Happiness

Cleaning out a loved one’s home after they pass is an emotional and daunting task. Recently, I had to face this challenge while sorting through my mother’s belongings. Like many of her generation, my mother was a collector, keeping everything from her wedding dress to fine china and even plastic salt and pepper shakers she “acquired” on her honeymoon. While these items held sentimental value to her, my kids – like many Gen Xers and …

After the laborious, and quite frankly, sad, task of cleaning out my mother’s home when she passed away, it got me thinking about all of my own stuff and how to alleviate this burden for my own children. My mother’s aneurysm incapacitated her quickly which meant she had no time to “get her affairs in order.” So dealing with disorganization in the midst of downsizing was challenging. If you’re facing that daunting task of decluttering …

Do you love entertaining and want to really impress your friends with an impressive fully-stocked – and fun – home bar? When we moved into our new home with an entire room dedicated to drinking (my husband’s mancave), I really wanted to have a bar setup that looked more Hollywood than fraternity house. So I Googled, and pinned, and vision boarded, and envied all kinds of stories on how to set up a home bar. …

We live in one of those neighborhoods where there are a lot of impromptu happy hours and friends who just drop by. I live near the beach so making quick trips to the grocery store is a nightmare. I hit beach traffic and the store can be crowded with Millennials buying their White Claw and Doritos. So I try to plan ahead and keep my fridge and pantry stocked with a few items that let …

Making dinner. Every. Single. Night. Am I right? Who feels like cooking these days? I’ve been in a bit of a culinary funk because I have absolutely no dinner inspiration. So we usually end up gravitating to our old standby, pasta. But even I’m kind of tiring of that. So I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for how to make quick and healthy dinner ideas for two that fit our lifestyle. No thinking …

I recently read an article in Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Journal, “Nurtured for Generations,” about the legacies of grandmothers who cooked, and the home chefs – and the family food culture – they spawned. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, as I grew up in one of these families, and recently lost my mother who held so many recipes, cooking tips, and family food memories. I fear that so many of those treasures are …