My husband and I love watching any sort of series dealing with food and travel. Salt Fat Acid Heat? Devoured it and bought the book. Searching for Italy? We planned a trip around the Naples episode. Somebody Feed Phil? This is inspiring a getaway to Portugal! Naturally, Napa Valley, California — wine country — has…
Cast Your Cares
If there’s one thing my husband has learned about me after ten years of marriage, it’s that I typically have to have some sort of motivation to run otherwise boring errands. So naturally, it was his idea that before embarking on #adulting activities, we first stop off at The Clay Lady’s Campus for their Ugly…
We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Sidewalk
When we were house hunting several years ago, I had a list of wants (naturally): Somehow in the crazy uptick of people moving to Nashville, our realtor checked all the boxes and made it happen! We put in an offer after seeing what’s now our current home for 15 minutes. (I actually saw the house…
And the Winner Is…
What is it about humans that love a label? I think we go through life picking up scraps that someone has said about us or maybe how we’ve experienced ourselves in contradiction to something we’ve read – however it happens, it sticks with us and just like that, we’re labeled. The label I’d given myself…
Open Mouths, Open Hands
My husband and I always catch flashes of red flying through the green canopy in our backyard. “We must have a cardinal nest around here,” he said. We must. I’m not complaining. After my grandparents passed, it always warmed our hearts to see the red birds flying with their muted female counterparts and landing on…
Take Heart
I try not to watch the news. It’s not that I don’t care about current events, but at some point I had to draw a line in the sand to protect my mental health. It’s too much. We were not meant to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. And even still, I’ve…
Waiting Without a Map
When I was in middle school, my childhood friend and I piled in the backseat of her parents’ car and set off toward Disney World. I remember them pulling out a large book of maps from the seat pocket behind them to locate where we were and start calling hotels on the route ahead for…
An Obvious Calling
As a natural performer from age 3, I’ve always loved the spotlight. It was never a problem to sing, dance, or act – spouting lines and lyrics from the artists who created them. But public speaking? That was a big bag of NOPES. As I got older and had to do more speaking for school,…
‘Tis the Season for a Love Story
I grew up in a Southern Baptist church, where my dad was a deacon and my mom sang in the choir. I remember sitting by myself, drawing with my best friend, or taking a nap in those Louisiana pews. I learned the Bible early – all the stories and the “right” things to say. I…
A Perfectly Imperfect Christmas
Upon logging in and dusting off the blog this morning, I discovered that somewhere between Days 55 and 100 of The 100-Day Project, I quit. One of the big lessons of 2022 for me was (and continues to be) unraveling perfectionism. I remember having conversations around job interviews as a newly graduated young professional; I…
A Liviting Life 