Hey stranger, Yesterday I took my girls to a local antique mall to browse for jewelry before we headed into town to a consignment store in search of a few summer outfits. As we wandered through the crowded stalls, we found ourselves saying the same thing. "There's so much here...it's hard to find anything." Every booth seemed filled to the brim. There were treasures everywhere, but they were buried beneath more treasures. We knew there were beautiful things hidden among the p

Hey Stranger, Recently, I found myself at my very first Moth Story Slam. The theme for the evening was "I Got It from My Mama," and as the mother of four, I couldn't resist. It felt like the kind of night that would be filled with laughter, memories, and maybe a few surprises. My daughter and I arrived early, found our seats, ordered something to snack on, and settled in as the room slowly filled. Then the lights dimmed. Ten people. Ten true stories. One shared theme. For the

Hey Stranger, One of my favorite things about listening to authors talk about their process is realizing that stories rarely arrive all at once. I recently watched children's author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers share how he writes his books, and one detail stayed with me long after the video ended. He carries a writer's notebook with him wherever he goes. Not because he's always writing. But because he knows inspiration has a funny way of showing up when we least expect it.