People who grow up in the Midwest will tell you that when it comes to winters, like them or not, you get used to them. You learn how to drive on ice before you even get your license. You spoil yourself with things like electric car starters and electric blankets. You have proper vehicles and […]

Dear Twenty-Somethings, I’m now in my 35th year. I remember thinking 35 was SO old, but I’m happy to report, it is most definitely not. I’m no Gen-Zer but I certainly feel like it some days – except with more wisdom, life experiences, confidence, and money than I had 15 years ago, and that’s a […]

Remember the good ole days of Oprah?! Well, I definitely do (huge fan in my early years thanks to my mom). I recently found this essay I submitted to the show back in 2010 to win audience tickets for Elton John on Oprah Fridays Live. Long story short, I ended up winning! Scoring tickets to […]

Painful history aside, Cuba is full of depth, authenticity, and class. Even though it is decades behind us, its people definitely have something Americans have lost. They are uninhabited by the consumerism, falsification, and attention cravings that ads and social media produce. They’re constantly present and tapped into their creativity instead of televisions, laptops, and […]

Recently, I was invited to speak on a “Women in Tech” panel in Chicago. My internal reaction was “nope,” as I fit in nicely with the 90% of the population who hate public speaking. However, I know how important these events are for women working in the tech industry, so I accepted. While college seems […]

As a woman with a career in both tech and leadership, I’ve been asked a dozen times what my opinion is on the Google manifesto that’s been circulating the internet this week. If you haven’t seen it or even heard about it, you can read the full memo here, and you should. It’s interesting, to […]

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” -Mark Twain List-style blog posts flood the internet covering just about every topic […]

Last updated November 2021 I had a seriously messed up skincare routine for a solid decade, and it was certainly not from a lack of trying. I had minor acne, uneven skin tone, dryness and oiliness, deep pores, and always envied people with smooth clear skin. I went tanning to disguise blemishes and blotchiness (wrong). […]

“It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.” -Carl Sagan A reasonable question to ask big animal lovers/advocates is how they feel about zoos. Personally, I’ve always […]

“The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.” -Will McAvoy (Newsroom) A friend of mine recently shared this photo on Facebook, but it summarizes the attitude of a lot of people right now: It made me really sad and I wanted to respond so badly explaining everything that’s wrong with the […]

“The voice of Istanbul. I’ve had at least 30 names from New Rome to Islambol. Now they say I’m between the East and the West, an identity crisis. I knew theirs. Enough of this nonsense. Take the labels off and just look at me. You won’t need a guide book. Like all cities, I have […]

“Certain things in life, it’s a long way getting there, but once you get there it’s just fucking spectacular.” -Eddie Vedder I just read my post Aftermath of the D Word from last October, almost exactly one year ago. It’s crazy to think back on that time period and the state of mind I was […]

The world is changing and changing fast. While many people would argue that our world is going sour, I wholeheartedly believe it’s the best time to be alive, ever. Statistically, we are the wealthiest, healthiest and safest we’ve been in human existence. Technology has opened doors to reach new people, different cultures, new ways of […]

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” -Seneca Tonight is a hard night. Actually, it’s been a hard two months. I feel completely selfish about feeling down because I know with certainty that my life is great overall. I am so fortunate I have my health and a large group of amazing people […]

“Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, […]

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” -Miriam Beard I wasn’t sure if I was going to have time to get to the Netherlands on my trip as I was playing everything by ear. I considered just spending my […]

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep Sea, and music in its roar: I love not Man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have […]

“And I make 16 solid half hour friendships, every evening.” -Sixto Rodriguez (Cause) Just when I get comfortable in a city, learn how to get around, and make friends, I have to leave and start all over again. It takes quite a bit of courage every time I arrive at a new city to get […]

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” -Maya Angelou Two countries and five cities in and I can confidently say I’m getting this whole solo traveling thing […]

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” -Bill Bryson While vacationing in Las Vegas earlier this year, I had the pleasure […]

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” -Neale Donald Walsch So as I presumed, York turned out fine. Well, more than just fine. It crushed my nerves and exceeded every good expectation. York was amazing. I’ll start with the city itself. Its beauty surpassed everything I’d seen so far. It was this quaint […]

“Do you see the way that tree bends? Does it inspire? Leaning out to catch the sun’s rays, a lesson to be applied. Are you getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?” -Pearl Jam (Present Tense) To say the last two days were better than Monday’s London disaster would not be doing them justice. For […]

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” -Helen Keller After an eight-hour flight on the largest plane I’ve ever been on (just more seats, not more leg room!) and not sleeping at all, I finally landed in London around 8:30am. It hit me as I walked off the plane and watched passengers […]

“The only things in this life that you really regret are the risks you didn’t take. And God knows if you see a chance to be happy, you grab it with both hands and to hell with the consequences.” -John Gustafson Jr., Grumpy Old Men I am someone who typically remembers at least one or […]

“It is strange but true: religious people don’t know much about religion. It is dangerous when billions of people passionately believe in things that they barely know anything about. One of the fastest ways to turn a believer into a nonbeliever is religious education. Religious ignorance is faith’s ally. Religious education is faith’s enemy.” -Guy […]

I’ve had quite the evening and as a result, I can’t sleep (you’ll understand why later). In order to distract my mind from what’s happening outside my hotel door right now, I will tell the story of how my night unfolded. My day began wrapping up a week-long work conference in Boston which concluded an […]