Paris, France May 22, 2026 7:00 p.m. It’s Friday afternoon heading into Memorial Day weekend back home, or Victory Day weekend here in France, and Paris officially feels like summer. A few days ago, I was layering sweaters underneath my trench coat and wondering if the sun even existed anymore. Today it’s 82 degrees, bright blue skies, crowded cafés, and that kind of heat that makes the city feel alive in a completely different way. And honestly? Your girl is sweating. Like aggressively...

Welcome to my Freedom Era: Paris Diaries

When I think about 2026, and if I could choose a theme for the year, it would be this: choosing joy, happiness, and hope—despite everything that has happened over the last few years leading up to today. For a long time, choosing joy felt complicated. It felt like I was minimizing what had happened to me. Like if I let myself feel happy, I was somehow erasing the pain, the trauma, the loss—or pretending it didn’t matter. As if joy required denial. It doesn’t. 2025 was a year of my eyes...