The next time you stroll down a U.S. grocery store aisle, pause in the section where they sell olive oil. Fifty years ago, there likely was no olive oil to be had, much less the vast array of domestic (mostly California) and foreign varieties. The same goes for the bewildering selection of fruits and vegetables. …
You can spot — or hear — them a block away. The confident swagger. The booming voice (and for women, the tone that reminds one of a lovelorn goose). The demands and needs. The impatience. I occupy both worlds, flowing between being American and being Portuguese, as a salmon may slither between salt and fresh …
Here’s an embarrassing confession: I thought the phrase was “All that glitters is not gold.” Meaning, just because it’s shiny doesn’t mean it has value. It turns out that it’s the title of a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien: All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter. The nuance is slightly different. The most valuable things in …
When I was ten years old, I got it into my head that I wanted the kitchen table set. All the time, just like in a restaurant, ready for the next meal. We couldn’t afford to eat in restaurants, so I wanted to create the restaurant atmosphere at home. I carefully aligned the plate and …
It’s tough being a news junkie. After social media, there are few aspects of modern life that can wreck havoc on your mental and emotional well-being than a daily (hourly?) diet of news headlines. Trained as a journalist, I felt it was my civic and social responsibility to know what the hell was going on. …
You see the headlines. Seventy percent of C-suite executives are considering quitting due to burnout. Over half of residents in the San Francisco Bay Area are considering leaving the area in the next five years. Forty percent of workers are considering leaving their job soon. Thirty-eight percent of respondents to a Hoover Institution poll said …
First name Emily. Last name Ávila. First half American. Second half Portuguese. Just like my life. Totally one, and totally the other. Here, no one mispronounces my last name. They don’t say “uh-VEEY-uh,” forcing a fake Spanish accent. Or start off with the flat, whiney ‘A’ like “apple.” They know to emphasize the Ahhhh. But …
Within hours of the devastating U.S. Supreme Court decision to rescind the constitutional protection of bodily autonomy, we started getting queries. Texts, emails, and Linked In messages came in, all with the same question: “Tell me more about living in Portugal.” There was no need to read between the lines, as Justice Thomas made clear, …
I am trying to resurrect my seasonal newsletter. This month’s issue is about summer’s slow ripening, and features a recipe for cherry clafoutis, and thoughts on imposter syndrome.
I have always loved silence. I am an only child who spent a lot of time at home alone. We’ll unpack the “why” of why a 2nd grader spent days alone at home in later posts. Suffice it to say that, starting at age 8, I spent copious amounts of time on my own. Whenever …