It's incredible how accustomed we are to constant activity. In today's world, it is so easy to occupy every moment with something; heck, I won't even sit on the toilet without having my phone to scroll through (Sorry, TMI?). It’s not that I'm always turning to mindless social media; often I'm reading articles, the news, or a book. So, it's not that the content is bad, it's just that the content is always there. Today, I arrived 10 minutes early to a friend's apartment. I knew he was likely still in a virtual meeting, so I sent him a text and sat down on the steps to wait. Before I had the chance to take anything out…

When this post goes out, it will be my 7 year wedding anniversary. Since I recently figured out how to create reels on Instagram, I thought maybe it would be fun to create something from the past 7 years. So this morning while I listened to a romantic playlist, I started scrolling through my phone, beginning with January 2014, the month we started dating. I laughed and smiled as I reminisced on all the things we did. I remembered that time…

I used to have a friend who never wrote on the first page of a notebook. I don't remember her explanation for why she did this - we were 17, so it has been a few years - but to this day, whenever I open up a new notebook I skip the first page. It's interesting how certain things can leave a mark on our life; a small mark, but a mark none the less.

As I write this, I am sitting in Bryant Park. The sun is peeking through the clouds, I'm in eye shot of the Empire State Building and arms reach of way too many pigeons. In a few minutes, I'll walk the half mile uptown to MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art. While I've lived outside New York most of my life, I have yet to visit the great museums the city has to offer. It's something I've always wanted to do, but could never seem to muster the motivation to make a plan. So what got me here today?  A few weeks ago…

Remember last week, when I wrote about writing at the Office? Well, I had such a great experience the first time, I decided to come back here again. When I arrived, I sat down and immediately found my flow. After two hours, with a huge smile on my face, I got up to take a quick break and use the bathroom. I came back not 3 minutes later and there was a gentleman standing very close to where my stuff was. He seemed to be just ordering a drink and I assumed maybe he would take it to another seat - after all, the entire bar was open. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

I have been sitting in The Office, a chain restaurant local to New Jersey, for about 30 minutes now. Since I sat down and ordered my Czig Meister Angler New England IPA, I have read several articles and started reading a famous psychological study from 1949 - all of which are in support of finishing the third part of my book. In short, I have gotten a lot of shit done. I find it funny because up until this moment…

Finish your dinner or you don't get dessert… Clean your room and you'll get 30 more minutes of screen time… Be good in the store and we'll pick out a toy… If you have ever been around children for any extended period of time, you have probably said some version of those statements. While I do not have children myself, I have worked with kids of varying ages as a Children's Director for 6 years and have an additional 4 years under my belt as a middle school teacher. So I totally get it when you find yourself in a moment when you just want to punish or reward. I also totally get it if you read my post last week and were a little annoyed or defensive, so let me add a little more to the story…

In 2010, I was working as a Middle School Science teacher at a small school in Ecuador. Unlike my time at an American School, when teachers showed up early to prep and ready their classrooms, most Ecuadorian teachers arrived on the busses with the students. As a result, it became a common trend for all the teachers to be arriving with the students right at 8am, giving everyone just a few minutes to get situated before the first bell. The head of the school, an American, tried to change this habit by implementing a sign-in system. When we arrived at the school, we had to…

Sometimes I write things that don’t ever get published. I start with an idea in the OneNote App in my phone - the digital notebook where I start a new page anytime I have a moment of inspiration. Sometimes I just write down the initial idea and eventually delete it. Other times I add to it, edit it, and work it into the best blog post I can write. Sometimes, I do all that, and I still don’t post it. 

I wasn’t sure if I’d post this or not, because it’s personal. But the reason I write is so that other people won’t feel alone. I write for the person that reads my stuff and thinks yes, me too. I write so that I might give someone else the feeling that someone else gets it. So, for all those reasons, here is my story…

Virtual Jury Duty is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever experienced. This morning I promptly joined the Zoom call at 8:35. As per the instructions, I had my camera on and tested my audio and video prior to the call to make sure I was ready. A few minutes in, someone from the Jury Staff introduced themselves and let all of us know that they were going to take attendance. A man then proceeded to start calling out everyone's names. There were over 300 people on the call….

I frequently use the laughing-crying emoji. You know the one? It's apparently popular among millennials. I think the fact that I use it is supposed to be an indicator that I'm old. Not too old, of course. But old enough to remember a world before emojis existed. A world when you couldn't use an image to tell someone immediately how you felt, but instead had to wait until after gym when your best friend could pass them the note you wrote in 3rd period. The reason I use this emoji, however, has nothing to do with my generation or because I love it more than any other symbol. I use this emoji often because…

Sunday Morning, for the first time ever, I decided to plan out all my meals. Since I have been home with more time, the snacking and full pasta lunches has increased, so I figured planning out meals for the week would help keep Andrew and I healthy. So Sunday morning, I planned.  Sunday Evening, I got a call…

This week was my first full week back home and unemployed. I was commiserating with a friend of mine who was also let go, and we realized we had been hearing the same message from our friends and family: enjoy it. It's a hard thing to hear in this situation, to be told to try and enjoy a place when you feel like you don't belong there; to enjoy a state  of being when you know you're capable of more. But at the same time, it's also just good advice for everyone no matter where you are. 

On Wednesday we got home after being gone for over two weeks. The garden I wrote about previously, that Andrew has been working on, was blossoming with the exception of one really big tomato plant. Turns out that sometime in the last week, something in the system broke and the plant wasn't getting any water. It had still grown and had a few ripened tomatoes and many green, but it was obvious at first glance that it was dying.  All of the dead branches had wrapped themselves around the healthy ones so tightly that the entire bush seemed unsalvageable…

The last time I experienced big grief was after my brother died. It was a time in my life that taught me the stages of grief don't happen one after the other. They happen all at once. This knowledge has helped me this week as I walk through yet another season of grief in my life…

The Day the World Came to Town is about September 11, 2001 - more commonly known as 9/11. It tells the story not of what happened in NYC that day, but of all the planes that were headed to New York but couldn’t make it. They were rerouted to...

When I was in college I read a book that told me I shouldn't dabble in things. I don't remember the book or the specifics, but I do remember being impacted by the words to the point that I took all my yarn and needles, put them in a box, and shipped them to a friend in Boston. She was much more talented at knitting than I was. According to the author, if I didn't…

Have you ever seen a glacial erratic? The picture above is from a New Jersey hike I did a few weekends ago. They are scattered throughout the woods at the side of the trail and you can see from the picture, they look a bit out of place. Walking past these boulders, you can’t help but chuckle at how much they stand out. It is obvious that they didn't originate here; just a giant rock in the middle of the woods. So how did they get there? These rocks were…

I opened up the email, hoping it was wrong. Your QR Code has expired. My mind started working in overtime. Did I try out different websites? Or was this the one I used for my business cards? I quickly reached into the backseat and grabbed my purse, pulling out my wallet that held a few of the cards. I had just put them there that morning, beaming with pride of my choice of color and design. I pulled one out and grabbed my phone to scan it….