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...

Ahh, feeling dead inside. For some of us it's a phase—like “Sad Autumn Girl" who whispers “it’s the season” as a rather brilliant justification for ennui ... and for others, this dead inside business is an amusingly oxymoronic way of life. Whether you're feeling a wee-bit dead inside or a big-bit dead inside, you're all...

There are things we must lament in life—death, taxes, how they still haven’t made an all-red bag of Skittles (Mars Wrigley executives: make this make sense? Yeah, see you can’t. Proffer up an all-red bag already or heads must roll!). Another Lamentation for the Living: how we have to work at happiness. Can we all...

Look at you! You’re fabulous! You’re so talented at _________ (you fill in the blanks, Hotshot—I’m not a mentalist), and (*insert the construction-site-cat-call*) you’re stunning, too—look at those ________ (don’t be bashful—if you’ve got a great rack, now’s the time to own it!). You’re one of a kind. Sensational! You know what else? You’re deeply...

I recently visited a dear friend at her newly finished home—a home that stood on a perch with 360º views of glorious California wine country, replete with red-tailed hawks soaring in front of us as though right on cue—and I said these words to her: “Do you ever just stand out here at sunset and...

I have a playlist called “I Heart Melancholy” and I love listening to it so much it hurts. In the good way. And I know you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? I asked people on Instagram about their sad song proclivities and oh, it struck a chord! (A minor chord… hahaha… music humor—it’ll...

There are few things I love more than a practical joke: salty caramel sauce, a cat who gives me bedroom eyes, when anyone anywhere says they like my book, The Husband, the first sip of wine—although not necessarily in that order. I’m partially convinced our lives are pranks being pulled by a superior (and wittier)...

Let’s imagine you want to be living this kind of life: But in reality your life looks like this: Why the tumbleweedy life? Maybe you’re in a busy period at work and there’s not a nippy chance in hell you’re getting to that Thursday night pole dancing class. Maybe you’re depressed and your couch is...