I think Valentine’s Day was my favorite holiday as a kid, mostly because of the homemade treats my mother baked to make the day special. She would make dozens and dozens of huge, heart shaped sugar cookies and then carefully ice each one with bright pink frosting. She would then finish each cookie by personalizing […]

Three years ago, my college girlfriends started an annual Christmas tradition: a couples’ gingerbread house decorating contest. Each couple gets a freshly baked gingerbread house and a variety of toppings to work with. This event is kept to a strict time limit, and like any healthy competition, there tends to be some trash-talking amongst rival […]

My brother Billy and I could not be more opposite. Growing up, he was the fit, good looking athletic and popular kid that all the girls wanted to date. I was the  chubby, (they called it husky back then) artistic, piano playing, suspender wearing, bulletin board decorating (yes… I used to have my own bulletin […]