Sarah Dessen is Back

By: Gabriela Yareliz I saw a guy with the tip of his hair flicked up with hair gel. It was such a 2003 moment. Speaking of 2003– I was thinking about the two writers who had many of us (me specifically) in a chokehold during the early 2000s. One was Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, writer ofContinue reading “Sarah Dessen is Back”

My Torso is on Fire

By: Gabriela Yareliz It’s going to be a rainy week. Today is the one sunny day, and I am grateful. You can just feel the March energy, even though it was freezing this morning. I saw someone start their post by saying they feel like they are drowning (it was all on the luxury ofContinue reading “My Torso is on Fire”

Welcome, March!

By: Gabriela Yareliz Happy March! We enter the month that invites an unstable spring into our lives. It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. -Charles Dickens It’s the season of spring break andContinue reading “Welcome, March!”

Thoughts and Favs from this Week 2.27.26

By: Gabriela Yareliz The snow piles remain. Winter has us all about to fling ourselves on the snow piles in resignation. “Just leave me here,” we want to say. But “onward,” as someone who does nothing at work typically says to those doing the heavy lifting. Onward, indeed. Today, I heard a clown horn (youContinue reading “Thoughts and Favs from this Week 2.27.26”

Keeping the Garden

By: Gabriela Yareliz Spring arrives on March 20. I love spring. It always arrives right on time— when winter has beat us up and left us in a heaping pile like the inches of snow dropped on us. Friday was exhausting. It was exacerbated by the anxiety that loomed over me when I realized IContinue reading “Keeping the Garden”

Spring Dreams

By: Gabriela Yareliz Yesterday was our first day over 39F in weeks. The sun was shining, and I kept feeling like there was an important thought I had forgotten. I was racking my brain like a child shaking the last coin out of a piggy bank, all in efforts to remember the forgotten piece. WhileContinue reading “Spring Dreams”

Best Self

“It’s no secret that you can’t be the best anything if you aren’t your best self.” Grey Huffington By: Gabriela Yareliz I am devising a plan to feel like I have a life again. Our habits and days are made of choices, and lately, it feels like all I do is work, commute (another full-timeContinue reading “Best Self”

Questions for February

“If no one told you what to like— what would you actually choose?” Theo Von reading an ad for Pepsi By: Gabriela Yareliz On many mornings, I listen to comedy during my commute. It helps keep the blood pressure low. The morning is always filled with weird things. Today, it was a train with bloodContinue reading “Questions for February”

A Sassy February Awaits

“China tea, the scent of hyacinths, wood fires and bowls of violets— that is my mental picture of an agreeable February afternoon.” -Constance Spry (1886-1960) [From my February reading of Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach] By: Gabriela Yareliz January ended chaotically. Do you feel it? Some Mickey Mouse (Latin code for “rinky-dink”) Epstein filesContinue reading “A Sassy February Awaits”

Exposure Transforms

By: Gabriela Yareliz I was in a freezing cold restaurant at a lunch with some acquaintances. The place was like ice and my water was, too. One woman discussed how she loved being able to regularly take her small children to the NYC museums. “Exposure is so important.” Everyone started chiming in with their childhoodContinue reading “Exposure Transforms”