I received this text from a client I started working with recently: “I really want to solve this issue of people mentioning their exes! Or maybe that’s just normal if you’re divorced? Is it me? Or does that happen to other clients on every single first date? It’s so uncomfortable!”

And then this week, after a different client went on ...Read more

This time of the year, I always look forward to the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year. Last year it was Peach Fuzz and the year before it was Viva Magenta. I’ve always liked to try to join in and pick out flowers, to show that we are part of the team, a Pantone Partner if you will. Drum roll please: For 2025 the Pantone Color of ...Read more

CHICAGO — Kayla Daley started feeling “not the greatest” toward the end of her time in high school but didn’t necessarily know why. The feeling got worse after moving from the northwest suburbs to Chicago to begin college and was marked by depressive symptoms, loneliness and anxiety, she said.

“I mean, it was my first year of college,...Read more

Saving for your grandchildren can help to minimize the financial burdens they may encounter as they mature. Whether it’s paying for college, buying a first home or providing a safety net in an uncertain job market, these funds can make a significant difference.

Here are the best ways to build those savings, where to keep them and how to ...Read more

I haphazardly closed up the little house this year. I hurriedly swept the floors, took out the trash, checked the windows, pulled the Dutch door shut and whispered, “Thanks for the memories.”

Not long after, a fierce night wind pushed the door open. Blowing snow drifted in and nestled in the corners.

Tiny hand-shaped footprints ...Read more

Q. My ex is not a good person. She sends me terrible text messages that the kids have read over my shoulder. They tell me she refers to me as “sperm donor” when she talks to her friends. (They aren't sure what that means, but they know it's bad.) Now the kids are telling me they don’t want to go back to her home. We alternate weeks, and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- In a state boasting epic mountain ranges and stunning coastlines, the Salton Sea is not typically considered an outdoor-lover's paradise.

California's largest inland lake, which straddles Riverside and Imperial counties, is in fact beautiful. The 35-mile-long sea shimmers, a cascade of colors in the desert, when the sun sets over...Read more

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation Health Debt Survey, 41% of American adults have debt relating to medical or dental care. Around 14 million Americans, or 6% of the adult population, owe more than $1,000 in medical debt, while approximately 3 million Americans owe more than $10,000.

While thousands of dollars of medical debt is ...Read more

LEXINGTON, S.C. -- Most people may not associate the holiday season with dinosaurs, but that’s the vibe at the Price household.

The yard of the house on Augusta Road/Highway 1 just outside Lexington is crawling with dinos of various sizes. The creatures made out of insulation foam board frolic amid the twinkle of the Christmas lights on the ...Read more

My orthodontist is a gem. That’s why he suggested I buy an ultrasonic retainer cleaner that my wife can wash her jewelry in.

I got retainers several years ago when I decided to go straight, not because I was a crooked jewel thief, but because two of my teeth were crooked and needed straightening.

I went to the Stony Brook University School ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My 13-year-old daughter, like many of her friends, carries a water bottle around with her all day at school. Since the beginning of the last school year, she’s been forgetting it, and this year, she’s been forgetting it much more -- usually twice per week. I bring it to her because I don’t want her to become dehydrated...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Every December in Southern California, the days get shorter yet brighter — and it's not Christmas lights or the shifting sun that make the region shine.

I'm talking about citrus.

Trees heavy with fruits that ripen through the color spectrum as winter progresses are as much a Southern California holiday tradition as tamales ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — He was bent at the waist, wobbly and shoeless on grimy pavement at the end of an alley where fires smolder, drug users gather day and night, and death lurks.

Slowly, he made his way across the parking lot behind the Yoshinoya restaurant at Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street. It was not a normal gait, but in MacArthur Park, ...Read more

The kids were in holiday jammies.

They were being escorted out of their school, which just became a crime scene, and they were dressed in flannel pants and plaid robes and furry slippers. One boy’s shirt said DON’T MOOSE AROUND above a plaid moose, which matched his red and black plaid pajama bottoms.

The adults were decked out too. One ...Read more

As we round the corner to Christmas, I feel compelled to say something to women across the land:

It’s OK.

It’s OK that you didn’t get the same amount of presents for each child.

It’s OK that you shopped for yourself. Not once or twice, but often.

It’s OK that you didn’t meet your Christmas budget while negotiating a trillion-...Read more

CALIPATRIA, Calif. — The little desert town of Calipatria, known for its state prison, is a humble place.

It struggles with poverty. It's in the middle of Imperial County, where the 20% unemployment rate is California's highest. And some days, its dusty air carries the stench of the polluted Salton Sea eight miles west.

But if you call ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- When David Brown moved from Chicago to Los Angeles this summer, one of the first things he did was download an app that aims to "fight big-city loneliness."

The 35-year-old sales director had seen an Instagram ad for Timeleft, which matches users with strangers for dinner via a personality algorithm. Since he only knew a handful ...Read more

By 2033, about 30% of Americans ages 65 to 74 are expected to still be in the labor force, while 10% of people ages 75 and older are expected to still be working, according to projections by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that 57% of workers across all generations plan to ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- Kids ran across the dark field behind the mosque toward a pile of trash. They had to quickly decide if an egg carton belonged in the recycle, compost or trash bin. Then, each one ran back to the kids waiting to continue the relay race.

“We need to go one at a time,” Nawal Abuhamdeh called out over the noisy din of about 40 ...Read more

Six-months ago I wrote a column introducing you to the Art & Sol collection of mangaves, which was having a soft release with a full debut occurring in 2025. If you are not familiar with mangave, it is a cross between the agave and a plant called the manfreda, both native to the Southwest.

The taxonomic hierarchy has recently determined that ...Read more