• Autumn,  Budějovice,  czech culture,  Czech Republic,  Daily Life,  Life Abroad,  Recipe

    Autumn Celebrations + A Delicious Drink {Recipe}

    I am already beside myself with excitement that the holiday season starts in two weeks! After last year’s Christmas market cancellation, I think I got my sense of joy and whimsy back and I’m ready to enjoy the coming season to the fullest! I couldn’t believe that in the single-digits of November the market was already under construction in the square! I have already smelled the ceremonial first waft of spiced punch, a phenomenon which happens every year and is always ceaselessly thrilling, as the punch stands are already out and blazing with business. Alex was joking that every year we have the same conversation, “Are you excited? It doesn’t…

  • Autumn,  Film

    The Spooky October Film Series, Part VII

    What are your Halloween traditions like? Mine entail a near devotional spooky film every Sunday night in October in the lead-up to the holiday… however, it can’t be any of the same films we’ve seen in the past several years! It’s not too hard to think up different films that still perfectly fit the Halloween bill if you’re myself or Alex. This year, as I’m also reading Dracula, I was really feeling the vampire theme. I was, however, not allowed to bring Twilight into the mix (I guess on my own time…) so this is the list we came up with this year. I hope it helps spark some Halloween…

  • Autumn,  Budějovice,  Daily Life,  Lifestyle,  Pandemic,  Teaching

    Autumn, Lately

    This year hasn’t been a banner year for the old bloggity-blog by any means. It’s hard to write when a) you are doing a million things and this space has frankly taken a back burner, b) there’s too much to put online, or c) somethings that are going on, you wouldn’t want to put online anyway. It’s also dispiriting when your favorite blogs on the interweb have a) gone dark or b) gone behind a paywall. (If you’ve got a cool blog or know of one, holler at me in the comments because I’m out of ideas!) I miss blog reading. Remember the days that everyone would post their daily…

  • Autumn,  Film

    The Spooky October Film Series, Pt VI

    It’s time for my annual spooky film list for Halloween! If you’re just tuning in, every October, Alex and I draft up five films that are not the typical Hocus Pocus (however beloved that movie is) – something we have not seen tens of times that still has the spooky Halloween vibes many of us are craving at this time of the year. Especially this year, there’s been a lot more time on your hands and far fewer events to go to, making this Halloween a perfect one to sink your teeth into a proper spooky, atmospheric movie. I hope you find a suggestion here for your watching pleasure that…

  • Autumn,  Daily Life,  Prague,  South Bohemia

    It’s November (Life Lately)

    Hi friends, happy November! For the first time in awhile, I did not manage to make the annual ‘Spooky Movies to Watch in October’ list. Shame, that. Just for anyone interested, we did continue with our October Movie series and watched in the following order over the course of the month: The Raven (1963) – A Vincent Price classic. Hokey but perfectly Halloweeny, and containing one of the funniest spooky scenes in cinematic history: a magic duel between Price and Boris Karloff (not in a monster role) from thrones. It has to be seen to be believed. ᇫᇫᇫᇫ The Babadook (2014) – Creepy, a bit dystopic, that feeling of losing…

  • Summer

    the spooky october movie series, pt. IV

    halloween is drawing near, so it’s time for this year’s edition (series four) of the spooky film series! as film aficionados, we try to select five movies that have a deliciously horror or spooky vibe, because i know i’m tired of watching hocus pocus year after year. this year we’ve got films ranging from the 1950’s to this decade. i chose two, alex chose two, and our halloween night film was chosen together.  i rate the films on a scale of one to five ghosts depending on how “halloween-ish” i feel the movie is, but also accounting for quality. week 1: the addams family values (1991), barry sonnenfeld my pick.…

  • Summer

    november, lately + pumpkin miso soup (recipe)

    i have been having the worst time putting words on paper (er, screen) lately. i suppose this is the teacher’s busy time of the year and i continue to take on so much, that i forget to take time. i consider this a big “life lately” dump so i can start fresh and start recording more of the day to day stuff. going back almost two weeks ago to halloween – we had a great one. alex and i reprised our costume from six years ago (our first halloween together) as wayne and garth from wayne’s world and it almost went even better than the first time.  we like to utilize halloween as…

  • Summer

    spooky october movie series, pt III

    spooky movie time! do you know what you’re watching on halloween yet? as you may know, alex and i do a sunday night movie series every sunday throughout october (i’ve taken to calling it ‘goth advent’ because of our recently obtained black skull candle) this movie series was born because there’s only so many viewings of ‘hocus pocus’ you can take! we’re on a mission to dig up some lesser-known but perfectly halloween-worthy films, old and new. here’s what we’ve got up to… i hope it may give you some watching inspiration! (rated on a scale from 1 – 5 “ghosts” based on how appropriate i feel the film is for…

  • Summer

    the spooky october movie series, pt. II

    coming up with the idea to watch a festive spooky movie every sunday night in october was basically one of the best ideas ever for getting one in the proper mood for the season.  we try to select slightly out of the ordinary films – not exactly what you would expect. the quintessential halloween movie for me is one that is a bit creepy and spooky, but also equal parts enchanting, charming, funny… not just a typical slasher film or something like that. here’s what we’ve got up to so far this month – i hope it provides you with some ideas for your halloween viewing! week 1: crimson peak…

  • Summer

    halloween abroad, pt. IV

    hello friends, i hope you had a nice halloween if you celebrate it! as it is one of my favorites, you can bet i did. it was the fourth we’ve celebrated abroad and it really came and went without too much fanfare. (below, the state of the backyard this morning) it’s been interesting talking about this holiday with the groups of teenagers i teach. usually about half the class seems interested and celebrates the holiday in some way (whether that is some activities at their school, going to a halloween party or gathering, carving a pumpkin, or even getting dressed up!), one or two are completely indifferent and don’t celebrate it,…