Qiana Di Bari

O B S E R V A T I O N S O N

the journey to living soul, aloha, and la bella vita

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May-cember Is Real
May-cember Is Real

It is a Tuesday night in early May and I am standing in my daughter's school auditorium, phone in one hand, program in the other, Resy notifications going off in my pocket while I try to be fully present for the last performance of the year. May-cember is real. Here is how I move through it.

I Overpack Every Time. Here Is What I Know Anyway.
I Overpack Every Time. Here Is What I Know Anyway.

The cost of overpacking is not the airline fee. It starts before you ever leave the house, in the weight of too many decisions, the friction of dragging something heavy up stairs built centuries before wheeled luggage existed, and the frustration of arriving somewhere beautiful feeling burdened instead of free. Over years of leaving Maui for long stretches across multiple countries and cultures, I have developed a philosophy that has made me better at it. Not perfect. Better. Here is what I know.

We Don't Take Trips
We Don't Take Trips

I stopped asking myself where I want to go a long time ago. Instead I ask who I want to be with. Every departure from Maui, thousands of miles of ocean between us and everyone we love, has to be justified by what is waiting on the other side. This is the most practical travel advice I can offer.

How I Use the NYT 100 Best Restaurants List to Plan a Summer in New York
How I Use the NYT 100 Best Restaurants List to Plan a Summer in New York

Every May, without looking for it, the NYT 100 Best Restaurants list finds me. And the thrill lasts about thirty seconds. Then I get to work. Here is the exact system I use to turn a great list into a living tool, and how you can do the same for any city you are planning to spend real time in this summer.

Qiana Di Bari

Wife. Mom. Restaurateur.

I’m a native New Yorker with professional roots as a manager in the music business, currently living the dream on the beautiful island of Maui where I run a renowned restaurant with my Italian husband. We escape to our home in south Italy with our two daughters whenever life allows. This space is where I celebrate all facets of our lives- lifestyle, food, fashion, travel, family, business- the beautiful mix and mash of all the cultures that define our family- with the goal of inspiring you to take a second look at the unique beauty of your own lives and inviting the celebration of the culturally specific as a means of appreciating our universal experiences.