Hello? I’m not invisible yet
Hi there. Yes, I've been standing in front of you for a full three minutes. Just to prove it, here's my number. Oh, you didn't see me? You saw that...
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Did you plagiarize that quilt?
Did I plagiarize a quilt? The design was lovely: three patchworked ribbons twisting around each other and blending where they intersected. The moment I saw it on Pinterest, I knew...
Don’t let Maggie Daley Park go to the dogs
It was a warm, fragrant May day when I signed the lease for our 47th-floor apartment in a Lakeshore East high-rise. Paperwork done, I strolled through the secret garden of...
A Christmas fit for Queen Victoria
The trombone band refused to yield. It would not march behind horses. If the parade committee wanted a brass band ringing carols into the clear night sky, then the committee...
Give me the beaten path and keep your B&B
It was invisible on Google Maps, but that was irrelevant anyway, as the reception bars had long faded from my phone. Through the dimming mountain evening, detouring east on a...
Views from a high-rise
My neighbor's dog is going nuts, again. I can see him jumping rhythmically against the bedroom windows, as though he was bouncing on a trampoline. Up and down, up and...
Perspective: Why women quit
"I've been looking forward to talking with you. Wait . . . let me shut my door." In that moment, I know exactly what I'm about to hear: the six...
The other palooza
In 1974, disco fever was taking off. Everyone was wearing stretchy flame-pattern knit shirts and blindingly shiny Qiana dresses. Bell-bottoms were still in. And I was sweeping around my rural...
Some diamonds aren’t forever
This girl is a diamond's worst friend. First engagement ring: a two-thirds carat oval. We bought it together at a now-long-closed Loop jewelry store — two college kids investing in...
Here’s a deal that’s a kick in the head
When shelf talkers attack, fight back. Everyone has seen them in grocery stores--those stapler-sized coupon dispensers that stick out into the aisle like tiny parking gates between you and the...