I was cleaning a file cabinet last week when I came across the medical records from my first child’s birth. For a moment I was catapulted back to 16 years ago, past all the years of Little League and first days of school. Past the toddler years and first teeth and first haircuts. Past the […]

Barbacoa beef, or pork or lamb or goat, is by definition slowly cooked meat. The word is Mexican, and originally referred to a cooking method by which parts of an animal were wrapped in leaves, and steamed and smoked simultaneously over fire. The dish came to America from Mexico by way of Texas, and is […]

Health care facilities can be stressful places for patients and visitors, with depressing waiting rooms, rows of uncomfortable seating, a blaring television. But designers of some medical spaces are remedying the situation. A more holistic approach includes mood-elevating colors and artwork. Chairs are angled to look out the window. Screens offer calming nature scenes instead […]

Spring arrives every year, but never soon enough for most of us gardeners. The first real sign of spring for me is always the arrival of my snowdrops: those tiny white bulb flowers that come up, no matter what, by early March — and sometimes earlier. Even under a thick blanket of snow and subfreezing […]

Last month we finally caved: we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. When I say “we caved,” however, I don’t mean that my husband and I gave in to the kids’ pleading. Our boys are now 16-, 14- and 10-years-old. Only the youngest has interest in a wilderness-themed hotel with an indoor water park. […]

Where are you traveling on this train? And where are you traveling in life? I traveled around the U.S. on Amtrak for two weeks — beginning in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 17 and stopping in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, El Paso and New Orleans, and many points between. I talked to dozens of people […]

Winter is tough on many gardeners, myself included. We need flowers blooming and plants to tend. But many of us are not enthralled with standard houseplants because they are often fussy and, if overwatered, too easy to kill. Let me suggest some nice easy, disposable flowers you can get at your local nursery or food […]

A few years ago, my husband, Dustin, was taking command of a military unit, which is the equivalent of becoming a small company’s CEO. Soon after, I was invited to attend a Command Spouse Leadership Course, a weeklong class that, according to the mission statement, is designed to “promote a team building approach to command […]

NEW YORK Andy Boyle isn’t a parent. He isn’t a child development researcher or a psychologist or any kind of expert, really. But he’s darn funny, and he’s written an advice book aimed at young people that might just do them some good while providing a laugh or two. With a background in actual stand-up […]

Inspired by the interiors of boutique hotels around the world, author Sara Bliss wanted to share easy and affordable tips on how to bring that style home. In “Hotel Chic at Home” (The Monacelli Press), she tries to capture the transformative power of travel, and that moment in a stylish hotel when you say to […]