Recovering journalist who discovered a life outside of news leaves you time for things like getting angry, cooking and traveling. Plus, hopefully, writing. I’m a wife, dog mom and Washingtonian.
After Thanksgiving we hit the road for an escape from Washington. We did not, though, escape overeating. Pittsburgh has a burgeoning food scene, and we did our best to hit some of the high points. Thankfully, though, we weren’t assaulted by leftover turkey until returning to Gwendom. Just a short drive from D.C., Pittsburgh is…
Read more Pittsburgh – Positively Pleasant Just Four Hours from Washington
I woke up this Thanksgiving in a bed not my own, with my Matt and my dog sprawled out like sailors after a hard nights leave. We’re staying in my best friend’s mother’s home, and I am so grateful to her and to him and the village we’ve created that has enabled this year’s mantra:…
The food scene in Gwendom can be very grim. Positive Alicia would tell you it’s back to the basics, taste of your childhood-style comfort food. Real me says it’s grim. Today, Gwen’s Sloppy Joe’s made me cry. There is no truly good Sloppy Joe. But there are Sloppy Joes that taste good, namely, the one…
Palm Beach, Fla., is not for everyone. To visit Palm Beach and love it, you must first suspend reality and disabuse yourself of any notions about good taste and humility. Once you’ve done that, double what you’re prepared to spend for a trip to the beach, pack a bag and get yourself on the JetBlue…
Ever stayed somewhere that was so magical and over-the-top that you felt like Richie Rich? That was The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., for me the first time I visited. Admittedly the very first time I went I was unconscionably young and embarrassingly impressionable (freshman year of college, 19, and well-traveled domestically but more familiar…
Read more She Ain’t What She Used to Be: The Homestead at Our 31
When we talked about tearing down our house, living as nomads for a year, taking on prodigious amounts of debt, and building a new home together from the ground up, I figured at the very least we’d learn a lot of things about each other and ourselves. I banked on discovering some lofty truths about…
I grew up thinking that biscuits came from a can, the kind you unwrap and press a spoon into the side of until POP! dough seeps out the sides and you put them on a cookie sheet and bake them. I loved them. We’d make them with Grandma Ginny and eat them with homemade jam.…
I grew up watching Jeopardy! as an aside, a sort of off-the-side-of-your-desk television show. We’d be finishing up the dishes or folding a load of laundry or doing all of the little things you did in our house before you could relax (altogether as a family, in the same room watching 30-60 minutes of appointment…
My favorite dog-related influencer (okay, the only influencer that doesn’t make me cringe) is a lady that Cappie and I met in the Glover Park dog park this year. She was lovely and very normal and her dog Otis played with Cappie like neither of them would ever get to see another dog again. It…
I think Alanis Morissete speaks to me, and not just because I’m a child of the late 80’s. “Ironic” is one of the songs that my brain goes to often, even when things are, well, not ironic nor terrible (most situations described in her song lean toward “terrible” more than ironic, exactly). This song plays…
Read more Like Rain on Your Wedding Day – but Opposite: Visiting Lexington, Virginia
The Outraged Eater 