit what a fucking nightmare that…

Pepsi was the Choice of the Next Generation—MY generation!  In this instance, the advertising worked incredibly well but, honestly, in a blind-folded taste test, I’m not positive I could taste the difference. Still, decades later, more out of habit than taste, I’d rather drink a Pepsi than a Coke. I grew up in Tucson where…

When I was around 12, we took the long Greyhound bus ride to spend the holidays in California with my cousins. I was in that in-between age of being too young to hang with the adults and too much older than the kids. It was an awkward time of my life but I always looked…

Growing up, our Christmas tree was decorated in an overdone mess of colored balls and glittery shapes with cheap, scratchy garland and homemade popcorn strings that gave off a stale odor after a few days. Seemingly, if it was hangable, it was hung! There was no rhyme or reason to the visual cacophony that passed…

If someone had told the teenage Adriana that I would one day be cooking beans ON PURPOSE, they would have been met with such a derisive scoff they would have questioned their own relevance in the world. I didn’t like beans and I certainly didn’t EAT them! Unavoidably, like all kids in a Mexican family,…

As autumn brings a fresh crispness in the air, the trees take their cue and burst into flames. Blood red Rich rust Ripened orange Mustard yellow Burnt caramel Cocoa brown Featuring a brand new outfit each day, the trees unashamedly put on a fashion show that tantalizes the eyes and romances the soul. Aromatic wind…