Little did I know, four years ago, when I sat in my friend Angie’s kitchen, this is what would happen. As I sat on a stool at her large kitchen island, and our kids flitted about making messes here and there, we chatted. We talked about kids and families. About…
“What am I doing?” I stand in the middle of the kitchen and ask this question aloud, even though there is no one else in the house aside from the dogs. My coat is on, phone in hand, and the dogs stare at me. What the hell was I…
Photo Credit: Angie McMonigal Photography “Some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad.” — “As Good As It Gets” “Life is hard sometimes, yea?” my friend wrote in a text last week. “Very hard,” I wrote back. We…
I stand at the podium, sweaty hands clinging to my notes. My right knee shakes a little. I shift my weight and it stops. My mouth feels dry and my heart is pounding. I take a deep breath, look down at my notes, and then look up again at the…
When I first moved to Chicago 13 years ago, one of the things that intimated me most was the CTA train system, commonly known as the L. Up until that point, my modes of transportation consisted primarily of car, bus, bike, my own feet, and occasionally an airplane. I hadn’t…
Though the weather here in the Midwest indicates otherwise, we are firmly entrenched in Spring. It is now mid-May. Or maybe even late-May depending on your definition. How is that possible? Wasn’t I just writing 2014 on my checks? Wasn’t there just snow on the ground? And weren’t we all…