• Best Thing Ever,  Childhood Memories,  Friends

    It Was On Like Donkey Kong.

    It’s funny, Momo often says there’s nothing much to do in Columbus, but each time I’ve visited she’s taken me somewhere that is unique and so much fun. Last time it was to German Village. On Sunday she and her husband took me to lunch at a really cool place called Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace. The menu was pretty spectacular: I’ve never seen that many varieties of hot dogs in one place, and they serve Vienna Beef dogs—made in Chicago—so I felt right at home. By the way, Momo and I each ordered a “Classy Lady” hot dog because OF COURSE. Anyway, the decor was pretty amazing, too. The…

  • Childhood Memories,  My Mom Has Mad Skillz

    Grade School Actress

    Here’s something you likely didn’t know about me: I was once an actress. That’s right, from first grade through third grade, I spent a lot of time on the stage at Dogwood School* in Park Forest, Illinois. Well, it wasn’t actually a stage. The school didn’t have a stage. Instead, we used one end of the gym. Anyway, I played parts like one of the Native Americans in a Thanksgiving play, Betsy Ross, and my favorite, Earth. As in, the entire planet. I was the whole world. The play, produced when I was in first grade, was called “A Family in Space”. I found the actual script last night when…

  • Childhood Memories

    Just A Moment.

    Do you ever wonder why some childhood moments stick with us forever? One that keeps randomly popping up in my head is from way, way back, when we looked like this. (The picture could be a year off, but you get the idea.) We had just brought our first puppy home, a black and silver dappled miniature dachshund named, well, Dapple. She could fit in the palm of my Dad’s hand, which added to her cuteness factor and our excitement over her arrival. I might be wrong on this (and if I am I’m sure my mom will correct me in comments), but I think that my parents put a…

  • Childhood Memories,  I've Got Mad Skillz

    I’m A Giver.

    If you were to ask me to name a few things in life that I absolutely adore doing, I would say that gift-giving and doing other nice things for the people I love would be rattled off right up there with travel, writing, and of course, BEING with the people I love. The gift-giving thing? I really love it. Really, really love it, in fact. I’m really, really good at it, too. (So is my sister, as a matter of fact!) I put lots of thought into it, which shouldn’t be a surprise to you if you know me because I’m always thinking. I’m the type of person that will…

  • Childhood Memories

    Member Of The Rotary Club

    I will never, EVER get used to seeing Adam Ant and Duran Duran vinyl albums in antique shops. It nauseates me to see my youth tossed into plastic milk crates right next to the milk glass, art deco costume jewelry, and old, dusty pillbox hats. That said, coming across a “vintage” rotary dial phone–also from my youth–next to all of that same stuff last month didn’t really bother me. Go figure. Maybe it’s because I didn’t hang posters of rotary dial phones on my bedroom walls, and I certainly didn’t spend every waking moment swooning as I watched rotary dial phone videos on MTV. It occurred to me when I…