Category: lifestyle

How Worry Was Hurting Me And Those I Love Most

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

4F5A12B4-200D-41D1-94CD-547A2A5F0FACNote: This article was scheduled for today’s publication months ago, well before the world turned upside down with the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike ever before, it’s nearly impossible not to feel the weight of stress and worry bearing down. If you’re like me, there was always “enough” worry to contend with before the pandemic erupted. How much harder it is today to breathe deeply and stay calm while stuck indoors, digesting the daily news and facing the unknowns of coronavirus fallout. This personal story includes wise words from a friend and from a seasoned therapist, but if needed don’t hesitate to call the CDC stress-anxiety hotline for help.

IMAGE CRED: @KatieAbey

On social media I recently posted the meme, “Didn’t get much sleep last night but I did get a few solid hours of anxiety in,” followed by a trail of laugh-cry emojis. Many responded, piling on with a lot of LOLs and high-fives, much as I’d encouraged.

But truthfully, I wasn’t laughing on the inside. Worry wasn’t just waking me at night. Its presence was coloring my mood and clouding my judgment about what to say and how to say it. My worry was more than my problem — it was seeping into my family life and poisoning the air. It started innocently enough when my first child was born and intensified as my second appeared.

Read in full on AARP The Girlfriend.

 

 

I Love This Deep-Dish Pizza So Much I Even Made It for Thanksgiving

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

“Imagine receiving a deep-dish pizza pan and bootleg recipe for Chicago-style Giordano’s pizza as a wedding gift. Twenty-eight years ago, we did, and it’s been the most cherished of all our wedding gifts. We’ve amassed dozens of memories, hosted countless guests for dinner parties, and have made it the centerpiece of book-club dinners and high school friend reunions. We made it the night before our youngest left for college, at his request.

But one of the most memorable pizza parties was the time we skipped the turkey and served deep-dish pizza for Thanksgiving. It was such a rare and unexpected Thanksgiving day that our guests still talk about it.”

Read in full at The Kitchn.

3 Skin-Care Tips for Dealing With Melasma

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

“In my 40s I noticed my skin gradually changing to reveal light splotchy shadows around the sides of my face and over my upper lip. Summer’s unforgiving sunlight seemed to intensify their appearance. My dermatologist diagnosed me with a mild case of melasma, a skin condition that commonly appears when hormones are in flux, and prescribed Retin-A.

Now in the throes of perimenopause at 50, my melasma continues to be on my mind. In my youth I battled zits to achieve a great complexion. Today, my focus is on addressing discoloration in order to maintain healthy, clear skin.”

Read in full on AARP Disrupt Aging.

House fire sparks loss and gratitude

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

“While away on vacation, a phone call woke Becky Ogorek, 59, and her husband Keith in the early hours of July 18, 2016. Their sleepiness vanished when their neighbour back home said, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but your house is engulfed in flames.” The neighbourhood was frantic as she worried that the car parked in the driveway could indicate that someone was inside.

Except for their oldest daughter, the Ogoreks were gathered together on vacation at a cottage in Michigan. The oldest, in her late 20s, had flown back to Indianapolis to attend a work conference and was staying at her parent’s home. What Becky and Keith found out in the following heart-wrenching minutes was that she’d spontaneously decided to squeeze in an overnight with cousins in Chicago. She wasn’t home. No one was in the house when it had literally burst into flames.” 

Read in full on Forever Young News.

The Girlfriend’s Guide To Renting Out Your Home While You’re Away

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

My Texan girlfriend Paulina is one smart woman. She has demonstrated how to parlay their home investment into disposable income for her family of four. Five years ago, she listed their Austin home on the popular short-term home-rental site Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO), and her efforts have paid off.

You can list your home for rent not only through VRBO, but also through Airbnb or HomeAway vacation rental marketplaces. But you need to know what you’re doing.

Read in full at AARP The Girlfriend.

The Girlfriend’s Guide To Threading

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

I first encountered threading while living in the Middle East for a few months. Middle Eastern women vastly prefer the art of threading, an ancient method of hair removal, over waxing. Why? By using two pieces of 100 percent cotton thread to whisk away hair, threading is natural. Yaaass, bring on the applause! No chemicals. No strong cocktail of potentially irritable ingredients. Nope, just a spool of thread. Gliding quickly over the skin’s surface, the intertwined strands of thread instantly remove hairs from the root of the follicle, so regrowth is slow, meaning threading lasts longer. Fewer appointments = more $ and time for other things — like sipping latte with your girlfriend, girlfriends.

Hmm. Not bad.

And? My brows were gorgeous, shaped to perfection. Threading allows for greater precision than waxing because the threading tech can create the perfect brow-shape for your face by swiping away one hair here or a short row there.

Read in full on AARP, The Girlfriend.

What Does a Yellow Ribbon on a Dog Mean?

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

While out on a walk, you observe a dog retreat behind his owner with a growl when approached by another dog. Eventually, a scuffle erupts—and thankfully, the owners are able to pull the dogs away without serious incident.

In an ideal scenario, a nervous dog who needs space will not be approached at all until he’s ready to be social, says Tara Palardy, founder of The Yellow Dog Project.

Read in full on PetMD.

Help! Friend Needed Immediately! I adore my dog, but I need a real bestie.

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

While out of town visiting friends, we went around the dinner table and shared our goals and hopes for the rest of the year. Foolishly, I took the exercise to heart. There was an awkward pause after I blurted, “I’d like to make a friend — just one friend!”

The others’ comments didn’t disclose anything, so mine really stuck out. How I wish I’d come up with something bland like, “Finally moving forward on our kitchen remodeling project. Yay for us!” Since I couldn’t retract my statement, my honest words just hung there eliciting lots of sympathetic aahs amid pats on the back. Blech. I’d been honest, and it was awkward, but even more, I realized just how much this desire for a friend was bugging me since I couldn’t stop my words from rolling out.

Read in full on AARP, The Girlfriend.

Living in Jane Jacobs’ Neighborhood

Published on by KathrynLeave a comment

In the Rainey Street District of Austin, Texas, a stranger approached my dog, hand extended. “Puppy!” she shrieked weirdly, a piercing decibel, especially for the hour of day. My first thought is that she closed the bars and is drunk, but, she’s not. She and her friend are in fashionable workout gear, probably all ginned up on coffee and ready for some speed-walking.

Otherwise, relative calm prevails early mornings in my neighborhood when I slip out the door to take Ezzy for her walk.

My neighborhood is a trendy downtown bar district, home to live music, food trucks, drinking holes and raucous partying. But early mornings, it’s even better, with neighbor brushing against neighbor and work crews quietly coming and going, cleaning up what was left behind from the previous night’s revelries. I stop to put a beer glass on an outdoor table that someone has left on the sidewalk outside of Bangers and exchange hellos with the manager.

“How’s the girl?” Brian says. My daughter worked for him the summer before college. He wrote a warm reference letter on her behalf for a volunteer program she’s now involved with at university. When my husband and I stop in for drinks, Brian sometimes says they’re on the house and we trade stories about vacation and raising teenagers.

In the early 2000s I read Jane Jacobs’ magnum opus, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, on the workings of a great city. This 585-page hardback enjoys a prominent place on my shelf, standing proud though dozens of fuchsia post-it-notes marking the best of the best sections from my first read protrude like a child’s unruly tufts of hair. Jacobs was a long-time resident of Greenwich Village and she starts her book at the beginning, with the humble sidewalk, the fundamental building block of a city.

Read in full on StrongTowns.org