Oh, but if these houses could only talk... Our friends at GM were kind enough to send us a loaner, this week. They knew Melisa was visiting with us from Chicago and thought I would probably appreciate playing tour guide in a vehicle that...you know...actually works...because they are awesome, like that. It was so nice to be able to show Melisa all our favorite places here in Jersey and NOT have to worry about breaking down on an off ramp or, even worse, a jug handle (i.e. traffic circle or rotary). But that is a different post, for another day.... Read more →

Melisa and I drove down to Seaside Heights, yesterday. I hadn't been back since Superstorm Sandy ripped through the Jersey shore a little over a year ago, so it was a bittersweet moment for me. Melisa wrote a beautiful post about our trip to Seaside Park and captures the meaning behind "Jersey Strong," perfectly. Which is truly ironic, considering this is her first trip to our neck of the woods and that many folks have openly questioned Melisa why, of all places, she would even consider visiting New Jersey. It's okay, we're used to it. Also, it's mid-November; if I... Read more →

When my husband, Garth (not his real name) heard that Melisa was going to visit with us, his initial reaction was, "Uhhhhhh, okay then, where are you going to take her?" Considering it is November and summertime is pretty much over on the Jersey shore, after traveling all the way from Chicago, he was afraid the weather would not cooperate and that she would be bored. On the contrary, Melisa and I have been going non-stop since she got here: we dropped her bag at the front door and headed back out to explore the hiking paths that run through... Read more →

One of the many reasons I love living on the central Jersey coast (yes, ON PURPOSE!) is our close proximity to, well, everything. Agricultural and dairy farms, campgrounds, hiking trails, lakes surrounded by two state parks and OF COURSE our favorite beaches are ALL less than a 30 minute drive from our front door. Problem is, I want to show ALL of it to Melisa or, at the very least, do my best to make her...you know...want to come back to Jersey. Yesterday was our first full day of exploring, so first thing on my list of "show Melisa ALL... Read more →

I hate fake people ~ Yeah, me too!!! Day 1 into NaBloPoMo...[scratches head, blank stare]...and NOW I remember why I haven't NaBloPoMo-ed since 2011...this blogging every day (even on weekends) thing is hard...YO!!! The really cool thing about NaBloPoMo-ing is that there are daily prompts to help get my blogging juices going, but today's prompt was a little too hard (i.e. made me think more than I really care to) for a Friday. Instead, I'd like to tell you about a brief encounter, with a doorman, in New York City: ----------------------------------------------- Nobody takes much notice of a doorman. That's because,... Read more →

I left for BlogHer13 on July 24th and I haven't been home, since. Okay, so I was home for a whole entire day and a half, before leaving for our first family summer vacation in, well, forever, giving myself enough time to: unload my suitcases wash clothes drop Doofus-Dawg off at his country canine cousins' house take my teens shopping for last minute vacation-y sort of stuff [deep breath, exhale] clean the house because, coming home from vacation to a messy house is worse and THEN reload suitcases all over again In an attempt to ignore the pain in my... Read more →

My family and I were very honored to have been invited, as special guests of Morey's Piers, to spend the weekend in Wildwood, NJ and meet the famous Morey brothers, in person. Okay, so I was THRILLED!!! I got to revisit some of my favorite childhood memories of summertime(s) past: when my twin brother and I would spend our days playing on the beach, as my parents sunned themselves while listening to my dad's favorite doo-wop radio station (WCBS FM 101.1), and then follow the parade of flip flops, begging our parents for "Please, just one more quarter?!?" to play... Read more →