As soon as the clock strikes midnight on Halloween my brain turns from visions of ghosts, ghouls, and candy comas to turkeys, mistletoe, and too many Amazon packages arriving on my doorstep. At that point it’s official...the holidays have arrived. Turns out, the season when all is supposed to be merry and bright is actually a time of great angst for many people. Those who suffer from generalized anxiety disorder typically feel an increase in their symptoms during the holiday season. And, even t

I hate to admit it but have to admit it. I am NO GOOD at choosing personal care products. I could walk endlessly up and down the aisles at the Target all day and stare at the Sephora counter for hours and still leave the store empty-handed. I get overwhelmed by all the options, scared to pull the trigger on my pocketbook,(I just have a really hard time shelling out $45 for foundation...even though I know it's worth it) and am completely terrified of buyer's remorse. Buying cosmetics is an outin

A few days ago in the midst of answering morning emails, catching up with business prospects over the phone, and helping to train a new employee my phone buzzed. It was a text message from my husband coupled with a new notification from Google Photos. “Did you see the video I sent to you?”, the text read. I was immediately intrigued. It is not uncommon for my husband to send me text messages throughout the day, but he is not usually one to send photos or videos. So, I quickly thumbed over and ta

Ray LaMontagne music softly playing below the sound of whirring espresso machines. A sweet smell of freshly baked, crumbly blueberry muffins. The rich essence of brewing coffee beans, and quiet chatter among friends amidst the clicking of computer keyboards... ​Welcome to the wonderful world of coffee shops. ​Since the first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem, I’ll admit it---I’m addicted to coffee shops. It’s not so much that I HAVE TO HAVE the $5 vanilla almond milk latte, it’s t

My first ever life goal was to be an all-star flutist. (Yes, insert an American Pie band camp joke...I’ve heard them all). I started playing in the fourth grade by enrolling in private lessons from a family friend. On the way to my first lesson, I imagined myself totally slaying a beautiful sonata on a big stage, bowing in front of my friends and family, and becoming the star (nerd alert) of the high school concert band overnight at the ripe age of 11. The reality of playing the flute for the fi

When I started blogging a few years ago I thought it would be as easy as putting my thoughts down in a word doc, posting it to my website and watching the readers roll in. I quickly learned that was not the case. Sure, my tales and tips would draw readers in, but if I wanted to master the true art of blogging it would require so much more than being able to craft a quality sentence. There is a science to blogging. A science that revolves around SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

While I was looking for my first job after college I had A LOT of interviews. I had so many interviews I don’t even remember what jobs I was interviewing for. This basically proves that I was AWESOME at writing my resume and TERRIBLE at landing the job. I attribute this fact to one main thing… I NEVER asked any questions. You heard that right. Zip, zero, zilch. When the end of an interview rolled around and the interviewer offered their time to answer my questions—I had none. For some outrageou

I have a confession to make. I am the WORST…and I mean the WORST at sending out thank you notes. Here’s the thing. I always write them, but I can NEVER get them in the mail. I have no clue why. There have been multiple occasions on which I have had thank you notes sitting on my desk for so long that I have literally had to throw them away because sending them after such a long period of time would just be awkward (yes, I’m talking about my daughter’s birthday parties). However, there is one occa

I can vividly remember searching for my first job after college. I spent my days scouring job sites, updating my resume and dreaming of endless possibilities. You see, I was a fresh, young graduate ready to tackle the world and solve its problems one non-profit organization at a time. After all, that was my dream and with all of my passion, I couldn’t see how anyone would be able to turn me down. My to-do list was checked off, I had completed internships in college, held a steady job (or two, o