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.
My mother wrote letters to my grandmother almost weekly for many years; her perfect handwriting documented the quotidian events raising the four of us in the decades before email and the internet. They were carefully saved, and recently my mom sent one to me, dated September 13, 1977. In it, she writes about the days leading up to my first day of kindergarten.
Read MoreBefore the pandemic, Marie Kondo promised we’d find joy in having less clutter in our spaces, and I think that includes our headspace. It’s the last few months before That Birthday, and in tribute to KonMari, I submit to you something new: The UnBucket List, a list of things I vow NOT to do. If I have to face mortality, even in the long view, this list will help me focus on what’s most important, what makes me the happiest, and gives me permission to ignore the rest.
Read MoreIn early 2020 when things shut down, my family and I shut down, too. At first, it was just supposed to be a few weeks. No big deal: After Spring Break (our trip was canceled like everything else), we’d be back.
Of course, it didn’t quite work out that way.
Read MoreScience shows that superheroes really do inspire greatness. A 2016 study led by Rachel White of Hamilton College and Stephanie Carlson of the University of Michigan, titled “The Batman Effect,” shows the power of superheroes to inspire kids. In the study, young children demonstrated increased perseverance skills when asked to imagine themselves as a favorite character.
But as you grow up and move past the comic book superhero stage, who do you consider a hero?
Read MoreI can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t worried about being fat.
I suffered through the indignities of having my BMI measured and announced publicly in gym class and struggling through the Presidential Physical Fitness test twice a year (fuck you, flexed arm hang). I did endless sit-ups in my room in the middle of the night to ensure I would pass. I went on ‘diets’ where I restricted my eating before I was 10. I wrote down everything I ate in my diary.
It is a very boring diary.
My dad was a great storyteller. Even though he was a little shy with strangers, he loved to spin a good yarn from time to time with his family. His best tales were stories about Chicago. But my favorite story was how he came into his chili recipe.
Read MoreMasks are the most depressing fashion accessory of 2020. In March, when it became clear that we were all going to be wearing them for the foreseeable future, I sewed a few for my kids and me.
Read MoreDoomscrolling is SOOO July. Do you remember July? China started sending us random seeds, Ghislaine Maxwell was finally arrested (we do not wish her the best), and Trump wore a mask in public for the first time, and it wasn't even Halloween. So. Brave.
Read MoreI noticed that even though my cookbook shelf was full, it was dominated by white authors and western-European cuisine. As someone who embraces new food, new experiences, I was embarrassed by the glaring omissions of the culinary foundations of American cooking on the shelf. Time for more change.
Read MoreA few months BC (Before COVID), I read Year of Yes, by Shauna Rhimes. The premise is deceptively simple: Despite incredible professional success, the Queen of Shaunda Land felt lonely and unfulfilled. On a dare from her sister, Shaunda spent a year saying “Yes” to everything – speaking engagements, parties, working out, salads, events – and she found her new life surprisingly rewarding and exciting in ways she hadn’t imagined it could be.
I was inspired and energized as she told her story, but as I considered my own life, I felt like I was very, very far away from So Much Yes.
I said no. A lot.
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