As a journalist, I’ve been published in USA Today, Women’s Wear Daily, SELF, Cosmopolitan, and many others. These are a few recently published personal essays.
Impulse-Buy Spouse (The Good Trade)
I once brought home a chronically anxious dog after seeing her photograph on a rescue website; I bought a car from a friend of a friend only to realize after he’d left town that the transmission was shot. But I never thought I’d commit to marriage on a whim.
I Drank Every Day. What Kind of Effect Was It Having On My Kids? (Washington Post)
I realize that this action is itself a privilege. I recognize that for many, it’s not as simple as making the decision to shift a habit from alcohol to tea…Yes, I know that I might fail, at times, but I’m no longer fooling myself about what’s at stake.
Morning After Pill “Freebies” Highlight Abortion Divide (Northwest Review)
A few weeks after the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, I accidentally opened a bright-pink mailer addressed to my daughter…I texted her: Call me as soon as you can. Seconds later, my phone rang…“Sweetheart.” My throat was tight with anxiety. “Are you pregnant?”
What I Wrote Was Congratulations What I Meant To Say Was (Hippocampus)
This is what I would say to you, if the opportunity was more than a comment on your feed…Lift your children up until they stand on their own and continue to keep them close even when they push you away. Give them your brilliance so that they shine, like you did, like we all did, as they spread their wings across the world.
Watching ‘Stranger Things’ With My Teen Was Just The Therapy We Needed (Scary Mommy)
She wore the same hoodie every day, and ringed her eyes with black eyeliner. Clothes piled up on the floor and dishes on the bedside table. This was more than just teenaged rebellion: In an out-of-control world, my daughter was exercising what little autonomy she had.
Westwide Thrift Store Hotspots (Bluedot)
I first started thrifting in high school because it was the most affordable way to shop on a minimum-wage budget. My favorite store was Aardvark in Venice, where the racks were full of vintage items…with just the tiniest moth holes that could be fixed with a needle and thread. We weren’t thinking about it then, but thrifting is seriously sustainable.
I also wrote, designed, and self-published two books:
THE BIG LIST OF THINGS THAT SUCK helped promote my EcoStiletto website and had some solid endorsements, like this one from “Living with Ed’s” Rachelle Begley: “We all need eco guidance and this is a comprehensive and easy-to-use source of reference. Being green just got a little easier.”
My baby was the cover model for THE MOMMY GREENEST GUIDE TO PREGNANCY, BIRTH & BEYOND, which I designed like a magazine and sold advertising to support its publication. “In 2008, I sat down with my infant daughter in one hand and a pen in the other, and wrote a note designed to be read by my three children when they were old enough to become parents,” I wrote after its publication in 2012. “Then, I put the manuscript in a drawer and forgot about it. Until 2011, when a friend called in a panic to ask about VOCs [and] I realized: This would be so much easier if I could just send them my book. And the drawer was opened once more.” I primarily gave this book away and have a few more copies, if you want one!
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