Let Me Paint You A Picture

Let Me Paint You A Picture
  Let me paint a picture for you. Yesterday Nashville got its first “snow storm” of the year, it went from 65 degrees to 23 degrees in just 24 hours.  The icy winter day turned into an ice and snow filled night.  It was windy and cold. I was getting ready for bed, and the ...

Goodbye 2017

31. December 2017 Gina DeNicola 0
Goodbye 2017
  I know Instagram has your most liked nine pictures of 2017, they will put them all together so you can remember the year, post them, and share them with everyone. Heck, I even did it, but I thought I could come up with better pictures than Instagram for 2017. 2017 brought me to so ...

Reflections of the past three months

19. December 2017 Gina DeNicola 1
Reflections of the past three months
As I sat all alone in the airport hotel waiting for my breakfast, I had some time to reflect on the last three months. When my husband and I talked about this job, I was trying hard to convince him it would be fun. He wanted to stay home, and I wanted to go out ...

If We Were Having Coffee – Part Four

13. December 2017 Gina DeNicola 0
If We Were Having Coffee – Part Four
As I sat in a cold production office somewhere in Canada, I realized it had been awhile since we’ve sat and had coffee. I looked back at my previous “If We Were Having Coffee – Part Two” and realized it had been almost six months. So much has changed in that six months so I ...

Help Fund the Poor Urban Educator

02. December 2017 Gina DeNicola 0
Help Fund the Poor Urban Educator
When you are a parent and you are raising those small children, usually the first question you ask yourself is, “when am I ever going to sleep again”.  The second question usually is, “I hope they grow up to be good, kind adults”.  Well, at least that was my thought process. I am very proud ...

One Cold Night in Pittsburgh…

21. November 2017 Gina DeNicola 2
One Cold Night in Pittsburgh…
As I sat in the Production office of the arena in Loveland, CO I realized so much has happened since my last post. I sat at the table with my cup of coffee and the smell of a lingering rodeo, one event came to mind loud and clear.  It happened in Pittsburgh, PA and I ...

Fear of the Selfie

01. November 2017 Gina DeNicola 1
Fear of the Selfie
Some of you may not be aware of what I’ve been doing since the middle of September aside from not writing, so I’ll bring you up to speed.  I have been touring the US and parts of Canada with a kids theater show. It’s exhausting. It’s fun. It’s pushed me so far outside of my ...

Old Habits Die Hard

Old Habits Die Hard
I know it has been a really long time since I’ve actually put words down on paper, but in all fairness, I’ve been working.  I’ve been out on the road since September 10th, and I’ve been working so hard that I’ve actually lost 15 pounds. So, the fact that I haven’t written anything since August ...

Three Years Later and A Facebook Betrayal

Three Years Later and A Facebook Betrayal
I woke up this morning completely fine. I laid in bed and thought about some weird dreams I had last night, but mentally I was fine.  I picked up my phone, opened Facebook and started to go to “on this day,” and just like that, I wasn’t so fine. I had been a little surprised ...

Crowded Coffee Spots and Memories

Crowded Coffee Spots and Memories
Today I was going to finish all the characters to my book, and I needed to get out of my apartment. So, I threw on a pair of jeans, an old Rolling Stones tee-shirt, my black chucks, grabbed my laptop, and headed to my favorite coffee shop in town. Parking was crazy, but that isn’t ...

Being Brave for a Minute.

Being Brave for a Minute.
How did you end up there, you may ask? How exactly did I end up sitting at a table in what used to be my sweet little bakery? The little 1000 square feet where I poured every inch of my soul.  The little 1000 square feet that I have avoided for three years. The little ...

Old Pictures, Something Shiny, and Life

Old Pictures, Something Shiny, and Life
  My day usually starts with good intentions, and then something shiny crosses my path, and I’m distracted in a flash.  Monday of this week, while at Orange Theory Fitness, I felt something “snap” in my hipish area.  I just ignored it and crushed the rest of the class, but by the time the short ...

We Are Almost Three

We Are Almost Three
My little blog is soon to be celebrating its third birthday, and I took a minute to look back at all my posts. Way back to the very first post on September 2, 2014, titled “Day 2 of Unemployment and Self Realization”.  I went back and read the post, it wasn’t very good, but it ...

Was that Sexual Harassment?

Was that Sexual Harassment?
  The year was 1991. I was 24 years old and four months pregnant, but I wasn’t showing. I was three years into an abusive marriage, not physical, but mental abuse. I had been laid off from my previous job, and I needed this job. It was my first real job as a Paralegal.  It ...

Dominick A. Lockwood

Dominick A. Lockwood
I worked as a Paralegal in a tiny law office in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It was a job that saved me in a lot of small ways. There were two Partners in that law firm, Dominick A. Lockwood and Janet Jackson and we were all like a family.  One horrible morning, 15 years ago today, Dominick ...

OMG I just joined Orange Theory Fitness

OMG I just joined Orange Theory Fitness
It all started with my husband standing in front of me in our apartment announcing tomorrow he was going to quit sugar, carbs, and I believe there was one more thing, but quite honestly I don’t think I heard it, and if I did, I certainly don’t remember.  You see usually I’m the one who ...

Blueberry Lemon Vodka Trees

Blueberry Lemon Vodka Trees
My husband doesn’t really drink.  If we are out he will occasionally have a gin and tonic, but that is the rarity. I watch what I drink mostly because my father was an alcoholic, but will usually order a vodka tonic if we are eating out. Usually you won’t find alcohol in our house, with ...

Stuck in the Space Between

Stuck in the Space Between
As I sat on my balcony with a big cup of coffee in one of my oldest and most favorite mugs, on one of Nashville’s most perfect mornings, I looked out over the downtown and the amphitheater. The mug was from my single mom days, and it is an actual miracle that it has survived ...

Holding Your Breath

Holding Your Breath
As I stepped onto the pier, the air seemed cleaner, my head felt clearer somehow, and I sat on what felt like the edge of the world, I just took a deep breath. Things in my little corner of the world were moving along smoothly. We are here in Chicago for a couple of weeks ...

The Evolution of Gina’s Wallet

The Evolution of Gina’s Wallet
  First, it was my 50 Coats for a 50th Birthday campaign.  Then it was several couples that needed help with giving kids a better life by opening their homes and giving them a family.  Most recently it is a kids hockey team trying to make it to Nationals from Washington state to Florida. Giving ...

Comfort, Baking and Friends

Comfort, Baking and Friends
  While I’m on the road, one of the largest things I miss almost as much as I miss my chickens is my kitchen.  There is only so much take-out you can eat, you can only be so creative with the microwave in your room, and there is just so much pizza, even I can ...

Wire Frame Glasses

Wire Frame Glasses
I have been in New York for roughly five months, and it took me just about all of it to head out to Long Island to see my Aunt and Uncle and as I sat on the train watching Long Island fade into the background, I couldn’t help but think about my father.  I have ...

James Joseph DeNicola 1944 – 2017

James Joseph DeNicola 1944 – 2017
My biological father died today.  I have been searching around this room trying to locate my feelings as if they were stashed under this pile of books on my desk.  The truth is I don’t know how to feel, which in turn keeps me searching.  I have only seen Jimmy three or four times since ...