The lights were dim and the air was full of wafting waves of incense.  I was surrounded by 25 other women, each of us dressed in various combinations of yoga pants, jeans and sweatshirts with the same nervous expression on her face.  We were cross-legged in a circle and I didn’t know what to do…

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”  That’s a question we often ask young children, perhaps hoping for insight on their hopes and dreams.  The answer to this question can help direct the choice of school, major, internship or career path a person chooses to follow, all in an attempt to make…

I have been on more diets in my lifetime than I can count.  I’ve tried keto and cabbage soup, Lean Cuisine and low-carb.  I’ve been in the Zone and checked in for a while at South Beach.  While all of the diets I’ve tried have had different rules and vastly different philosophies, one thing has…

“Just be yourself!” How many times have I heard that phrase before?  From an early age, I heard this phrase repeated often.  The best, most heartfelt advice I got from my family, friends, teachers and mentors was simple:  I just had to be me. This advice irritated the baloney out of me.  First, I didn’t…

Jerry Maguire stood disheveled and slightly desperate in his estranged wife, Dorothy’s living room. He crestfallenly set down his briefcase and addressed a roomful of divorcees, putting his heart on a metaphorical platter and making what is overwhelmingly considered a heartfelt declaration of love to his wife. “You complete me,” he said. “Shut up,” she…

Welcome to my new mini blog series – “Life Lied to Me!”  In this series of essays, I will explore some of the promises I heard from society and adopted as rules to live by.  I picked up these beliefs through television, movies, books, magazines, school, friends and family, and I swore by them for…

Locker room talk has been getting a pretty bad rap lately, so that’s why I was a bit surprised when I got an unexpected gift from a few words shared in a locker room. Sometimes the words you need to hear the most come from the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected places, at…

I’m going to open up and tell you all something I’ve never told anyone before.  I’ve never told anyone because I’m guessing it’s a little bit strange.  While I imagine other little girls were dreaming of being princesses or travelling to far-off lands, I pictured something a little bit different in my mind. My fantasy…

I don’t know if Brett Kavanaugh attacked Christine Blasey Ford in the summer of 1982 – but I know this: The culture in which this allegedly occurred was real then, it was real for me in the ‘90s, and it is real now. I always knew that it was my responsibility to protect myself from…

I’ve been fascinated with the stars since I was still playing with Barbie dolls.  As a little girl, I used to look up at the sky at night and spot the first star, then instantly close my eyes, make a wish and desperately try not to look back up at the sky so as not…

I’ve been watching and listening carefully the past few weeks as debate over immigration in America has heated up and caught afire.  I’ve heard the cries of the children separated at the border, and I’ve watched commentator after commentator spout out their rhetoric on TV.  I’ve seen people close to me – from avid Trump…

There are 7 ½ school days left until summer.  Normally, at this time of year, I’m a bit of a mess.  I’m a stay-at-home mom to two young sons, and when those two young sons are in school, I get a chance to breathe and “get things done.”  As the school days dwindle, my opportunity…