Do you guys (or gals, I suppose) remember American Girl Magazine?  I assume it still exists, but presumably the format and content have changed since I last read it, oh, about 17 years ago.  I was an avid reader back in the day– AGM had craft tutorials, advice columns (for all those pressing pre-tween problems), exclusive, magazine-only American Girl stories (ooooooh!), and my favorite, pull-out paper dolls modeled after actual readers.  In retrospect, one of the magazine’s most interesting features was its pen pal program.  Back in the old days before magazine readers could connect with each other via the…

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about jobs, hasn’t it?  Let’s talk about them again for a minute. A couple months ago, I applied for a job that I really wanted.  Like, really wanted.  I wanted it enough that I was willing to give up my cheesemonger’s life to take it, and you all know how much I love being a cheesemonger.  The application process lasted quite a long time, and last week, I finally learned that I did not get the job.  Enough time had elapsed between my most recent interview and the final decision that I had…

I can’t even begin to explain why, a few weeks ago, I suddenly decided that I needed a bundt cake in my life, and immediately.  I know I’m a person who craves a lot of things, but usually they’re things that make sense– a particular type of cookie, hot wings, cream cheese frosting.  But a bundt cake?  That one’s just weird.  After all, “bundt” specifies nothing about the flavor, texture, or aroma of a cake– just the look.  And why on Earth should I be hankering after a cake of a particular shape? Well, after trying to talk myself out…

After five years in Boston, I still can’t get over the fact that spring doesn’t arrive until May.  In my Deep South childhood, we were already going to pool parties and sunbathing in our backyards by spring break, but here, you can’t even put away your winter clothes until June; even though things start warming up in mid-April, there will always be one more cold snap, one more morning when you sorely regret wearing flats without socks.  I know this good and well, and yet, every year, there’s at least one day when I throw caution to the wind and…