This past Sunday, New York Times Magazine had an insightful cover story entitled “Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer” by Peggy Orenstein. The title jumped out at me for very personal reasons: my best friend is an Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) survivor. When she was first diagnosed in 2009 (at the age of 34), I […]
Author Archives: apleau
Haters Gonna Hate: East Bay Edition
When considering a move to the Bay, it quickly becomes obvious that people are very territorial and judgy with their city choices in the area. As we were doing research on where we wanted to live, Google searches kept on bringing us back to one particular website, where the two most common questions appear to […]
The Other 90%
So, I am now officially moved to the Bay Area – yay! I am still temporarily tied to my job in Arizona, so there is only so much I can say about that experience for the time being, however I feel like things are finally getting better. It’s been a rough 6 months with new […]
Menacing Kitten Headquarters Melts Down, Cries Glowing Chernobyl Tears
As you know, I am moving. What you may not know is my shit is moving out six weeks before I do, nothing is working the way it’s supposed to, nothing is happening on time, everything sucks and hatehatehatemeltdowncry. Allow me to back this up a little. So, we put a bid on a beautiful […]
Bay Area House-Hunting, Round ??
So, First things first – there have been many rounds of Bay Area house-hunting I didn’t report on, because I was beginning to believe we were cursed. One of the first things you recognize when looking for a house in the Bay Area is the region is in a little bubble where national economic standards […]
Downton Abbey: The Season 3 Drinking Game
Here in the States, PBS aired the first episode of Downton Abbey, season three. I’m not sure of what to make of this season just yet – there was a lot of exposition in the first episode and not a whole lot of meat. Like, 10 seconds of wedding coverage? Hello? Not a big deal…I […]
50 Shades of Dismay – Adventures in Spray Tanning
by Kirsten Benzel I’ve never made a New Year’s resolution. I’m 28. I reasoned that the new year is nothing more then an arbitrary number and I’ll take care of business when it’s time and not when I have a champagne hangover and glitter stuck in my hair. Or maybe I just know deep down […]
2013 Bucket List: Get the Funk Out
At the beginning of 2012, I decided to create a bucket list of things to accomplish for the year. Looking at the original blog post, I actually didn’t do so bad: Start an international cooking club Did I do it? YES! It was a hit, and I had a blast experimenting with different dishes – […]
Help Me Understand
It’s easy to sit here and type out my opinions. It’s easy to let the rage and frustration I feel take over and shut myself off from the world until the latest tragedy becomes old news and we’re back to talking about Anne Hathaway’s crotch shot at a premiere or Lindsay Lohan’s legal troubles. I […]
Does He Like You? A Junior High Guide
[Note: While I’m pulling my hair out house-hunting, long-distance romancing and dealing with the other wonderful blessings befallen on me at this joyous time, enjoy this older favorite, originally published on August 28, 2011] Let’s face it; dating is never easy. The first lesson we Virgins to Life all learn, thanks to Head & Shoulders commercials, […]