Wishing You A Very Happy Halloween! To get into the right “spirit,” I have a question for you: what are your favorite films with ghosts? Let’s trade recommendations. I can’t wait to hear. Here are my top ten in chronological order. The Shining (1980): Even though the movie is terrifying, I have re-watched it many times. Probably because Jack Nicholson is compelling…and of course … Continue reading Spirits on the Screen

🍁 Happy First Week of Fall, my very favorite season. There’s something about the cooler temperature that perks me right up. Not to mention snuggly sweaters, all the pumpkins, and everything Halloween. But perhaps most of all, it’s the Fall Foliage. Yes, it has to be capitalized like that because it is a thing on the east coast. People travel miles–even states–to see it. When I … Continue reading It’s Fall, Finally

One night seven years ago, I woke up in the dark completely terrified and–long story short–ended up in the emergency room. (The most memorable part of that experience was when, in response to the 911 call, several gorgeous firemen burst into the bedroom and carried me out to the ambulance. If I were writing a Rom Com, hello meet-cute!) Turned out to be the first in … Continue reading Surprise! Everything Just Changed

It’s true that I already recounted the Ikea Bookshelf Saga, but let’s ponder bookshelves again today. It’s just that…they are so versatile and present. They can change a room, make artistic statements. There’s a reason they are so often featured in home decorating shows. You don’t have to look very hard on the web to find pictures of bookshelves in all sorts of dramatic configurations … Continue reading Bookshelves I Have Known

There’s nothing quite like a random survey on a Monday to help us procrastinate for a few precious moments before the work week kicks in fully, right?  (For a variety of reasons, I have been asked the following questions at different times in life but don’t remember what I said previously, so it’s a new adventure, yay. Let’s go!) 1. What is your favorite word? serendipity2. What is … Continue reading Happy Monday Morning

Dear Stores: When did everyone start saying “Welcome in” instead of just “Welcome”? And how did this begin? Was there a memo that I missed? Dear Designers: Can we please talk about the High-Low Hem concept? Sometimes it’s short in the front and long in the back (aka the “mullet of hemlines”) but sometimes it’s short in the back and long in the front. It’s … Continue reading Just a Friendly Note (curious edition)

Recently, I heard that many people were having trouble concentrating these days because we’ve been on high alert for so long. That definitely resonated with me. We all have much to handle, with global events and political tensions adding to the existing pressures of our personal duties and challenges. But this week has felt even more overwhelming and distressing than the previously heightened sense of being overwhelmed … Continue reading Pausing

Whee! It’s that time of year again, when no one seems to agree on when holiday decorations should begin to appear around town. Stores have started putting out displays earlier and earlier, and inquiring minds want to know: Does the sight of holiday decorations going up right after Halloween make you want to scream? Or does it make you want to run for your favorite … Continue reading Almost The Holidays…Or Maybe They Already Started!

The first year we lived in our current house, it felt as though we’d been transported to Disneyland for Halloween–people up and down the street decked out their homes with oversized decorations and all sorts of curious items that spewed mist or growled sporadically or otherwise scared trick-or-treaters. Spooky music was blasted from various houses and neighbors dressed in elaborate costumes. There was a fantastic … Continue reading Hello, Pumpkin Patch