Everyday Querencia

          It seems like just yesterday that I was arranging pumpkins and warm candles for fall, and now here I am looking at black cats and jack-o-lanters, tugging at me to add a little Halloween magic to the mix. The truth is, you don’t need to overhaul your whole house to make the shift from fall coziness to Halloween. With a few elevated Halloween touches layered into what’s already there, the season transforms in the most delightful way. For me, it’s about balance — keeping the elegance of fall while adding just enough whimsy to make the little ones’ eyes light up. This week, the girls and I pulled out the Halloween bin. Their tiny hands eagerly grabbed at felt spiders, cheerful ghosts, and black-and-orange wreath. We tucked a few pieces in among the pumpkins already scattered across the mantel. An elegantly placed cheese cloth joined my ceramic pumpkins on the table, and suddenly, it felt like October had taken center stage. What I love most is that it does...

I had a plan. It wasn’t a "conquer the world" plan, but still a plan. The girls started Mother’s Day Out, and I thought I might have just a little more time to write, to create, to grow this next chapter of my life into something new and exciting. But here we are, just weeks in, and my little princesses decided that school isn’t quite right for them. So I find myself back in the full-time rhythm of caring for our sweet granddaughters — their giggles, their hugs, their sparkling smiles filling my days once again. They’ve reminded me that sometimes life isn’t about the plans we make but how we embrace the shifts in life ~ providing an opportunity to express flexibility. I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a tug-of-war inside me. I spent years climbing, striving, and succeeding in a world that prized polish and performance. Real estate wasn’t just a career; it was an identity. There’s a certain glamour in walking into million-dollar homes, staging them to perfection, closing...

  This morning as the kitchen filled with the familiar scent of cinnamon and browned sugar as I pulled out a pan of fresh marranitos, for a moment, I thought I’d have to give up on the idea since I do not own a little pig cookie cutter, but then I laughed. Isn’t that the heart of homemaking - to pivot -  to make do with what you have, and to create anyway? So instead of pigs, I pressed out Texas-shaped marranitos, along with a few in the shape of hearts. Different silhouettes, same comforting taste. As the cookies baked, I thought about how food carries memory. For me, marranitos remind me of visiting panaderías with my dad, where glass cases overflowed with conchas, empanadas, and his favorites, campechanas. Now, decades later, I’m the one filling my kitchen with the scent of tradition, bridging generations with a simple recipe. There’s something grounding about baking the food of your heritage. It’s not just about sugar, flour, and spice — it’s about belonging. About honorin...

Gratitude has a way of shifting everything. It turns the ordinary into the unforgettable, the simple into splendid, and the routine into reverenced. In a world that moves quickly, finding ways to pause and notice what is good in our lives is one of the most grounding practices we can cultivate. Here are a few ways I weave gratitude into your everyday life: 1. Begin and End with Thanks I start the day by naming three things you’re grateful for — before emails, before to-do lists,  running out the door. They don’t have to be grand; in fact, the smaller, the better. A good night’s sleep, the sound of rain on the window, or the laughter of a child can set the tone for your entire day. At night, repeat the practice as a way to close the day in peace. Create a Gratitude Corner I have dedicate a whole room in your home to reflection. I have filled with all the things I love. My needle work, crochet projects, books, beautiful art ( mostly second hand or prints in thrifted frames), and...

Home is so much more than four walls and a roof — it is the backdrop of our lives, the stage where both ordinary and extraordinary moments unfold. And the most beautiful homes are not necessarily the ones featured in glossy magazines, but those that tell a story — your story . When we think about creating spaces, it’s easy to fall into the trap of simply decorating: arranging furniture, selecting paint colors, and filling shelves. But a home that feels truly alive is one that reflects the people who live there. Every piece, every texture, every quiet corner whispers something about who you are and what you love. Begin with Memory Think about the objects that hold meaning in your life. Perhaps it’s your grandmother’s serving bowl that comes out for Sunday dinners, or a stack of books that saw you through late-night study sessions. Displaying these pieces is not clutter — it’s storytelling. A handmade quilt folded over a chair, an old photograph in a worn frame, or a collection of sea...

From Mother’s Day Out to Empty Nest and Beyond Life is made of transitions — some gentle, some striking — but each carries us forward into new chapters. This past week, the girls began their Mother’s Day Out program. I watched them walk into that classroom, little backpacks bouncing, excitement lighting up their faces, and a lump formed in my throat. It was a reminder: even in small steps, our children are always moving forward. Mother’s Day Out is a milestone, one of those tender in-between moments of parenting. It is independence budding, like a seed pushing through soil. We, as mothers, learn to let go a little, to watch from the sidelines while they discover the world outside our embrace. The house grows quieter in those few hours, and with the stillness comes reflection. Reflection takes me back to when my own children were that small — how quickly those days turned into high school dances, college applications, and now, careers of their own. Parenting adult children is a differen...