Editor’s Note

This may sound sappy, but the first publication I ever wrote for was my journal - a handmade newsletter with one subscriber: me. I published every day or so when life was particularly fascinating.

Although I've had the pleasure of staying in many lovely hotels over the years (having a husband in the business), I had never stayed at a Ritz-Carlton. I figured this would be the perfect environment in which to make the pitch.

January is a month of new beginnings, but I experienced one last summer when my son cleaned out our ancient basement while I purged the garage loft that serves as an attic in our home.

Oddly, it was at a church Christmas party in Atlanta, Georgia, that I learned the rules to the Yankee Swap.

Talk about heresy: An article in the november 2012 issue of Reason Magazine is titled "your vote doesn't count: why (almost) everyone should stay home on election day."

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.

I'm not what you'd call an oenophile. I usually shop for wine by looking on the ten dollar shelf and seeking out those "$2 off" collar tags. But, like most people, I've had a few memorable encounters with a bottle of wine.

Did you know the word "smile" has no accurate synonyms? There's "Grin," of course, but a grin is usually a reaction to something, and the word suggests some effort on the part of the face. A genuine smile flows from within you. It's a spontaneous phenomenon, as unbidden as a sunrise and natural as a rainbow.

When I met my wife-to-be we lived in Atlanta, but she was a New Hampshire girl by right of birth. I heard plenty of stories about the granite state's charms, but when we finally moved here there was one charm i was most eager to sink my teeth into - a chocolate donut from a place called Janet's in Concord.

Summer has a reputation as a time of relaxation, but my experience is this is when we all really kick Life into overdrive. Good thing it comes with its own Rock 'n' Roll soundtrack.