March 9, 2019

Rincon, Puerto Rico: Five Fabulous Things

 flag on a door

Read the article for all the fabulous things to do in Rincon, Puerto Rico. But first check out the view! There are lots of things you can do to prepare for winter in Manhattan. In no particular order, it’s important to have: liquor, face masks, heavy slippers, large books, cozy blankets and plane tickets. The plane tickets are the most sure-fire solution. With my 2019 warm weather escape, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. 1. Escape the drudgery of cold Manhattan. There is only so much time a girl can devote to shivering and playing with the steam heat radiator.2. Rediscover Puerto Rico! Since Hurricane Maria I…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in travel fabulous

February 26, 2019

More Monday Ideas

The beginning of the week always fills me with what I like to call Monday Ideas. (See evidence here and here) On this very special, post-Oscar Monday, I was inspired by Lady Gaga’s acceptance speech (there is normal-level Lady Gaga inspiration and then there is Oscars-level Lady Gaga inspiration, you know?) to come up with some fabulous, business-possible Monday-level ideas. If you have a dream, fight for it, they say. Monday Idea 1: Post-Oscar Pop Up Movie Theater. The only film I saw that was even mentioned in the Oscars this year (besides Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) was Free Solo. It was stunning and everyone should go see it…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

February 18, 2019

Three Fun Spanish Phrases

After a few days back in Madrid, I’m full of Spanish phrases. Coming back to the city where I lived the past four years (see related post here) for a weeklong visit has been a great reminder of all the things I love about the Spanish language. Below is a quick, Monday list of fun Spanish expressions to get the week off to a good start. Three Fun Spanish Phrases -1- Votar en blanco. This is not really an expression so much as an action that I find endlessly fascinating. In Spain (and some countries in South America) during an election you can ‘cast a blank vote’, which basically means…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

February 9, 2019

Ice, Ice Baby: When the Mountains Are Calling

Since getting back from my recent trip to Ecuador, I’ve been thinking a lot about ice. Why?! You are dying to know. When I said here that I was eager to travel outside of Quito, that was only the half of it. The reason I was in Quito at all was because I had booked a nine-day mountaineering course with American Alpine Institute. “Mountaineering” (loosely defined as “the sport of activity of climbing mountains”) generally becomes rather intertwined with ice-carved features. On this particular trip we had: –An ice “chunk” the size of a VW Bug come pounding into our glacier training site, literally chasing one of the participants down…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

February 2, 2019

Quito, Ecuador: Five fabulous things

Hola de Quito!  I haven’t been to South America in a long time, and haven’t ever been to Quito before.  I wanted to write this post for two reasons. 1: Fabulous things in Quito. Duh. 2. For me, there is something intimidating about a major city in South America, especially as a woman traveling alone.  In Europe and the USA, I generally feel safe prancing around, getting lost on dreamy little streets or striding with purpose down major boulevards.  In New York or Madrid, I don’t think twice about going out late at night (point of clarification: 9 PM.  Generally if I’m not out by then, I’m fast asleep.) Anyway,…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in travel fabulous

July 19, 2018

Bucket List

Today marks my two-and-a-half-week anniversary of coming back to New York. This means that I’ve had sixteen days to contemplate my bucket list (ie all the things I want to do in my year off). Obviously, considering my general compulsion and deep obsession with list-making I’ve started to number off the things I’m planning to do. The good news?  The list is only two things long! The bad news?  Well, you can see the two things below: Right.  Soo, not the coolest bucket list (and possibly I don’t really understand what a bucket list is), but it’s mine and I like it.  How am I doing with these things? You…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

July 14, 2018

Manhattan: Five Fabulous Things (Upper East Side edition)

Moving back to New York I’ve had the wonderful remembrance that there are endless things to do in NYC! The temperature has miraculously stalled out around 90 80-ish degrees, and a breeze has materialized that is actual cool wind, not just the wafting smell of hot garbage floating through the air. I’ve been having the time of my life wandering through the neighborhoods of my childhood, happily fighting discussing with my mother where the grocery store/movie theater/David’s Cookies/pizza shop on our block used to be. The Upper East Side gets a bad rap. ‘Boring’ they say. ‘They’ are idiots! (Aren’t they always?) Here are five things to do in NYC…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

June 30, 2018

Leaving the Atocha Station

Disclaimer: Leaving the Atocha Station is actually the name of a novel by Ben Lerner. I haven’t read it but I’m sure it’s great-you can check it out on Amazon here. The title came to mind this week as I was, well…leaving the Atocha Station, probably for the last time in a while. For the four years I’ve lived in Madrid, I’ve gone through Atocha on average twice a day (it’s part of my work commute). It’s the Grand Central of Spain. As a rabid devoted New Yorker, I am stalwart in defending Grand Central as one of the greatest train stations in the world, but after four years in…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

June 28, 2018

Cadiz: Five Fabulous Things

Summer begins with a trip to Cadiz! This year my boyfriend and I waited two whole days after work ended before absconding to the coast of Spain. We landed in Cadiz, an Andalusian town famous for it’s Teatro Falla Opera house, its Roman Catholic Cathedral and its parador hotel. Right. That stuff is awesome. We didn’t do any of it. Here is the insiders list. Five Fabulous Things to Do In Cadiz 1. Eat molletes. Different parts of Spain are famous for different breads and pastries. In Valencia it’s fartons, in Cadiz it’s molletes. Mollete is apparently Spanish for gigantic, delicious English muffin. It’s most typical to eat as many…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in travel fabulous

June 23, 2018

Saying Goodbye

As I may have mentioned (here) I’m soon saying goodbye to Madrid, a city I have spent the last four years making my home. In addition to the myriad of “commitment issue questions” that come up every time I leave a new place, it always makes me think about the nature of saying goodbye. The Nature of Saying Goodbye Yesterday I had my last day of work and many goodbye experiences.  Teacher goodbyes are especially weird because we say goodbye SO often that I think people get a little desensitized.  For example, this spring I said goodbye to 79 students that I basically spent more time with during the course…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous