My son knows what he wants … at least until he doesn’t want it anymore. The streets of downtown Gatlinburg are lined with storefront windows, all filled to overflowing with souvenirs. There are airbrushed t-shirts and leather handbags, knives and swords and cowboy hats, billowy caftans and homemade fudge, lace tablecloths and wood carvings — […]

My name is Lindsay Ferrier and I like to read my books on a screen. Deal with it. If you haven’t already noticed, I love books. I’ve loved them since I was a kid. I buy them up at used bookstores and library sales and fill shelves and nightstands with them, imagining I have my […]

Whether they’re attending a quilting bee or organizing a girl trip, ‘sweet friends’ have always been part of the fabric of female society. Too bad I’m not one of them. I see her everywhere on Facebook, lounging with a group of marrieds in a Land’s End bikini on the deck of a pontoon boat, her bright smile flashing […]

The notices had been coming home in my son’s folder for weeks. His school was having its first-ever Spelling Bee and the entire fourth grade — the top dogs at his elementary school — would participate. In preparation, word lists were sent home. E-mails were sent out. Flyers were distributed. My son’s teacher even showed Akeelah and the Bee one […]

I’m riding in a car beside my husband in peaceful, contented silence when suddenly, without any sort of warning, he emits an ear-splitting noise that resembles the panicked sound a bull elephant might make when surrounded by a tribe of hungry lions. In that moment, I instinctively duck as every muscle in my body tenses and my heart threatens to leap out […]

I happen to be married to a Manly Man, which I’m coming to appreciate more and more now that the Manly Man is slowly becoming extinct in our society. The Manly Man, once revered in westerns and pioneer sagas, now is more likely to be connected to inane TV sitcoms featuring beer-drinking rednecks. These days, […]

Dear God, This week, millions of us will pack carry-ons and stuff duffle bags, load up car trunks and wearily wait in long airport lines, put fresh sheets on sofa beds and compose miles-long grocery lists, all in preparation for Thanksgiving Day — a time for us to gather together with friends and family members, […]

  Fall is right around the corner– so I turned to the moms from last night’s VMA awards to figure out what I should be wearing to PTO meetings and baseball practices this season. I’ve learned many valuable lessons from last night’s red carpet looks and I wanted to share them with you so that […]