All Posts

I have this friend, a very good and close friend, who will often respond to a post about the loss of my mom by saying something along the lines of, “Oh my god, I miss my dog so much every day, I can’t imagine losing my mom, I don’t know what I would do without her.” I want to be clear she is not being insensitive, she is not offending me in any way, I actually love my dog so  much that I understand exactly what she is trying to convey. She’s literally the best. The thing abou

What's that movie, Something’s Gotta Give? Pretty sure I have never seen it and I couldn’t even tell you the plot nor the actors but I would assume it’s about a burnt out person doing too much until it all comes to a head and they then learn some kind of valuable lesson. I am whoever that main character is and the lessons just keep on flowing. Fuck. In a very Portland fashion I very much identify with a rubber band at the moment, a broken one. No, one that is more than broken

I just watched Remi’s reel about her trip to NYC with her mom and her daughter. A very un-intrusive even basic video of the things she and her mom used to do when visiting NYC during fashion week. These things included going into designer stores and indulging in all that NYC has to offer in terms of activities and food.  As the reel comes to a close after a compilation of her 1 year old daughter playing at various playgrounds and dancing with her very elated and joyful grandm

"Stay out of my nightmares, stay out of my dreams, You're not even welcome in my memories" Is there a word for when the nostalgia of the past, obviously, meets the euphoria of the heartwarming feeling you are flooded with while watching your kids gleefully dance to  Return of the Mac  in the very same place that the most immediate memory is of being with your best friend one summer day while she met up with her Tinder date for the first time but brought me as a surprise? It i

These are some of my favorite things we use every day that make my life a whisper easier. Bunk Bed I was so excited for the day that Angus was going to crawl out of his crib and I was so prepared, or at least I thought I was. Initially we bought a small toddler bed , which I stand by and would have been great but with the anticipation of the big move I wasn't sure if the kids would have to share a room or not so we went with bunk beds. This is a whole post of it's own, you ca

These are some of my favorite things we use every day that make my life a whisper easier. The Light Up Duck (who is also depressed lol) When we went to visit my Aunt in Denver, I was 5 months pregnant with Marigold and Angus was 2 ½ and she had this amazing duck light in our room. At first I laughed and thought, “oh my god how silly”. Turns out that this thing has been life changing. Angus used to have this in his crib and he would play until he fell asleep. We have since tra

Why dead people suck The Top 10 Reasons Why Dead People Suck They leave an eternal gaping hole in your heart It is pretty apparent that I have a vaguely candid manner in which I talk about my dead mom and I think that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. For me this is the natural way to talk about her death. Maybe it is to lessen the gravity of death in general. My previous and perfect therapist had someone very close to her pass while I was seeing her and she said that she

Christmas Tree Farm, U-Cut 2025 This was so fun! Often Anthony and I just get a tag and go into the forest to cut our tree but with family in town we wanted it to be a simplified and easy experience. I cannot remember whose page talked about Christmas Mountain but I am so grateful to them, thank you!  Located in Scappoose, a mere 25/30 minutes from North Portland it was the perfect destination for an easy and fun U Cut experience.  You book your time slot online, arrive, park

Zoo Lights 2025 I cannot with how wonderful the Oregon Zoo Lights are! Literally a 100/10 experience. I have been living at the Zoo for the past week between the Turkey Trot and Zoo Lights and just zooing in general, can I have a job or what? I was a bit hesitant about spending the money and going but each week for months now, more and more lights were going up and our last visit really pushed me over the edge. This, unlike the Turkey Trot was extremely organized and so easy

When we chose to move to Portland, OR I had absolutely no intention of ever exploring any portion of Vancouver, WA. Ever. The appeal just wasn’t there, plus I had a long time ex-boyfriend who had lived in Vancouver while we dated so there is still a sour taste in my mouth about the whole place lol. Maybe it’s time to move on huh? Luckily for me, one of my long-time, beautiful friends lives in Vancouver and has taken the time and effort to share some of the gems about her town

Loss & Life When my mom found out that her cancer was back, for like the 3rd or 4th time, I honestly can’t remember, I had just given birth to Angus and she said, “whelp one in and one out I guess”, which is actually pretty poetic and I find it somewhat comforting but ultimately devastating, obviously. I like the idea of a balance that keeps everything fair if you will, even if it sucks. But it just seems like a bizarre trade, we were gifted Angus at the sacrifice of my mom.

I have found that there are a few genres of parks, these following parks are some of my favorite “tree parks”. Now to be fair, most of the parks around Portland are shrouded in forestry and that is one of the best things about Portland, urban forestry literally everywhere but there are some parks that also offer small hikes and networks of trails. I love this for me and all of my fellow mom/dad/parent patrons.  Mt Tabor I am pretty partial to Mt Tabor because it fills a large

Trying to decide whether to be the Carry Bradshaw of toddlers in PDX or the Andy Anderson the “How to Girl”.  Can I do both? I suppose I will try, insights about life as a current day mom and all the info about all the activities you can do around town. I lived in Oregon for roughly 10 years, I went to the U of O, “SKOOOO DUCKS” and then lived all over Oregon and beyond, Portland, Bend, Hood River, Santa Fe, Denver, Maui and now Portland, again. Coming back to PDX is pretty s

See, look how independent I was at 5, I was barbecuing already! I just cannot get over how my childhood was not like my kid’s current childhoods. I am not mad about it I am just in “awe”. For example, I sat down to write this and I immediately was like, “Oh yeah, cover Marigold up so she isn’t cold during nap time”, which I did and it wasn’t an issue. I just have to wonder, “How are we alive, and what were our parents doing all the time, and are we ruining these kids by the a

I am going to tell this to you straight, potty training is fucked. Like that is it. There is no magic solution, there is no magic book, well there is, Oh, Crap Potty Training!  by Jamie Glowacki is the book but you still just have to do potty training. Go through the trenches and commit. Potty training is like everything with parenting, usually if it’s hard and emotionally taxing then the results are worth it. I felt this way with sleep training as well as with potty trainin

The absolute hardest part. Part of what? The absolute hardest part of having a human, and that is after getting pregnant, which is its own whole thing, then creating a human in your body, IN YOUR BODY! The hormone changes, the physical changes, the vagina changes, and all that is after you literally push them out, of quite possibly the smallest part of your body. THEN, you have to figure out how to nurture them and keep them alive from the nectar of your breast lol. What is t

One of my sweetest friends just had her first baby. The very first one. The one that makes you a mom. The one that makes you hormonal, which maybe you have never been before which makes you exceptionally emotional. The one that grows in your body and changes everything about you. The first  one. And I am so excited for her and often so worried for her lol. I just want to Harry Potter every piece of wisdom I have to her. I want to tell her that you can feed your baby in litera