We spent an hour and a half this morning on the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s river cruise, and I must say that our docent was amazing and the view from the river of all the buildings was well worth the money spent. (Ray determined before we arrived in Chicago that joining the CAF would be very…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Chicago Architecture Tour
Ray and and I are in Chicago and we were very happy to discover that the annual Open House Chicago tour happen to coincide with our visit. This tour opens to the public many of Chicago’s most fabulous places for free. Yesterday we went to about fifteen buildings in downtown Chicago, and today we saw…
Photo Essay of A Few Pieces from the Chicago Institute of Art
Ray and I are in Chicago visiting our friend Shireen Baker and also spending as much time as possible enjoying the art and architecture of this fabulous city. Here are a few photos of some of the highlights from the Chicago Institute of Art. Suffice it to say, we are both exceedingly happy to be…
Repost: My Sister’s Eulogy and a Touching Request
Of the 1707 posts that I have written for this blog, the one entitled, “My Sister’s Eulogy Complete with a Few Jokes,” consistently gets the most hits. And today, I had a first. A woman wrote in the comment section of my blog that she had stumbled upon the eulogy for my sister in a…
Born to Clean
Recently I tackled an unsightly and rather unsavory task in our 1954 Spartan Manor, aka old trailer, up in Ojai. I tracked down all the old ground squirrel nests tucked into the out-of-the-way spots in the cabinets and swept up all of their droppings. Yuck. My work required a mask, gloves, a broom and dust pan,…
Chocolate Cake: Pure Comfort Food
When I need comfort, I bake. Recently I made the best chocolate cake I have ever made. I took the recipe right off the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box and modified it (along with the frosting recipe) to suit our non-refined white sugar sensibilities. Below is the original recipe with my changes in parentheses. I…
Quotes from Great Writers
23 Tips from Famous Writers for New and Emerging Authors “I have advice for people who want to write. I don’t care whether they’re 5 or 500. There are three things that are important: First, if you want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you. Where…
Fall Weather Recipe: Black Beans
I made a big pot of black beans yesterday and I must say they were delicious. The recipe below is from the Food Network and is well worth trying if you want to switch up those pintos for something with a little more color and a slightly different taste. I ate these with red onion,…
From Rural Texas to Beverly Hills: A Few Observations
I have lived in Beverly Hill (or BH to the locals) for 21 years. I came to LA with my family when my brother Jim was sick and needed support during the last year and a half of his life, and we moved to Beverly Hills because we needed a good school district for our…
Things I Know
What do I know? Living in the present is the healthy way to live. Life works out…I think. Time heals…eventually…I hope. Babies are a blessing and to be cherished. One day at a time. One minute at a time if need be. Stay focused on what works. Keep negative thoughts at bay. Hug tight. Love…
20 Minutes a Day 