I live in the Northeast and "Back to School" season is fast approaching (it has happened already in the southern states). I love this time of year! For me, it feels like Christmas, New Year’s and Valentine’s Day all rolled into one. It is not because I relish a quiet, empty house while my sons are at school. I am actually quite sad about that part. However, I do enjoy everything that a busy school year has to offer...including the very early morning wake-ups, making big healthy breakfasts and brown bag lunches, and a bulletin board filled with notices, announcements and new syllabuses. What I really look forward to, however, is taking advantage of the back-to-school supplies sales opportunities and abundant inventory. It brings me joy to see notebooks and folders for less than a quarter and featured in every color of the rainbow. I love post-it-notes and sharpies and highlighters and have a use for all of them. It’s a contest each year to see who stocks up on more of the deals....my sons or their stationery supplies-loving Mom!   When was the last time you treated yourself to a beautiful new planner, a Wall Calendar with extra big boxes, or some fancy pens? If it’s been awhile, then you deserve an afternoon of "retail therapy" at a place like Staples or Office Max and now is the perfect time to do it!   Read More

When it comes to condiments, people generally fall into one of two camps...mustard or ketchup. Personally, I would give up both if I could just put Chick-Fil-A’s sauce on everything. If you have ever tried it, you will understand my obsession. However, given the choice between ketchup or mustard, I will choose mustard each and every time. The zesty condiment comes in a variety of flavors and selections and has the added bonus of having the herb with medicinal qualities (turmeric) as one of its ingredients. Did you know that there is even a Mustard of the Month Club? Recently I was faced with a situation involving mustard, but it wasn’t as simple as choosing dijon or classic yellow. For the first time in my life, I heard the phrase: MUSTARD ALGAE. I had never put those two words together before! What appeared to my naked eye to be dirt on the bottom of my backyard pool turned out to be something more difficult to clean up...yes, you guessed correctly...it was mustard algae. I won’t bore you with the details of how one goes about eradicating this yellowish-brownish pesky nuisance. I will just tell you that if I had known that one day I would own a pool, I would have paid much closer attention in my high school chemistry class! Pool owners know that it is all about getting the chemistry “just right”. The water has to be the perfect balance of PH, hardness, calcium, chlorine and phosphates. When one thing is off, everything else is impacted. Read More

A movie was recently released that I have been anxiously waiting to see! It is called “The Art of Racing in the Rain” and it is based upon Garth Stein’s novel of the same name. If you did not read the book and are looking for an inspirational read about the meaning of life, run!-don’t walk to your local library or bookstore! I absolutely loved this book and dog-eared so many pages in order to revisit the beautifully written passages at a later time. It is a sweet story about a dog named Enzo (narrated in the movie by none other than Kevin Costner) and his owner Denny who is played in the movie by Milo Ventimiglia of “This Is Us” fame. The book intertwines the life of Enzo the dog with Denny’s life as a husband, father and Formula One race-car driver. You never know when a book will hand you a powerful and helpful life lesson. This book did that for me. Read More

Are you a mountain person or a beach one?That is one of the questions that appears on those personality quizzes often found in magazines. If you prefer to head to the mountains, apparently you are an introspective person who prefers a quiet night-in versus a night out clubbing. You are self sufficient, independent, introspective and likely enjoy quiet activities such as painting and writing. Those of us who are beach-lovers are said to be extroverts who are energetic, active, and upbeat. We enjoy meeting new people and turning small talk into lengthy conversations. You won’t find us laying on a blanket on the sand because apparently we will be too busy hosting a beach party, swimming in the water and playing beach volleyball.    You may have figured out by now, that given a choice, I will always pick the ocean over a mountain.Whether you are a land-lover or a fan of the deep blue sea, we can probably all agree that we can learn a great deal about life from the ocean.   Read More