An article in our March issue of Lake Erie LifeStyle about 98-year-old baseball fan Betty Peebles prompted a local fan to recall that our regiona had its own women’s baseball league much like the movie A League of Their Own. That memorable 1992 movie discussed the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which is documented at the Baseball Hall of [...]

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I need to take a moment to apologize. In a recent post about my parents divorce, I said some things about my mom in the comments, that were totally out of line. I know I can’t take them back, but I wanted to publicily say I am sorry, from the bottom of my heart. (I have [...]

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The popularity of “Once Upon A Time”– that ABC- TV show that illustrates fairy tales — sparked interest in the old fairy tales I read my kids, and the ones we saw on TV. Some of these tales are spookier than I expected, and they don’t all have happy endings. I prefer happy endings, so I [...]

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The article included in Parade Magazine today about the return of nighttime soaps is a hit with me.  I’ve been a fan of Revenge since it started, and I remember all those other soaps including Dallas and Falcon Crest. A funky new version of Dallas airs with new episodes this summer. Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda [...]

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One month from today until Jake turns six.Five was a big year.  A hard year.  A rewarding year.  A good year.  Mostly.Yesterday he wrote a little love note to me and stuck it in his take-home folder so I would see it when I went thr…

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Pigs have become most fashionable this year. Maxwell, the Geico pig has three commercials. Miss Piggy of The Muppets returned for a new movie and dozens of personal appearances (Moi?), Hamm reappeared in Toy Story 3 last year and Piglet never went out of style as Winnie the Pooh‘s sidekick. Pork is moving closer to home. I [...]

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Nora posted today, about the struggles of divorce she’s facing with her new family. It hit close to home, and after leaving her a comment with a snippet of my own experience, I decided to expand on it in a full post of my own. After all, isn’t my Happiness Project this month about showing you [...]

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If you or your college kids are headed off for spring break, be safe and be smart. Here are some brief tips from Marcia Perot, chief safety officer at Streetsafe.com, and tips I learned from my kids, veteran spring breakers. Never let your guard down. Pay attention to your surroundings. Know the customs and laws of [...]

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If you waited until the last minute, it’s OK. Here’s what procrastinators can do: Contrary to popular belief, gift cards are acceptable. Just add a flower, a card and/or some candy, and you are done. Do it at lunch. A spa service, manicure, pedicure,  massage or facial will make your loved one smile. Or, try [...]

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On the most recent episode of Shark Tank, an entrepreneur was shopping for investors for her Puppy Cakes, a cake mix formulated specifically for dogs. No one bit on it, but my husband and I thought it was extremely clever. And at $6.99 for a peanut butter, carob or banana cake mix. Who wouldn’t bite [...]

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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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I’m going to talk about something that I normally wouldn’t put out there. Something that’s been really tough. If you’re new here, you may not know that my fiance’s mom passed away in September. You also may not know that we’re planning to be married in June. And, even if you know both of those [...]

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When my kids were young, one of the annual Valentine’s Day school assignments was to craft a clever box that would hold valentines. My oldest took this challenge very seriously one year when he decorated a box and mounted it atop his remote control car. It entertained his classmates and the teacher. It also gave new [...]

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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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I watched just about every minute of the Super Bowl and what a game! The halftime show, featuring Madonna, was a big show, as Ed Sullivan would say. And it did not go off without controversy. Too bad, too. It was a good one. If you haven’t heard by now, M.I.A., a British singer, apparently [...]

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Check out Her Times in today’s Sunday Times-News. The theme is sparkle, and the great team of cheerleaders from CheerVibe showed us what fun it is to catch the spirit of competitive cheerleading. Read their story here. There’s much more sparkling this month. Jeans, food, drinks, makeup, hair, sparkling snow on cross country skis, CrossFit and [...]

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I tried to make sure we got a few family pictures while we were home this year. Of course I didnt do a good job of taking advantage of everytime we were all together (meaning my brother & andrew arent in the picture with my dad & tracy.. but I …

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I have the honor of photographing this little girl every month for her first year. Sofie’s story is so unique. She is the blessed little baby who has her loving adoptive parents, Kristie & Rob who adopted her in November at birth. And she has the honor of knowing her birth mother & father (Rhi [...]

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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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We spent Christmas Eve at my dads house this year. (and christmas day/afternoon at my moms)After a great church service, and an amazing dinner out, we headed home to grab the boys & put them down so we could open gifts. But first things first .. we…

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I finally made it through some of the pictures from our last second trip to Texas over Christmas. We were in & out and really only saw family while we were there. It was such a blessing being able to get so much time with family. River this time wa…

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Today’s The Bird Feeder Wars article in Parade Magazine made me laugh out loud. I can identify with author Connie Schultz. We have a squirrel in our yard that’s as big as a dog, and our neighbor has tried to thwart its attempts to clean out her bird feeder. It is funny to watch. We [...]

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By now, you’ve probably heard that J.C. Penney is getting rid of sales. It’s permanently marking down all of its merchandise by at least 40 percent. That means the sales, coupons and all the other hooey will disappear. I’m all for it, and as a fan of their Worthington, Liz Claiborne and other collections, what’s not [...]

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If you have kids looking at colleges, then you know the word FAFSA. It stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you want more information, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov. There are a lot of FAFSA sites, but don’t start filling in your information anywhere but http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-form/. Other sites charge a fee and waste your time. And [...]

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Congratulations to:
Diane Wisinski, Mary Catherine Menosky and Meagan Bielanin, winners of tickets to Saturday’s Bayhawks game! Thanks for entering. For more free stuff from the Erie Times-News and Her Times, please check back on this blog and at…

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Everyone knows we gals are shoppers, and now some research proves we do some good things with our bargain skills. LeaseTrader says more women ordered third-party vehicle inspections of vehicles before buying compared with men — something experts suggest everyone do before you make an emotional decision about a vehicle purchase. Women also ask more [...]

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Serena Williams, the last of 21 US women and men in the first major tennis tournament of the year, was dismantled by Russian Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2, 6-3 last  night and I watched every minute. It was painful to watch Williams, who has come back from innumerable injuries, including a blood clot, foot surgeries and countless [...]

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Would you like that cleaner shaken or stirred? Well, who knew that vodka could clean chrome plumbing, freshen clothes and more? I learned all about it on CBS’ morning show yesterday. Now, I know rubbing alcohol does the same thing, but with a somewhat nasty medicinal odor. No olives or lemon twist required for cleaning. And [...]

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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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