Elena Bowes

Catherine Down’s recent article in my NYT’s go-to Modern Love column is both funny and poignant. Down, an American expat living in Paris, writes about her unique relationships with her local shopkeepers- from her cheesemonger who she Snapchats with to her wine gal who doubles as her astrologer to her ham man who thought something terrible must have happened to Down when she hadn’t stopped by the shop for several days.

The article also touches on the guilt the author feels living in Paris, a city she loves that nourishes her, a city that is also very far from her ageing parents in Massachusetts. I am familiar with this feeling – my mother lives in San Francisco, and I live between New York and London, two cities that nourish me in different ways.

In addition to being a daughter, I am also a mother of three. I am starting to wonder where my chicks will end up nesting. I hope that wherever it is they thrive and are happy. And if it’s not near me, please let it just be a direct flight away. https://nyti.ms/2OLixhQ ... See more

Charcuterie, wine and all kinds of nourishment from a second family in Paris.

The Louvre rocks. Anybody who loves art and the Carters - should watch APES**T this music video starring Beyoncé and J-Z plus dancers at the Louvre. Apparently, the Louvre now has a 90-minute guided tour taking visitors past the art shown in the video. http://bit.ly/2O0aD7c

"EVERYTHING IS LOVE" is Available Now: http://www.smarturl.it/TheCarters_EIL Beyoncé: https://www.Beyonce.com https://www.instagram.com/Beyonce https://www.f...

London J-School Alum love our pub nights. It was great to see both new and familiar faces. For all those who couldn’t attend, we hope to see you at the next round. Columbia Journalism School Columbia University Club of London

Here are links to two different articles on Staycations - one insightful and at times funny, the other just funny. Maybe we should make our everyday life better so we aren’t quite so desperate to go on vacation (and so low when we get home) argues serious article in NYT. And in funny article number two, from the New Yorker, a wife tries to look anew at life during staycation with hubbie of five years: maybe his hair clogging the drain is actually sexy, and how romantic is dinner en terrasse, ie on their fire escape. I’m all for a bit of staycation, having experienced one for the last bit of August- were it not for Stretch's knee surgery and the rain. On the other hand, we did have front row sofa seats at the US Open. And I learned first hand that I am not cut out for nursing. https://nyti.ms/2NgiT3e & http://bit.ly/2NjdF6M ... See more

What if I had put all that money and enthusiasm into my everyday life instead?

I interviewed Nicole and writer Mary Donnelly for Columbia College Todays Like Mind series about storytelling earlier this summer. http://bit.ly/2D1usH1

Listen in on a conversation between two alums with a shared interest.

This article deals with intimacy and caring during a date but not after. A 24-year old guy goes on a date with a 30-year old woman and asks for her consent every stitch of the way, from taking off her sweater, to her thin tank top, to her bra. When the morning comes, he promises to cook her a special dinner when they next meet. ‘See you soon’, he says. She never hears from him again. Does the ‘caring” stop when the Uber arrives? That’s not ok. Don’t make false promises. Ghosting is for wimps. https://nyti.ms/2x57rwq

A culture of consent, one woman argues, should be less about self-protection and more about genuine care for the other person.

An interesting article giving both the pluses and minuses to freezing one’s eggs. If I was 30 and single, I’d probably do it. While freezing one’s eggs can help stall the ticking of that annoying biological clock (women’s fertility starts to drop at age 22), the process is gruelling and expensive. On the same subject watch twenty-something Washington Post reporter Nicole Ellis’s terrific short series about her personal egg-freezing quest. The New York Times https://nyti.ms/2p1byGf

Egg-freezing clinics are aggressively courting a new generation. Younger millennials are heeding the call.