A few weeks ago my partner Scott and I uprooted a struggling fern tree and cleared the space for something new. We did this on a whim with no idea of what we’d put in its place. There it sat for a week or two, empty but full of potential.

So last weekend I wandered through our local nursery dreaming of what to plant in the empty space. It was quite an ordeal. Planning a garden requires reflection on many levels. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going public with a few new services, one called “Deliteful Designs.” I started offering these cost effective designs several years ago to people in my GEM program. Now I’m offering them to you, too. It works like this: Read the rest of this entry »

The women in my family have a common problem: we can never find pants that fit right. Our waists are considerably smaller than our hips, which often creates a giant gap between the small of our backs and the pants’ waistline. Belts don’t help. They just make things bulky.

So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Talbots. I tried on a pair of their pants and they fit perfectly. No gap. No bulk. Just clean lines and a sleek look.

That was in 2008. A few weeks ago, though, I ventured into Talbots and tried on several new styles. This time the hips were snug but the waists were about 3 or 4 inches too big (and I’m the same exact size I was in 2008). Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was having dinner with my parents at an outdoor café. Shortly after we sat down, a loud man sitting behind us was talking with his family. Imagine my surprise when he belted out my grandfather’s name followed by some interesting adjectives.

Although we couldn’t hear all of the details, my mom, step-dad and I got wide eyed and really quiet as we wondered who they were and what they were talking about. As the conversation became more colorful, we became more curious. Read the rest of this entry »

Give People a Taste & They’re Likely to Want More

Years ago, during a visit to New Mexico, a friend and I decided to take a day trip to an old mission church north of Taos. After touring the sacred site, my friend and I proceeded to walk past a dusty outdoor stand where a local man was selling dried chili peppers. Read the rest of this entry »