Total page views: 131,116
Published Content: 185
Fans: 14
On AC since: 12.27.06
Bio:
Mother, wife, business owner, in any given order but usually all at once. My interests include writing, violin, food, wine, photography, art, California; I like to travel. When the mayhem ebbs, you'll find me working on a novel and a collection of essays.
Education/Experience:
University of Minnesota
Motto:
I'm writing as fast as I can.
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Displaying Results 1 - 185 (of 185)
National Novel Writing Month is just the jump start for a lazy writer like me.
Once you get over the fact that writing is hard work, you'll have no problem kicking your Muse to the curb.
For delicious rustic French cuisine in San Diego, the Farmhouse Café fits the bill in many ways.
However, for true thrills, spills and chills in Halloween music, one should take a look at the classics.
Books can draw the traveler out of all of us.
The Crab Catcher in La Jolla, California offers outstanding seafood in an elegant atmosphere overlooking the Pacific.
Leather iPhone cases are an excellent choice for protecting your investment.
Lunch at Nozomi Japanese Cuisine in Carlsbad, California mixes fusion with a great price.
Yes! Dragged into the 21st Century by the MP3 player of all times.
When three boneheads show up in a moving van, you're in for trouble.
For New England seafood with a California twist, try Sam's Chowderhouse in Half Moon Bay.
For delicious Chinese food with a neighborhood atmosphere in San Francisco, San Tung is the place.
A horrific car/train accident last week in southeastern Michigan causes some serious musing.
Has the once darling of the social networking sites met its match?
Trickle down economics makes it to your local diner.
There's a certain amount of agony that goes into creating anything of beauty.
On the case in the quest for the perfect barbecue sauce.
If you're a writer or just a wannabe, put attending a writers' conference on your 'to do' list. And for the best, come to San Francisco.
If you love fish and seafood, the Northern Lakes Seafood Company in Bloomfield Hills takes finned food to another level.
There is a divide forming, one that will widen the chasm between the people with the power and money and the rest of us.
Romance novels: they're interesting, entertaining and not just for bored housewives anymore.
Real sushi lovers will love Hama-Ko. Just remember to bring your best behavior!
Aspiring novelists take note: the Internet is your friend and a necessary tool.
Why try anymore, when our government will fulfill all our wants and needs?
Politicians should come down from their lofty perches and join the real people on earth.
They may as well take the $8 a week back; it's too hard to spend it.
The Internet may be a wave of the future for aspiring writers.
For a superb dining experience featuring a mix of chophouse and Italian, try Larco's Italian Chophouse in Troy, Michigan.
Don't like dorm food? Have a limited budget? There are ways to eat on the cheap, even though you may be a poor college student.
Though sometimes dry and technical, Lajos Egri's work, "The Art of Dramatic Writing," makes an excellent reference for the library of any aspiring writer.
Union Street Bar and Grill in Detroit combines an interesting menu with the down-home comfort of a corner pub.
If you're going to be renting a car for your vacation, consider these choices.
Do you have a college student on your Christmas gift list? Gift cards make a great gift!
There's no reason for the hostess to miss out on the New Year's Day festivities. Make it easy, and enjoy yourself with the rest of your guests!
If you have a leftover ham bone from holiday dinners and parties, don't throw it away! Make some delicious bean soup!
If you like great sushi and are in San Francisco, don't rule out Ebisu. But go early, or you'll be waiting in line!
Bring a little bit of the Mediterranean to your dinner table with this quick and easy recipe: Greek quail with orzo salad.
If you are a fan of the popular National Public Radio Show, this CD highlights some of their best stories.
Rosetta Stone claims to be the easiest way to learn a foreign language, but with Japanese, it's tougher than you think.
No matter what your budget, all it takes is a little forethought to come up with unique company holiday party ideas.
What's an independent to do this year? Vote on principle!
Parent need a clear strategy for handling disrespectful teens.
While there are many places to find free office supplies samples online, it's hard to locate one that doesn't ask for your arm and leg in return.
No matter what your interest or age group, a lot of great Halloween attractions can be found nearby in metro Detroit.
Today's Internet makes it so easy to compare car rental prices.
For anyone who is interested in preserving food safely, the Presto Pressure Canner and Cooker takes the guesswork out of home canning.
Looking for rare, vintage Christmas albums is easier than you think.
Facebook hasn't heard the old adage "If it's not broken, don't fix it."
It's worth the trip across the border for this Windsor, Ontario barbecue restaurant.
Located in the heart of downtown La Jolla, Roppongi Restaurant and Sushi Bar is a glittery gem of a Japanese restaurant, though not in the classic sense.
My Place, La Jolla, is a friendly French bistro, with great service and an excellent menu.
It's not hard to inject a little bit of the Mediterranean in your cooking.
If you don't want your Thanksgiving holiday weekend to resemble a Disney movie gone bad just remember, there are some simple rules to consider when bringing your girlfriend or boyfriend home to meet your family.
Grilling vegetables is not hard; any novice with a grill can do it.
CBC Radio 2 departs from its usual format, causing a firestorm of outrage in Canada.
You don't need a fancy culinary education to use marinades on your beef or chicken. Chances are the ingredients are already in your kitchen!
If you love to garden and live in the north, consider using cold hardy plants.
It takes a little forethought, but very little work to offer your guests an amazing an festive appetizer array.
3rd Corner Wine and Bistro in Encinitas continues the tradition of providing great food in the bistro style in Northern San Diego county.
Even the urban homeowner with "brown" thumbs can grow fruits and vegetables in a guerilla garden.
You don't need to spend a lot of money or use a professional staging company to maximize your home's appeal.
It's not too early to consider what to do next with your container gardens.
A very short film on why I LOVE Associated Content.
Today's digital voice recorders are small, inexpensive, and offer great sound quality.
The 33rd Annual Antique and Garage Sale was held this weekend, Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20, with lots of great stuff.
Coach Insignia is a one-of-a-kind dining experience atop the tallest building in Detroit.
California is a Mecca for those seeking fabulous food, and the Los Angeles area has a wide array of dining experiences to choose from. Savvy diners go to the Santa Monica area for a combination of great food paired with a fun seaside experience.
Southern California is well known for its many beautiful beaches, and summer is still the best time to visit them.
With the gas price point hovering above $4 a gallon and no relief in sight, drivers are looking for ways to increase miles per gallon.
It takes only a little common sense and alert driving to master the Los Angeles freeway system.
As a would-be novelist, I discover that Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is a fine tutorial.
For the golf enthusiast, there are several great golf courses just a couple of hours north of metropolitan Detroit in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Whether making your trip a weekend of fun, or just for the day, these courses offer a variety of challenges.
Young's Chinese Take Out in Royal Oak is a great place to satisfy your Asian cravings.
In the age of supposed rampant teen pregnancy pacts and Jamie Lynn Spears, do we really need this?
For a trip into Spanish cuisine, consider Sangria Tapas Café in Royal Oak, Michigan.
No matter if you choose a simple project or something more complex, decorating your house with artificial flowers is fun and can add instant interest that will last for months.
In a misdirected move, Michigan hitches its wagon to the stars.
For me, the astonishing thing about this weekend's performance was not that Tiger Woods won the tournament, but that he continued to play even though he was injured.
Kick your creative juices into gear buy making one of a kind photo frames. It's fun, easy, and very inexpensive.
Sex and the City - The Movie is not a great movie, and I am not sure why.
Like many hallowed traditions of the past, driver education needs to move out of the dark ages and into the 21st Century.
Father's Day is coming up soon, and maybe you are scrambling to find the perfect Father's Day present for your special golfing dad, there are many choices for you to explore in your quest for the perfect gift.
For pizza or anything Italian, try Cossetta's Italian Market and Pizzeria.
Mickey's Diner is the place to go for "historic" greasy spoon.
For a great steak dinner, try Mancini's Char House, a St. Paul tradition for over 50 years.
For a full service Japanese restaurant that has won "Best of the Twin Cities 2008" try the Saji Ya in St. Paul, Minnesota.
There are many reasons to choose an electric lawn mower, and being concerned about the environment is just the start.
Zocor side effects are very mild, if not rare, making it the perfect drug in the fight against high cholesterol.
Some moms would rather not, but if you have a mom who loves to garden, Mothers' Day is a great holiday to express your appreciation of "mom" with splendid gifts to help her in the back yard.
Since Michigan seems to think they can get blood out of a turnip, I think it's high time this turnip speaks up.
If you're a high school or college student, it's not too early to start thinking about lining up a summer job.
You can't beat this City Hall when it comes to fighting parking tickets.
With over 4,000 restaurants in San Francisco, and many of them Asian, it's hard to narrow down a selection of Japanese restaurants in San Francisco. This list is among those I've tried and liked, and by no means covers all of the available offerings in the City.
"We're all (not) all right!" The travesty that is That 70s Show Season 8.
There are several fine Japanese restaurants in the Detroit area that offer authentic cuisine.
Cell phones have been the latest "diversion" to earn a bad reputation when it comes to being blamed for a higher incidence of teen automobile crashes.
It's not to early to think about Mother's Day brunch opportunities in the Detroit area.
There's a cult of the fast food hamburger, and its leader is In-N-Out.
While all of San Francisco is wildly expensive compared to the rest of the country, there are neighborhoods of (relative) affordability within the city.
This tale is about how a writer missed a stellar chance to get a popular director/producer and wanna-be together. Oh, the unfairness of it all!
While the image of Detroit is that of industrial grittiness, there are a few jewels that I would consider are among the best neighborhoods in the Detroit area.
Geoffrey's Malibu is California cuisine at its finest.
It's fairly easy to build (or re-build) a recessed medicine cabinet.
I have used the San Francisco Craigslist to find roommate situations with great success.
You don't need to have a degree in the sciences in order to help your child with science fair projects. All you have to do is look around your house.
In this world, there are a few girls with good luck, and there are some girls with bad luck. Hollywood Sinners, by Peter Joseph Swanson, is about a girl who not only has a black cloud of bad luck she also has phenomenally bad luck.
It's early, and already I've had enough of politics.
You don't have to spend a lot of money buying games for birthday parties. There are a lot of games you can play which involve little or no money.
You don't have to make a trek out to a suburbian mall to find fashion. Here are the best teen clothing stores in Royal Oak.
Holding an "Over the Hill" birthday party? Don't forget to include some party favors for your guests to take home.
Why spend a lot of money on over-the-counter or prescription night-time sleep aids? I actually haven't had the need for such products since adjusting our dinner choices to using foods that promote sleep.
The "Pen Guy" takes his love of design and pens on the road, in the world's only Mercedes Pens Art Car.
Whether you have a little ding or a bigger boo-boo, if you have a car that needs repair work, consider B&B Collision in Royal Oak.
How I just so happen to have a garage full of golf balls.
These ten songs in Joni Mitchell's expansive repertoire are the ones I would consider her "Top Ten." Welcome to "Blue."
With over 300 driving schools in Michigan, choosing the right one for you can be a daunting task.
I bet you thought that road kill is the stuff that didn't get away. There's actually a hierarchy of road kill, and here's how it shakes out in southeastern Michigan.
Oscar Mayer offers an opportunity of a lifetime for employment as a hot dogger.
Meat-lovers will fall for Bullshead Restaurant, a fixture in the West Portal neighborhood in San Francisco,
There's a lot of hidden meaning behind this gem from the 1970s.
There are many forms of early menopause symptoms. Here is my story.
The best crab cake recipes involve more crab and less "cake."
Your entire family can celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Even small children can participate in the festivities.
There are several options for 24-hour dining in the Detroit area. Try to think "outside the bun" and you might be surprised.
There are many inventive vegetarian restaurants in southeastern Michigan. Here are just a few.
The hot topic in Detroit today is the revelation that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, have had personal text messages between the two released to the public.
Do you feel your family unit unraveling? Maybe you need to institute a "Forced" Family Fun Night!
Take a look and decide for yourself. The reasons are varied, but if I had a choice, I'd choose the Fog City.
If you've ever had an older relative regale you with scandalous stories, you will find parts of this book extremely humorous.
For a special dinner in the true chophouse tradition, consider splurging for the dining adventure of your life at Fleming's Prime Steak House and Wine Bar.
For authentic Middle Eastern food in a friendly and attentive environment, stop by the Al-Ameer Restaurant in Dearborn.
This is a poem I wrote for Valentine's Day to my husband, shortly after we had started dating. (February 1984) At the time, I was listening to George Winston's "Winter into Spring" and both that piano work and my husband was the impetus for me to write this.
My ceviche recipe is based on a prior dining experience in Cancun.
These days, even the creatively challenged can invite family and friends to a wedding, just by using blank wedding invitations. There are many retailers online that can help you with your selection.
This is my first try at violin solo.
No matter what your age, bringing in the New Year can be a family affair for those in the metropolitan Detroit area.
These are the brightest of the many fabulous holiday light displays in the Detroit area.
If you like a little (or a lot) of heat with your breakfast, try the chili offerings at Western Omelette.
For a pleasant chophouse experience in Colorado Springs, try Mackenzie's Chop House.
I discovered the joys of shopping in Canada, our usually northern neighbor.
If you, too, love wine and would like to know more about wine, I would highly recommend this book, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly.
If you're craving comfort food in San Francisco, you can't go wrong by going to either the Bashful Bull, 1222 Noriega, just west of 19th Avenue (Highway 1), or the Bashful Bull Too, 3600 Taraval, north of Sloat and east of the Great Pacific Highway.
Ronin, the new sushi place in town is high priced and definitely not traditional!
The awesome ferocity of a deficit figure that large in a state this small is mind boggling to say the least.
A pleasing telephone personality is something that most people are not born with, but with a little attention, even the gruffest curmudgeon or greenest high school student can deliver a professional phone voice that can please any customer.
If you're a wine enthusiast, visit the Korbel Champagne Cellars for a sample of bubbly and a trip back into time.
This magnificent beach is by far one of the best walking beaches in California.
Visit Alcatraz Island and Angel Island for a sharp contrast and get a history lesson as well.
Sometimes you have to try a restaurant for yourself and make up your own mind. I'm glad I tried the Fuku-Sushi.
Take a trip to the Burgermeister in San Francisco, where the hamburger is a work of art.
"California" cuisine artfully prepared and delicious is waiting for you at the Zuni Cafe.
If you're a tourist staying in San Francisco and are anywhere near Fisherman's Wharf, a visit to the Musée Mécanique is definitely in order.
"A Mighty Heart" chronicles both Daniel Pearl's short life and Mariane Pearl's experiences both as journalist and heartbroken pregnant wife.
There are some things you must do if you want to curb scale infestation. First of all, isolate the affected plants from other plants. If you don't, sooner or later, all of your houseplants will have scales.
I returned home to Michigan determined to transform a part of my yard into an Asian-inspired garden.
Shopping for a violin shoulder rest proves more exacting than shopping for the instrument itself!
Making the move to buy a violin is a different kind of shopping experience.
An extremely memorable establishment I have dined in during my last two visits to San Francisco is the La Carême Room.
If traveling in wine country, make an effort to have lunch or dinner at Julia's Kitchen at COPIA.
If you are a resident of southeastern Michigan, a trip to the store is not the case of normal or hum drum if you go to Papa Joe's Market
It's painlessly easy to make attractive container gardens. Even people with brown thumbs can do it!
Back in San Francisco for the weekend, we decided to take a day trip to Sonoma to tour a few of the local wineries.
Even an old lady can pimp her MySpace. I did it; you can too!
Just outside Detroit is a suburb with lots of small town appeal. Royal Oak is only two miles north of the Eight Mile Road border to Motor City, but has plenty of charm and many activities to put on your to-do list.
Take a trip back in time and follow the antics of the 70s favorite burned out hippie duo, Cheech and Chong, in their first movie release.
Here are some handy tips on the proper behavior at a classical performance.
My biggest secret is simple, and it's silly. Many people do this activity every day, and yet they make no secret of it. There are many reasons why I keep this close to my heart, and all of them are ludicrous.
Becoming angry at gas prices had me looking at hybrid technology
It's now been four months since the gubernatorial election in Michigan, and so far Michigan's economic train wreck is still steaming straight ahead toward disaster.
Over the weekend I had the occasion to listen to the new offering by New Zealand singer, Hayley Westenra, which is called Celtic Treasure. Celtic Treasure contains thirteen short songs of varying type.
If you live in Michigan and are in the mindset to buy a home, now might be your best chance yet of getting a really great deal with lots of extras.
I spent a gorgeous day with my son touring Napa Valley
The City by the Bay is almost as big a star as some of these Hollywood features!
Recently, I decided to bring myself out of the ice age and purchase a laptop.
While in San Francisco recently, I decided to check out a couple of attractions at Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden and Strybing Arboretum at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
These are just a few of the things I look for when hiring new staff.
Where do we stand in the grand scheme of things? Sometimes our own little dramas, which can encompass our world and seem overwhelming to us, are really small and inconsequential when compared with the scope of larger things.
Jeffrey Gitomer explains in this book that a YES! Attitude is vastly different from just being positive.
If you are already visiting the City by the Bay, love good wine and good food, and have a day to spend, make sure to save some time to explore Napa Valley wine country.
Unlike some solo musicians, Sir Galway not only combines his technical expertise, which is superbly perfect, but also demonstrates a stage presence and appreciation for his audience which is not always seen in solo performance.
Don't just take my anecdotal word for it that music is beneficial to children. Anyone can learn an instrument. There doesn't necessarily have to be a family background of music, either, for a child to master music.
My goal when traveling is to find the "hidden jewels" in my destination.
Is my child gifted? The dictionary defines "gifted" as "1. having great special talent or ability and 2. having exceptionally high intelligence."
There are many useful violin and string websites which can help the beginner, but these are my personal favorites.
Michigan is not where I was born and raised, but it's been my home for over twenty years now.
 
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