2 mins read

Instructions for Making a Rain Barrel

Installing a homemade rain barrels to collect, store and recycle rain water is both environment-friendly and economical. Rain barrels also help reduce the amount of water that may settle around the foundation of your home. Although it may be a time-consuming process, creating your own rain barrels is a project you can accomplish using a little bit of cash, patience and elbow grease.

5 mins read

Moms, Kids and Sex

The most important woman in my life (rest in peace, mom) never talked to me – or my two sisters or my brother – about sex. Zilch about menstruation, pubic hair, hormones, intercourse or conception. We snuck our tampons, bras, and birth control into the house like Cold War spies. It was a surreal way to go through adolesc

4 mins read

Rooster Bangs: How A Failed Hairstyle Taught Me Confidence

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt When I was thirteen, I had rooster bangs. You know, the kind that stuck straight up. I was trying to fit in, despite the fact I didnt shave my legs and had a funny accent. I was new in town. New to the States. I was born in Italy and grew up in southern Spain. My familys move from trendy Marbella, Spain, to a small rural town in southern California was a shock, to say the least.

7 mins read

Texting Can Save The World (Just Follow These Rules)

I love and hate texting for one reason and one reason only: Communication. Texting is fun, its quick, and its easy. I can fire off a text to make someone laugh faster than Mario Andretti at the Indy. In my youth, Id go to any length to make someone laugh, I actually spent a full year in therapy trying to undo why Id randomly moon my friends or drive through a …

2 mins read

Ways to Recycle Water

Recycling usually brings to mind cans, bottles and paper products, but recycling water is another way to benefit the environment and lower your utility bills. The water you save through various recycling efforts works well for watering houseplants and irrigating the landscaping outside your home.