Why am I writing about the art of gift giving when broken ribbons and smashed wrapping paper may still be strewn about your family room? And mounds of gifts may still be haphazardly stacked in three piles: to be put away to be given away or to be surreptitiously re-gifted I’m writing about gift giving Continue reading
Category: Blog
Do You Want an Instagram Husband?
I ran across the funniest video the other day; it’s called Instagram Husband: I will admit, there is something compelling about the idea of having a husband who is at your beck and call. Okay, I get he’s a little bitter, bored and downright disgusted by his partner’s relentless pursuit of the “perfect shot” to Continue reading
What Does Your First Name Mean?
I have two questions for you this morning: Have you ever researched your given first name? I encourage you to embrace with vigor the origin of your birth name and its meaning. Have you ever looked closely at that which surrounds you? At gifts people have given you over the years? Like the meaning of Continue reading
I Cried, Then I Danced
Okay, I admit it. I am totally off the wall. Have you ever struggled with attaining some major milestone for months – heck, years – and suddenly you arrive at the finish line? That’s how I felt Wednesday afternoon around 2:30 pm when my book went live on Amazon. What does that mean? It is Continue reading
Living in the Moment
Looking back on my life, I realize most of it has been spent in rigid countdown mode – ticking off backwards down to zero. How many days until I start kindergarten? How many days until I can ride my bike past the end of my street? How many days until my 8th birthday party? How Continue reading
Shop Local: A Poem
Thanksgiving feasting has come to a close, as your body now rests in sweet repose Your fingers don’t need the exercise but your hips, belly and tush sure do. So I’m here to offer and reveal a needed post-eating frenzy clue: Put down your iPad. Power off your phone. Intersect with shopkeepers. Don’t cocoon alone. Continue reading
Surviving Thanksgiving With Your Relatives
Most of the time we can avoid those people in our families who stress us out and unhinge our most aggressive tendencies. Thanksgiving is the exception. As the late Johnny Carson said, “Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover Continue reading
The Preserving Your Bloom Manifesto
Today I want to share a little gift with you, something very personal to me. Thirty years ago, I began putting pen to paper and now fingers to keyboard. I began writing my slice-of-life column, “Incidentally, Iris” and in that time, have shared more than seven hundred columns. In them I touched on accidents, guilt, Continue reading
My Halloween message: Who says the dead can’t speak?
When you have young kids, you plan their birthday parties, organize grill-outs with neighbors, throw baby showers and surprise thirtieth birthday parties for your best friends and ten year anniversary parties for your favorite couples. And the streamers fly and the laughter rings out and the time goes by. And then the children grow up Continue reading
Are You Lucky?
My father was actually a member of the “Lucky Bastard Club” for surviving as a crew member of a B-17 bomber in World War 2. This is him: Which makes me the daughter of a “Lucky Bastard.” Which makes me a “Lucky Bastard” too. Not because I survived bombing missions over Germany. Nope. I’m a Continue reading