Sometimes the best things aren’t on your list

September 19, 2026

If you’ve read my column for any length of time, you already know I am a huge believer in shopping, eating, drinking and supporting local whenever it makes sense. And I do mean when it makes sense. I also believe in paying your bills, making smart financial decisions and running a sustainable business. Blanket advice like, “You should always buy local,” without considering the financial reality, isn’t advice I’d ever give. If one local business pays three times as much for everything simply because it’s local, while receiving little to no reciprocity in return, you’re ...

It’s time to slow down and take a deep breath

September 12, 2026

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Breathe”? Not because you just finished a run or were trying to calm yourself before speaking in front of a room, but simply because, somewhere along the way, you realized you had stopped taking full breaths. It fascinates me how often we’re taught to breathe intentionally. If you’ve ever practiced yoga, your instructor reminds you constantly that your breath is just as important as the movement itself. If you’ve learned to swim, breathing becomes part of the lesson. Meditation teaches us breathing patterns that help settle our ...

This is a fairly big weekend for memories and fun in Canfield

September 5, 2026

Holy hell, it’s Canfield Fair weekend. If you grew up around here, those words alone probably unlocked a flood of memories. Funny thing is, we all experienced the fair differently. Heck, even the same person experiences it differently depending on the stage of life they’re in. As a little girl, the Canfield Fair was pure magic. It was the animals that somehow smelled both terrible and wonderful at the same time. It was pony rides that made me feel like I was in a parade. It was cotton candy that disappeared before you even realized you’d eaten it. Candy apples — which, for ...

People sometimes enjoy being creatures of habit

August 29, 2026

The other day, my oldest son and I did something that, in hindsight, probably disrupted the entire ecosystem of our church. First, let me set the stage. I rarely go to Sunday Mass. If I can choose, I’m a Saturday evening person. It’s become a tradition I genuinely enjoy with my mom and her dear friend. We go, we catch up afterward, and it’s become just as much about spending time together as it is about the service itself. Second — and this may be the bigger miracle — my teenage son willingly came with me on a random Sunday that wasn’t Christmas, Easter or accompanied ...

The perfect Fourth of July that wasn’t

August 22, 2026

I know we’re well past the Fourth of July. Most of us have already shifted gears into back-to-school shopping, thinking about the Canfield Fair and making plans for Labor Day weekend. Yet here I am writing about something that feels like it happened eons ago. Maybe that’s exactly why. Some moments deserve to be revisited because what matters never truly disappears. It simply changes form. Kind of like rain. Water evaporates after a storm, rises into the clouds and eventually finds its way back to the earth. It never really leaves. It just continues the cycle, reminding us that ...

The dial-up approach to improving your health

August 15, 2026

Let me start by saying this: By no means should you take anything I say after this sentence as an absolute. I am not a doctor. I am not a dietitian. I am not a nutritionist. I am nothing more than an avid Googler, podcast listener and someone with my own experiences. That said, I think a lot about health. Probably because, like many of you, I’ve spent years trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Right now, we’re living in the world of GLP-1s. Whether you love them, hate them, are considering them, or are already using them, they have changed the conversation ...