The holidays are behind us, but one of our favorite family movies is “Love Actually.” The opening scene of the movie takes place at Heathrow airport, where they filmed real people greeting each other with hugs, joy and tears. Hugh Grant provided the voice-over: Whenever I get gloomy with the…

“We got a donation; we are close to making our goal!” This was the cheery and excited text I got from my friend, who is the executive director of a local nonprofit. It was a burst of brightness in otherwise dark times. It was a reminder that there are hundreds…

Our neighborhood is filled with big, beautiful trees that line our streets. In the fall, they burst into bright colors but our friend and neighbor, Karen Adamski (aka ShamaMama), has transformed the tree in front of her house into a brilliant array of color year round. She created a Good…

When our cats, Calvin and Hobbes, turned one year old, my daughter wanted to have a birthday party for them. It was so sweet and lovely. We invited Grandma and our dear friend, Maria, who is an animal lover. My daughter made a birthday sign that we hung low on…

With the election here and the global pandemic continuing to impact our world, it’s hard to know what we need these days to get by. But last week, I got an email from my friend, Michelle, who runs My Village Well and it filled me right up, so I wanted…

So I just got back from my first car parade. A dear friend’s birthday was a few days ago (Happy Birthday Syma) and Amber, another ridiculously thoughtful friend, suggested a car parade past her house to celebrate while maintaining social distancing. I hadn’t really heard about these but was excited…

I’m all about community — I love bringing people together, being part of our neighborhood and the idea that we can all take care of each other. This is exactly why my friend, Jenn, gave me the book “The Turquoise Table: Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard”…

I don’t know about you, but we’ve been doing some major spring cleaning since shelter in place was announced in March. Sometimes we’ll tackle a closet or a drawer and one weekend we decided to go big and clean the garage. One of the many items that needed a new…

When shelter in place was announced in March, I don’t think anyone had any idea how the coming months would unfold. There have been ups and downs, good news and bad news — across our blue planet, throughout our vast countries and within our little neighborhoods. I’ve often wondered what…