-
Continue reading →: #38: Cooking with Chefs: Cottage Cheese CatastropheSome things in life you simply don’t need to know. How hot dogs are made — absolutely not. (Yes, I grew up near Rutt’s Hut. Yes, I gag at the thought. No, I will not apologize.) What’s actually underneath the couch cushions — that’s a horror movie waiting to happen.…
-
Continue reading →: #37: Chef Tony Series: Chicken CutletsWelcome to my Chef Tony Series, the cooking series where the recipes are mostly Meema’s tried and trues, the health-code violations are plentiful, and my sous chef is a 2½-year-old boy named Chef Tony who has absolutely no culinary training but somehow has the confidence of a man who owns…
-
Continue reading →: #36: Cooking With a Toddler: Because Apparently I Hate Peace.There are families who cook dinner while their children or grandchildren quietly color at the kitchen table, I assume. I’ve never actually met one, but the internet assures me these families do exist. At my house, cooking dinner with a toddler is less Valerie’s Place and more Kitchen Nightmares: Preschool…
-
Continue reading →: #35: A Funny Thing Happened at Preschool.
… And by “funny,” I mean the kind of funny where you laugh because the alternative is to lie down in the nap room and accept your fate. So picture it: early morning (before 7:30am), the sun barely awake, and me clutching my coffee like it’s the last life raft…
-
Continue reading →: #34: Didn’t See THAT Coming.
Apparently, sibling closeness doesn’t follow a straight line so much as it takes the scenic route (my family ssssooooo loves the scenic route. We love everything about dragging events on like they’re a binge-worthy drama on Netflix). Kids start out glued together in early and middle childhood, only to dramatically…
-
Continue reading →: #33: A Patch of Dirt.
At some point in my life, I felt a strong “need” – the kind of itch that usually means you’re either about to joining a cult or spend too much money on a hobby that involves microfilm and a magnifying glass. – to visit the final resting place (a term…
-
Continue reading →: #32: Here We Go.
As our initial meeting wrapped up, I’d like to say we walked away with a “sense of hope”—or maybe it was just the lightheadedness that comes from realizing your life just turned into a daytime soap opera with a bloated cast list. I’m supposedly part of “something” now, though the…
-
Continue reading →: #31: Just the 7 of “Us”.
Of course, once the conversations started flowing — the messages, the social media stalking, the “Wait… is that REALLY their face?” moments — and yes, maybe a video chat or two where I pretended not to be staring too hard at the other’s features, the inevitable next step arrived. We…
-
Continue reading →: #30: Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Content.
Returning to the heart of the story: January, 2019: the moment that confirmation call ended, a strange numbness set in—quiet, instant, and total. It was as if my brain had blown a fuse trying to process the fact that I officially had a sister, and the lights in my head…
-
Continue reading →: #29: We Can’t Just Do Anything Simple.
The days leading up to the viewing and funeral of our sweet Laura were a blur of tears, laughter, and mall shopping for something—anything—purple. Purple… how we all love purple. It wasn’t even a question. It wasn’t, “Should we wear purple?” It was, “Wear purple for the funeral.” Period. Captain…
Hello,
I’m Dana
Come on in, pour a cup of Joe and grab a seat. Welcome to my little corner of the digital world, where the worlds of writing and my love of coffee intertwine to tell stories that can spark our connection.
As a wife, mother, daughter, bestie and adoptee, each of these roles have shaped the way I see the world and how I have grown into self expression. Being an adoptee, particularly, has given me a unique lens on topics like identity – and finding yourself, belonging – sometimes as an outsider, and the search for finding one’s place in this huge world. As a wife and mother, I have learned to embrace the mess, the chaos, the joy and humor – especially the humor – of everyday life, which often finds itself way into my stories.
Whether I’ve enjoyed a rare quiet morning, endured the complexities of sorting the over-thinking adoptive mind, or overcoming mental creative blocks, I hope to create a space that gives all the feels – those warm fuzzy ones – and keep things relatable and inspiring. Together, let’s savor the fresh brewed aroma as we find our joy in our in-betweens.
Here we will share the musings on the craft of storytelling, the soul-soothing ritual of a perfectly blended cup of coffee, and reflections on a woman’s journey.
Let’s connect
Join the fun!
Stay updated with our latest tutorials and ideas by joining our newsletter.