As much as I try to avoid making political posts, the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is something I must comment on. RBG was my one and only political role model. She’s a meaningful icon. An inspiration. And her death is poignant to say the least. Most the time I find politicians to have a lot of bad qualities, act and speak with dishonesty, and would make for terrible role models. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, however, who has had political power and influence in one form or another

What makes you fall in love with a city? With a house? With a neighborhood? What’s the difference - key differences - between simply living somewhere and actually feeling like you belong there? I’ve moved A LOT in my life. Multiple cities/states and many, many apartments... so maybe that’s why my sense of ‘home’ is a rather elusive thing. Chicagco does actually feel very much like home to me: the vibe of the people is great, I love the lake, there’s always something to do, th

Well, happy August. The year is now officially more than half over. But, boy oh boy, does it feel like 2020 has been going on for so much longer than just these last months. We’ve faced disease threats, including an ongoing pandemic that put us into quarantine. Animal threats of murder hornets, blue dragons, squirrels with bubonic plague, and swarming monkeys and locust. Political threats both foreign and domestic. And now we’re coming into a new age of social justice because

It’s the Fourth of July, and with the state of the USA right now (Covid-19 quarantine, Black Lives Matter Protests, political unrest, accusations of violence and racism) you might be feeling somewhat guilty for wanting to celebrate this weekend. You might have conflicted feelings about uplifting the country’s successes. I understand. The best analogy I can think of though is that the USA is like a rescue dog: It’s excited and scared, constantly on edge but super loving. It ch

The Black Lives Matter movement is an ongoing, dedicated, heart-felt, powerful call to humanity to do the right thing. To treat the Black Community with the respect, equality, and care it deserves. Which is why I want to share their mission statement. Please do not hesitate to visit blacklivesmatter.com for more information. “Black Lives Matter began as a call to action in response to state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism. Our intention from the very beginning was t

In honor of Women’s History Month I would like to say Thank You to all my female readers and followers. I want to express gratitude for all the ways you make the world a better place. And I want to remind you that you are capable, strong, resilient, intelligent, powerful, and beautiful. 12 million women in the US each year experience clinical depression. That leaves 153.92 million of us to help them. To lift them up. To give support and love and encouragement to our fel

In classic Ruby fashion, I gave myself terrible anxiety upon starting my research on traveling Europe. I've traveled a lot before... Within the US and Caribbean, sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend. I'm quite comfortable with getting on a plane and going somewhere new. But I've never "gone over seas". So, naturally, I'm a little bit intimidated. To kick start my planning and ease my nervousness I started seeking out info/photos of the most beautiful places in Europ