12 Ways to Enjoy Home this Summer

“I’m home!” shouted as you enter the front door and throw your keys on the nearest table is your declaration to the world, “I am no longer in the wild beyond; I have returned to my safe space!” Home is the place where we live our private lives. It is where we should feel safe […]

Join Me on a Journey

Travel is the beginning of exploration. Some people travel to discover new places and new experiences. Some people travel to discover themselves, while others want to discover other cultures and learn about our world. Appetites for excitement and food also spur many to jump on a plane or to pack up the car. Love is […]

Back to School

Who doesn’t love a brand new box of crayons? Unfortunately I have loved too many boxes of crayons at the beginning of each school year and recently found I had amassed a regrettable amount. The start of a new school year stirs up memories of shopping trips with my mom. Plaid seems to be the […]

Reset Your Thinking – Reset Your Life

“Is one of your men home? I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” With that phone call my husband and I nearly ice skated to my elderly neighbor’s aid. An ice storm had left her sitting on the ground next to her car unable to get up. Although most of us are weary of rehashing […]

An Opportunity to Help

I was keenly aware that it was not something a fourth grader should be doing in front of my classmates, but I sat there with tears rolling down my cheeks. My teacher closed the book and I was devastated. Old Dan was dead. He had saved Billy from a mountain lion and perished doing so. […]

Dream, Plan, Do

Use this time to prepare and when the government says, “Ready, Set, GO!,” we’ll all run out the door ready to turn our dreams into reality.

100 Date Night Ideas

Dinner and a movie are no longer my idea of a fun date. Restaurants, although they offer a much-needed break from cooking, rarely offer an intimate setting for meaningful conversation or a romantic atmosphere. I often leave restaurants designing a new one in my head that offers intimate seating, romantic lighting and food that tastes […]

Venice and Our Winners

I looked like a drowned rat, sloshing through the wet streets of Venice in squeaky shoes. I started the day feeling chic and ready for shopping, but the thunder that had threatened during the morning finally gave way to a steady rain that accompanied us all day long as we played dueling umbrellas with other […]

Loving the Tuscan Sun

Tuscany, you have captivated me, and I don’t wish to be free. The tears started flowing standing beneath Frances Mayes’ house, Bramasole. I hoped she’d spy me from her window, invite me in and ask me to be her bosom friend. Frances Mayes She was the sole reason my family was sitting in a van, […]