Everywhere we have lived has its destination for buying cultural gifts for friends and family back home in the US. Each city where we called home has had somewhere to take visitors to get the necessary local souvenirs. And, every place we’ve settled in has had a market that I will have frequented often. In fact, every place we’ve lived has had its tailors, cobblers (I do not know the modern name of this job), and jewelers that I tend to frequent. This is Marco, and he has been helping me repair all sorts of my broken jewelry. I had been able to fix most of my baubles, but when it comes to me ..read more

I have the unique honor of being called, “Mommy.” Of course it must have been Vincent who named me as he came first, and the little sister Gigi (who he also named) followed along. I love being called “Mommy.”  Even to this day by my 22 and 20 year old kids they call me “Mommy.” I can remember when my own mother critically said, “Are you going to let him still call you “Mommy?” I didn’t even think it was an issue, but then I realized that maybe it’s only what little kids should call their mother. However, I loved what they called me, so never thought twice. Of course I disputed to my own ..read more

Well, I had quite the scare! During this month, Kremb de la Kremb, the blog I’ve been writing since 2006, was GONE! Like absolutely GONE!! I couldn’t find it, I couldn’t retrieve it, and I thought it was lost. Losing this blog felt like not getting that massive photo album out of the fire. You know, the question, “What would you grab from the burning house?” Well, Kremb de la Kremb is what I would grab! Ecuador is filled with beautiful murals all over its walls. I have passed by this mural in Quito many times and thought what a great place it would be to take photos. My outfit was obviously i ..read more

Last week I posed the question, beach or mountains? While I am decidedly more of a beach person, it so happens that I now live in the mountains–very high up actually at 10,000 feet. Let’s just admit that the climate I live at is very, very cold. Also, the library I work in is doubly cold. Hence, my puffer collection has grown and is still being used in late April! Here are just six of the puffer coats I rotate through (there are more in my wardrobe in basic colors like black and cream). Often in my office I can find a variety of hats, gloves, and various puffer coats. Needless to say, I am alw ..read more

I’m most definitely a beach person. I love water over mountains any day. I am a Pisces afterall, so it only makes sense that I love a body of water over a majestic mountain. However, currently, living at almost 10,000 feet, I am giving mountain a life a try. One thing is for sure: I am always and continually cold! We live high up above a valley, so indeed our view is amazing. The one thing that actually fascinates me the most about our view is the weather. We see it all–well often times we are in an actual cloud, so we can’t see anything at all, but we can see that cloud moving in. It’s quite ..read more

It has happened. That age that infantile Annie defined as an old person. I am 50. I can remember the celebrations at 40 amongst my parents and their friends. Yet, the age of 50 received no such fan fair. I think I may even be the age of my mom when I married Kevin, and no offense, but even at 25 my mom seemed older at this stage in my life. Now I’m there! However in 25 years, so many changes, trends, and movements have occurred. We now have the anti ageism movement: WHO is in on it with their report from 2021, there’s an entire resource site dedicated to #antiageism called Old School, and her ..read more

I just checked, and the last time I posted here on Kremb de la Kremb was November 11! That was a long time ago. When I went to return to my blog two days ago, it was gone. Didn’t exist. Try the sever. And on and on! I came to find out I had accidentally let my blog expire! I’ve been thinking about writing–all the time. I’ve even gone out and taken a few different pictures. But, my energy to write something was never there…. Now I know why! I had anemia!! I found out quite by accident but when I did know, everything kinda made sense. No wonder a single flight of stairs made me want to faint. I ..read more

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Have you ever walked into a store, seen something, grabbed it right away, and bought it–without even trying it on? That’s how these Zara pants were purchased. I just knew I would get my cost per wear in. Not only do I love the pattern and the fit, but all the colors match so many things in my closet. There’s grey in the pants and some pink to be found–lots of pink actually! There’s a nice rusty red. And because of all the colors found, I even think a little leopard love also matches these wild pants. I mean, bring it on, right?! So like my post from last week, I went and found a really co ..read more

There’s one thing we all noticed right away upon arrival to Ecuador: its murals. This country has murals everywhere, and they are so remarkable! Just click on this Google search to see what I mean. This mural is very near to our home. If we head into Quito, we pass this Ecuadorian mural each time. I love it! And the first thing I wanted to do with it was match it, then take a photoshoot with it. Considering black and white with a pop of red is my favorite color combo, this was a pretty easy mural to compliment. Unfortunately, I tried and tried to find out information on this mural, but I co ..read more