More About Me:

I turned 46 in May 2023.   

I work with kiddos and their families.    

I was the one at your slumber party who wanted to read all your books and didn't mind your parents' presence.  :)   

I have kept diaries and journals since I was eight years old.   

I had a 1980s childhood and loved it.   

I like making cards and drawings and gifts and care packages for the people I love, and I love the entire process of getting mail out to my loved ones:  Choosing stationery/cards, illustrating my letters, choosing the gift wrap or tissue for packages, clipping out magazine articles or recipes to enclose in their letters, etc.   ♥

I think a full belly and a good night's sleep cure all kinds of ills.   

For years, I have had detailed sketches drawn of my dream home.   

I want a dog.  An Old English Sheepdog, ♥ specifically. 

Kindness  impresses me more than just about anything else.   

*     *     *     *     *

...running  ♥  walking  ♥  cooking ♥  baking  ♥  reading  ♥  gardening  ♥  puttering around the house  ♥ drawing  ♥

2007

letter-writing/keeping in touch  ♥  drawing  ♥  violin music  ♥  movies  ♥  Anne Tyler's writing  ♥  chocolate milk 


 

Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro"  ♥  fits of giggles  ♥  people with great laughs (see:  Julia Roberts, my uncle Warren)  ♥  kids' handwriting/printing  ♥  stickers  ♥  snow  ♥  autumn  ♥  sleeping cats  ♥  Actor Jack ("The Tin Man") Haley's beautiful eyes  ♥  Boston, Massachusetts  ♥  gingham  ♥   staying in motels and hotels


rick rack  ♥  dotted Swiss  ♥  pie  ♥  "The West Wing"  ♥  buttercream frosting  ♥  tuna salad  ♥  biographies, autobiographies, travel writings, and memoirs  ♥  the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series  ♥  baked potatoes  ♥  

2008

garden tomatoes  ♥  dill pickles  ♥  threadbare stuffed animals  ♥  Cary Grant's humor  ♥  fireplaces  ♥  stained glass  ♥  Swedish and Nordic decorating  ♥  chubby baby legs and baby "hand/knuckle dimples"  ♥  great quotes  ♥  Roger Ebert  ♥  Mary Lou Retton  ♥   


Kurt Browning  ♥  figure skaters' Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison's "The Way We Were"/Love Story routine  ♥  home-canned goods  ♥  the smell of cool basements  ♥  long walks  ♥  the stationery/school supply aisle  ♥  Sharon Olds' poetry  ♥  orange and kelly green and aqua  ♥  round tables  ♥  Burt Reynolds  ♥  

2009

Bobby Kennedy  ♥  sun tea and iced tea  ♥  sarcasm  ♥  kindness  ♥  open-mindedness  ♥  old peoples' hands  ♥  Ocean City, Maryland  ♥  "Calvin and Hobbes"  ♥    Mary Jane shoes and ballerina flats  ♥  Tom Petty  ♥  french fries with salt and vinegar, not ketchup  ♥  four-leaf clovers  ♥   



my mom's apple cobbler  ♥  walking sticks  ♥  seeing old men dressed like my grandfather used to  ♥  Washington Square Park  ♥  braided hair  ♥  good old-fashioned manners  ♥   


when bus drivers wait for people who are running to catch the bus  ♥   Eleanor Roosevelt  ♥  having a postage stamp when I need one  ♥  the public library  ♥  my old elementary school  ♥
 

♥  "The Waltons"  ♥  Thanksgiving  ♥  Christmas Eve  ♥   Christmas morning when I was a kid  ♥  the final dance scene in Dirty Dancing  ♥  

the dinner scene in the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special  ♥  Susan Branch's illustrations  ♥  Alice in Wonderland  ♥  Jude's voice  ♥  the Cure  ♥  good impersonations  ♥  the way the day seems to glitter in the sunshine in early morning  ♥   


spinach and feta omelets  ♥  green beans fresh from the garden  ♥  picking strawberries  ♥  rabbits and bunnies  ♥  my cat asleep with his paw over his eyes  ♥  Mick Jagger's strut  ♥  80s' sitcom theme songs  ♥  Alan Alda  ♥  Christopher Walken  ♥  pretty eyes  ♥   


the smell of crayons  ♥  stacks of old magazines to look through/cut up  ♥  the old Bert and Ernie skits from "Sesame Street"  ♥  good waiters and waitresses  ♥ 

2011

people who are nice to their waiters and waitresses  ♥   listening to kids as they tell you what their drawings are of/about  ♥  art deco illustrations  ♥   



people who sing aloud without being self-conscious about it  ♥  watching good dancers dance  ♥   mosaics  ♥  leaded glass windows  ♥  the character of Melanie in Gone with the Wind  ♥  "gentle giant" guys  ♥  looking at peoples' family photos  ♥   


rainy days and nights  ♥  frogs and toads  ♥  birds  ♥  strawberry jam  ♥  veggies and dip  ♥  the way gardens look right after it rains  ♥  the first few magical days of the Blizzard of 2010  ♥  fall leaves  ♥   leaf projects in school  ♥  book orders in elementary school  ♥   rereading books I loved as a kid  ♥   


seeing my brothers with their children  ♥  Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and home in Mansfield, Missouri  ♥  the Ozarks  ♥  how my grandfather would always talk with anyone and everyone--so a quick trip "into town" to go to the grocery store would take an hour  ♥    

good hugs  ♥   

old Holly Hobbie illustrations  ♥  old quilts and braided rugs  ♥  dreams of lost loved ones  ♥  hooked rugs  ♥  salad bars  ♥  unpretentious people  ♥  back porches  ♥  Southern accents  ♥  t-shirts that are worn in and paper-thin  ♥  



visits with family and friends  ♥  how people all seem to fall asleep and wake up at the same time as each other on long bus trips  ♥  painted furniture  ♥  Daffodils  ♥  Foxgloves  ♥  Hollyhocks  ♥  white Poppies  ♥  Ranunculus  ♥  Daisies  ♥  Queen Ann's Lace  ♥  Pussywillows  ♥  Willow Trees  ♥  Weeping Cherry Trees  ♥  Crabapple trees  ♥   

 

♥  the memory of the feeling of my grandmother's cheek and of my grandfather's hand on top of my head  ♥  playing Scrabble  ♥  people getting back in touch with each other  ♥  watching people who are good with kids  ♥  Sam Malone on "Cheers"  ♥  not giving up  ♥  impromptu picnics  ♥   


Petunias  ♥  cemeteries  ♥  sweatshirts worn inside-out  ♥  candlelight  ♥ coconut-scented sunscreen  ♥  Daniel Day-Lewis  ♥  grape popsicles  ♥  wine cellars  ♥  choirs  ♥  soccer players  ♥  the "Undo" button  ♥  laughing til I'm crying  ♥  family vacations when I was a kid  ♥  ants (when they're outside)  ♥   

male lions  ♥  Old English Sheepdogs  ♥  groundhogs  ♥  Beagles  ♥  wombats  ♥  Chow dogs  ♥  sheath dresses with matching coats  ♥  T-strap shoes  ♥  men in hats  ♥  colored tights  ♥  fluffy-skirted 50s chiffon party gowns  ♥  80s ringer shirts  ♥  extra long scarves and elbow-length gloves  ♥  buttered toast  ♥  people who make an effort to change what they don't like about themselves  ♥ 

2013

dilapidated-looking little houses  ♥  single-story houses  ♥  houseplants  ♥  homes that look lived in  ♥  bath tubs  ♥  old-fashioned stoves/ovens  ♥   brick and wood floors  ♥  the smell of new running shoes  ♥  hosting dinners and get-togethers  ♥  reading cookbooks (especially holiday ones)  ♥   


Boston Brown Bread  ♥  bird nests  ♥  encyclopedias and dictionaries  ♥  quiet nights at home  ♥  memoirs (especially of travel)  ♥  the moon  ♥  spider webs  ♥  blue Morning Glories and their heart-shaped leaves  ♥  Lilac bushes  ♥  Valentine's Day  ♥  good teachers  ♥  people who can laugh at themselves  ♥   


heavy crocheted afghans  ♥  bravery  ♥  thrift shops  ♥  potato salad  ♥  corduroy  ♥  the way it smells after a good rain  ♥  shutters and window boxes  ♥  the moment when you finally feel the medicine kicking in  ♥  potato chips with onion dip  ♥  patchwork  ♥  black and white portraits  ♥    

2014

caricatures  ♥  imagination  ♥  photo booth pictures  ♥  cherry ChapStick  ♥  baby lotion and baby powder  ♥  the smells of freshly-mowed grass and of just-washed-and-dried laundry  ♥   hanging clothes outside to dry  ♥   


vegetable gardens  ♥  aprons (especially with gingham and rick rack)  ♥  chicken scratch embroidery and smocking  ♥  that quote about trying to be the kind of person your dog thinks you are  ♥  colored glass (especially green)  ♥  deep window sills  ♥  high floorboards  ♥  restaurant booths  ♥   


carrot cake  ♥  Kit Kat bars  ♥  almonds  ♥  my dad's handwriting  ♥  the lazy summery drone of a baseball game on TV at night  ♥  the "Marriage of Carl and Ellie" sequence in the movie Up  ♥  stories of sisters  ♥   rooms with two or more single beds along one wall  ♥  girls in pig tails  ♥  good bread  ♥  real butter  ♥  starting a new journal  ♥  time to myself  ♥  

holidays  ♥  the scene in "Seinfeld" where Elaine describes sharing a cab with John F. Kennedy Jr.  ♥  turkey sandwiches  ♥  bold colors   ♥  granny squares  ♥  people who make me laugh  ♥  silhouettes  ♥  people who really know how to make other people feel welcome  ♥  paper-cutting art  ♥  gray cats  ♥  orange cats ♥  animal rescue  ♥  pickup trucks  ♥   


kickball  ♥  my grandparents' entire yard  ♥  white ball trim  ♥   a pink sunrise  ♥  going barefoot  ♥  tube socks  ♥  calico  ♥  after-death communication  ♥  Harry Potter's Professor Snape  ♥  my grandma's bread and meatballs  ♥  Ellen DeGeneres's bit about walking into a glass door  ♥   

Dick van Dyke  ♥  Andy Williams' voice  ♥  the Monkees  ♥  orange baby aspirin  ♥  Robert Redford's character in Barefoot in the Park  ♥  cute sneakers  ♥  guys in their white undershirts  ♥   


rounded/arched doorways  ♥  Gothic arched windows  ♥  just about everything in a Delia's clothing catalog  ♥  embroidery  ♥  heavy china  ♥  the taste and smell of ripe peaches  ♥  that soapy fresh-from-the-shower smell  ♥  the Cookie Monster "Siri" commercials  ♥  curling up in a chair to read  ♥  

reading in bed  ♥  Holly leaves and berries  ♥   Pachelbel's Canon  ♥  thank you notes  ♥  pink light bulbs  ♥  blue Hydrangeas  ♥  chocolate milkshakes  ♥  Lance Henriksen's work on "Millennium"  ♥  comedian Mitch Hedberg  ♥  

 


black Bic clear-barrel ink pens  ♥  "Barney Miller"  ♥  Judd Hirsch  ♥ huge smiles (see:  Geena Davis and Mary Lou Retton)  ♥  ballet  ♥  flapper-style bobs and hairdos  ♥  white paper doilies  ♥  rock walls  ♥  handmade Valentines  ♥  the smell of butter, sugar, and vanilla mixed together  ♥  the smell of apples and cinnamon together  ♥  rain barrels  ♥   "Twin Peaks"  ♥   


Lindsey Buckingham  ♥  chickadees  ♥  1960s Motown music (and the old-style synchronized dance choreography)  ♥  the words "pumpkin," "luscious," and "voluptuous"  ♥   freckles  ♥  ferns  ♥  Christmas wrapping paper  ♥  sundresses  ♥ doll house miniatures  ♥  bandannas  ♥  eye-rolling  ♥  sleeping lofts  ♥  snowflakes  ♥  a good attitude  ♥  a good listener  ♥   

colorful rooms  ♥  porch gliders  ♥ 
Gustavian-style clocks  ♥  the smell of Goldenrod  ♥  Christmas/string lights  ♥ 

side porches  ♥  Birch bark  ♥  Hoosier cabinets/hutches  ♥  flannel shirts  ♥  brown leather jackets  ♥  

paint chips  ♥  toy kitchens  ♥  babies and toddlers in snowsuits  ♥  bees and beekeeping  ♥  Michael Keaton  ♥  the circa-1957 aqua blue/white Ford Fairlane  ♥   overalls  ♥  instant-dry nail polish  ♥  rhubarb fresh from the garden  ♥   lemon meringue pie  ♥  Jeff Bridges  ♥  Ice Castles  (1970s version)  ♥  the Cure's song "Halo" ♥  survival stories  ♥  

the smell of window screens in the summer  ♥  

vintage handmade potholders  ♥  butler pantries 

a dry sense of humor  ♥  suspenders  ♥  Craig Ferguson  ♥  Kiefer Sutherland  ♥  music from the 1960s and 1980s  ♥  the look of rainy pavement under streetlights  ♥  mourning doves' call  ♥  Rowlf  the Muppet  ♥  my 1970s-edition Childcraft books  ♥  Don Quixote   

♥  reading aloud to children  ♥  pink roses  ♥  tacos  ♥  and probably a few more things  :)  ♥