At what point does a New York gal living in NorCal get to officially become a California girl? I’ve been living in this beautiful corner of the world for 12 years come this summer. And I still pinch myself that I get to live here. Years ago, in 2010, when Sean and I were living in the Hudson River Valley of NY and I lost my beloved mother, he asked me what I needed. I [...]
So I'm now at the age that most people would call Midlife. My husband jokingly calls it “the Back Nine,” referring to the last nine holes of an eighteen-hole golf course. I don’t play golf, but I certainly get the gist! When I was a kid, I remember hearing about how people would often have a "Midlife Crisis." They would do wacky, out-of-the-ordinary things. They would not act like their former selves. They would often [...]
Last fall, I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the new American Writers Museum in Chicago. The museum opened to the public in May 2017, and I visited in October 2017, only five months later. What a treat! I was accompanied by my writer friend and co-member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Nancy Johnson, who lives in Chicago. It was wonderful to spend time with Nancy and in such an inspiring place for writers! [...]
In the summer of 2012, I relocated from New York to Northern California, specifically, to the college town of Davis. There are many things that make Davis a fabulous place to live: fantastic weather, an abundant farmers market, a University smack in the middle of town, a plethora of outdoor activities, proximity to the mountains and ocean (not to mention California wine country), and the amazing city of San Francisco about 60 miles away. But [...]
We all have labels. Some of them we are born into, some of them others give us, and some of them we give ourselves. There are the ones that we are born into. For me, those include human, female, Italian American, New Yorker, and native English speaker. There are the personal labels that define our relationships to others. Wife, daughter, sister, savvy auntie, friend, furry baby mama. These are the labels that I wear in [...]
