Category: home and family
I love that the contributions to the “Things I Have Learned” series keep coming in. I asked a small number of my writer friends to participate at the outset, but now the majority of participants have volunteered themselves and that’s fantastic. Keep ’em coming, all! Today’s list comes from Amy Spooner, who I met when she profiled me for the…
Today’s installment in the “Things I Have Learned” series comes from a colleague at my first job after college, where I worked as a reporter at the Alpena News. If you’ve never heard of Alpena, think cold. It’s five hours north of Detroit, and in addition to learning a tremendous amount about real-life newspapers, I learned such things as how…
A few months ago I wrote a pair of posts reflecting on what I’ve learned in five years as a New Yorker: Five observations after five years in New York New York tourist tips gleaned in my five years in NYC But I have to give it up to Sarah Hepola for writing a piece with an almost identical theme — lessons…
Today is installment #3 in the “Things I Have Learned” series, with this latest list coming from Amanda Hirsch, a friend I met thanks to the wonder of Twitter. Previous lists have come from: me Margaret Yang Amanda Hirsch is a writer and comedian. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, Jordan, their dog, Cosmo, and a lot…
There’s been a lot of discussion, some serious and some snarky, about the rapture coming today. Personally, I don’t believe God sends an Outlook calendar invitation for the end of the world, but I respect anyone’s right to believe whatever feels true to you. Still, the talk has gotten me thinking about a big philosophical question: if you truly believe…
I moved to New York City from Ann Arbor five years ago this month. Earlier this week I shared a laundry list of tourist tips, in part because visiting friends often ask for “real” guidance beyond what they’d get in a guidebook. Today’s post is more about the experience of being a New Yorker — five reflections on being a…
Five years ago, I packed up and moved to Manhattan for my first post-MBA job. John followed about a month later, after managing a speedy sale of our house, thanks in part to our fortuitous timing before the real estate crash. I think five years is long enough to consider myself a real New Yorker. Obviously not a native, but…
Food writer Mark Bittman recently ended his long-running Minimalist column in the New York Times to shift into a new role as an opinion writer for the Times. This change of perspective, that food is about so much more than filling our bellies, is apparent in his book “Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating.” Bittman wrote in the announcement…
This is an encore for one of the very first posts I wrote on this blog, reflecting on January 2001 — 10 years ago this month. One day I was laid off, the next my mom was diagnosed with cancer, which would kill her six months later. My mom has been in my dreams a lot lately, I think reminding…
We took our Christmas tree down last weekend, and I think that’s got to be one of the saddest rituals of the year. When we decorate the tree in December, we’re preparing for a fun-filled season of celebrations. Taking the tree down is not only a less fun chore, it’s also the physical reminder that all that socializing and holiday…
John and I have been married more than 10 years and I remain sort of wishy-washy on the maiden name vs. married name debate. I never legally changed my name — my driver’s license and passport still say Colleen Newvine — so technically I decided. I go by Colleen Newvine at work. But on my blog and when…
Spoiler alert: This post discusses the existence of Santa Claus. If you, like me, might find this disturbing, you might want to go watch Rudolph and skip this one. When I was maybe 5 years old, Santa came to my dad’s house. We were sitting around on Christmas Eve when the back door opened and Santa waltzed in carrying a…
Today’s Month of Thanksgiving post is the winner of the “Who are you grateful for?” contest. It was difficult choosing just one winner, but here are some reasons I chose Margaret Yang‘s ode to her daughter’s bus driver: Many people wrote about their family, and I’m delighted to see so many people holding up the love of their parents, siblings,…