Side

When my Mom and I are travelling together, everyone always asks us if we’re sisters.  It’s happened ever since I was in college when she used to come and visit me for the weekend.  The salesperson at the store, the server at the restaurant—they would look at us and say, “You two are obviously related. […]

Two weeks ago, I turned 40. If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know that I had planned to be biking through Vietnam on that day, but we had to cancel the trip.  Instead, Elie made sure I was spoiled.  I went to a yoga class with Mom, got pampered at the spa, spent time in […]

We were supposed to be leaving for Vietnam tomorrow, on a luxury biking tour with Butterfield & Robinson.  Instead of packing today, I’m in Vancouver and getting ready to head back to St. Paul’s Hospital, where my father-in-law is there awaiting a procedure for a new heart valve.  We’ve actually been in the hospital with […]

I almost didn’t write this post.  The topic of easy holiday entertaining sounded trite to me, and maybe even a little pompous. Because really, holiday entertaining can be stressful.  Especially if we start to compare ourselves to Pinterest boards and Instagram posts and beautiful blogs portraying perfectly set tables (or perfectly imperfectly set tables) and […]

I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about the meaning of family. There is the family we are born into, and then there is the family we choose.  Some of the family we choose might include the family we’re born with—family members who are kind, compassionate, loving, joyful, giving or interesting individuals with whom we […]

There are moments when I’m awed at how beautiful life with Elie has become.  Last weekend, standing in my sunny kitchen listening to the sound of laughter surround me, I was filled with awe. The weekend held so many opportunities for thankfulness, reminding me to appreciate the simple pleasures that make life sweet.  I went […]

I want to warn you that this post starts with sadness, in case you need to save this reading for another time.  But, it ends with friendship and a recipe.

I don’t know why my childhood holds such vivid memories of pimiento cheese.  Mom didn’t make it often, so I mostly indulged at church potlucks and in the homes of friend’s.  Especially at Melanie and Missy’s. It seems like we always ended up in the kitchen at their house.  Even at nine years old, I […]