Remember this post? Hopes and Dreams. Well, this is the night.

You've probably never thought about it before, because your family probably doesn't have a permanent slot on the Christmas program every year at church.

I was asked to be the speaker last night at a Christmas-themed event, and I confess it was nice to get down to the heart of the matter. You know, Christ. Bethlehem. The manger

'Tis the season. This makes me smile every Christmas. Enjoy.

I've always wanted to be an artist. I know, I know, writers are perhaps considered a kind of artist, but that's not the same thing.

Admittedly, I think Toms are kind of ugly. But I fell in love with the sparly silver pair and decided I had to have them.

As an Ohioan, I make this confession at great risk of peril, but I've never been able to embrace the Buckeyes. And I'm not sure why this is, as I fell in love with the Cavaliers the moment I moved to Cleveland.

In thinking today about what I’m grateful for, my mind went back to the moment a few months ago when I snapped this picture.

In all the craziness of last week’s travels, I wasn’t able to mention that Cheryl Strayed was in town. Author of Wild, which I quite enjoyed.

I was on the road this week for work, and while I did decide to fly for the longest stretches of the trip, most of the week I was driving.

My life flashed before my eyes yesterday in hot yoga. Which reminds me--a few words about hot yoga: So. Hot. Granted my barefoot, tank-top-clad self thinks it feels breathtakingly cozy upon first walking in.

I got home tonight to find that my driveway had been staked. And so it begins. Although technically it began a few weeks ago with the surprise snow that left me without power or heat for a few days (I did not handle it well) and continued today with the first Lake Effect Snow Warning of the season.

Just want to say a few words about the new website: I love it.

You know that episode of Friends when Chandler and Monica take Erica on a tour of NYC and Chandler comes back to their apartment all decked out in touristy garb and declares, "New York is awesome!" He explains, "I've been to these places before, but I've never really seen them, you know." Now isn't that always the way.

I have company coming into town this weekend. This is rather momentous, as no one ever has cause to come through Cleveland, so needless to say, my spare room needs a lot of work. Not only is it my writing room, but it's also the dump-anything-you-don't-want-to-hang-up-or-put-away-or-deal-with-right-now room.

Or, more appropriately, How Does Lululemon Get Away With Charging So Much? It's a question for the ages.

My neighbors recently had the huge tree that grew in their front yard cut down. This was as shocking as it was devastating to me. Like the day I got home from work to find the city had cut down all the trees lining the street in order to prep for a construction project. All. The. Trees. Gutted I was.