When The Husband and I moved to the desert a few years ago, we had a rude awakening—and it had nothing to do with the 109º July days. It had to do with persistent proclamations of death. (I do have a flair for the dramatics.) You know about agave plants, right? Yes, they are where tequila...

Do you have a stuffed animal at home? One that belongs to you and not someone who’s teething? If the answer is yes, we have so much in common! You, me, and most American adults. If you answered no, well, Mr./ Mrs. Too Grown Up for Toys, read the rest of the article and I...

Hello February, you month of reckoning, you. You’re the calendar month when New Year’s resolutions tend to look less like commitments and more like indictments on our permanently flawed and derelict selves. The gym bag sits untouched. The journal stares accusingly from the nightstand. The ambitious new identity we unveiled on January 1 (“I’m a 5...

Let’s pretend you just swigged back a cocktail I made you with a bunch of truth serum in it, so there will be no BS-ing of your answer. (👈 It tasted excellent and there was a very pretty garnish, FYI.) Where are you on my ultra-scientific “Intentional or Accidental Life” Spectrum? How did it feel...

I know I’m all about Mondays (what with there being a dwindling 4,000 of them that beg to be savored and all), and yet I’m the first to admit that Fridays win. I annoyingly sign Thursday emails off with “Happy Friday eve!” and I liberally splash “TGIF” around when Friday finally arrives. It’s more than...

When the going gets hard, you: A) Quit and head home to lick your wounds on the couch (“are there any Oreos left? Nothing quells my feelings of failure like Double Stuf”) B) Quit and pretend you didn’t really want the thing you were working towards anyways (“that promotion would’ve been stupid, what with all...

Congratulations for not dying in 2025! 63.1 million people weren’t so lucky and ended up ... ending. So you won the Life Lottery last year, and I hope you raise(d) a glass of something at New Year's Eve to celebrate Still Being Alive. But wait—we can do better than that, right? Better than “Still Being...

How would you describe your Leisure Style? (Oh—I’m not referring to your sartorial selections while you’re doing leisure—like if you tend towards the “resort casual” look while in R & R mode. No, this is about your behavioral style when the whistle blows and you have a spare chunk of time to squander enjoy yourself.)...

Let’s play a little game, shall we? Let’s pretend you have a dream. It’s not a slam-dunk dream, like “let’s go out for banana splits tonight,” which I think we should all definitely do (and if you get there first, please order mine with extra caramel sauce). No, this dream of yours is gripping and...

My friend’s sister died from a premature heart attack a few months ago. Since then my friend has found herself looking at life differently… which is to be expected. What’s unexpected has been her take on how she doesn’t want to live her life. I typically refer to mortality-inspired motivation to live as an urge...

Now's your chance to give the gift of death ... gifts your loved ones will never forget (or remember, if they die sooner than later). Oh, yes you did come to the right place for holiday cheer. Pour some (heavily) spiked nog, sip, and get shopping, Little Elf! You have the opportunity to wake your...

Some people move through the world as if it were a buffet of delights—reveling in a glass (or *ahem* a bottle) of wine, lingering in front of a painting long enough to make security nervous, closing their eyes while tasting crème brûlée, admiring a slow-burn sunset, disappearing into a perfect conversation, losing track of time...