our backyard farm

Latest Posts

out with the old and in with the new

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

I’ve missed this blog so much and I apologize for not saying hi. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think to myself, “I have to write about that,” or “That would make a great blog post.” However, the last few months really put me in a state of survival. When life is like that, for me, the things that bring joy tend to get buried under an oppressive pile of things that need happen just to stay afloat.

When life gets THAT crazy, I forget to be thankful and I instead start to feel really bitter. I don’t sleep enough. I snap at my poor husband. I don’t free up any time for joy. Until something happens–or a series of things happen–that turns it all around and reminds me just how much I have to be thankful for.

Like Anderson randomly blurting out the word “happy” for the first time really loudly at Thanksgiving dinner, nearly making me cry. My husband reminding me that he gets frustrated, too, with various life stressors, but then remembers that other people would give anything to have what he has (once more making me want to go grab the box of tissues). Seeing the look of peace on my father’s normally worry-lined face as he held a sleeping Anderson. Getting to go into Boston with my mom on our traditional annual Christmas shopping trip after nearly losing her in October. I think this was the tipping point, actually, having a whole precious day together in a great city, just doing girly things. It feels like such a splurge; getting to peruse through little shops, eating lunch together, getting a manicure, and just talking, talking, talking.

Mom and I on Newbury Street, Boston

My beautiful mom at Trident Cafe in Boston.

So, I wrapped up a big freelance job. I got some sleep. I turned my attention to my appearance and bought some eye cream to deal with my dark circles and gave up on trying to get used to my natural hair color. I thoroughly enjoyed family at Christmas. I decided that “good enough” was far better than perfect for the holidays. I didn’t try to send Christmas cards and instead, purchased “Happy New Year” cards to give myself more time. I said to hell with cleaning and instead spent more time playing with Anderson and his new train (aka choo choo!). I went to a magical yoga class in my town on a whim and decided the instructor had special powers. I actually cooked a few dinners this week. I finished a book. I took a three hour nap with Anderson. I called my Grandpa, who is feeling the loneliness of losing my Grandma last year. Overall, I made an effort to feed my soul. Guess what? I feel better and I am overflowing with gratitude.

Enjoy the last hour of this year. I’m reflecting on some of the really great things because though there are things about 2013 I’d like to move past, I’d rather focus on the things that made 2013 great.

Anderson’s 1st Birthday Party Bash

Getting to see my cousin, William, graduate from West Point (even though it was freezing cold and wet). Photo courtesy my sweet cousin, Heather Warren.

Seeing my cousin, William, graduate from West Point (even though it was freezing cold and wet). Photo courtesy my sweet cousin, Heather Warren (the adorable one on the right).

William

Lots of water and outdoor time–from the Atlantic to the lakes of New Hampshire.

One awesome camping trip.

At least we gave him a pair of shoes to send him off into the wild to fend for himself…

Time with family.

The colorful surprises from the garden.

Taking Anderson apple picking with our good friends

Our annual weekend in Maine with friends (though I did spend much of it in bed with what I learned later was mono).

Where someone tried to sneak his first beer. Do you SEE that naughty look?

Seeing the cutest dinosaur in the world.

Running in the Get Your Rear in Gear 5K and even better – raising over $1000 for Colon Cancer with the help of very generous friends.

Annual Christmas tree adventure

I also ran my first 5K (and two subsequent 5Ks later), made my first pickles and jelly, spent a beautiful day at the beach with family, and even changed jobs. Most importantly, my mom is here with us after one long, uphill battle this year.

We just ate spaghetti with sauce from the jar, ran sprints through the kitchen, and watched a Thomas movie for the millionth time (all while drinking champagne) and my heart is full.

Happy New Year!

Get Your Rear In Gear 5K!

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

Hello. I haven’t been able to post in a while. I can’t even express the intensity of this past month. I was sick twice with a throat infection and mono, though I didn’t know I had mono until the infection showed up on a test as “past.” My child was sick. Worst of all, my sweet mom just landed herself a spot in the ICU last week, though she’s now much improved. There are no words.

In all of the craziness, I realized that the 5K I signed up for months ago to benefit Colon Cancer is NEXT WEEK! I haven’t been for a run in ages, so I’m not as prepped as I’d like to be, but I’ll run it, darnit! I will!

I need your help! Colon cancer doesn’t have the funding that many other illnesses and cancers have. I’d really like to raise a nice chunk of change to help with research, prevention, and care for patients. Even if you have $5, will you sponsor my run? It is for such a great cause.

Thank you, friends.

CLICK HERE to visit my donation page.

And scroll down for the reason I’ll be running.

my beautiful mom

small batch refrigerator pickles

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

Cucumber season is coming to an end but I’m still getting one every few days. I used my last batch a few weeks ago to make jars of refrigerator pickles. Refrigerator pickles are regular pickles, only they aren’t processed in a water bath. The difference is that the shelf life is 3 months instead of 12 months.

I really wanted to create pickles like my favorite brand – Woodstock. They are garlicky and zippy. My recipe isn’t exactly like Woodstock farms, but they had a nice bite to them!

Refrigerator pickles
3 pint mason jars
6 minced garlic cloves
5-7 pickling cucumbers
2 1/2 tablespoons of pickling salt*
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp peppercorns
6 dill heads
3 tsp dill seed
3 1/2 cups of filtered or bottled water

**I couldn’t find “pickling salt” so I found really fine sea salt without anti-caking ingredients.

Divide the minced garlic, sliced cucumbers, dill seed, and peppercorns up evenly and place in each clean mason jar.
Boil the water, salt, and vinegar until all of the salt is dissolved.
Pour boiling brine over the cucumbers in the jars.
Add the dill heads.
Place lids on the jars.

Let the pickles cool on your counter for an hour, then refrigerate. After about 3 or 4 days, the pickles will be cured and ready to eat.

They are my new favorite pickle brand!

Note: If you want to make these last, process them in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Test the seals after a few hours. If they are sealed tight, you can store the pickles for up to a year.

Ten on Ten September 2013

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

September is so beautiful. Between the garden, Anderson, and Grammy C being at our house, finding photo inspiration for Ten on Ten was really easy this month. For more information on Ten on Ten, visit: a bit of sunshine.

Speaking of photo-related things, I’m extremely excited to be starting Picture Everyday with Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes. There is still time to register! The first prompt isn’t until Monday. I’ll share a bit about it after the class ends in 8 weeks.

Also, if you are feeling crafty, stop by photography.com to read a recent post I wrote on making sunprints. Trust me, they are an inexpensive, quick, and rewarding project. Plus they look darn cool on your wall. These are made from herbs in my herb garden (dill, rosemary, thyme, and chives).

On to Ten on Ten! I wasn’t able to perfectly time these to take a picture each hour for ten hours because of that whole “job” thing, but they are scattered throughout the day.

those eyelashes…

still sleeping – used the Cameleon app and iphone for this picture (more on Cameleon below)

Grammy C holding a still sleepy little boy post diaper change

wide awake, curious, and yelling like a crazy person out his bedroom window

my favorite new-ish shoes

my mom sent me to work with a lovely, juicy peach as a snack

amaranthus (aka love-lies-bleeding), my favorite late summer garden flower

little carrots pulled from the garden (which were later roasted for dinner)

a growing tomatillo verde, still too early to harvest

my mom and I made thumbprint cookies, which were made with the recent grape jelly recipe I posted

Happy September! September, to me, means harvest. We’ll be celebrating with carrots, onions, tomatoes, and lots of tomatillos if they’d just hurry up and get bigger. Speaking of food, we’re also celebrating with a fun day in Wareham, MA tomorrow for the Bog Jog and Local Food Festival (my first trail run and I’ve been a slacker this week – eek!). All proceeds go to the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership. If only Anderson was older, he could join in the Veggie Stampede!

If you are wondering what Cameleon is (mentioned above) – check it out. “Cameleon doesn’t want to be your novelty, toy camera app of the week, it wants a serious long term photographic relationship.” Hey, there is nothing wrong with toy camera apps (I’m an Instagram junkie myself), but if you are looking for a bit more control and less hipster filter action, you should try it out.

backyard grape jelly

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

About four years ago, a friend gave me a grapevine. It didn’t even sprout a grape for years, but it kept sprawling down the fence along our driveway. Last year, we finally had grapes and I was so excited! They were beautiful! I kept waiting for them to ripen just enough to pick. One day, I went outside and noticed that every last grape was gone. Someone had a feast.

This year, I beat out whatever furry or feathery animal got them all last year. I went out with the biggest metal bowl I could find and started harvesting the grapes during Anderson’s nap time. The bowl quickly filled. I grabbed my largest colander and filled that. Then, I yelled to Chris to grab me another bowl and filled that too. I couldn’t believe how many grapes came from one plant.

Hello, jelly.

It took hours to sort through all of the grapes, ditching the completely green ones and the ones that were already dried up and shriveled as well as pulling every single grape from the stems.

Once sorted, I was ready to make the jelly. I hated that the ball recipe called for 7 cups of sugar per 4 cups of grape “juice.” That just seemed gross to me, so I purchased low-sugar pectin and here’s how we made our first batch of jelly made from grapes literally from our backyard, which I believe are concord grapes.

Grape Jelly
4 cups of grape juice (see how to make this juice below)
2 1/2 cups of sugar
3 teaspoons of low-sugar pectin
water
Note: Jelly making takes time! When all was said and done, I’d say this took about four hours, maybe more.

Spooky is our low-sugar pectin model.

First, make the juice.
Once your grapes are sorted, add them into a pot with just a little bit of water, about a quarter of a cup per four cups of grapes. Mash the grapes with a potato masher. If you have a large amount of grapes, add the them gradually to ensure they fit in your pot.

I wouldn’t have been able to fit all of those whole grapes even in my largest pot, but I was able to fit them all in by adding them in batches. Cook them until they are completely mushed and the skins lose color.

Next, strain.
I won’t lie to you. This step is tedious and annoying.

First, I strained the cooked grapes through a large colander to remove the skin and majority of the seeds.

This is what grape pulp looks like. Pretty freaky huh? Great for your composter if you have one.

I then strained it a second time through a jelly bag made of nylon.

I ended up with this beautifully colored, thick grape juice.

Use the juice to make the jelly.

Take four cups of your juice and add 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Stir until it dissolves. Important note: even if you have more juice than four cups, make the jelly in smaller batches to make sure it sets.

Bring the juice to a boil and continue to stir for several minutes. In my efforts to take a picture, I allowed my to boil over a little. Oops!

After the liquid starts to thicken, turn the heat down, add three teaspoons of pectin, and bring back up to a boil for a minute or two.

The best test I found to determine if your jelly is ready and will set is to drizzle a little on a plate and stick it in the freezer for about 30 seconds to get it down to room temperature. If you slide your finger through it and it and the jelly slowly fills the space, it is ready. If it is liquid-y and fills the space quickly, boil your jelly for a bit longer and try the test again.

Get your jars ready.
Now it is time to pour your jelly into jars.

We found this handy funnel tool that worked great to prevent the edges of the jars from getting jelly on them (which would prevent a proper seal later).

Don’t worry if you don’t have one. You will just have to grab a wet paper towel and wipe the edges before you put lids on. Leave 1/4 inch of head space in the jar.

Put your lids on (that have been cleaned in warm, soapy water). Now it is time for the water bath process. Place the jars with the lids on into boiling water. Boil for ten minutes.

Take them out and set them on a towel on your counter.

Within a few minutes, you’ll start to hear all of the “pops” of the lids sealing. Once cooled, your jelly is ready and hopefully it set!

I went through this process three times and ended up with soooo much jelly. I’ve given jars away and thankfully Anderson loves PB&J. I love it on toast. My mother just told me today that she’s going to use hers to make thumbprint cookies. It is a lengthy process, but well worth it I’d say. Canning and preserving is good for the soul.

Eat.

Oh and just in case you are wondering, I did leave some grapes on the vine for the animals. The very next day, Chris saw racoons eating them.

blackberry lemon coffee cake (and my first ferry ride)

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

I’m writing this recipe out for you while aboard a ferry, which is a first for me (though I won’t actually be able to publish until later because I have no wifi). I’ve never actually driven my car onto a ferry before and I must say, this is the way to travel. It is beautiful and really calm, plus you don’t have to sit by sweaty people, snoring people, or loud cell phone people. Here’s an “I’m on my first ferry ride” shot.

Also, a few snaps during the ride. By the way, I used my dear friend’s camera (thanks, Marisa!) which happens to be a Canon. My camera is a Nikon. Read below to see why I might have felt a little weird carrying a Nikon camera around. Anyway, it is always fun trying a new camera out.

I’m headed to Long Island from Connecticut for my first trip at my not-so-new-anymore job as an invited media guest at Canon HQ. I’m quite excited, I must say. I’d be more excited if I didn’t leave a little boy at home battling his first ear infection, snuggling his dad and Elmo, and no doubt watching way more Sesame Street than we’d normally allow. There is nothing worse (for me anyway) than leaving my child when he isn’t feeling well, but I at least have peace knowing he is with his dad who is smothering him with love right now.

So, anyway, the berries already, right?

It has been berry mayhem at our house. We bought a raspberry bush years ago that hasn’t really done much of anything other than kill the blueberry bushes next to it. Two years ago, a work colleague and I had a plant swap (she got a pot of chives and I got a rogue blackberry shoot–it was a fair deal). The conditions must have been perfect this year because we got bowls and bowls of raspberries (now past) and blackberries.

I needed to do something with the blackberries because there were too many to eat. So, I made them completely unhealthy in a “died and gone to heaven” blackberry lemon coffee cake.

Blackberry Lemon Coffee Cake

adapted from a bunch of different recipes
Please note: this recipe is not vegan, so be sure to use eggs from chickens that are humanely raised

The blackberry “filling”
1-2 cups of blackberries (I also had a handful of blueberries left from the farmer’s market, so I threw them in too)
2 tbs sugar

The cake
2 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
8 oz sour cream

The glaze
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp warm water
1 tsp lemon extract (a little more if you like a strong lemony flavored glaze…which I do)

I’m sorry – I don’t have step-by-step pictures because I made this at night. Night = crappy food photos.

Preheat oven to 350
Grease bottom and sides of a bundt pan.
Mix berries with sugar and set aside.
Mix dry cake ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda.
Beat eggs, butter, and sugar for 2 minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed.
Add vanilla and sour cream and mix.
Add flour mixture, a little at a time.
Spread a little less than half of the batter into the pan.
Smush your berries lightly into the batter.
Add the rest of your batter and smooth until even.
Bake for 60 minutes (but check with a toothpick to make sure your cake is fully baked).
While your cake is baking, mix your glaze ingredients together.
When your cake is finished, turned right-side-up, and cool, drizzle your glaze on top.

This would be a great treat if you have guests visiting or you want to bring a sweet to a gathering.

***Update
I just had to share this. I’ve submitted several food images to foodgawker and I’ve received rejection after rejection (always the same reason: cropped to closely). Finally, this coffee cake was accepted! It was very exciting for me and lead many new people to my blog. Click here to check it out. Also, here’s a screenshot. Can you tell that I’m proud?

Ten on Ten August 2013

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

The 10th of the month hasn’t been cooperative the last few months, so what a joy when the 10th of August happened to fall on a day when Anderson and I decided to hop in the car to meet Grammy and Papa in Ogunquit, ME. Ogunquit has so many good memories for us. The first real “weekend away” for Chris and I happened to be in Ogunquit eight years ago. It is a beautiful place with the Marginal Way walk and Perkins Cove and the BEST coffee shop on the planet. Where else on earth can you have a really great cup of coffee while sitting on the beach?

So, here is our little day in Ogunquit on the 10th of August.

For more information about Ten on Ten, visit my inaugural Ten on Ten post or the creator of Ten on Ten, Rebekah Gough.

crossing the Piscataqua Bridge near Portsmouth, NH (don’t worry — I was in stand-still traffic when I took this photo through my windshield)

Papa waking a sleepy Anderson up after the drive

a very happy Grammy and Papa

it only took a year and a half for this kid to let us put a hat on him

Grammy providing shade (for a pb&j face)

our walk on Marginal Way to Perkins Cove

My dad checking out the view of Perkins Cove from Marginal Way

our view from the prettiest coffee shop on earth

on our way back from Perkins cove as the sun started to set (I’ve grown really fond of wild roses)

It was a good day.

Traveling to Ogunquit, Maine (livinglifejoyfully.wordpress.com)
The Leaning Tree in Ogunquit, Maine (iseebeautyallaround.com)

words

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

How is it possible that this little being…
now says stuff? Like, real words? When did he go from baby to little boy?

I’m siiicckkk. Bleh. I have a terrible summer cold and battled a wretched fever last night that had me wishing for death. I’ve been cranky and unbearable. My poor husband hid from me yesterday. I couldn’t even stand myself. Then, today, my baby boy kept yelling for bubbles, which pulled me out of my misery. Not just bubbo. He accentuated the s at the end. Let me tell you, I blew as many bubbleS as I could.

Here is a self-indulgent post for you: a list of the words that are coming out of his little teething mouth everyday–because I don’t want to forget this stage of complete wonder. We can see his wheels turning constantly as he tries something new and as he figures things out. He is a daring one, this child, and oh so curious. He doesn’t understand what embarrassment is yet. He shamelessly gets excited when he is really proud of himself and claps for joy when he has accomplished a new feat. He loves being the center of attention and will loudly say all that is on his mind to as many people as possible, even if some of the words may be words only he understands. If only we could all be so free.

I learned that today he stood on the top of the little table at daycare and danced. That is a perfect representation of his personality. I’d like to be him when I grow up.

Here is life according to Anderson. I can’t capture just how he says some of these things and how endearing his mouth and expression are as he says some of these things, but let me just tell you that it is adorable. Well, we’re his parents, so we think everything is adorable. He copies how we say things. So, “there you are” is a very accentuated, high-pitched exclamation, just like you’d say if a you were playing hide-and-go-seek and yelled “there you are!” at someone.

hi (first frequently used word)
bye (buh-bye)
Momma
Dadda
also known as MommaDadda when we are together
ball
bubbles (bub-ohs)
apple (app-oh)
cat
car (cah like a true Bostonian)
Papa (aka his Grandpa Bob)
Up
Elmo (mel-moh)
alright
there you are (thay–u-ah)
hot
cold (coal)
cool (cooo-al)
night night (nigh nigh)
awww (this is what we call “love on the run” because he will lay on a cat and say this or lay his head in our laps and say this–quickly–and then he is on to the next thing)
mine (my least favorite word right now, said when he wants something- which is basically all the time)
boat
ow
neighborhood (bay-bo-hood) This is a weird one, I know. It is because we look out the window or door and say “hi neighborhood”
tree (tee)
wow
go (he learned from his dad yelling at the neighborhood cats to get out of our garden…only now he thinks he is supposed to yell GO at all cats, including our indoor cats)

We’re working hard on please.

I know I’m forgetting some here, but that is exactly why I want to write this down. My favorite, I think, is night night. I love that he will point to a bed or lay down on a pillow, say “nigh nigh” and suck his two middle fingers.

We also can’t forget animal sounds! Monkey (ooh-ooh-ooh-ah-ah-ah), bear (raaahhhr), chicken (bah-bah-bah).

AAAGGGHH, I just love him!

I just realized this was my 100th blog post on 1veggie! Oh how life has changed since I first started….

how does our garden grow?

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

There are spots of our little yard that are totally overgrown. I have a forsythia and a blackberry bush ready to take over one side of my house and a grapevine that blows my mind whenever I pull in my driveway. How can one vine coming up out of the ground take up 15-20 feet of fence? I love looking at it! There are also spots that are loaded with weeds that I just can’t get to right now and I’ve found peace with it for now. That said, I’m pretty proud of what we do have growing and that things are in relatively decent shape. I’ll never know how Chris and I fit so much into one little yard.

I had the opportunity to borrow a lens (Nikon 50mm f/1.8 prime) and play with it a bit. It isn’t a macro lens, but I couldn’t resist running around my yard to capture botanical details and the beautiful bokeh (blurred background) that happens with an aperture of 1.8. All photos in this post were taken with this lens.

dill

a happy bee on a garlic chive flower

basil nestled in with a potted tomato plant (supposedly basil improves the flavor of tomatoes when grown together)

Speaking of tomatoes, I discovered one that is turning red! This happens to be an indeterminate variety called “Mountain Magic.”

Amish Paste tomato

carrot tops (I have carrots in every color of the rainbow growing)

pink lily

sunflower

crocosmia “lucifer”

purple balloon flower

marigolds grown from seed (seeds were started in April indoors)

marigold grown from seed (seeds were started in April indoors)

We were supposed to go camping this past weekend, but instead we stayed the whole time at Grammy and Papa’s in New Hampshire. Grammy just had her first chemotherapy treatment this past week and wild horses couldn’t have kept us away. She is one heck of a trooper. Anderson had such a good time with his grandparents.

ocean or lake, this child is in love with water

we marvel at the obsession with rocks (future geologist?)

garden baby with Papa

Grammy wrapped us up to keep us warm.

Someone was super chill on Grammy’s lap after swimming…for about two minutes before he was up running laps again.

As much as I’d like to hurry my tomatoes, peppers, carrots, etc. along, I don’t want to rush things. Summer goes so quickly and soon the smell of fresh cut grass will be replaced by decaying leaves (another smell and season that I love). Savor ever moment while you can.

A very special thank you to Photo.net Nikon guru, Shun Cheung, for kindly loaning me this lens from his own collection.

Real Simple epiphany

Published by Cara St.Hilaire

Oh Facebook. I love you and I hate you.

I love you because you allow me to see pictures of my friends and their kids and their goofy pet snapshots. I love you because I am able to keep in touch with cousins that I don’t often see. I love you because I get to see photos of my adorable nephews that live far away. I love you because I get to share photos of my child, who in my eyes is the most beautiful child that ever was, with family and friends that aren’t able to see him grow up in real life. I love you because I get to find out about events that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about or even learn about interesting current events.

But, I dislike you more than I like you. I don’t like that I have to see upsetting pictures and posts from people that have no filter. I don’t like that general etiquette has flown the coop. I don’t like how it has changed how we interact with those we care about.

I take breaks and then I’m drawn back in. We, as humans, like to share the good things going on in our lives. Facebook has given us the ultimate way to do this with massive amounts of people at once.

Today, I got to open my newest Real Simple. I loved the bit about how “emerald” is apparently the newest great color for clothing. I loved the picture of linguini with summer vegetables on the cover. I loved looking at the different sofa styles because I despise my own sofa. I also loved the reality check that was given to all of us; the readers that find tidbits of inspiration in each issue.

Page 10:
34
The number of times a day the average person looks at her cell phone, according to research in The Distraction Addiction…

I use my phone for a lot of things each day: waking up in the morning with the alarm, taking pictures, adding fun pictures into Instagram, tracking my calories, tracking my mileage when I run, and…Facebook.

I do not want to ever look at my cell phone 34 times a day.

I’ve been so good at avoiding my phone at night. It is a brief window of family time and I don’t want to be distracted by text messages or phone calls when I’m trying to be present with the people in the room with me. I don’t want to look at Facebook when I’m waiting in line or sitting on the sofa or while my child is right there with me in the room. I’ve let it creep in, like we all do as a society.

So, I deleted Facebook from my phone. It isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of life, but it is something important to me. I didn’t close my account because I do want to see pictures of people I miss and funny updates from funny people and new babies and all of the great things on there. I want to interact, but sparingly. At least now, I can only do this at very limited times and certainly not everyday.

I feel liberated. I feel a great weight has been lifted. I feel less stressed. I feel more focused on real life.

I will go on Facebook and upload some pictures from a recent wedding tomorrow and I will truly love interacting with the people I got to spend time with at this fantastic event by tagging them and laughing together. I may not be able to comment on a ton of other things, but if I catch something meaningful, I will “like” it. If I think my friend looks pretty/handsome, I will tell them and not expect a thank-you back. If I see a photo of someone’s new baby, I will gush and congratulate and I will do it sincerely because that’s what it should be all about. But, I’m putting my foot down and I’m drawing a line for my own sanity. I will savor moments and I will not feel the need to share ALL of them with everyone I’ve known since high school. If I find myself getting upset over something I see, I will delete that person as a contact without feeling badly about it . I will allow myself only a little time each week on this crazy, consuming site. I’d rather spend more time writing here. This is my social media promise to myself, all made so clear to me because of one brief note in Real Simple.

Latest Posts

Related articles