Journal

The first few years Elie and I were together, we didn't exchange Christmas gifts, guided by a feeling that we already have so much. But, Christmas morning always felt like something was missing--not the getting, but the joy of giving. Giving a gift to someone you love is a joyful process the whole way through, […]

I lost my temper yesterday, and I had extreme mom guilt last night. To be honest, I'm a pretty patient person, and I don't lose my cool very often. Almost never, actually. Being an older mom helps with patience, I think. I know I'm generally a more patient person at 43 than I was a […]

Every night, after bath and pajamas and the wrangling that is brushing a willful two-and-a-half year old's teeth, Theo and I go into his room, dim the lights and get ready for sleep. I sit down in the rocking chair and he squeezes in beside me, holding two books. I wrap my arms around him […]

This is the second recipe in a four-part series of posts inspired by a meal Elie and I shared in northern Israel in 2012. Six years later, the details of the meal remain sharp in my memory. Here was the first recipe in the series.

If I ever get a chance to publish a cookbook, these are the kinds of recipes you would find there. Fairly simple, not too fussy, vegetable-heavy, but homey and delicious. Healthy in a nourishing, real foods kind of way. Comfort food, but not the mac-and-cheese kind of comfort food (not that there's anything wrong with […]

Five years ago today, I married the person I admire most in this world. One day, I will write down our love story. But for today, there are photographs. Photographs of the day we committed ourselves to each other, surrounded by our family and dear friends who sent us into our life together with so […]

The Pacific Northwest is covered in a haze of smoke right now, which seems to be a new reality for late summer weather. The loss of lives and homes are heartbreaking, and the environmental implications and impact are alarming. For people with asthma or health conditions, it's harmful. For us, it's just a nuisance. And […]

It's funny the food memories that imprint in your mind and never dim. I first had a version of this kale salad at Gjelina in August of 2011. My dear friend, McKenzie, and I were fresh out of our dietetic internship at Bastyr and we road tripped from San Francisco to Los Angeles with Elie, […]

I listen to a lot of podcasts these days. If you read my post on self-care, you'll know that it's one of the things I try to do daily to keep myself engaged and interested in things other than parenting. I rarely listen to parenting podcasts, although I do like this one. My appetite for […]

I became a mother for the first time one month before my 41st birthday. I don't know if my experience as an 'older' mother is much different from someone who becomes a mother at 21 or 31, but I suspect that it is. Partly because I had 41 years to practice selfishly focusing on myself […]