In this ever-changing society, the recent popularity of thrift store shopping has made life a lot easier for people to be able to purchase more items to make their lives more comfortable without going broke at the same time. Another benefit to shopping in thrift stores is that often the items offered for sale in the stores are being kept out of the landfills, the incinerators and the world’s oceans. Although many people are complaining about how difficult the economy is making their lives, this is a great time to be taking a harder look at how much waste we are generating and how we can reduce the waste and still enjoy being fashionable. If you have no idea how to enter the world of thrift store shopping, the Internet has several websites that will offer the consumers a good basic guide to thrift store shopping, complete with lists of [...]
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Whenever someone questions my daughter, Lily, about my fight with cancer, she replies, “I saved my mommy’s life.” She has made this statement many times, and it just slips out naturally, as though she were making a statement about being hungry or tired or ready to go to school. Some people may not take her seriously, but I know she is exactly right. My husband and I had been married for seven years before we considered becoming parents. I was 35 at the time and had some concerns about becoming pregnant for the first time at that age. I really had no idea how long it might take to even become pregnant, but three short months after we decided to try, we found out that I was pregnant. Every mother can relate to the many mixed emotions I experienced at that time. I felt excitement and joy as well as [...]
It’s been snowing since October. It’s now February 28th. Excuse me while I wipe away a tear… *sigh*… oh, it’s not that bad. I mean it hasn’t been snowing since October because SOME DAYS IT’S TOO COLD TO SNOW. That’s right. Too cold to snow. This means when I walk into the school from -16 ° outside and speak to the main office secretary in my cheery, I-am-so-happy-to-be-telling-you-that-my-daughter-forgot-her-scarf again voice — and gosh yes, it is cold. OK, you have a good day too! Bundle up! Stay warm! — I ignore the box of tissue on the desk. Rookie move. It’s there to wipe the condensation off your nose hairs so when you are chit chatting with the secretary in your “oh so breezy confident way,” you don’t look like you have a white cobweb growing out of your nostrils. So pretty. So so pretty. And you only know this [...]
Sometimes you just need an awesome song. This is an awesome song. Also? I had Steve Perry’s same outfit when I was in fourth grade. FACT.
Once upon a time I met this guy. He was playing at a local tavern a few years ago with some of his family and friends (Grammy award winner Timothy Bloom and Matthew Holmes) on a stool in the corner. He was a well-known musician, it’s a well-known fact I’m life’s biggest lover of music. He was down to earth and graciously had a drink with me – turns out we are both Twitter addicts, both hail from L.A., and so, it seemed like we should be friends. I liked that he couldn’t remember all the words to the Daughtry songs the bar crowd was asking him to sing, but he could belt out a mean rendition of “Stand By Me”. Sold. Fast-forward to today, and much has changed in the life of Josh “JP” Paul. Josh, who originally hails from Venice, California, is a musician most widely known as [...]
C’mon, let’s face it, I pretty much hit the jackpot when I was born in San Francisco. I led an idyllic childhood in that sweet land of liberty where freedom rang on every corner with multiple ethnicities, alternate lifestyles and amazing restaurants. So why take my oath of Citizenship in Canada? My husband Khari’s football career as a player, broadcaster and coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL) brought us from Vancouver to Winnipeg to Calgary to Edmonton to Hamilton. Today we find ourselves in the prairie of potash and snow in Regina, Saskatchewan. (And that’s “pot-ash” not “poh-tash” as we mistakenly called it before finding out it’s like a really big deal in Saskatchewan.) With the impending arrival of our first daughter in 2002, we made a permanent move to Winnipeg. Our work visa status as a CFL player and spouse suited us just fine in those days – [...]
Being that I rise at 4:00 a.m. for my slick day job as an “on-air talent”(READ: radio weather and traffic girl), I rarely get out to the movies anymore. This means my personal, detailed reviews are usually based on interviews of my children, whom I used as my movie-going emissaries. This latest time around, I sent my son, Harrison. I’ve found him to be a pretty even-keel judge of theatrical entertainment. His review of “Identity Thief:” I went to the movie theater with a friend, quite excited to see “Identity Thief,” a movie starring a few of my favorite comedic talents. This film follows a man whose identity is stolen, prompting him to go find the person who stole his identity and bring her into the jurisdiction of the local police officers. Jason Bateman is the man stolen from, Melissa McCarthy the thief and both of them perform well. My main [...]
When it comes to beauty trends in 2013, it’s all about making a statement. This was not a season in which natural beauty reigned supreme, with dewy skin, barely there mascara and the briefest dash of lip gloss. Instead, across collections, designers went bold with their beauty statements: gone were the bare palettes and simply sleeked hair; even make up minimalists like Stella McCartney and Burberry sent models down the catwalk in iridescent hues. Put away that beige gloss, you won’t be needing it this season. Instead, pick a statement (go on, any statement, it hardly matters which one, this is not the important part) and embrace it to the max. 2013 is the time to rejuvenate your beauty routine and refresh your palette; it’s time to have fun with make up once again. All In The Eyes If your beauty regime focuses on lashes and lids, you won’t be [...]
Bad colds don’t get no respect. You call in sick to work, all you get is a terse acknowledgement in a miffed tone. (Wuss. It’s just a cold. We’re swamped and you’re lolling at home mainlining menthol.) Not bloody quite. I’m at home with a dearth of appetite, watery eyes, body-wracking sneezes, a mind that can’t focus on a single task, a fever that comes and goes, a deep, hacking cough that erupts at the slightest provocation, ears on the verge of infection and sinuses full to bursting with something that should never be seen by anyone outside the CDC. Next to my chair, a big old cardboard box holds all the spent tissues. It ain’t pretty, baby. I am dependent on nasal spray to enable air to pass through my nose, some variant of Thera Flu to sleep a few hours (which needs to be taken again at the [...]
Listening to what I say
“So Nina, “(I say to my visiting mother-in-law) “I think I’ll go back to my 6:00 AM boot camp when you head back to LA. I find when I go to the earlier class I have more time to do things during the day.” “Oh, like reading?” Awkward. “Uh, I like to think I do a little more than reading during the day.” I was slightly (totally) offended. And then I heard what I said, and what she said, and I was like, huh. You ever hear something and it makes you go, huh? Oprah would call it an “a-ha” moment. I would call it an “I can’t believe I just said that out loud” moment. To Nina’s credit she immediately confirmed how busy I was during the day and how I am always on the run, and cooking and cleaning… by stressing how busy I was she confirmed my [...]