It’s Fashion Friday, and If you are unfamiliar with Jimmy Fallon’s “12 Days of Christmas Sweaters” on Saturday Night Live, here’s an SNL update — 20-somethings have been holding Ugly Sweater parties for years. So what is an ugly sweater, you ask? There is nothing ugly about them — they boast holiday fare. I have [...]

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Sassy Peacock at 843 Pittsburgh Ave., in Erie, is one of those consignment stores with flair. Apparently, the editors at Woman’s Day Magazine agreed because they interviewed Sassy Peacock owner Sabrina Fischer for an article in the January issue on what to do with the clutter in your home. Two words — sell it! The [...]

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Just a few voters shared their interactions with Erie media via social networks when we asked the question. The most common use indicated that people are willing to post a link to an Erie online story on their personal Facebook wall, as well as “Like” local Erie media Facebook pages. It time for our annual [...]

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I blogged about Kaitlyn, 25, a week ago, but I’m doing it again because this young woman will change the world in her own way. Kaitlyn went on the Kathie Lee and Hoda segment of the Today show yesterday and confidently told the world about the misconceptions of epilepsy, something she has battled since she was [...]

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Teen lovebirds. On the plus side, it’s nice to see kids in loving relationships. In our family, with six kids, we’ve seen a lot of that. But those love stories don’t always play out to anything lasting, and the breakups are hard on everyone. Parents too. We’ve absolutely loved some of the boyfriends and girlfriends [...]

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You don’t have to be a tennis fan to appreciate the talents of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. At the 2012 Australian Open, Serbian Djokovic was the winner with scores of 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5. It was a nail-biter of a record-setting match that took 5 hours and 53 minutes. If you don’t understand those scores, [...]

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Marc Brown is in town, and I’m proud to say I lived right across the street from his former elementary school. My kids attended the same middle school that he did at Westlake,  and there were plenty of inspirations in those schools that appeared in his books. Lakewood Elementary, Brown’s grade school, was one of [...]

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We haven’t asked your opinion in a while, but when we did ask about how you came down on the looming spectrum war between over-the-air broadcasters and the wireless community, an overwhelming majority sided with the TV stations to keep as much spectrum as needed to maintain free service. The education reporter at the Erie [...]

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This mirror and countless other items had lives as barrels and other useful items before they became artsy mirrors, tables and chairs. These things are available in Erie — read about it in House to Home here. You can find them in regional art galleries and some home fashion boutiques. There’s plenty to see out there. [...]

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I read recently that snakeskin shoes were out, and naturally I just bought a few pair of fake snakeskin last year. But snakes were in the news yesterday in regard to beauty treatments. If you missed the wacky report, I caught it on GMA, and you can see it right here. The newscast discussed a [...]

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It’s instantly available, and I love it. I still love Dunkin Donuts, Tim Hortons and Brickhouse coffee, but at home, it’s Keurig.  I read an article that analyzed the pricing on some popular coffee machines — read it here. It said that the Keurig can brew coffee for as little as 40 cents per cup. [...]

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“What’s the plan, MacGyver?” This is a line from one of Modern Family’s episodes where Jay’s family gets locked inside their gated property because the remote gate won’t open. Cam comes up with a plan to fix the gate, and Jay makes the reference to MacGyver, the 1980s and 1990s secret agent adventure series starring [...]

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A lot of people don’t like video games, but we played a lot of games that were both puzzles and business plans. One game that taught all my kids how to become entrepreneurs was called the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. It came out in 1999 about the same time as the Millennium Force at Cedar Point. My [...]

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It doesn’t happen very often, but when the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers meet on the field, fans in this house go wild. Earlier in 2011, my oldest vowed that his beloved 49ers would be playing my youngest’s fave team, the Packers, in a playoff game. It would avenge the 34-16 loss the [...]

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Welcome to real estate blanketed in snow. It’s kind of pretty, isn’t it? And you know if a house looks good in the snow, it looks great with green grass. Since we can’t do much to home exterior right now, this week’s House to Home offers some cool interior decorating ideas that add a splash [...]

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Happy Friday the 13th. Madonna was on GMA today, and after watching her all these years, I have to say I did like her dress. She will be the Superbowl entertainment this year. She also said her daughter, Lourdes, had nixed one of her wardrobe selections as inappropriate for a movie premiere. Thank heaven for [...]

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My husband has often teased the kids that when we become empty nesters, we’re going to visit each of them for months at time. So, he suggests they all live in very nice climates. Apparently the idea is taking off among boomers. An article on aol.com quotes a story from Huffington Post where a couple, [...]

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I am a big fan of CND and Gelish nails. CND stands for Creative Nail Designs, a company that created a nail craze with a shellac manicure that lasts 14 days – no chips no smears. I’ve gotten up to three weeks out of these manicures. I’ve been a pretty regular customer in regional salons [...]

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You might think this is about college visits, but it’s about the headgames our kids have gone through with shampoo. And conditioner. I just resurrected a dozen shampoo and conditioner bottles out of our basement bathroom. Really. Most were unopened. There’s more to this story. I remember when my kids were little and I kept [...]

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  If your kids need to know that Erie gals do make it big, look no further than Notre Dame’s womens basketball team. Kayla McBride, daughter of LuAnn and Lamont McBride, earned every honor imaginable in Erie Pa., at Villa Maria Academy. Now, she’s getting Erie mentioned every time she takes the court for Notre [...]

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Amazing home transformations don’t always take a lot of  money or time, but they do require  vision. In the Dec. 7 issue of House to Home, this cozy loft went from homely to homey, and you can read about it in House to Home today on page 16. The before photo is below. Now, this [...]

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I’ve been trying out the new Facebook timeline feature for my profile since before the holiday break. Now that I’ve been using it for a few weeks now, there are things I like about it and things I don’t. I like the header design, and the fact that you can get a lot of information [...]

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I caught an episode of Goosebumps yesterday on Nickelodeon, and it brought back memories of when my kids watched the shows and read most of the 62 books. Goosebumps is a series of scary novels written by R. L. Stine, and it became a TV series as well. These are funny, frightening and Alfred Hitchock-ish [...]

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Ready for a “A brand new you?” Our first issue of Her Times for 2012 is dedicated to some admirable women. And men. People often ask where we get these story ideas, and it’s simple. They come from our readers. We learned about our cover gal, Katie Francis, from Leigh Kostis, the retired librarian at [...]

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My son will be moving to Florida this weekend, and I am a basket case. I am happy for him and so proud, but I am deep into worry that only a mom or dad can experience. I worry about him driving there — the roads, the weather. I worry about palmetto bugs. I worry [...]

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OK — apologies to We Three Kings, but we are orienting to the new machines here at home. I got the update screen on the TV to disappear (after a month) — hopefully for good, or at least until the next time it decides to update. On my new laptop, I got everything loaded. It [...]

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I got a laptop. Got my hubby a nook. I love mine. He’d rather have a book. But, we are slowly leaving the dinosaur era. It is good and bad. It all started with the digital TV that can Google. It gets a snotty update screen on it and I want to scream. The first time it happened, [...]

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Ruh-roh. We had no idea Scooby Doo was such a hit. Still. According to Scoobypedia, Scooby Doo and the entire gang are alive and well. I was a never a fan. My kids were never fans, but an entire generation of tots under age 5 are loving the Cartoon Network’s viewings of the Great Dane, [...]

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I know, I know, it’s Christmas. But I need a break from Santa for a minute. And we all have to get gussied up for the holidays and formal parties into the new year, right? So I am sharing a few fun things. In my obsessive search for a stepmother-of-the-groom dress, I discovered Rent the [...]

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I was out last night, and dragged my husband, Kim. I’ll be out again tonight. And tomorrow and … and my kids will be joining me. It’s sort of a tradition. But if you still want to order something online, supposedly you can. I received a news release on who delivers the fastest. I do [...]

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