Girl From the North Country;

My husband cannot whisper. I am not exaggerating– he literally cannot lower his voice to a quiet decibel. It used to infuriate me, but I’ve come to realize that it’s his superhero weakness. Superman couldn’t stand Kryptonite, Zoolander couldn’t turn left, and my husband cannot whisper. I first saw signs of this when we were dating. We were walking home from dinner and he commented on the man’s outfit in front of us. “Look at that guy’s pants!” My husband exclaimed. It was clear by the glance over his shoulder that the man had heard the comment. “You need to whisper,” I told him. In the movie theatre, when asking…

Oh man, I love Costco. I love everything about it– the prices, the food court, the furniture you can sit on, the karaoke machine set up in the middle of the store, and the samples! They actually just give away free fucking food! It’s crazy! Costco also has double seated carts, so my kids can sit side-by-side as we browse– they are the Cadillac of shopping carts. But there is also a giant, looming problem with Costco: I peruse, entertain the kids, and feel like I’m getting a ton of stuff. The fact that I can never spend less then $100 should prove that. I always get home and unload…

I’m always late when it comes to bandwagons, especially of the entertainment sort. I didn’t start “Dexter”, “Sons of Anarchy” or “Breaking Bad” until mid-series. But I have recently discovered podcasts, and it was recommended to me by friends that I try one called “Serial”. The Holidays brings a lot of road trips for my family. We usually get a book on tape (Oh, wait, this is 2014. CD). We are cheap, so we refuse to pay anything if possible. So to learn that podcasts are available, interesting and I don’t have to pay for them?! What?! Back to the point: “Serial”. If you love “Law & Order”, “CSI” or…

My three-year old has been asking a lot about gender lately. She wants to know the sex of every person we pass in the store and all of her relatives. She was very quick to catch on to the easy ones; her brother is a boy, her dad is a boy, her mom is a girl etc. We all carry the stereotype associated with each gender. But the more she asked questions, the more inquisitive she became, the more I’ve had to think harder about my answers. “Is that a boy?” She asked about a woman with short hair. “No,” I said. “Not every girl has long hair.” “Can my…

Home. I’m torn as I think about this word; for it has two meanings for me. Home is San Diego, where I’ve spent the past 13 years (Sidenote: yikes I’m getting old). It’s where I’ve made friends that are family; where the streets are lined with palm trees (and also homeless people). It’s the ocean breeze on a warm winter day and a place where flip flops are worn year round. But home also lies in a small town nestled in the foothills. A place where pine trees feather every roadside and hippies dot the landscape. Home is where people talk in grocery store lines and wave at each other…

I feel like my Christmas spirit has been rejuvenated. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have always been obsessed with the holidays, but it was losing it’s excitement. And then we had kids. All of the childhood happiness comes rushing back as “Frosty” becomes a hit again, Santa stories fill your house, and the stockings are stuffed by the chimney with care. You can bring back your favorite holiday traditions or create new ones of your own! My mother was (is) the Queen of Christmas. Every year, no matter how much money we had, Christmas filled our house from top to bottom. Decorating the tree was a big to-do, and…