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Channel: Claire Bidwell Smith
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Not My Mother’s Hoppin’ John (Southern Black Eyed Peas & Rice)

Although I’ve lived all over the place at this point, I was actually born and raised in Georgia. In the South it’s a tradition to eat a dish called Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day. Made of black eyed...

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Reflections on 2012

2012 has probably been the busiest year of my entire life. I gave birth to my second child. And I also brought my first book into the world. It was a big year, a beautiful year, and a hard, hard year....

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Dear Juliette: Six-Month Confessions

Dear Juliette, Last night I did something terrible. I did the thing that no mother is supposed to ever do. Your sister asked me if I love her more than you, and I said yes. I know, I know. You’re going...

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Notes from Atlanta

We landed in Atlanta yesterday, after a long, but actually kind of pleasant, flight. I held back tears saying goodbye to Veronica at the airport in Los Angeles, nuzzling into her while she sat...

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The Mom I’m Supposed to Be

I don’t consider myself a mom-blogger. But lately I’ve been receiving so many comments about how my recent posts on motherhood have been inspiring and heartening, that I’ve been able to articulate...

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All This: Reflections on Atlanta

I returned from my trip to Atlanta the other day and have been trying to catch up ever since. As I write this my suitcase sits in the dining room, yet to be unpacked, and I still have a million thank...

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A Brief Note on Putting Myself Out There

I think one of the strangest things about writing a memoir is reading reviews of it, because the write-ups aren’t just about the book, but they’re about my life. Almost a year into having my book out...

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The Other Side of Motherhood

Veronica started ballet school this morning. As with all new things, she was very nervous and shy in the beginning. We were the first ones to arrive and she sat solemnly on the bench while her teacher...

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How Long Do We Grieve

I took this photo of Veronica this morning when I dropped her off at preschool. It’s our morning ritual. After putting her lunchbag in her cubby, reading her a few books, and giving her a hug, I then...

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The Life I’m Actually Living

I’ve been going to a new yoga class almost every weekend here in Santa Monica. The sequences aren’t that different from other classes I’ve taken, but what is different is the teacher. He talks through...

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Sixteen Years Without Her

Dear Mom, You have been gone for 16 years. Almost half of my life. All morning I’ve been trying to imagine what you would think of me now. I’m thirty-four years old. I live in California. I’m married...

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Thoughts on a Decade of Blogging

This June I’m coming up on ten years of writing this blog. I can’t think of many things I’ve done for an entire decade. I’ve never lived in the same house for ten years, my average is four. The...

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Where I Am These Days

The first month of 2013 is over. It was a significant one, in an unexpected way. Not that it shouldn’t have been significant, but rather that I just kind of slid into the month, into the new year,...

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A Tiny Glimpse

I met this woman the other week who reminded me so much of my mother that I was barely out the door of her house before I was sobbing. It’s funny how used to a thing you can get. How used to not...

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Dear Girls: On How We Measure Our Mothers

Dear Girls, I’ve been missing my mom a lot lately. So often during my days I find myself staring off into oblivion, wishing I could talk to her about all the things that are running through my head. I...

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The Missing Stage of Grief

I had my first panic attack when I was 18. It happened on a road-trip the summer after my senior year of high school. My boyfriend was behind the wheel, driving toward Washington, D.C., and suddenly...

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The Things We Remember

Confession: I don’t really like Valentine’s Day. At least, not when I’m in a relationship. It just ends up feeling like this contrived holiday in which we’re supposed to act love-y, even if we’re not...

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Kale and Potato Quiche with Mozzarella

I’ve been in love with quiche for as long as I can remember. I make it all the time. Seriously. To me, quiche is the perfect food. It can be eaten any time of the day, you can make it a thousand ways,...

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On Being Seen

On Monday I took Vera to ballet class, as usual. And as usual, I spent the majority of her class time chasing after Juliette who crawled around the anteroom with the other babies, trying to put every...

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Write: A Doe Bay Workshop

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve officially accepted an invitation to lead a session on narrative writing at this workshop in April. There are still a few spots open if you’d like to sign up. It’s...

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