Posts by Leslie Anne Tarabella
Beauty Shops vs. Hair Salons
I’m fed up with “hair salons” and want to find a good “beauty shop,” or even better, a beauty “parlor.” When I was a little girl, I’d tag along with my mother and grandmother to Bee Bee’s Beauty Barn, which wasn’t in a barn, and considered itself a “shoppe” — ultra fancy with an “e”…
Read MoreThe joy of cooking with a church cookbook
Laura Jean was asked to chair the new cookbook committee for her church in Prattville, and she’s beyond thrilled. She took the words out of my mouth when she said, “I thought with the availability of recipes on the internet these days, we’d never see another church cookbook again.” Everyone in the South knows the…
Read MoreYou dropped the bomb on me, baby
My 17-year-old son Joseph, had cleaned the kitchen, taken out the trash and was finally sprawled across the furniture in the family room, arms and legs going every-which-way, while he played on his phone. My husband was out of town, and I busied myself here and there with all the mom-things. The TV was on,…
Read MoreThe miracle of the mother
Even though there’s no maternal element mentioned, the Bible story about the loaves and fishes has always made me think of mothers. I’ve never had a problem believing the small lunch was multiplied to feed thousands, but what’s difficult to accept is that out of all the people at the gathering that day, the only…
Read MoreLogophile? Check out this show!
I’m a word lover. A lover of words. A, “logophile.” I’m not claiming to KNOW a lot of words, but I love hearing them, which is why I’m HAPPILY STUNNED and DELIGHTED with the new play at Theatre 98, “On the Verge — or the Geography of Yearning,” written by Eric Overmyer and directed by…
Read MoreOh, to be young and on spring break!
My son Harrison went on a big adventure for spring break with five other college friends. Actually, all of them knew at least one other person on the trip, but none of them knew everyone. They basically said, “Hey, who wants to drive cross-country, camp in national parks, then turn around and come home?” (my…
Read MoreAre Southern women prettier?
You’ve heard it before, but are afraid to say it aloud for fear of sounding boastful. Southern women are prettier than others. But wait just a cotton pickin’ minute. Is it true? Are we really prettier? I’ll let you in on a little secret. We’re not. Everyone just has that illusion because the truth is,…
Read MoreThe Gulf Shores and Orange Beach guidebook is ready!
Well, I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out! I mentioned a few months ago (HERE) that I was chosen to write this year’s Gulf Shores and Orange Beach 2017 Official Vacation Guide. It was an interesting project about the place I love, and even though I’ve lived in this area my entire…
Read MoreWhat’s the point of decorating for boys?
I guess it’s a Kindergarten teacher gene still in me that makes me love decorating for holidays. Not just Christmas or Easter, but I really do have boxes of St. Patrick’s Day decorations as well as a box labeled, “Groundhog’s Day” that is full of fluffy little rodents in top hats. Every year, I’ve pulled…
Read MoreSweet home of perfection
Other than a lap full of puppies and dirty feet, my favorite thing to play was, “house.” An incomplete set of chipped Wedgewood dishes, an old orange rug, one small table and two little chairs were in the playhouse I loved. The house was absolutely perfect as far as I was concerned, and I knew…
Read More