Lifestyle Articles

As a former beauty editor (I covered the topic on-staff for Allure, Elle and InStyle, and was People magazine’s first-ever beauty editor), I’ve been writing about health and wellness for decades. (And I wish I had followed all the advice I learned along the way!) I’ve also written about a variety of topics from parenting (for Latina Parents) to interior design (for Dwell and ArchitecturalDigest.com). As a contributor to Martha Stewart Living, I was lucky enough to write about nutrition, home decor, crafting, art, and making an impact on the world. And as the Articles Editor at O, the Oprah Magazine, I was able to shine a light on women making the world a better place, explore anti-racist actions we can all take, and profile elders who survived challenging experiences—from the Holocaust to Jim Crow segregation—and went on to thrive. My favorite part of this kind of reporting and writing is interviewing the experts and learning from them—and also discovering the rituals we all follow in our own daily lives. Here are some recent lifestyle articles, and, at the bottom of the page, a couple of cover stories that are oldies but goodies.

Recent Articles:

Please don’t go. Not until you’ve pondered these six Questions to Ask Before Calling It in this January, 2023 article on OprahDaily.com.

Apologies are great; verbal tics less so. I interviewed therapists and etiquette experts to glean 5 Things to Say Instead of I’m Sorry for a December, 2022 piece on OprahDaily.com.

You’re welcome for the ideas in this December 10, 2022 article for OprahDaily.com: 8 Responses to “Thank You” That Mean (Even) More Than You’re Welcome.

I left my heart (and my daughter’s umbilical cord buried in the front yard) in Miami Beach. And I love what artist Flying Knight is doing to shape the look of the city. Read my July 8, 2022 Town&Country profile of her here: Miami Beach Gets a Witty Makeover, Courtesy of Pop Deco Artist Flying Knight.

Is there a nice way to say “I don’t want to sleep on your floor?” or “my kid just peed in your pool?” I interviewed etiquette experts and a psychiatrist to get the answers to these and other summer bummers for the May, 2022 issue of Real Simple and found the experience not just informative and funny but also a little revelatory (turns out, regret and shame are not the same thing!). Read all about it in Sticky Situations: Solutions to Your Summer Etiquette Conundrums.

Smart swaps for living greener? The sassiest octogenarian in the land sharing her red rice recipe? How to (finally) organize your desk drawer? I got to write about all this and more as a contributing editor to Martha Stewart Living, a gig I loved. Join in all the fun here.

I learned so much about pickleball, and Olympic politics and policies, while researching Pickleball Gold: Does the sport have what it takes to be a contender? for InPickleball magazine’s second issue.

I loved talking to brilliant designer and fellow passionate philhellene Andria Mitsakos, founder of Anthologist.com, about global decor, sustainability, and Greek craftsmanship for A Globetrotter’s Guide to Pivoting During the Pandemic.

My write-up of the soul-stirring cultural celebration that is the redesign of the Megaros Mansion, the West Wing of Greece, was published in six different languages in eight international editions of ArchitecturalDigest.com, as well as VogueLiving in Australia, CasaVogue in Brazil, and CNNStyle.

One of the most profound and enjoyable experiences of my magazine career was interviewing elders who withstood harrowing times but continued to live with joy and love for the very last monthly print issue of O, the Oprah Magazine. The article, called “Amazing Grace,” includes profiles of a woman recalling her experiences being raised by her great-grandfather—who had been enslaved—and building a life and career under Jim Crow segregation, a man who survived the Holocaust and became a Hollywood legend, an activist who grew up in a Japanese detainment camp, and a polio survivor who was reminded of her childhood fighting the disease during this latest pandemic. Spending time getting to know these heroes was an inspiration for me during Covid quarantine and a definite career highlight.

I graduated college with a degree in Folklore and Mythology, so I was thrilled to write about The Power of Rituals for the November, 2020 issue of Health magazine.

As the mother of a nine-year-old daughter, I was so inspired by the eight trailblazing women we covered in a feature on The New Girls Network that I edited, and wrote part of, for the April, 2020 issue of O.

While quarantining in our New York apartment in Spring, 2020, I was able to write about women entrepreneurs supporting each other through the pandemic for Oprahmag.com.

As a Latina-by-marriage, with a beloved suegra of my very own, I was thrilled to write this article for Parents Latina, which appeared in the September, 2018 issue as “We Heart Abuela.”

I got to write about one of my favorite topics—reading—for “A Novel Idea,” the Changemaker column in Martha Stewart Living‘s September, 2018 issue. I always say I’m a promiscuous reader, and it turns out it’s almost impossible to get too much of this good thing.

I started composting in response to the November 2016 election—with the government going so horribly wrong, I felt that I needed to do something as an individual to help make the future, if not better, at least less dire. That conviction grew even deeper as I researched this piece for Martha Stewart Living which gave me the opportunity to interview Zero Waste advocate Lauren Singer of Trash is for Tossers. She’s an inspiration; check out her YouTube videos on sustainable living which demystify everything from buying in bulk to composting to secondhand shopping. Here’s the online version of my “Wast Not” feature on her, which kicked off the magazines inspiring Changemaker column, April 2018