About me, beyond building products

Baking like my mother

Like many matriarchs, my mother (and Lebanese grandmother) showed love through food - particularly sweet, tantalizing cakes that I've come to make myself. It's interesting how moving to Brazil, where every day offers a social event to bring food to, really gave me an outlet for

Like many matriarchs, my mother (and Lebanese grandmother) showed love through food - particularly sweet, tantalizing cakes that I've come to make myself. Moving to Brazil, where every day offers a social outing, really gave me an outlet for this.

this. I enjoy baking sweets and creating recipes that combine cultures (especially of Brazil & the US) like my açaí bowl cupcakes or pumpkin spice pavê. You can find photos of my bakes on Instagram, my recipes in learnings, and a recognition from Magnolia Bakery here :)

I enjoy baking sweets and creating original recipes that combine cultures (especially of Brazil & the US) like my açaí bowl cupcakes or pumpkin spice pavê. You can find photos of my bakes on my Instagram, recipes in my learnings, and a recognition from Magnolia Bakery here :)

I enjoy baking sweets and creating recipes that combine cultures (especially of Brazil & the US) like my açaí bowl cupcakes or pumpkin spice pavê. You can find photos of my bakes on Instagram, my recipes in learnings, and a recognition from Magnolia Bakery here :)

Walking while reading

Growing up playing tennis competitively and being surrounded by American gym culture, when I started to work in emerging markets with limited gym & sports access, I struggled to stay healthy. That is, until I discovered that walking 1-2 hrs a day is a great (or at least sufficient) way to stay active, meditate, and get my daily dose of education (listening to a book or podcast) and

entertainment (if I watch a show while I walk). Because of my strange life, many of my walks involved doing circles in an office building or a mall, as well as a lot of urban hiking, which I especially love to do in São Paulo (notwithstanding my colleagues' warnings) and when visiting new cities. I track my recent reads on Goodreads & am always looking for recommendations so let me know :)

Soft serve & supermarkets around the world

When I land in a new country, I often find myself doing two things. First, I grab a soft serve cone to both satisfy my medically required daily ice cream dosage as well as appreciate how this treat has morphed to fit local preferences. Some photos.

As my background implies, I love traveling. And when I land in a new country, I often find myself doing two things. First, I grab a budget-friendly soft serve cone to both satisfy my daily ice cream requirement as well as appreciate how this treat has morphed to fit local preferences. Some photos.

Second, I visit a local supermarket which can often be a looking glass into the local culture - which aisle/category is abnormally big or small? which items is there 10+ brands of and hence the culture loves? And I love being surprised by new food items. Some photos.

Living in new places

Since my first experience in college working abroad for a mining company in Chile, I've loved living in new places and understanding how different people and cultures navigate life. I plan to add a gallery of photos to bring this to life but here's the laundry list of places I've enjoyed for +2 months:

Dallas, Allentown (Pennsylvania), Santiago (Chile), Anchorage (Alaska), Houston, Lusaka (Zambia), Mexico City, Sudbury (Canada), Antigua (Guatemala), Oxford (UK), London (UK), Joburg (South Africa), Nairobi (Kenya), Oslo (Norway), Waco (Texas), San Francisco, São Paulo