Leila Roker

Still smiling over this Spring 🌸🌻✨

People often ask me, “Which do you prefer — New York or Paris?”

It can sound like a cop-out to say I love them differently, but it couldn’t be more true.

I was talking with a family friend the other day — an Irish-American — and we found ourselves reflecting on the strange, beautiful complexity of feeling “at home” in two places. It’s like having your heart split in two.

The feeling of coming back to New York — seeing the streets I grew up on, noticing how much has changed in just six months — is impossible to put into words. It’s my childhood, yet it’s also a city that never stands still (which, of course, means I’ll always need new restaurant recommendations).

And then there’s Paris — a place I never could have imagined calling home, and yet somehow, I do.

What stayed with me from that conversation was the shared feeling: that quiet dread in your stomach when you leave one life behind, and the spark of excitement as you board a plane toward the other.

New York, I love you ❤️🍎

Easter Activities 🐣🪺🐰💖

Feeling so incredibly loved, blessed and grateful. Funnily enough my first bridal shower 👰🏽 was my own. I couldn’t have asked for a better room of people — each person represented a part of my life that brought me to where I am today.

Such an inspiring intergenerational group of women and so many laughs, pearls of wisdom and kindness. Thank you Agenia and marvasmalls thank you for an unforgettable evening at Café Boulud at Maison BARNES ! 💖

Little slices of Life 🍰

Moving to Paris isn’t just croissants and cute cafés 🇫🇷

There are a lot of rules people don’t tell you about until you start apartment hunting.

After 9 years living in Paris and 5 different apartments, I’ve seen a lot: roommates, agencies, tiny studios… and some very interesting landlords.

Which rule surprised you the most?

Should I do a Part 2 with my craziest Paris housing stories?

👇 Comment what you’re curious about when it comes to living in Paris.

A lot of you responded positively to my cost of living grocery posts, so I thought I’d make one about what it’s actually like working in France 🇫🇷

What should I cover next? 👀

pariscostofliving franceexpat workingabroad parisjobs expatlife pariscreator

It’s been a time 🦚❄️ — ✨Vibes✨ minus trending audio 🎧

This was a special occasion (it’s our anniversary) but usually we spend less at the fish monger and about €20 at our bouchère volaille (poultry butcher) and get a couple chicken filets and some chicken sausage.

We get our protein and fresh produce at the farmer’s market but buy our staples like pasta, rice, bread, cleaning supplies, etc. with a weekly Monoprix order (like Trader Joe’s in the US) which is usually about €120-200.

This is just me and I work from home so these groceries cover my lunches as well. Many people buy differently but thought I’d share!

I hear we’re posting about 2016. Hard to believe that was the last full year I lived in NYC 😮‍💨🫢

But I also hear this summer is supposed to be Summer 2016 Pt. 2? 👂🏽👀🤭

December Moments ❄️ ✨💫🎊

Like what seems like half of the internet, we also had a very sick Christmas. 🤒🎄 Christmas morning champagne 🍾 was replaced by apple cider vinegar tea 🍵 and cold medicine💊 between cookies 🍪 . But in between the coughs and sneezes, puzzles were solved 🧩, gifts were exchanged 🎁, laughs were had and traditional movies watched.

Not the Christmas we expected but a magical one nonetheless ❄️💗