Hallstatt, Austria: A Fairytale Village and a €5 Cappuccino

Places & Plates · The Lori Diaries

Hallstatt is the sort of place that makes you wonder whether somebody built an entire village for the sole purpose of appearing on postcards. There are pastel houses pressed between mountains and a lake, a church steeple that seems to know exactly where to stand for photographs, and a ferry crossing that delivers you straight into the view you've probably already seen a hundred times online. I went expecting a fairytale. I got one, along with a very Austrian reminder that even a fairytale comes with a bill.

What You Didn’t See in My Instagram Photos

Life & Love · The Lori Diaries

Somewhere on my Instagram, there's a beautiful photo from Salzburg. Glowing lights, a Christmas market, a cup of warm punch. Very charming. Very romantic. What the photo doesn't show is that my fingers were freezing, I'd waited half an hour for that drink, and I was one accidental shove away from losing my patience with the entire crowd.

Micromanagement: Why Is Trust the Key to Success?

Work & Culture · The Lori Diaries

Micromanagement. Even the word itself sounds a little exhausting, doesn't it?

11 Years of The Lori Diaries: Why Am I Still Blogging?

Everything Else · The Lori Diaries

When I first started The Lori Diaries, I had no idea how much it would come to mean to me, or that it would still be part of my life more than a decade later.

Love in the Modern Age: Why Is It So Hard to Find?

Life & Love · The Lori Diaries

Finding love these days can feel a little like looking for a needle in a haystack. Except the haystack is full of dating profiles, unread messages, and people who are “not looking for anything serious” but would still quite like to see where things go. I don't think love has disappeared. I just sometimes wonder when getting to know someone became a process that requires quite so much strategy.

The Idea of You: Why Is Her Happiness Everyone Else’s Business?

Screen & Sound · The Lori Diaries

I was exhausted, stretched out on the sofa, and scrolling through my phone in search of something good to watch when Instagram put The Idea of You in front of me. Anne Hathaway, a handsome pop star, a romance that looked a little too good to be true. It seemed like exactly the sort of film I needed that evening. I pressed play expecting a lovely escape. Instead, somewhere between the flirting and the heartbreak, one line made me sit up and think: “People hate happy women.” It's a harsh thing to say. It's also the line that stayed with me long after the film ended.