• Blessings,  Childhood Memories,  Family Fun,  Favorite Things,  Food,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  My Mom Has Mad Skillz,  Review

    Birthday Traditions: Make A Cake And Eat It, Too.

    February 24, 2012

    A couple of weeks ago we celebrated J’s 17th birthday. SEVENTEEN. As in, “My younger–and last born–son is seventeen.” It would be really hard for me to believe if there weren’t a trail of rainbow-colored crumbs all over our family photo albums*. You see, around here birthdays mean one thing: beautifully decorated rainbow cakes (the insides are tinted in various colors). It’s a tradition my mom started, and what I love about it is the thought that goes into it, resulting in the birthday honoree feeling extra special. I remember how creative my mom was with birthday cakes when we were kids. Over the years, she made me a Holly…

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  • Blessings,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  UGH.

    No News Is, Well, No News.

    February 21, 2012

    Thanks to all of you out there who reached out to me in various wonderful ways after I wrote my last post. I very much appreciate the comments, the shares of my post, the texts, the phone calls, the Facebook messages, and everything else. I have spent the last two days alternating between anger and exhaustion over the whole thing, yet I am still able to tell myself that this is a First World Problem, and that it will eventually work itself out. I don’t have any news yet. In this case, no news isn’t good news; it’s just no news. I have sent additional information to Feedburner and am…

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  • Blessings,  Jew Stuff,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    On Knowing When To Make The Leap

    February 6, 2012

    I feel the need to start this post with a disclaimer: I usually don’t bring up religious stuff here unless it’s of the general variety. In relaying this particular story–which has an element of religion included–I want you to know that I am not trying to push my religion on anybody, and hope that you will just find it interesting. Years ago, I was selling health club memberships full time. I had been an employee there for a few years and worked part-time in different departments before landing in Membership. My full-time status came as a result of Jim having been let go from his job in the economic turmoil…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Jim Has Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments

    Silver.

    December 29, 2011

    This one’s for Jim. The idea that it has been a whole quarter of a century since we got married in that dusty little office of Norfolk, Virginia’s Justice of the Peace is something I am having trouble absorbing. While clearly it makes sense that twenty five years have passed–what with having lived in six homes in three cities, having raised two nearly-grown boys, and seeing just a *hint* of gray hair on both of our heads–at the same time it feels like I have just blinked a couple of times and, well, here we are. When we got married, I had just turned eighteen and you were almost twenty.…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Family Fun

    Holiday Gifts

    November 20, 2011

    I have written many times about my distaste for so many aspects of various holidays, from the decorating to the stress to the retail store overload, to, well, all kinds of things. In fact, the last post I wrote on the topic was less than two weeks ago. That said, when both of my sons, my sister, and my husband all chipped in tonight to help wrap holiday gifts for the friends and family members we’ll be seeing later this week for Thanksgiving, my ice-cold holiday heart melted just a little bit. I’m not sure if it was when we were giving the boys a hard time about leaving about…

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  • Blessings,  Chicken in the Car,  Fun in Chicago,  Proud Moments,  Shameless Promotion

    Chicken in the Car and the Car Won’t Go: Now Available in STORES!

    October 30, 2011

    Blurred reality. I was just informed that Barnes & Noble is placing an order for my book, Chicken in the Car and the Car Won’t Go: Nearly 200 Ways To Enjoy Chicagoland With Tweens and Teens and should have it on the shelves by the December holidays. This was one of my main goals for the book: to get it into a major bookseller’s stores. CHECK! So there you go. Though the order they are placing is not big enough to get copies into every store (Yet. Let’s stay positive, shall we?), you CAN go into your local B&N, no matter where it is, and special order a copy for…

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  • Blessings,  Childhood Memories,  Fun in Chicago,  Pretty Pictures

    Chicago’s Water Tower: Small But Mighty

    October 5, 2011

    This Saturday marks the 140th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The fire, rumored–but never confirmed–to have been started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, not only razed just about the entire city but also set the stage for its rebirth into the world-class metropolis it is today. (If there ever was a silver lining to a disaster, that would be it.) The fire even jumped the Chicago River (more than once) on its way to burning an area four miles long by a half mile wide. It was one of the biggest disasters to occur in the United States in the 19th century. The Water Tower, at the north…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  Writing

    Inspired To Action.

    September 27, 2011

    A funny thing happens sometimes, when you’re busy with life, going through your daily schedule and getting things done (or not): your mojo can start to slip away. It can slip when you’re tired, and it can slip when you aren’t organized. Mojo can fade away when you’re not paying attention. The silver lining in all of this is the fact that, it’s easy to get a jumpstart for your mojo, and I had not one but TWO jumpstarts today. First, after insanely aggravating traffic that, due to nothing in particular except for some rain, caused me to be in the car for a full two and a half hours…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Favorite Things,  Proud Moments,  Working On My Fitness

    My Trainer, Bob.

    August 14, 2011

    So… The Biggest Loser. I am a Biggest Loser fan. Since day one, actually. My mention of the show probably won’t sit well with everyone: it usually doesn’t. I’ve participated in many debates over the years–in real life and on Facebook–about whether the show and the people behind it are “right” or “wrong”. It seems to me that there are just a few types of people, where viewing the show is concerned: 1. I have seen it and think it’s amazing and inspiring. 2. I have seen it and think it’s not only ridiculous but sends the wrong message. 3. I haven’t seen it. I am, of course, part of…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Favorite Things,  Friends,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Spreading the Bloggie Love,  Too Funny To Ignore

    #BlogHer11: Third Time’s A Charm!

    August 11, 2011

    BlogHer ’11 was my third, and there was something magical about it for me (shut up). Okay, the first two times I attended BlogHer were pretty darn good too, but I had the most fun this year, perhaps partly because I didn’t overdo like I did last year. I don’t even know where to start with my recap so I just decided to spew randomness sprinkled with pictures. That’s organized enough, isn’t it? Favorite moments: (so many, and in no particular order!) 1. Lots of quality time with my favorite “really, really, really wish we were neighbors” Jersey girl, Liz. I luv huh. 2. Giggling with my roommates, especially each…

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