• waves
    Pretty Pictures,  Random Thoughts,  Travels

    Crisis Averted.

    Jim and I were on the Emerald Coast of Florida over the weekend. The 24-mile stretch of beach along Highway 30A in the northwestern part of the state is one of the most gorgeous areas I’ve ever seen. The sand is like white sugar and, as you can imagine from the nickname, the water is so many gorgeous shades of green-blue. I took so many pictures at the beach, but that’s what I do. While we usually buy something small for our house when we visit a place for the first time (this time we picked up a handblown glass sand dollar paper weight), my very favorite kind of souvenir…

  • rainbow meth cupcakes
    Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Food,  Fun in Knoxville,  I've Got Mad Skillz

    The Thrill is in the Hunt.

    I used to throw themed parties all the time. My boys were raised with big birthday parties that had tons of elements that coordinated with whatever show, movie, or thing they were into that year. The ability to take a theme and run with it, usually far further than the average person would care to and what I mean by that is “until said theme is nearly dead and gasping for breath but in a good way,” is something I come by honestly: my sister and I both get it from our mom. While I have contributed ideas for themed parties in the past few years when my friends have…

  • move 2
    I'm Apparently Old.,  UGH.

    Check Yourself.

    I came up with an amazing idea the other night after Jim and I enjoyed an evening at the theater. As we slowly worked our way towards the door to exit the building, we had to continually halt our pace and switch directions to avoid running into the folks who decided it was okay to stop and chat directly in the path of thousands of people who just wanted to get home. It was the worst, of course, right outside the doors on the sidewalk. My idea? Install moving sidewalks in all of those public places where this happens on a regular basis. Okay, I know my idea is ridiculous…

  • Confessions

    All You Need To Know About Me Is Right Here.

    The videos from the 2014 season of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER are now on YouTube! Naturally I’m a little biased and highly recommend that you watch the Chicago show first (the playlist in show order is HERE). That said, I did visit the Madison, Milwaukee, and NW Indiana shows and they were awesome too, and I will be watching ALL of the other ones at some point, likely after the conference-that-shall-not-be-named-so-I-don’t-make-more-work-for-myself. You can catch all of them too, by going to the LTYM YouTube channel. Here’s my “very Melisa” reading from this year’s show.

  • Music

    Come With Me And Escape

    Do you ever hear a song that was released years and years ago on the radio, and even though you’ve been singing along with it all that time you—at some point—started truly paying attention to the lyrics and, among other things, marvel at how times have changed? No? Just me? Okay. Anyway. Since I happen to have spent time on some pretty fabulous beaches last weekend and my brain continues to be obsessed with paradise as I get readjusted to real life (and Chicago winter weather UGH), I thought it would be a great time to give you an idea of what goes through my head every single time I…