For many people, the idea of foreign travel carries the thrill of the exotic. When on vacation in some distant locale, they might sigh, “I could stay here forever!” However, most people do not seriously entertain the notion of living abroad. Naturally, there are practical reasons for this: people’s livelihood tends to depend upon the local market; they balk at leaving behind friends and family; those inscrutable foreign languages give them pause. Yet even if those obstacles do not apply, most people do not leap at the chance to move to another country. There is even a trace of disdain, even contempt, for those who abandon their terra patria for foreign shores. Of course, this disapproval is urbanely concealed behind exclamations of admiration and envy for the footloose wayfarer. Nevertheless, there are those who do elect to expatriate themselves. But why leave everything beloved and familiar behind? There follows a list of what are, from what I have seen, the primary reasons behind the choice to live abroad.*
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Have you considered working from home? Have you wondered how to do it successfully? Well, I can’t even begin to tell you how to work from home, until I paint the picture of my own home office scenario.

My name is Kari Klein and I am the Manager of Global Performance for a technology company in the Boston area. I live in an apartment in Cambridge, with my neighbors Harvard and MIT. My home office is a small room off of our kitchen at the back-end of our apartment. I have a great desk and shelving setup (courtesy of IKEA), of mixed metal and wood. The shelves cover 3 out of the 4 walls, leaving some room for two windows, a closet door and the entryway into my office (no door).

I have an eclectic mix of stuff on my shelving…everything from business books to old magazines and journals that I’m keeping, folders of information that I once thought was important, binders of materials from my recent graduate courses, office supplies, framed photographs and of course, my treasured Red Sox and Celtics keepsakes. Like anyone else who has a home office, I have combined the professional and the personal information into one large blob of stuff that is somewhat organized all over my shelves. Ironically, I usually can locate things in their exact location, so I guess it’s working for me!
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Made ya’ look! Nah, I don’t want to know what’s in your pants, but in your drawers… your night stand, your dresser, your desk.

I’ve always had night stands as part of my bedroom set. I primarily use them to hold bedside lamps, tissues, and lip balm - things I want to have within easy reach from my bed. I like the look of night stands that have 2-3 drawers. Well, actually, I like those because night stands with lower shelves require more dusting on my part.
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Fresh produce, mild flavors and minimal prep work are the key to satisfying summertime meals. These recipes are fun and full of flavor, but won’t keep you tied up in the kitchen.
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One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. - unknown

I’ve never been a fan of garage sales. I’m not sure why, but I think it has something to do with my mom wanting to stop at every single garage sale she saw when I was a kid. That bored me to tears. She always wanted to stop to see if they had books for sale - my mom is an avid reader who refuses to pay $8 for a paperback book.

The summer after I had my daughter, my mom tried to convince me to go to garage sales to pick up toys for her. I’m ashamed to admit, I was a garage sale snob. No way was my little girl going to get someone else’s used toys.
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I just came across this new product, and already I’m jonesing for it. It doesn’t even go on sale until this summer. Moms of toddlers and preschools know, that before long, kids decide they don’t want to sit in a booster seat to eat anymore. The only problem is, they’re still too short not to use one. So dinner becomes a like a game of whack-a-mole, with the kid popping up and down all the time as they sit, kneel and stand, all while the parents try to eat their dinner without having a nervous breakdown and visions of their child falling and requiring a trip to the ER.

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You would think that since I came up with this assignment for all of the mods that I would at least have an idea of five things that I love. Thing is, I can think of more than five things, and well, some of those things might work best if I go with the themed option. Or maybe I’d do better to skip the theme. Who knew it would be so difficult to narrow things down to a mere five. Okay, the hell with a theme, here you go, in no particular order:

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1. Orange creme Frappucino - Every spring I anxiously check my local Starbucks to see if they’ve introduced their summer flavored frappucino drinks yet. I don’t drink coffee, so I look forward to this smoothie-like drink. Last summer the banana creme was my weekly treat. I call it a treat because they aren’t exactly low fat or for those budget conscious people. I have to limit myself to Sundays, when I go there for coupons. This year, they have the orange creme flavor. Just like a creamsicle. Yum!

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1. Vitactiv Flavor Glides: I hate vitamins. Hate ‘em. Those giant, horrible horse pills - ick. I just can’t get them down without gagging.  And here I am pregnant, and I’m supposed to be taking vitamins every day. Tried the prenatals - they made me nauseous and constipated. Just what I want to deal with. And then I got a sample of these viactiv things. They’re slightly smaller than regular vitamins, and they taste good! No, they’re not chewable, but they’ve got some flavor coating on the outside that you taste as you swallow the pill. Man, these things taste so good, I’m tempted just to suck on them (I don’t think I’ll do that though, because I’m sure the taste is pretty awful once the flavor coating wears away!).

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1. Travelblog.org

 Can’t get away from your office this summer? Live vicariously through other peoples’ vacations! TravelBlog.org has the most amazing collection of photo blogs from travelers roaming all over the world. The stories and pictures are mesmerizing.

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