I have big pores. That must be why nearly every fragrance I’ve ever tried has sunk into my skin never to be smelled again. It’s frustrating: I POUR perfume on and 3.5 seconds later it’s as if I washed it all off with a fire hose. No scent remains. It’s weird. Where does it all [...]

I’m browsing this new site chock full of jewelry made entirely from found vintage buttons. Best of all and coolest? The shop owner is from my hometown of Buffalo Grove, Ill.
 
Gotta represent.
 

SELF Magazine is doing its Workout in the Park “outdoor health, fitness, and wellness festival” on Saturday, April 24th at Mission Bay Park. There’ll be exercise demos and “classes,” fashion tips, beauty makeovers and giveaways.
I really should check this out. Gotta get back on the exercise bandwagon that I disembarked about eight years [...]

 
Getting ready to storm the stage.
 
Would you look at the time? It’s “Tip Day” already! I think this setting an editorial calendar for my blog stuff is kind of panning out maybe a little.
 
It’s nice to have boundaries.
 
Of course, it’s nice to not have boundaries too.
 
But in other news, TODAY’s tip is:
 
Download musical show tunes [...]

I admit it. I’ve given brief pause to retiring PROMPTuesday from my blog. What once used to be a joy and a challenge, has now turned into something “I must do” and that concerns me. But after careful reflection, I decided to be a tough old broad who hangs on until the last breath. You [...]

As I sit laptopping in the local coffee shop, just tip-typin’ away, wearing my favorite gray moth-eaten sweater, misshapen tunic and faded jeans, I can’t help but think back to my full-time working days. Oh lo, those days. I could visit three cubicles in six seconds wearing 3-inch heels and an 85-lb. Franklin Planner. I [...]

{{Mamarazzi Knows Best won!}}
 
Here’s my newest favorite thing:
 

 
The above is part of a skincare line developed by a bloggy friend who suffers from super-sensitive skin, rosacea and “general dermatological malaise.” When she contacted me to ask if I’d give some of the products a trial run, I practically begged she send it all immediately because [...]

Let’s see. According to my records, Wednesday is Tip Day. (As in helpful hints, not monetary compensation.) (Although…) (Nah, forget it.) Now I’m the first to tell you I don’t hand out tips wily nily, other than “Don’t Smile at a Crocodile,” or “Don’t Wear Granny Underwear with Low-Rise Jeans.” (Wish I had taken THAT [...]

Just a one-word prompt today. I’ve written the word below and ask that you write a paragraph, a poem, or even? post a photo on what the word means to you.
 
The word is:
 
JUDGMENT
 
Perhaps you write about a situation where you were judged — or are judged — or where you judged someone else and turned [...]

I know I am. Here’s one I found out about recently: The City of Encinitas Summer Camps from June 21- August 27. Put on by the City of Encinitas Parks and Rec Department, the camp program has dozens of different camps from “Seaside Day Camp” and “Junior Lifeguards” to cooking camps. Costs run from $99- [...]

In my early 20s, I worked as an advertising coordinator for a Chicago-area bank. I took the job right after I moved from L.A. where I was an editorial assistant for a video game magazine. Like I do, I pretended I knew way more than I did during my bank interview, and so became responsible [...]

I need more structure in my life. There’s ENTIRELY too much random abounding in my daily goings-ons and as such, I must impose boundaries and guidelines on myself. Not only will these circles of propriety give new meaning to my bouncing from thing to thing, but my blog posts will now have purpose. PURPOSE!
 
I [...]

I’ve been online too much. Too too much. There’s the Twitter and the Facebook and the blog and the other people’s blogs and the Skype and the email and the other email. I think in terms of “can I blog this” and when my mind is blank of post fodder, I wallow in existential misery. [...]

Today? Please write a poem. Free form. Except…I do require one word be included: Halcyon.
 
Do it for me?
 
Please post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave a link to your blog in the comments.
 
First time to PROMPTuesday? Read a bit about it here.
Want to see what’s been written in the [...]

Birds leave shadows
on the grass
where a blanket is drawn
 
Close by, clouds skitter
Blacking out
The wings
 
It’s like this
On the ground
Where light and dark intermix
 
A speckled mosaic
Of wondering and cursing
Not sure what it should be
 
What should it be
A shadow, a bird
And must both fly away?
 

…I’ll be busy.
 

I love my two little girls. Deep down-to-the-soul, lift-my-heart, in-every-last-fiber love. It’s no different for those of you with children. Now imagine if your child were sick — not needs Tylenol every four hours sick, but sick-and-might-die sick.
 
I’m sorry to make you go there in your head, but someone in our community is there for [...]

Not too long ago, my brother sent me a link to Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED speech on creativity (which I’ve posted here several times) and told me, “This woman reminds me a bit of you, and I think you’ll probably enjoy it if you haven’t seen it.”
 
Well of course I was semi-flattered, because as the author [...]

Oh the things we do.
 
Last night, Booger coughed constantly and continuously and for the frack ever. Like as in and for example, ALL NIGHT LONG. She obviously had a tickle in her throat that wouldn’t quit and it plagued her throughout the ENTIRE EVENING AND INTO THE DAY.
 
As a concerned mother and sleep addict, [...]

Seems there are a lot of people who want to get to know me better and send me Canadian medications through the U.S. mail. Really, these people must be very lonely. I feel bad for them. I’m thinking of visiting them personally so they can know firsthand the warm connection of real human interaction. I [...]

This PROMPT is lifted entirely from my friend Eden’s brain. Eden (I call her Stephanie) is the founder and editor of an amazing literary journal, AND the creator of a fiction workshop that I signed up for and didn’t finish. (More on that last part later.) Eden also is a great writer (can we share [...]

This is my semi-annual and infrequent “Stuff I Like” post that I write every so often to fill up the blank spaces in my mind. That’s right. Today? I can’t think of a darn thing to write. Other than this.
 
Still. These things, this “stuff I like” really moves me. All these items were purchased by [...]

 
Notes:
1. I lied. I will tell you: I was on San Diego Channel 6’s Saturday morning news. There is no link though, thank the Lord in His starry heaven above.
2. The “Lia Sophia jewelry rep lady” is Elizabeth (link here).
3. I never actually said the names of the products I demo’d (that’s bad, [...]

Mama Mary won the stuffed pig treasure chest and We Sit by Fire? You won the MyPlate-Mate! Congrats! You wanna email me your addresses? Or shall we arrange a pickup day?
 
You remember that TV thing, right? As in, I’m going to be on it?
 
I’ve got my Secret Extra Strength ready to roll and a six-pack [...]

Scene: My husband walks in the door from work. I need validation and assurance. We are in the family room. It is night.
 
My husband: Hi, honey, how was your day?
 
Me: DO YOU EVEN LOVE ME?
 
My husband: Sounds good. I’m going to take a shower now.
 
Me: What is that faraway look in your eye? Are you [...]

Please dear Lord, don’t feel you must, but I was nominated for something and if you’d like to cast a vote, you can by clicking the green arrow by San Diego Momma here.
 
Several other fantastic San Diego bloggers are nominees as well, so check out the list and vote for some of these wonderful writers!
 

Since I’ve been thinking lately about boundaries, I thought I’d explore the serious side. As a woman who never learned to set personal boundaries, I’ve paid a price. Luckily, the cost hasn’t been too high - other than lack of self-respect - but I’ve been in some situations that could have turned out much worse.
 
In [...]

This week’s Buy With Me deal is for DK Hair ($50 for $100 worth of hair services). DK Hair is in Hillcrest. So you know it’s gotta be edgy and cool. Like you, maybe?
 

So this woman I barely know, whose daughter was my daughter’s daycare buddy for a year in 2006, calls me out of the blue a few months ago and leaves me a message that sounded semi-urgent.
 
“Hi Debbie, it’s Betsy. Can you call me back?”

 
So I do, even though we’ve never spoken socially on the phone [...]

I am a girl from Chicago
I shiver whenever the wind blows
It reminds me of when
The snow didn’t end
And snot flowed freer than fro-yo
 
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I live in a town with moms
Sometimes it reminds me of prom
Who goes with whom and
what’s with the boobs
Jewelry parties go off like a bomb
 
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The limericks! I can’t get away from the [...]