Nothing is sweeter than when someone takes the time to give you the perfect gift.  A kind and thoughtful gift makes you feel joyful.  Joyful is how I felt this past Christmas Eve.  Who was the giver of this most special gift?  My husband of 27 years?  NO.  My three lovely children whose heads were in the 100% percentile when I gave birth to them?  NO.  This gift came from a new member of my family – Katy.

This incredible gift is pictured above.  Katy somehow found an old photo of my boys in the tub and had it made into a canvas portrait.  I LOVE IT!  I am going to hang it in my bathroom where I will see it everyday.  I will get to feel the happiness I felt the day the photo was taken whenever I take my own bath!  Just precious.

And who is this Katy?  Katy is AJ’s girlfriend.  I must admit, when my oldest son called a girl his own, I felt happy and melancholy at the same time.  Now I only feel happy.  First, having a lovely female in the house brings some class to my brawny bunch!  Second, Katy is a force of her own.  She has two brothers.  She can handle herself.  I admire Katy’s strength and grace in the face of the sometimes inappropriateness of three brothers banned together.

Katy is also smart.  She knows the best gift is one full of thought and sentimentality.  Damn.  Katy’s gift nailed it!  She gave me a pearl before she even knew I was collecting them!  HA!  Good luck topping this one!

Photos from the past that are framed, made into a canvas print, or a book, make a wonderful, thoughtful gift.  A pearl that keeps on giving joy!

Whenever I create a post, I have a fear that what I am writing is super corny.  As a new writer, I want to please and inspire – to make you feel happy and enriched!  But sometimes life calls for a good brain freeze.  For me, that is watching the TLC channel!  It makes me drunk and eases my fears.  It puts my mind in an altered state of mush.  Warning – it can get addicting!

Let us start with Say Yes to the Dress.  This show is the king of TLC!  I watch it no matter how many times I have seen the episode. I am intrigued by the different personalities and enamored by the beautiful dresses.  Beading, lace, ruffles, feathers, chiffon, organza, and bling everywhere!  I love comparing wedding gowns and gasping at the price tags.  But my biggest buzz comes from Randy Fenoli!  I ADORE that man!  Randy is kind, sweet, accepting, spiffy, and down-to-earth.  I dream about bumping into Randy.  He says to me , “Hi, beautiful!”  And I blush like a chilled rosé wine.  I am that easy!

Next are the Hoarders and the 600 Pounders.  There is nothing that screams  to me, “You are not that bad!” than an episode of these poor souls.  Oh my gosh, am I going to say that?    I am, because it is true.  I feel skinny and organized when I watch these shows.  They make me feel fine – three pomegranate martinis fine!

Finally, there are all the rest.  The mediums, the polygamist, the little people, the Amish, the gypsies, and the honey boo boos.  I find them all fascinating!  I am SO ordinary, that it is almost sad.  These people are extraordinary!  They have a story to tell.  I am usually watching with my mouth wide open, especially when it comes to sharing a husband.  I love a good mind-blowing!  If I cannot have pina coladas or get caught in the rain, I want a TLC escape.

So, my apologies if some of my pearls are cheap or corny.  But a good binge on TLC may make you tipsy – without the hangover!

When I post a recipe or swoon about food, there is a nagging itch in my brain.  It is an uncomfortable itch.  I know that some of my vegan friends read my blog.  It hurts me to think that I may be hurting them.  To my vegan friends, I would like to say the following:

You are right.  The most compassionate, sustainable, and healthy way of eating is plant-based. You have made me aware of the many atrocities against animals and you have softened my heart.  I admire your sensitivity and your message resonates in my soul.  Even though I may not be vegan, you have accomplished to make me think and desire to do better.  I ultimately see myself becoming 75% vegan as I strive to make better choices.  I hope you see that as a victory.  In truth, that may be the best I can do.  But one thing I can say for sure is that I respect you and never wish to offend you.  Keep educating – you are making change!

I hope someday we live in a vegan world.

Photo by Tiago Faifa on Unsplash

Listen, I am not a movie critic.  I write this post reluctantly because I am below a novice in the art of reviewing.  But, I do feel the need to share just how much I enjoyed The Post.  It surprised me, and I love being surprised! This movie experience definitely qualifies as a “pearl.”

First, what did not surprise me?  The artistic performance of Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.  They are icons.  They are my heroes.  I know I am going to look into the eyes of their characters and feel the emotion – believe the emotion – understand the emotion.

What did surprise me?  I was taken off guard by just how many feelings were stirred inside of me.  The topic of the Vietnam War always puts me in a somber mood.  I feel like crying whenever I see our boys being picked off one by one in the jungle.  Learning that the war was deemed unwinnable many years before it ended, and how it was covered up, made me angry.  Anger turned into love for my country learning there were people willing to risk everything to fight for the freedom of speech.  I was proud of our Founding Fathers and the wisdom they bestowed when writing our Constitution.  I also felt grateful.  Grateful for how far our country has come in the advancement of women, and thankful for women like Katharine Graham who helped pave the way.

Yes, I was emotionally exhausted after the movie.  I was thrilled to learn a part of American history – the good and the bad.  I was enthralled by being transported to 1971. I was grateful to be reminded of the importance of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.  I was excited to feel patriotic. Mostly, I was happy that I experienced the The Post.

So, just go, and see if you are surprised, too!

I have become a big fan of actor Saoirse Ronan.  I have seen her in Brooklyn and yesterday in Ladybird.  Both times she makes her character so real.  What I find most interesting about Ronan is that her face does so much of the acting.  I love that.  She truly absorbs the character and I find myself watching her intensely.

Ladybird

Ladybird is a coming of age movie about Christine McPherson who renames herself “Ladybird.”  The movie takes us through Ladybird’s senior year of Catholic high school.  Ladybird’s family financially struggles which makes her feel a little out of place at a private school. She is that girl who is restless, outspoken, creative, and just knows there is something more for her out there in the world to grab.  The relationship with her mother is complex – loving, yet difficult, and sometimes borderline abusive.  Laurie Metcalf does a wonderful job playing the part of a hardworking mom who has done a better job than her mom, but struggles to give Ladybird the kind of love that a teenage girl looks for in a mom. The next character in the movie is the city of Sacramento and Ladybird’s love/hate relationship with her hometown.  The movie Ladybird does not try to make a strong statement about anything.  It tells a lovely story of a girl turning into a woman and all the pitfalls that transition entails.

Brooklyn

Ahhhh, Brooklyn.  Probably my most favorite recent move.  I have watched it at least five times!  It is a beautiful layered story of a young immigrant girl who leaves 1950’s Ireland to find a better life.  Saoirse Ronan plays the role of Eilis Lacey brilliantly.  Again, her facial acting drives home her emotions.  It is a story of loneliness, love, and responsibility.  Eilis finds herself torn between her past and her future – her hometown and the new life she struggled to create.  The cinematography and costumes are incredible.  This movie truly transforms you back in time – in Hollywood romantic fashion.

Ladybird and Brooklyn both tell a story of a young girl’s transition into her future. Both movies relay the common struggle between the good and the bad of one’s hometown.  One takes place in 2003, and one takes place in 1953.  One is low budget, one is not.  Both have the talented Saoirse Ronan playing the lead.  My recommendation – see both – but for sure see Brooklyn.

Ok.  I was having a “situation.”  It seemed like I could not get to the bathroom fast enough.  I would stand up and start walking to the rest room.  That walk became a jog…the jog became a run…the run became a sprint!  The whole time my hands are furiously working on my button and zipper.  You get the picture.

I am convinced I have a problem.  I watch T.V. –  I need one of those overactive bladder pills cleverly advertised for people like me.  Fortunately, my brother, Jim, is a urologist.  Unfortunately, I have to spell it out to him.  Its not easy to talk bathroom issues with your big brother.

I sheepishly tell him the story.  The bathroom always seems to be ten feet too far.  I tell him of the struggle with my pants, the hopping and the holding, the praying and the agony.  “Write me a prescription – I’ve turned into mom!”  Jim listens calmly, and then says to me, “Go more often.”

What?  That’s it?  Go more often?  Yes!  I am waiting too long.  And guess what?  He was right.  And then it dawned on me.  How easy I was convinced I needed medication.  I bought into that T.V. commercial like the perfect consumer – a marketer’s dream.

Listen, I am not a doctor.  I am not giving any advice on medicine except this – do not walk, jog, run, or sprint to any awful conclusions.  The answer may be as simple as “Go more often.”

Photo by Maira Gallardo on Unsplash