I figured that the best way for me to end the year would be to follow the lead of so many others and post a wrap-up of the year here at Suburban Scrawl. The year started off with a bang in January, when I got the life-changing news that my Chicago family travel guide would indeed be published. (Ahem, get it on Amazon by clicking here!) (And tell your friends!) (Thanks!) January was also the month in which I had a gut-busting twitter conversation with my friend Momofali that was too good to NOT make into a cartoon. The results were hilarious. In February I reflected upon J’s seemingly natural…
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Silver.
This one’s for Jim. The idea that it has been a whole quarter of a century since we got married in that dusty little office of Norfolk, Virginia’s Justice of the Peace is something I am having trouble absorbing. While clearly it makes sense that twenty five years have passed–what with having lived in six homes in three cities, having raised two nearly-grown boys, and seeing just a *hint* of gray hair on both of our heads–at the same time it feels like I have just blinked a couple of times and, well, here we are. When we got married, I had just turned eighteen and you were almost twenty.…
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What’s It Worth To You?
Way back in the day when Jim and I were newlyweds and we were watching every penny, I did the math on just about every single food product I put into the cart at the grocery store to make sure I was paying the least amount possible per ounce. Outside of food shopping, however, it was all about spending the least amount of money, plain and simple. I used to get the hairsprays and shampoos that cost under a dollar, I only bought clothing on sale or clearance (and usually out of season!), and housewares, when absolutely needed, were purchased (while cringing, usually) at a discount store whenever possible. Once…
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Exhaustion
In what was perhaps perfect timing, I finally hit the wall this weekend. I have slept more in the past two days (9-10 hours at night PLUS LENGTHY NAPS) than I normally do in about five days put together. I credit a couple of things for this: 1. Doing nothing makes me sleepy. For a person who lives life at top speed, slowing down to no activity means one thing: Zzzzz… 2. Fighting off illness. I am the “lucky recipient” of a nasty sinus infection a couple of times each year. I’ve had a sinus headache off and on for about four days now. It’s tiring, dealing with that pressure…
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Merry Christmas To (Most Of) You!
Here we are…Christmas weekend 2011! I want to wish all of you who celebrate it a very, very Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy it to the max whether you’re spending it with family, visiting friends, or hanging out solo in your robe and fuzzy slippers on the couch, watching movies like “Elf” and “A Christmas Story”. As usual, you know what MY family will be doing… Want to make this a long-term commitment? Please subscribe to my feed by clicking here.
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Presents For Everyone At Walgreens…Including Myself!
Thanks to Walgreens for underwriting this post. I was paid as a member of the Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all mine. Visit http://www.walgreens.com/beauty. True story: Last night I ran out of sour cream just as I was making Ambrosia Fruit Salad. Luckily, I have a Walgreens only a few minutes from my house (I’m there ALL THE TIME. Seriously.) and they just happen to carry sour cream. Upon entering the store, I decided that there was no time like the present to purposefully check out what Walgreens currently has to offer in the way of beauty products (rather than just going in and making a beeline for…
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The Warning
Due to the fact that every single day I get a bunch of hits on this post from searches like “I don’t want a dog but my kids do”, “how to tell your child no dog” (ahem, how about saying “NO DOG”??), and even “how to get rid of my dog”, I feel the need to start this post with a disclaimer about how what I am about to share here is meant to be funny. If you are a regular reader you will already know that, but if you get here on a random search, please know that my trouble-making dog is very well-loved. Thanks for your time and…
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Status Checker
Have you ever posted a status on Facebook in a hurry and without reading it to check it over you close the tab and go on with your day, not realizing that it may have some problems? I have, probably many times, but most recently last night. You see, it was the second night of Hanukkah and Jim and I exchanged gifts. This year we made a pact that I would buy only one gift for him and vice versa. I’ll show you what I got in a moment but first, the Facebook status I posted, which went something like this: “Jim gave me one of the best gifts EVER…
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Social RevUp And Cadillac: How We Roll.
Back in September, I shared the exciting news that I was partnering with MJ Tam and Dwana De LaCerna to create Social RevUp, a company committed to connecting brands and bloggers through customized events as well as the Brands and Bloggers Summit, a conference that will be held on July 21, 2012 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago. We had a Social RevUp launch party in late October that was really fun, and a great way to step “into the scene” together. Then things got quiet for the month of November as we worked behind the scenes on the BBSummit and a few other things we have coming down…
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Festival of Lights
In keeping with how things have been going here at my house for the last I-don’t-know-how-long, we did not get any Hanukkah decorations up before the holiday officially began at sundown last night. It wasn’t for lack of trying: We (and by “we”, I mean Jim) dragged the two massive, storage-locker-sized Rubbermaid containers of Hanukkah decorations (mostly menorahs) up to the family room from the crawlspace about a week ago. They have been sitting there ever since, untouched and attracting piles of random stuff on top much like a treadmill ends up with clothing draped all over it. Around 5:00 p.m. yesterday (the sun was DOWN), I opened up the…