I share my home, and my life, with an MFA-toting husband (whose concentration was in painting and color theory), and an active, inquisitive, art-loving 2 year-old. Between the two of them and my own ongoing craft projects and homemade gift-making endeavors, suffice to say, there is a good deal of paint in our lives. Over…
I think I was about 5 years old the first time I attended the Easter Egg hunt held on the grounds of the White House. While I don’t recall all of the specifics, I do remember with clarity that there was a line to get in that wrapped nearly all the way around the property…
In 2006, I decided I was ready to move out to the country, get some chickens, grow a garden and trade in my city garb for flannel shirts and muck boots. Luckily for me, out of nowhere came the man who would be my husband and along with him an 11-acre homestead in a forested…
Several years ago, when I still had an office job (as opposed to the job that now occurs whilst wearing my p.j.’s), one of the nurses at the doctor’s office where I worked loaned me a copy of Asheville, NC-based author Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells. The book tells the story of two sisters, Claire…
I’m not sure how it was decided, but as soon as I could steadily hold a broom and reach the countertops, I became our family’s designated housecleaner. While my brother took out the trash and mowed the lawn, I did the dishes, swept the floors, cleaned the windows, ironed the laundry, scrubbed the sinks and…
My upbringing was a sweet one. I mean that in the most literal sense of the word. Mom and Dad adore sweets, a trait no doubt generationally bestowed upon them, as both of their mothers were fans of all that is sweet. Growing up, it didn’t matter whether we were visiting Nanny, my maternal grandmother,…
I’m what you might call a simple kind of lady. My personal care routine is about as straightforward as it gets; I prefer the quiet company of friends and loved ones in intimate settings to the wild riot of the city; and I drink my coffee from a French press, with cream and nothing else….
I came to alcohol a bit late. While I recall my mom sipping white wine, clad in skintight Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and listening to the Eagles circa 1981–1982, she eschewed the stuff completely shortly thereafter and has ever since. The diligent, studious type, I mostly steered away from alcohol until my early 20s. But a…
I once read a blog where the author asked what culinary practices or ingredient requests invoked the greatest fears in readers. Someone remarked that they turned the page whenever a recipe included a whole vanilla bean in its ingredient list, finding the practice of scraping out the tiny flecks much too time consuming. For me,…
When I was living in Washington, D.C., in my early 20s, two tandem events turned me into a homemade chai tea-maker. First, I was working as a retail clerk at a natural foods store with a juice and coffee bar. In an attempt to curb my coffee consumption, for nearly each shift I worked I’d…
Each autumn — typically in tandem with the changing foliage, the appearance of pumpkins on porches and stoops and the consideration of Halloween costumes (My husband is vying for our almost two-year-old son to be “Assistant Groundskeeper Carl Spackler,” Bill Murray’s character from the film Caddyshack!) — I get the sniffles. And the sneezes. Brought…
We’re huge fans of all things apple at Chez English. From cider and doughnuts to ice cream, if apples are involved, we’re on board. And while we certainly didn’t plan it, we discovered after he was born that our son’s birthday, October 21st, is National Apple Day in the UK. Clearly, the fruit is our…
My husband, Glenn, and I are always throwing parties. Well, “gatherings” is probably a more appropriate term, as our shindigs more closely resemble low-key, casual, intimate affairs than full-throttle keggers. Whether it’s an impromptu dinner with friends, or a southern foods potluck for 30, we love to entertain, and do so regularly. A few years…
This past March, my husband, young son and I traveled to Portland, Maine. We were there for the launch party of a quarterly publication I write for. The magazine’s editor, Amanda Soule, had been until that point only a digital-world buddy of mine. She graciously offered to jump the cyber-to-real-world fence and welcomed us into…
My brother and I are 21 months apart (he’s the older one). When we were 7 and 9, he had a friend, Kevin, who was seriously goofy. Kevin was always making us laugh with his silly antics. One time, he arrived right when I was hosting a tea party for my stuffed animals. Ever the…
When I was 19 years old, my then-boyfriend and I traveled south to Florida. My father lived in Ft. Lauderdale at the time, it was spring break, and we were ready to leave the barren trees and cold, wet days of the western NC mountains behind us in our quest for sunnier settings. We grabbed…
Growing up, every so often, Mom would pull out the sleeping bags, air out the pop-up tent, gather a book of matches and tell us it was time to go camping. Although the locations varied, two things were always certain: first, a variety of hijinks, shenanigans and snafus would ensue (I’m recalling a bear outside…
I don’t know about where you live, but here in the mountains of western North Carolina, we’ve been a land under siege. Everywhere you look, on every surface you set something and just about anywhere outdoors you might think about sitting, you’ll find a fine, powdery film. Yes, the season of pollen is upon us….
I’ve long been the sort of person who looks at a commercially prepared item and wonders, “Could I make that?” Whether it’s a facial mask, flavored coffee or insect repellant, I’m constantly asking myself, “Woman, are you up to the challenge?” Sometimes, no, I’m not, but typically, why yes, I am! Now that fresh herbs…
I know that spring is officially here when I start eating out of my yard. And by that I really do mean my yard and not simply my garden. When the violets sprout along the forest edge, the dandelions peak through the cracks in the patio and the apple blossoms perfume the air, I know…
