For years, friends of mine have tried to convince me to try bubble tea. I have to confess that the idea of putting pebbles in my drink and then not knowing when they’d magically appear in my mouth is something that’s always given me pause when it comes to my willingness to try it, but after witnessing dozens of people Read More...

A few days ago, my daughter had a playdate. As I’m sure many of you can understand, it’s stressful enough to make sure that your house is relatively clean, your child doesn’t become territorial about his/her things and that you don’t say or do anything embarrassing as parents either. Well, time was running out prior to their arrival and our Read More...

The other day, my daughter started her first-ever “official” summer camp. Like most parents, we had asked our friends for suggestions, pored over promotional pamphlets, and scoured the Internet for shreds of information that we hoped would align with her interests. Unfortunately, her interests in any sort of summer camp or after-school activity are seemingly… limited. We started with dance classes. Read More...

Yesterday, I was almost mauled to death by a turkey. I was driving along, minding my own business, en route to pick up fertilizer that my husband had requested for our backyard. He had given me pretty clear instructions: arrive at the address, drive through a gate, and park around back. As I pulled up to said gate, I noticed a large Read More...

About a month ago, my daughter celebrated her birthday. As you can expect, there were gifts, and those gifts each required their very own thank-you card. We eventually got to the point where she actually asked if she could stop OPENING these gifts just so she could be absolved from writing these cards, which hopefully gives you a good indication Read More...

This weekend, I had what you could call a “senior moment.” For once, it had nothing to do with not remembering anything. Instead, it involved being given quite possibly the most interesting backhanded compliment I’ve ever received. Here’s how it went down. We were outside a friend’s house on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Within our circle of conversation was a very Read More...

We moved into our new house about four months ago, and, as with every new thing, we always understood there would be a fair share of kinks we’d encounter in the process. From the very beginning, we knew that our house seemed to have more than its fair share of ladybugs, a phenomenon that completely baffled me because I spent Read More...

Last night, my husband almost ended up in the emergency room. Shockingly, however, it wasn’t me who nearly put him there. Instead, it was our daughter – and her toy bow. It was bedtime, which is almost always when the bad things start to happen. My daughter was fighting us on going to sleep, just like every other night. In Read More...

I have been called many words in my life, but “relaxed” was never one of them. To me, anything that even remotely resembles “calm” is cause for alarm, which is probably not ideal when it comes to the whole “parenthood” thing. I’ve been going out of my way to try to “chill” when asking my daughter about her school day, Read More...

Today, I did what I thought only happened to people in movies – usually right before the protagonist ends up being checked into a mental ward. I almost accidentally stole a car. Now, those of you who follow this blog are well-aware that I am not a stranger to public humiliation. And there may even be those of you reading this Read More...

We’re officially on Day 2 of virtual school and I’m already seriously questioning my survival capabilities for the long winter ahead. If anyone is in the same boat (I know you are), I found the below recipe for sprinkled breadsticks in an old issue of Highlights that bought us a precious 30 minutes of busy time today. If that’s not Read More...

Hello, my friends, and it’s good to see you again. My last COVID Chronicles post was about three months ago, when B was getting ready to start school and we were 6 months into COVID-19. At the time, she was super pumped about her school’s toilet bowl, completely disinterested in the new house that we recently bought, and spent her Read More...

My husband and I moved up to Massachusetts from New Jersey ten years ago. Since we had no idea if we’d end up staying here, we opted to rent – and somehow, ten years passed. When our daughter was born, we came to the realization that maybe it was time to “grow up” and live the American dream by actually Read More...

In a week, my daughter starts school for the first time (can you hear me bawling through your screen?). I’m sure there’s a small part of her that’s somewhat excited, but at this point, I think it’s safe to say that it’s dwarfed by sheer terror, which I completely, absolutely, unequivocally, totally 100% understand because, hey, that’s me every. waking. Read More...

I feel like stir-fry is a busy mom’s best friend. It also leads to high blood pressure, dehydration and a host of other problems, but I choose not to think about those minor details. So when I’m pressed for time, this 12-minute chicken with broccoli recipe has quickly become one of my go-to favorites for keeping my family fed. This Read More...

Even as a child, I always had an uncanny ability (if you want to call it that) to always see the irony of any given situation. And while my memory has definitely taken a serious hit after having B, there are some things that will stick with me for a long, long time. Like our first Mommy/Daughter trip to TJMaxx, Read More...

I can’t tell you how many times I would ignore “tres leches” on a restaurant menu, thinking that if it wasn’t chocolate, it couldn’t possibly be good. But one night in Tucson, when I was particularly famished and had no other options, my entire life was forever transformed and I became a convert. As most people probably know from basic Read More...

Every so often, I attempt to pretend that I am a fun mom. It’s a nice feeling, walking among other ACTUALLY fun moms and acting the part. But last week, I witnessed the most incredible thing, which made me realize that maybe I should stick with being boring. B and I decided to go to a sprinkler park. For those Read More...

One of the best things (in my opinion) about the summer is that you can get outside and pick your own fruits and vegetables. Up here in Massachusetts, there are actually a surprising number of places that let you do this for cheap, which means that by the beginning of August, our house is usually swimming in blueberries. The idea Read More...

We live in an apartment. This apartment is small. This apartment is VERY small. So as a result, our food pantry is in our basement – which means that unless there’s something I need for dinner that night, I don’t really have much of a reason to go down there. This ALSO means that if there were to, hypothetically of Read More...