Every woman I know in San Francisco says the same thing. “He has to be this much taller and make this much more money. I mean, I’m tall and successful, so he should be MORE tall and successful. I’m WORTH IT, right?” Worth what? Someone ‘better’ than you? Men never say...
It was a powder day in Tahoe. For ski aficionados a dusting of fresh powder means you drop the rest of your life to get on the mountain. That day we had more than dust. It was four feet of white smoke. I left my Truckee house without making coffee, greedy for frosty...
For many, January 1st marks a new beginning. For others, it is just an arbitrary date fate throws on our calendar to remind us to conquer…something. We are encouraged to get thinner, be happier, secure a relationship, find a new job, accomplish something, anything,...
In early December I polled my community to ask them a simple question. If you could give any “thing” to anyone for Christmas, what would it be and why? If you are looking for inspiration, read below. There are 4 days to get your gift under the tree. However, what most...
During Thanksgiving the internet will be crowded with saccharine odes of gratitude. Well, not from me. There is plenty NOT to be thankful for and I’d like to address it. 1. Cellulite It is the gift that keeps giving… people a complex. When I was in my 20’s a beautiful...
“Just listen to your gut,” popular wisdom says. Hell, I’ve even said it myself.Your heart may lead you astray and your head could hold you back, right? But sometimes our gut is dead wrong. Like the time it told me the habanero-fired burrito at 1am was a great idea. So...
My city, San Francisco, is one of the world’s smartest and wealthiest cities. Its concrete seams are bursting with tech dollars, Python code and every imaginable type of logoed hoodie. I’m thrilled to be surrounded by such innovation and easy fashion. Yet I am...
‘Embrace Ambiguity’ is one of my design firm’s seven core values. It’s the one value I used to secretly wish we could hogtie and gag. Yes, I wanted to torture ambiguity like it tortured me — you know, draw and quarter it into four understandable chunks. Why? Because I...
“I love her, but I’m too afraid to tell her in case she laughs.” “My real dream is to be a chef, but I’m afraid of starting over at 39.” “I have this idea…..but I’m so afraid it just won’t work.” All these were quotes I pulled from Scaredy Cats Anonymous, a dimly lit...
“There is an art to missing,” said an old man in Nice as he took a sip of wine. Red droplets hung from his mustache while he told me about his lost wife, his amour de la vie. The french translation of “I miss you” is “tu me manques” which literally is “you are missing...
“Books change people’s destinies.” - Carlos Maria Dominguez, The House of Paper Good books have a way of getting into your bloodstream. They become a homeopathic treatment, imprinting new thoughts into your molecules, changing the core of who you are and what you...
I must regretfully inform the public that it is the last year of my 30’s. I just turned THIRTY NINE, which is almost 40. I used to think this was the time I would go over the hill, roll down and die. Although Instagram’s filters smooth my wrinkles into youthful...
There’s a trend with accomplished high achievers. Mistakes haunt us like banshees and we never feel like we are good enough. Hating ourselves can be motivating (fail fast, move forward faster?) but can also debilitate us. Sometimes I wallow in a well of self disgust...
“Are you ready to get torn to shreds?” I was asked. “Um…I think so,” I said. “Good. Then maybe you have a shot of being something.” A marketing expert was offering his editorial ‘guidance,’ aka critique. I’ve been dealing with critique my entire life. From writing...
1. Don’t Talk, Plant a Tree Dad isn’t a big talker. When I call home, Mom and I gab for 56 minutes straight before she passes the phone to Dad for his 4 minute end cap. Dad, as usual, is engrossed in a Mariner’s game. “How’s them Mariners?” I ask. I know nothing about...
As a woman, I’m not supposed to like getting older. Society tells us that most of our worth is tied to our youthful looks. This generates a sense of panic among 30 something dating, all of us hoping to lock down a mate before we hit our expiration date. “Warning: Best...
“The thing you don’t realize is that there is Good Naked and there is Bad Naked. Naked hair brushing-good. Naked crouching-bad.” In this Seinfeld episode, Jerry dates a nudist and quickly realizes that naked can have a dark side. For example: crouching over the...
“I thought I did everything right in life,” he said gripping his hair in his palms. “An ivy league school, a high profile job, the pedigreed woman. All gone. What happened? How the hell did I fall down the rabbit hole and end up here?” Here? Well, HERE is the best...
“I want love on demand,” she said. My friend Sophia was going through another hard breakup, hoping to sedate her pain. “Take it away when it hurts, but deliver it when desired, straight to my door.” If only love were like Instacart. Last year the New York Times...
A bizarre phenomena happens when urban Americans approach their mid 30s. A frantic mob of women in white lace rush through our cities, clamoring for the altar before it is “too late.” The casual observer may mistake them for a panicked stampede of white sheep rushing...
I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I do ‘December Absolutions,’ activities to reduce accumulated guilt by Dec 31 (and not a day after). A completed Absolution cleanses me from the past year while also validating my intensive champagne consumption as I step into the...