Heather is an essayist, editor, CMO, mommy, and wife seeking stillness while in a state
of nearly constant motion. She lives, walks, and eats in the greatest city in the world: Chicago.
love Christmas, every part. Cookies and food and seasonal music, yes, please. I make menus and gift lists, and I obsess about all the details. The kids and I count down to Santa’s visit, and the Elf on the Shelf (his name is Bubbles) is in full effect every night.
This essay should be right up my tinsel-laden alley.
But not this year.
Read MoreFriday nights have long been associated with good times: Happy Hours, date nights, movie premieres. Through the years I’ve looked forward to events like those, but lately, my Fridays are more about popcorn and pajamas than pomp and circumstance.
In our home, Friday nights are reserved for movies with my boys, and it’s my favorite thing.
Read MoreIn my life I have been lucky to have the opportunity to travel around the world and across the country, but in my heart, none of them will ever come close to the vacations my family took when I was growing up.
Read MoreI know the non-believers in the second grade have begun to whisper their doubts. Like a virus it spreads, making kids question fundamental symbols of the season.
But I want my sons to believe.
Read MoreBaking bread allows me to do all the things I love: Create, experiment, explore, and make people happy by feeding them.
Read MoreI’ve had many great teachers in and out of classrooms, but when I stop to remember, a few come immediately to mind. Teachers who lifted me up, showed me how to break the rules, taught me to lead, and the woman who was my first teacher.
Read MoreThe Olympic Games are the human experience writ large. The Winter Games, in my opinion, are always particularly dramatic. The Olympics also mark an anniversary for my own comeback story.
Read More‘Twas two weeks before Christmas and inside my brain
Were To Do’s and Lists, long and insane.
So much to get done, all tasks fall to me
From purchasing presents to trimming the tree.
The boys are counting down the days this week until Bubbles the Elf returns from the North Pole, and almost every morning from December 1 to the 24th they are brimming with excitement, jumping up and down in their footed Christmas pajamas, begging to go find what that little Elf has been up to overnight.
Read MoreDad was a lot of things: Father. Husband. Grandfather. Salesman. Foodie. Golfer. Fisherman. Gardener. Water skier. Creative swearer. Carpenter. Photographer. Guitar player. Computer enthusiast. Traveler. He taught me about many subjects, but his most lasting legacy to me was how he lived his life with endless curiosity and enthusiasm. A never-graduating, Student of the Game of Life.
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