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    IlinaP

    IlinaP

  • User post: How to Mix the Perfect Summer Cocktail

    Summer hit hard and early in North Carolina this year. The heat, after a wet, wintry winter, was at first a welcome friend. We had daydreamed about summer afternoons frolicking in the sprinkler and lazy days reading comic books in the hammock. Those daydreams gave way to humid days with air quality

  • The A-List for Summertime Fun

    When I was in about third grade I staged a rock concert with my neighbor Kelli on our retaining wall. She was Pat Benatar. I was Alice Cooper. Back then we thought Alice Cooper was actually a girl. I am reminded of our escapades every year around this time when I can't shake Alice Cooper's song Scho

  • User post: 3 Ways to Use Up Those Eggs Now That Easter Is Over

    Now that the Easter Bunny has hopped away to sleep off the chocolate buzz, I bet you're left with a whole mess of eggs. I'm not talking the plastic variety. I mean hard boiled eggs that are either vibrantly magenta or a rough shade of puce from too much color mixing. I have a fridge full of hard boi

  • User Post: A Dream in a World of Nanny Nightmares

    Trusting your child to someone else is the biggest leap of parenting faith. We hear about far too many nanny nightmares, and babysitter from hell stories abound on the playground and in PTA meetings. Finding quality childcare is hard. Finding someone to love your children and become part of your fam

  • User Post: Teens Just Need A Simple Phone, Not Jacked-Up Devices

    Every time I see a teenager's head down tapping away on a cell phone, I shiver just a tish. I can't help but be haunted by a story I heard while at the Yahoo! Motherboard Summit last summer.

  • 5 Random Acts of Kindness

    Kindness, also known by its aliases Grace, Benevolence, Selflessness, Friendliness, Compassion, is something we take for granted. We expect it more than we bestow it.

  • User post: 20 Simple Ingredients to Set Up a Champagne Bar

    A bit of the bubbly is the perfect cure for the Black Friday Blues and Family Drama Overload of the holiday season. Most people reserve the bubbly stuff for weddings and New Year's Eve. I say bring out something bubbly for those times that your groove is less than sparkling. I like to mix things up

  • User post: 5 Ways to Make Grilled Cheese Sizzle

    Nothing is more hearty and comforting than soup and grilled cheese when the chill of Fall blows in. It makes for a tasty and quick lunch or dinner (or supper, depending on where you're from, I suppose). Gone are the days of canned tomato soup laden with sodium and neon orange waxy slices of somethin

  • User post: Super Hero costume not included

    Every week is like the life of Sisyphus. It's only Wednesday, yet I've already spent many hours volunteering at my sons' school, working part time in my own marketing consulting business, making homemade Halloween costumes for my sons and me, writing letters to the editor, hosting an Indian cooking

  • 10 Mommy Commandments

    Parenting is a daunting experience. It's a medley of tasks, timetables, terrors, and triumphs. We all want to impart certain life lessons to our children. Whether it's how to vote, what sports team to cheer for, or what religion to practice, we teach our children our family values. We encourage our