Author: The Bearded Iris (Page 1 of 69)

Leslie Marinelli is a writer, humorist, blogger, life hacker, and invisible vessel for grandchildren and PTA donations.

…and that’s how a ballsy woman scrapbooks.

May 9, 2015 / The Bearded Iris

In honor of Mother’s Day tomorrow, I want to share with you one of my favorite posts from 2011 about my own incredible mother… a woman who continues to inspire me every day. Happy Mother’s Day!

Going through my baby pictures recently really got me thinking…

Are you a perfectionist?

I am.

Not in every part of my life, but in many ways, yes.

For instance, I don’t finish most of the projects I start because I fear they won’t be good enough. Or perhaps I am waiting to buy the perfect tool to make the perfect ____________ (scrapbook page, stained glass window, hand woven basket, quilt square, granny square, beaded chandelier… pick a craft, any craft).

This is a very common trait in people with clutter issues. Oh fine, I’ll say it, hoarders.

My mother is not a hoarder or a perfectionist.

The Picture That Cost Me 1.3 Million Dollars

March 27, 2015 / The Bearded Iris

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Sometimes a picture is actually worth a lot more than that.

Thirteen years ago this month, I quit a good job to stay home with my two-year-old son, Vincent.

We had moved from California to North Carolina—not for my husband’s job as most people assume when they hear we relocated cross-country, but for mine.

My husband agreed to temporarily leave work and do the stay-at-home dad thing while I brought home the bacon as a training manager for a technology company. I was pretty good at it (at first), and with my bonuses I was on target to earn about $100,000 that year. Well, I would have earned that much… had I lasted more than 9 months there.

But I didn’t.

Because in the fall of 2001, my sweet little Vincent came home from preschool with his first school pictures and everything changed.

I listened to my mother.

July 14, 2014 / The Bearded Iris

Last April I had the privilege of participating in a national show called “Listen To Your Mother.” Being chosen for the inaugural Atlanta cast and getting to perform one of my original pieces in front of a live audience on stage in a beautiful theater was a dream come true and I’ve been anxiously awaiting the day when I could share it with you…and see it myself.

(Emphasis on the word anxiously. Oy.)

I’m going to listen to my mother, for once.

April 21, 2014 / The Bearded Iris

Ever since that fateful day in 1977 when I crashed my bike and broke my arm in two places after my brother and I followed our mother’s explicit instructions to “GET OUT. TAKE YOUR BIKES. AND DON’T COME BACK UNTIL THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON,” I stopped listening to my mother.

Leslie (left) and friend circa 1977, from my baby book. Notice the staple.

Unfortunately for me, that was the last time she’s ever been wrong.

For instance…

She told me not to pierce my ears. Result? Double pierced on both sides at age 13 by some clueless teenaged Piercing Pagoda trainee at the Monroeville Mall. Long term result? Thirty years later my ear holes are about as lopsided as my knockers. Continue reading

Don’t look back? Don’t tell me what to do.

April 18, 2014 / The Bearded Iris

It’s a widely known fact (i.e. “pin-worthy” quote) that one of the main reasons people give up on their dreams is because they focus on how far they still have to go instead of how far they’ve already come.

Or for you visual learners…

You do it too, right? Continue reading

Press Release: The Bearded Iris acquires In the Powder Room

April 8, 2014 / The Bearded Iris

Psst. You guys. Big news!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: Leslie@InThePowderRoom.com

Author, Blogger, and Editor Leslie Marinelli Acquires Online Women’s Magazine and Publishing Company, InThePowderRoom.com.

ATLANTA, April 8, 2014 – Popular online women’s magazine InThePowderRoom.com (“ITPR”) was acquired this week by Hold My Purse Productions LLC, a company owned by ITPR’s former Editor-in-Chief, Leslie Marinelli, an author, speaker, editor, and award-winning blogger. Continue reading

Author: The Bearded Iris (Page 1 of 69)

…and that’s how a ballsy woman scrapbooks.

The Picture That Cost Me 1.3 Million Dollars

I listened to my mother.

I’m going to listen to my mother, for once.

Don’t look back? Don’t tell me what to do.

Press Release: The Bearded Iris acquires In the Powder Room

Have you seen my tweezers?

Read about my gimpy boob.

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