I don’t know much, but I do know Phoenix. I’m a native (like, a real one — I was actually born here) and while I escaped for a few years, I’ve been back for more than 20. This city is a tough nut to crack, particularly in the summer. (Don’t worry, the forecast for next weekend […]

Remember when you were a kid and you had a friend over and you begged your mom for an overnight? Then more play the next day? And then for the friend to stay for dinner again? For some reason, those memories for me are always accompanied by the memory of being sunburned — probably because […]

My feet will never be the same. But it was worth it. I survived four days at Disneyland — including two 12-hour-plus marathons — at a time when the Happiest Place on Earth was also the busiest, and felt like the coldest. Still, I can hardly complain; despite the forecast, it was sunny. We drove away […]

I don’t have a lot of romantic notions about camping — except when it comes to Annabelle. I’d like to think that she’ll look back on our trip last week as part of the Summer She Turned 9 — the summer she danced with her Gaga, performed in a play version of “Diary of A […]

We are home. Safe and sound. No bears — not even a sighting, to the dismay of three members of our little foursome. And my histrionics? Totally justified, in my sick little mind. In fact, I’m already getting worked up for next year’s camping trip — there is sure to be one next summer, if […]

This is what we did on on our summer vacation, as illustrated by Sophie in photographs. We ate s’mores. We filled the bucket with sand castle water (again and again and again). We got really sad when it was time to leave.

Like a lot of kids, Sophie doesn’t do so well with transitions. And she had a great time in First Grade. But I’m not worried about summer. Not this one, anyway. This is the Summer of Courtney. Of  “Courtney Love,” I’m calling it. Look at the two of them on their first morning together. Sophie […]

Fall Break. Two words that will ice just about any working parent’s heart. After our myriad summer travels, I can’t take a week off work. Yet I’m not willing to not spend time with the girls. And so I’m cobbling together a schedule that will leave everyone lacking and me up all night, trying to […]

You know those friends — friends you can go years without seeing, but when you do see them, it’s like no time has passed? That’s my friend Heather. Love her. Loveherloveherloveher. We met as undergrads and somehow 20-plus years passed and here we are. After college she went to law school and met a cute boy and and […]