• Uncategorized

    My Hips Don’t Lie (The Other Parts Don’t, Either.)

    There are some life lessons that are easy to learn when you’re young. Some, however, take years and years of marination before they finally sink in. I remember sitting at a meeting of the preschool board I was on about sixteen or seventeen years ago (in my late twenties, if you’re trying to do the math) and one of the other members told the rest of us that she would be leaving the board even though the year was only half over. “Why?” we asked her. With her most serious, business-like tone, she responded, “Because I have decided that life is too short for me to be doing things that…

  • Uncategorized

    Fresh Breath Is Only One Of The Benefits.

    I just finished the Listerine 21-Day Challenge, which is an opportunity I was excited about because I have a storied dental history and am always happy to find ways to improve the state of my oral health. Read about my adventures here. Okay, maybe “adventures” isn’t a good word choice. It was sort of fun, though. Go read. And then rinse.

  • Uncategorized

    Roadtrip, Anyone?

    J and I made a pretty cool video that spotlights our favorite features on the 2012 Chevrolet Suburban that we drove to Tennessee last week, and it’s posted in my “Reviews and Stuff” section. Click here to check it out (and get ready to dance).

  • Uncategorized

    Ugh.

    You know how you go to your parents’ house for Thanksgiving and you are happy to be able to use their WiFi like you’ve always done in the past but when you arrive you discover that while everyone else can get online with their laptops, YOU can’t get online–with your laptop OR your iPad–and you have work to do and a blog post to write but you end up having to do it on your phone, and then your phone freezes up because it’s a big jerk and then you have to borrow your husband’s laptop to get a crappy post published?? Yeah. UGH.

  • Blessings,  Review,  The Dailey Method,  Uncategorized,  Working On My Fitness

    Happy 5th Anniversary, The Dailey Method Naperville!

    If you’re been reading Suburban Scrawl over the past four months, you probably already know that I fell head-over-heels in love this summer with The Dailey Method workout. (My most recent update post is HERE.) I am not kidding you when I say that The Dailey Method (specifically the Naperville location) has changed my life. In four months. (Less, actually, because I felt the life change in the first thirty days!) Between the workouts that challenge me dailEy (

  • Best Thing Ever,  Childhood Memories,  Music,  My Sister Has Mad Skillz,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Uncategorized

    Totally Worth The 30-Year Wait.

    Something incredible happened this weekend. I don’t even feel like I can put a proper post together, partly because I only got five hours of sleep and partly because I still can’t believe it. My sister and I saw Adam Ant live last night. If you don’t know me well, you might think, “Oh, cool…I guess.” It was beyond cool. Trust me. You may recall that Adam Ant was my Numero Uno back in the 80s. I wrote about my obsession here, in a post that even includes a picture of me dressed up as Adam Ant for Halloween 1983. I never saw him in a live concert, though. Back…

  • My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Uncategorized

    The Olympic Gymnast

    My favorite sport in the Summer Olympics is, by far, gymnastics. I was watching in 1984 when Mary Lou Retton got her perfect 10 on the vault. That same year, the dreamy men’s team won gold (I had such a crush on Peter Vidmar!). I watched what is still one of my favorite Olympic moments of all time when it happened live: when Kerri Strug vaulted on an injured foot (when she probably shouldn’t have) and clinched the gold medal for her team, and then Coach Bela Karolyi (love him) carried her to the podium for the medal ceremony. It still makes me cry like a baby. This year, I’m…

  • Friends,  Uncategorized

    Always, A Reason.

    I was recently talking to an acquaintance who was on her way to meet a friend for lunch. This woman and her friend were close in high school around twenty years ago but only see each other every couple of years now, even though they live less than thirty miles apart. The woman I was chatting with was giving me a few reasons why she thought the lunch was going to be a chore: her old friend has some undesirable qualities–what they are isn’t important to the story–that tainted their get-togethers. I asked her, “Why are you meeting this woman for lunch? She sounds completely annoying and rude.” She answered,…

  • Review,  Uncategorized

    Chevy + EPIFanyNow.org + Cupcakes = Passing It Forward!

    Random acts of kindness. Have you ever performed one? Have you ever been the beneficiary of one? Earlier this month I was thrilled to be a part of an afternoon full of random acts of kindness, sponsored by Chevy in conjunction with an organization called ePIFanyNow.org. (The “PIF” stands for “Pass It Forward”.) It was a great opportunity, and a memorable day for many reasons. When I received the invitation, I was asked to put together a team. Each team would be driving a Chevy Volt around town, on their way to putting smiles on strangers’ faces. My team? Rita from Look, It’s Megryansmom!, Amy from ParentSphere, and Dawn from…