Little Magpie

chasing shiny objects

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Reel to Reel

I beg, and they put me off for weeks but finally acquiesce. Dad digs out the projector and the boxes of slides in one Kodak box after another. Mom has me climb the step stool to reach up into the crevasses of the highest kitchen storage cabinet to fetch the old green monster for making homemade malts. She pops the popcorn on the stovetop into big metal bowls and we each receive a thick kitchen dish towel as a heavy-duty napkin. (No wonder, then, that I nearly swoon when my husband pops ... View Post

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Turn The Radio Up (For That Sweet Sound)

It seems to me that life has both a script and a soundtrack. As a general rule, we find that we are moved by certain films because they feel like the home run by the underdog: they knock it out of the park. The crowd goes wild. The stands erupt with cheering fans; strangers hug one another and feel deeply gripped to throw their ball caps into the air. The moments are epic, and yet we relate because we've felt those same game-winning hits and the gut-wrenching losses on some scale. It seems ... View Post

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We Only Have What We Give

I tend to rave pretty regularly here (and even more over at The Food Adventuress) as well as in person about my friend Lyndi, aka nwaFoodie. If you're not reading her blog, you need to get over to nwaFoodie.com right away and subscribe. Over the past several years, Lyndi has become one of my closest friends and one of my favorite people. She is uncannily intuitive and always knows the perfect thing to do or say. So, when she randomly said that she wanted me to meet someone she was certain I ... View Post

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Divinely Created for Mango Consumption

Certain foods just have a complete and very distinct aura that makes them exceptionally unique, I think. For me, one of the most interesting has to be the mango. During my elementary school years, we lived in Kingston, Jamaica. The company house was up on top of Stony Hill, at the very end of a street. I'm still pretty enamored of our address: it was Willow Manor, Willow Run, Kingston, Jamaica. That's probably the best address I'll ever claim! It's an interesting remnant of the sugar ... View Post

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Investing in the World ~ Living Lightly

Did any of you catch this post over on Arkansas Women Bloggers last week related to the theme making the world a better place to be (and blog)? I'm curious about whether the notions of living kindly, living happily and living lightly are ideas that you subscribe to, or whether life is just too frenetic to take on any sort of personal challenge of sorts. Having many conversations lately with a number of people along the lines of the lens through which we view the world and the idea that ... View Post

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Bright Smiles, Bright Futures

Our family recently teamed up with Colgate and Champions for Kids to help deliver Bright Smiles, Bright Futures to kids in our community. We love the campaign concept, because dental care really is key to a healthy life. Growing up, visiting the dentist regularly was just part of life (along with the torturous braces and related pain of being a teenager). It was years before I realized how costly it was and how fortunate I was to receive such good care, which came with the wish that I'd worn ... View Post