My Greatest Linguistic Accomplishment While in Athens

My interactions with people when I first came to Greece when something like this: The Man at the Gyro Restaurant: Yassas. Me: Hello! I chirped the word at the same time as him but then realized with a sinking feeling that I had failed to use the one Greek word I knew! The Man at …

Lemon Drop Hill: A Moment From My First Marathon

“I’ve had a runner collapse in my arms on that hill. It’s just awful. Lemon Drop Hill. A horrible big hill; that’s where most runners hit the wall, you know.” The lady giving out pre-race day refreshments gushed enthusiastically on and on.  I knew about “the wall”—the point in the marathon when runners find themselves …

Are You Ready for An Autumn Adventure?

“Frodo found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came to into his dreams.”  I agree with Frodo. There is something about the change in the landscape and the shift in the air which makes me hunger a bit more …

Being Authentic on Social Media

Social media: some people love it, some people hate it. I love it and hate it (depending on the day/platform we are talking about). But however you feel about it, there is no question that social media is a powerful force in our society and is where many of us spend our time. It is …

Beta-Readers

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Jacqueline Rose. She dreamt of being a great author when she grew up. And so she began to pour her thoughts and ideas onto the pages of her worn spiral bound notebooks. She once had a dream that she was standing on a tower which was …

The Heart of an Artist

What is at the heart of why I write?  “At the heart of the matter” is an interesting phrase. If I place my hand above my heart I can feel it softly beating, I can feel the rhythm of the song which gives me life. What gives life to any artist’s work and what is …

Created for This Moment

“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.”  Chances are, this year and the previous year have changed you. There is a new you with new memories, ideas, worries, and, I hope, joys. Who are you? And who am I? When we talk about “the world” and “unprecedented times,” it’s easy to …

Zombies, Hobbits, and 2020

How horribly boring would a story be with no villains, incredible disasters, or problems of any kind. Narrow escapes, fantastic plot twists, and (a personal favorite of mine!) wonderful character development, that’s what makes a gripping story. This last piece often occurs when a character’s life has been completely and horribly upended. In The Lion, …

How Are You Going to End the Decade? (And Prepare for 2020)

Happy Monday! How are you going to end the decade?  I’m the kind of person who get’s so excited about the next year that I’ll start accidentally writing 2020 in November of 2019, true story. But we have a month left. What are we going to do with it? And how are we going to …

My Very First Time Buying Something From an Open Air Fish Market!

Today, I’m going to share about my very first experience buying something from a seafood market. I wanted to do this in Korea--there is just something so cool about getting fresh food and preparing it yourself, but I kept chickening out. It is just not easy for a city girl like my self because I …

My Mediterranean Skin Care Routine

I completely fell in love with skincare while in Korea. I learned how important it was to keep your skin healthy and how relaxing it could be to add some routine to your life. Unfortunately, during my travel adventures, I've gotten out of the habit of doing it, and I can tell. Fine lines are …

Croatian Adventures: The First Look

The first things I noticed right from the plane was how green it was: so very deeply green. It was rainy but you could still see the bright turquoise of clean water around the little islands that decorated the coastline. Croatia: I’ve heard it called God’s crayon box because the colors are so surreal.  I …