my city life

with Jami Nato

I took my 9 year old on a mommy daughter date to CocoBolos Mexican Restaurant this weekend and we had so much fun. I don't get over to the PrairieFire area as much as I like, but I was so impressed by everything they offered and in such a short walking distance. For instance, complimentary Valet parking! Hello, when it's so cold out, it's nice to drop and get moving without looking for parking. I don't know if anyone else finds that stressful--I certainly do! This was the perfect start to the...

For a while in my early 30's, I was on a sugar binge. I would start the day with a baked good, feel a slump in the afternoon and grab some chocolate and crash hard in the late afternoon with no energy for the evenings-- so of course I would chug a diet soda. Surprisingly , that wasn't helpful for sleep either! I sent myself into a not-so-pleasant autoimmune response and had huge eye bags, painful adult acne, and mood swings for days. I got so tired of myself feeling miserable, I decided to give...

As you know by now, I am really into community. I think it is so important—and especially now, in 2020. An observation is that we now feel so comfortable behind the screen, we tend to lose our humanity, and the humanity of the ones we are "talking" to, or shall I say, typing too. The problem is, real life has not stopped with its incessant hardships and trauma, but also celebrations, babies being born, finally getting that sourdough right! People still need people seeing people, really seeing...

Last week, I got my Kemper Art Challenge package in the mail and dumped out all the random contents on the dining room table: pipe cleaners, fabric, paper, scissors, and glue— just to name a few. On the postcard of instructions it contained a loose theme, of which was something to the extent of animals. Listen, I don’t pretend to be an artist or a person who cares much for details! “Easy enough,” I thought. I asked my teenage son to make me an origami head of any animal of his...