Blog

A few weeks ago, on a Monday night, my husband, son, sister, and I were settled into our seats at the first Northwestern basketball game of the season.

Like at all sporting events, the whole stadium was invited to stand and listen to the National Anthem before tipoff.

I say invited to listen because I’ve realized, with growing frustration, that people no longer sing the National Anthem together. It has become a performance. A soloist steps up to showcase their vocal acrobatics while the … [Read more...] about Why You Should Sing With Strangers

It’s Tuesday night, and I’ve just walked into the indoor pickleball courts at Lifetime in Oak Brook. I’ll be honest: I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. Would I be able to hold my own? And what would the people be like?

Having played tennis for most of my life, I know that world and can easily adapt—or at least act as if I know what I’m doing. But pickleball? A whole new milieu. I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off here, but I knew one thing: I was going to die trying.

I’d been … [Read more...] about 6’4″, Tattooed, and Kind

I was on my Sunday run—my bright pink running shoes kicking up dust along the Elmhurst Prairie Path—when I tuned into my favorite weekend podcast, The Interview from the NYTimes.

Unexpectedly, I began to feel my mind bending a little as I listened to Rutger Bregman, the guest. Something he said reminded me of Kourtney, a young woman I'd recently met.

Bregman, bestselling author and founder of the School for Moral Ambition, believes many of us—especially the privileged and talented—are … [Read more...] about Are You Morally Ambitious?

This past weekend in New York, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: a one-man play based on Patrick Bringley’s memoir "All the Beauty in the World"—a moving reflection on grief, healing, and the ten years he spent as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Even more remarkable? The actor performing it was Patrick Bringley himself.

My husband, my sister, and a few close friends sat together in a small 99-seat New York theater. Everyone was mesmerized—not just by the … [Read more...] about We Need Permission to “Stop and Adore”

My family ate a lot of meals together growing up. On Friday nights, my mom would stop at Jewel after work. I loved unpacking the paper bags and spotting the yellow Lay’s potato chips and Dean’s French onion dip. One of her go-to meals? Toasted corned beef sandwiches on rye. No sauerkraut for me, thanks.

When Bill and I had kids of our own, we did the same thing: ate around the table. Partly because eating out with three kids wasn’t in the budget, but mostly because we believed what my parents … [Read more...] about From Corned Beef to Courage