Keeping Christmas Green

Christmas is coming! If you're like me, you've bought about 2 gifts so far, and you're getting ready to start the marathon shop-til-you-drop-and-wrap-a-bunch-of-presents challenge. I recently learned that wrapping paper, ribbon, and shopping bags account for about 4 billion tons of trash each year in the U.S. 4 billion tons! Here's my idea on how to keep Christmas green: I wrapped these gifts...

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Kalee's Bridal Shower

My dearest friend Kalee is getting married (ahh!) in just a few short weeks, and my mom and I had the pleasure of hosting her bridal shower. Kalee and her fiancé, Sfen, have been rockin' it as a couple since 2009, so this wedding has been a long time in the making! Here's what I learned: love is precious, and chocolate melts better when you put vegetable oil in it. Who knew?  All credit...

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Baker's Dozen Thanksgiving Playlist

I've been very disappointed with the lack of Thanksgiving songs in the universe. I can think of about a billion Christmas songs off the top of my head, but not one Thanksgiving song! Songwriters of America, please remedy this. Preferably by next year, so I can sing new holiday songs as I'm stuffing myself with stuffing (and turkey, and cheesy potatoes, and corn, and green bean casserole, and pumpki......

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Learning To Be Thankful

Thanksgiving is a happy time of year. Have you ever thought about why? Sure, food is awesome and turkey boosts your brain's feel-good sensors, but that's not the only reason this time of year induces warm fuzzies. I think it's because we, as Americans, typically tend to spend more time in November focusing on the things we're thankful for. And that makes us happy. It's easy to get bogged...

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The Truth About Fortune Cookies

The city I live in is on the map for about three reasons, one of which being the invention of cashew chicken. Springfieldians are pretty serious about their cashew. Like, if you publicly admit in the city of Springfield, MO that you do not enjoy the taste of cashew chicken, you may be tarred and feathered. I think that's written somewhere in the city bylaws. Anyway, this post isn't about cashew...

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TiK ToK: Circadian Rhythm and Winter Time

So, Daylight Savings Time happened a week ago, and I'm still trying to get used to it. Read: I totally understand why bears hibernate during the winter because when it's dark all the time, I want to sleep all the time. I already learned that increased exposure to sunlight can affect happiness, so whyyyy are we turnin' off the sky lights so early?! It turns out, Daylight Savings Time usually creates...

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Illustrator Wendy Macnaughton

Recently, I stumbled upon the work of Wendy Macnaughton, an illustrator and graphic journalist based in San Francisco. She has an interesting body of work--some of her pieces make you laugh, some make you think. A few make you laugh first and think later, and a couple make you think first and laugh later. Hierarchy of Needs, New York Times Office Hours, Dell Tech Page One Should I Check...

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Hippie Halloween: DIY Floral Crown

I don't know about you, but I am a little lazy when it comes to Halloween. Okay, really lazy. As a child, I was a ladybug for 3-4 years until I grew out of the costume my grandma made for me, and then I was a "sleepy person" for several years. A "sleepy person" costume consisted of me wearing my pajamas to go Trick-or-Treating. Somehow, people still gave me candy. This year wasn't any different,...

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Healthy(ish) Halloween

Trick or Treat? Halloween will be here soon, and the whole country will be hyped up on sugar. It sounds great, doesn't it? When I was a kid, there was a man on my street who handed out apples for Halloween. He also made you do a trick before he gave you a treat, so all the kids did a little song-and-dance to then be tricked into getting an apple. No kid wants an apple for Halloween. Kids want Reese's,...

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Keep Calm and Yarn Bomb

So, the Springfield Art Museum got bombed… By yarn! Yarn bombing is apparently a thing, who knew? I didn't, so I learned about it. Here's some fun facts about yarn bombing:  It is also referred to as guerrilla knitting or graffiti knitting, and in some jurisdictions, it is illegal. The sculpture in front of the art museum was yarn bombed by the IdeaXFactory in Springfield. They were invited...

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