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If I were to tell you that there was a place that had bagels, Chinese food and cannolis just blocks from each other – you would might scream and run for the hills because obviously you have died and gone to heaven. Well let me tell you – THERE IS SUCH A PLACE HERE ON ... Continue Reading >>
Oh Lord. Do you not think that these guys are the most adorable New York City police officers? Look at them, all doughy in he middle. They are the physical manifestation of what comes to my mind when I think of the NYPD. Cops either look like this pair or they look like Ice-T, a ... Continue Reading >>
Paige has always been fascinated by the Alice in Wonderland story. It didn’t hurt that Johnny Depp was in the most recent film adaptation. That girl LOOOOVEEESS some Johnny Depp. Really now, who doesn’t? Did you see him in that John Dillinger movie? Huzzah. The only beef I have with Alice in Wonderland is that ... Continue Reading >>
On the day we were leaving, we took an hour or so to walk through Central Park, starting at around 72nd and Central Park West. We were tempted to rent a horse drawn carriage or a pedicab but in the end we decided to hoof it. This may have been our most brilliant idea ever. ... Continue Reading >>
Around Broadyway and 42nd in Times Square, Paige and I ran across a group of Chinese sketch artists who were sitting on the sidewalk trying to hustle you into doing either a caricature of you (ONLY FIVE DOLLAH!) or a realistic rendering of your face (EIGHTY DOLLAH!). Much to my surprise, THIS was the New ... Continue Reading >>
Oh the folks at Momversation pulled together this little video of our trip to Gateway National Recreation Area a couple of weeks ago. I think it was about ninety bazillion degrees that day – but somehow I turned into a hot mess and Paige looked charming as usual! BTW, It is completely hilarious (and mortifying) ... Continue Reading >>
As I mentioned, Coca Cola was kind enough to send Paige and I to New York City so we could attend a Live Positively event where Coke announced a $50,000 grant to Gateway National Recreation Area (GNRA). The event was in tandem with a WNBA Fit Clinic where kids were bused in from Brooklyn to ... Continue Reading >>
Thanks to the folks at Coca-Cola, I am in New York City for three glorious days to attend an event at Gateway National Recreation Area at Riis Landing. I am part of their “America Is Your Park” campaign, which you can find out more about here. All I can say is that this City ... Continue Reading >>
My sister recently posted this picture of my Auntie on Facebook. I hadn’t seen the photo before and was quite taken with it’s vintage sepia tones. I wish I could ask her what she was thinking at that moment. If you had known my Aunt, you would have come to realize that underneath that twinset ... Continue Reading >>
This morning the alarm went off at 5:00 am and had this really visceral reaction about being late for a rescheduled coffee date on the 7:10 ferry. I gave Matt such a hard time for not making it yesterday (because he slept in) that it was a matter of pride for me to be on ... Continue Reading >>
For the greater part of my life, I have been in flow mode. No road map – just keep moving forward. Of the plans that I have made in my life, the majority of them have never been realized. I never became an advertising executive (thank goodness) or corporate attorney (double thank goodness). I still ... Continue Reading >>
Me and religion – hoo boy! we have had a history! The trouble all started when I was in Sunday school and got scolded because my macaroni noodle and legume Jesus art project ended up looking more like Marvin Gaye instead. They thought I was trying to question the faith with my red lentil faced ... Continue Reading >>
The other day I was walking down Fourth Avenue with my friend Erin and she was remarking about how busy my life is. It was actually surprising to hear given that generally I am in constant agony about how I am not doing enough with the time that I have. The whole conversation reminded me ... Continue Reading >>
I’ve been commuting by ferry into downtown Seattle for about 10 months now. In fact, I am writing this seated on the good old Melissa Ann herself. The first time I stepped onto the walkway of the catamaran, I was overcome with this sense of walking into the high school cafeteria – where am I ... Continue Reading >>
I used to think that Paige was just perfect between the ages of 7 and 10. I fondly look back and call that time period “The Golden Years” for the following reasons: She thought that I knew everything and reveled in awe about how smart I was. We started having adorable 2-way conversations about abstract topics like ... Continue Reading >>
I am the world’s worst networker. When I go to an event, I usually find one person I want to meet and then decide to be friends with them. I realize the whole point of networking is to meet a succession of people, but that’s just not who I am. I am old fashioned. I ... Continue Reading >>
There are times in my life when I think I should have had another child. However, as a 20 year old young single mother it didn’t seem like an opportune time. I was young, selfish and immature – barely able to support the child that I had. Then 20 came and went. Then 22. And ... Continue Reading >>
Vashon Island is a fish bowl. I didn’t realize this till recently when I made the decision to start making a life here. I get the feeling that everyone knows everyone. And everyone loves sharing stories about everyone else. With little effort, I can pull tidbits of information together and make wildly inappropriate assumptions about ... Continue Reading >>
This past Sunday my friend Caedmon and I had a secondhand invite to the annual party at Kurtwood Farms. Thank you, Matt for inviting us. Thank you Kurt for having us. All I can say that it was lovely and beautiful. The grounds were out of the pages of Architectural Digest, but more tangible and warm. ... Continue Reading >>
My friend Eddie, who I shamefully haven’t spoke to in quite some time, once told me that people who have been through what we have been through – whose souls have been altered in their formidable years by tragedy or in our case, victims of mental illness in the family – will inexplicably find others ... Continue Reading >>
I used to have a really difficult time navigating through Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. As you may know, my Mother passed away when I was in elementary school and my Father and I barely have a tangible relationship to speak of. In times past, my heart used to sink when I went to the ... Continue Reading >>
Every night I promise myself I will go to sleep early and every night the clock strikes 10:30 and I am still not ready to close my eyes. The world is too exciting right now. I’ve gone from wondering what I am going to do with my time to where am I going to find ... Continue Reading >>
My single lady status has been a subject of great consternation for those who know me in person. Let’s not start getting into the exercise of defining how long I’ve been single, because that’s just depressing and mean. If you are wondering, let’s just say that I have not been on a real date since ... Continue Reading >>
Yesterday on the bus on home Scott, my sometimes commuter friend, asked me how I was liking it on Vashon. Given that I have had very little sleep over the past few days I think my stream of consciousness leaned towards wafflely with a side of negative. It’s been 9 months! Form an opinion for ... Continue Reading >>
Seattlietes are proud to be home of the grunge phenomena. Kurt Cobain is a town hero and a couple of weekends ago Paige and I went to a Seattle Art Museum exhibit showcasing work inspired by the music of Nirvana and rockstar himself. If you haven’t been, you should check it out. It’ll take you ... Continue Reading >>
I had a friend named Josh who went on a vision quest in his mid 20’s. It basically consisted of him hiking into the back woods of northern California, drawing a white chalk circle about 6 feet in diameter and then not leaving it for 5 days. He came back a changed man. Usually, upon hearing ... Continue Reading >>
Just the other day I received an email from someone saying, “If you are not going to blog regularly, you should take this ***** down.” Well, YOU (and you know who you are) – thanks for the kick in the ass. I needed that. I realize the lack of writing should probably result in me getting ... Continue Reading >>
Working on some site implementation today and things might look a bit wonky. xo g
Yes. Nothing like cute pictures of dogs with bacon on their heads to distract you from the fact that I am still in a slump. And, while I am at it – at what point does it go from slump to pits of despair? Help! I am in a ditch that I can’t quite get out [...]
Hello? Hello? How the hell are ya? My your kids have grown! Have you lost weight? You totally look like you’ve lost weight while I’ve been away. No? Have you had some work done? Really! You look fabulous. I wish I could say a lot has been going on in this part of the world. I’ve been in a bit of a [...]
This coming week will mark my thirty-sixth birthday. Thirty-six is on the downhill slope to Forty. F-O-O-O-O-R-T-Y. Ostensibly, that’s considered middle aged. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but it is a milestone.) I have never really been a big birthday person. At least not since I was little. Last year around this time, [...]
During the month of March, all these emotions start percolating up to the surface. It’s birthday month. If you’re anything like me, you start going through the life’s proverbial checklist around this time: Baby? Check. House? Check. Successful career? Depends on what day you ask me. Marriage? Uh, no. Love? Still hopeful. Travel? Not enough. Book? Painfully slow going. Hap
I spent the whole of Wednesday buried under my covers feeling sorry for myself. Paige and I have been fighting like cats and dogs as of late, maneuvering our way through the typical mother daughter dynamics (I hate you! I love you!). I’m not exaggerating when I say that there have been some knock down [...]
There’s a certain point when you realize that everything there is left to do as a parent is pretty much small potatoes compared to all the work between zero and 12. Gone are the days when the definition of Mom meant “center of the universe.” Gone are the days when going to bed without snuggling [...]
WHERE ARE YOU? This is what I’ve been hearing from everyone in my life right now. WHERE ARE YOU? You act like you’re on an island or something. Well, why yes I am. I am on an island. Trapped under a box of french crullers. Lord help me. Actually, I’ve been preoccupied with that house of mine. Not [...]
We temporarily interrupt my lack of blog posts for an important commercial message. About a month ago, the folks at Quaker Oats and the producers of Good Bite asked me if I wanted to get involved with a Quaker Oats campaign to raise money for “Share Our Strength,” a charity dedicated to ending [...]
Arielle: If you could visualize how you want your body to be, what would it look like? Me: Uh, are you asking me to describe it to you? Arielle: Yeah. Like think of a celebrity. Whose body do you admire? Me: Well, I don’t really watch that much television so it’s hard to say. I mean, I am [...]
I was just reading my friend Karen’s blog and my mood was instantly transformed from cranky to happy when I watched this: It’s a spectacular morning here in Seattle as I am crossing the channel into Seattle. Everyone I look at is smiling because it’s hard not to looking a snow covered mountain tops tinted with [...]
I have a lot of anxiety about tomorrow. I have a date. No, no, not THAT kind of date. Not yet, at least. I have a date with a personal trainer. Being bit overweight and in total denial about my cardiovascular health, nothing terrifies me more than working out with a personal trainer. They might [...]
Let’s just say that New Year’s Eve involved laughter, dancing, tears, hysterics, a fifth of Bacardi 151, some puking and some more crying. No, no, it wasn’t me. It was Paige. And her friends. Yep. As you can imagine, these first few hours into the New Year were spent… how do you say? Opening a can of whoopass? Tearing someone [...]
2009 was a banner year, wasn’t it? Replete with highs and lows. Who can forget the feeling of promise (or dread, if you are batting for the other team) as President Obama took office? My 14 year old was in tears over it. She usually saves her tears for things like the Notebook or My [...]
Back in 2003 Dooce wrote a post about her adventures with a golf cart and Norah Jones. Now before you imagine Dooce frenetically steering a golf cart while saying things like “SHINGLES” as Norah Jones sits passenger side with her arms wrapped around her knees … the reason I really brought it up was because [...]
A couple of days ago (after I posted a coconut cream pie recipe) a fellow blogger named Tony commented on my post saying something along the lines of, “Hey! Hey you! Remember your New Year’s resolution to lose weight? Remember you were on CNN? How you used to wax poetic about how this was your [...]
There’s a restaurant on 4th & Lenora in downtown Seattle called the Dahlia Lounge. It’s a local institution run by our very own celebrity chef, Tom Douglas (he beat Morimoto in Iron Chef!). When you come visit me, I’ll take you there to eat the Dungeness Crabcakes and “Bang in a Bag” a.k.a. beignets with [...]
These two girls have been fixtures in our lives for the past three years. The one on the left (who I call T-dog, much to Paige’s chagrin) has to be one of my favorite kids ever. She’s freakin hilarious, but it’s not surprising, her mother has a wicked sense of humor too. Sam (on the [...]
The coast of Washington (and Oregon for that matter) are littered with side of the highway ramblers that sell chainsaw carvings. You’ll know these places right away because their lawn is jam packed with chainsaw carvings that represent our fair State – black bears, totem poles, Jesus, spotted owls, fisherman in raincoats, the occasional windmill [...]
