Birthday | Diva Barbarella

Inner Fire Dragon (A Woman About to Turn 40)

I was a Bicentennial Baby, born a few months after the nation’s 200th birthday. Half a world away, 1976 held a different significance — it was the year of the Dragon, the only magical creature of

Birthday Boil

We were using the mirror on the wall to take a group selfie when Brisa, the spa director, arrived with the mimosas. Brisa handed me, Jane, and Heather our drinks and had just turned to hand

Lord of the Prize

Simon had to turn sideways in order to fit the freakish creature through the front door of my mother’s house. All the kids were in the backyard, so Simon — my sister Jane’s husband — swiftly

Such a Bee

“You’re such a bee,” David said. “Why? What did I do?” “No, no, not that kind of bee! The bug kind,” David clarified, as if that made things any clearer. There were lots of ways to

The Power Seat

Terri shimmied toward the car — shimmied, because there was no way she could get one whole leg in front of another. The only wiggle-room she had was from the shin down, where her long, tight

Menless

My sisters and I stared at the illustrations on the side of the box, and passed the deceptively light metal tank around as we each took our turn trying to make it work. “Careful, it might

Worth the Wait

I doubted the man of the hour (or century, if you consider we were celebrating his 90th birthday) remembered me. I’d met David’s great-uncle, the Hungarian pianist Béla Síki, only once before, nearly a decade ago

Does A.R. Valentien Live Up to the Hype?

“Why is a meal at one restaurant so much more expensive than a meal at another?” I asked David, as I drove us north toward A.R. Valentien. The restaurant, located at the Lodge at Torrey Pines

Fancy Holiday Time at Tea Upon Chatsworth

The strong women that make up most of my family like to play at being dainty every once in a while, especially when playing “lady” means getting to enjoy tasty treats. So every now and then

Eighteen

“Eighteen. That’s a big one,” I said. “We should get her lottery tickets.” “I don’t know what your thing is with lottery tickets, that’s the third time you’ve mentioned them,” David said. “Dana suggested something zebra-themed.

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