Culture
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Living Through Superstorm Sandy
We were lucky. Sandy huffed and puffed but didn’t blow our house in. I wish the same could be said for tens of thousands of people along the north east coast line who were not so fortunate and still face the daunting task of pulling their lives back together. Sandy was scary. No two ways about it. We started to feel the effects on Sunday but the real storm arrived on Monday. The skies darkened. The trees began to sway more and more violently as the hours passed. The tension of what might happen began to grow in our stomachs. The power began to switch on and off, teasing us.…
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Inspirational Moms: Amy Norman and Stella Ma of Little Passports
One of the ways to teach our children to be compassionate and thoughtful of others is to teach them about the world around them. With knowledge and understanding of others comes an appreciation of the diversity that makes up our planet. I recently discovered a wonderful company called Little Passports that provides a fun and educational tool for parents to use that gets children excited about learning. I had a chance to interview the the two founders, Amy Norman and Stella Ma, both moms, and they talk about what inspired them to start Little Passports. Tell us what inspired you both to start Little Passports? Amy: I moved around a lot as…
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Presents – How Much is Too Much?
Can you believe Christmas is around the corner and the silly season is nearly upon us? Amongst all the feasting on rich food, indulging in plum pudding and hanging out with extended family, there’s the inevitable mountain load of new presents for the kids. It’s got me thinking lately, how much stuff do our kids really need? Deciding how many presents to give can be tricky. Most people would agree that kids today receive far more presents than we did when we were young. We love to see our kids’ faces light up when they receive what they wanted, but we don’t want them to develop an entitlement behavior…
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Toward the Stars: Empowering Girls
It’s not often you come across a person who so believes in their vision so much that they are willing to put it all on the line to make it a reality. Ines Almeida, the creator of Toward the Stars, is such a person. Her journey to create a global marketplace for empowering gifts for girls has been one of determination and hard work. She quit her job and put all of her life savings into Toward The Stars because of her desire to create a venue with a single purpose: to help reduce all threats to girlhood that crush our girls’ true nature and potential. The New Girlie-Girl…
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A Beautiful Fall In Santa Monica
Santa Monica is a wonderful place to visit any time of year, but Fall is especially nice with beautiful, warm days and lots of fun activities. While it can get a little nippy at night with the ocean breeze, a sweatshirt or light sweater will usually be enough. Santa Monica hosts many fun activities through the months of October through November. If you missed the Halloween fun, be sure to check out the Thanksgiving and Christmas activities. Every year, Downtown Santa Monica creates a little piece of heaven known as ‘ICE at Santa Monica‘ right on the corner of 5th Street and Arizona Avenue. This incredible outdoor skating rink gives tourists…
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Artist Flora Bowley
The creative process is such a personal journey I love to hear about artists who do what they do so well and love their “job”. I came across Flora Bowley a few years ago and have admired her ability to draw you in to her paintings, which I find so calming. Read what Flora has to say about her journey as an artist and the new project she is working on. What was your inspiration for wanting to be an artist and create? I think I may have been born to be an artist. My happiest childhood memories included things like sculpting clay that I found near our house, braiding jewelry…