What should I eat for . . .lunch? I will be honest: I am not the best at bringing my lunch to work. I should be. It would save me a lot of money, calories, and angst in deciding what to eat each day. Some weeks I am diligent and bring lunch to work; other weeks… Continue reading Lunch Salads Made in Advance
Get your closets and drawers organized with these tricks and tips. Pull everything out, figure out the best system, purge and use these sorting and folding tricks to maximize space and get the optimized organization.
It's been a while since I've updated this blog. For many reasons . . . Time constraints. Sickness. More time constraints. The longer I was away from the writing, the easier it was not to write. The easier it was to lose my vision (or rather my belief in that vision). In simple terms, I… Continue reading How to Get Past the Messy Middle
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. - Robert Collier I have big goals this year, and I have to admit: I am struggling with the process—the process of getting this blog off the ground, writing the sequel to my book, and getting fit. The process… Continue reading Trust the Process
"Do you feed your kids?" I was at a family gathering a few weeks ago when my sister in-law asked me this. We were discussing grocery shopping and how much we spend each week. My sister in-law gasped when I told her how much I spend; she said she spends twice as much, with my… Continue reading Saving Money with Meal and Grocery Planning
New England Patriot's Jacoby Brisett just wrote a beautiful letter to Obama after his trip to the White House. He wrote about Obama blazing a trail for him to follow. His posting was so genuine, inspiring, and heartfelt---I felt compelled to check out his Twitter feed which led me to this image (posted from him… Continue reading Trust Each Step
April 19, 2017 I have learned from first-hand experience that writing is indeed a muscle. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Alternatively, when you get away from writing -- well -- it (like exercise) becomes quite difficult to pick back up. I wrote my first book, Marianna Mestre: Nothing’s As It Seems (Volume 1), and published it exactly… Continue reading Getting Back to Fiction
Looking for a low-key and easy-to-plan birthday party idea for your child? I certainly was this winter when my boys had their birthdays. Out of smart planning (cough, cough) I mean desperation (if I am being honest), I came up with the following party idea: Get a bag full of prizes, plan a bunch of… Continue reading Party Games and a Bag Full of Fun!
Cooking is not my forte. To be honest, I hate cooking. For me, it is a necessity--a means to an end. In the corresponding post, One Hour--Seven Dinners, I describe the plan that has literally eliminated a lot of stress in our household: Pre-Cooking or what I like to call Power Cooking. This is when I plan… Continue reading Cooking Tools That I Can’t Live Without
The Easy Guide to Making a Week's Worth of Dinners in One Hour I am all about making things E A S Y (finding ways to eliminate the stress)—that is one of the goals of BrightLightLiving.com and for myself. I have not mastered this (not by a long shot), but the intent is there. After… Continue reading One Hour — Seven Dinners
I am all about EASY, and this recipe is quick to prepare and tastes great. Besides cooking up the rice at the end, the rest of the preparation is simply dumping in the ingredients. My kids love this too--they claim my crockpot Chinese meals are just as good as Chinese take-out. What You Will Need: One… Continue reading Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry Crockpot Meal
Finding Your Passion. . . Say what? How new-agey. What an esoteric and obscure phrase---finding your passion. You may have clicked this posting just to find out what the heck I mean by this? Do I mean, discovering your life purpose? Do I mean, figuring out what you want to do for a living? Maybe, I… Continue reading Finding Your Passion
