Local Mom Uses Magic to Cure Back to School Blues
As any parent can attest, the end of summer break brings a mix of relief and anxiety. Relief that the long, hot days spent trying to keep kids occupied is almost over, but anxiety about trying to get organized to begin the new school year. Mary-Susan Buhner, Mom to three young girls, understands these feelings [...]
The Beginning and the End
I know the old saying is “Time flies when you’re having fun,” but believe me, time creeps along at a painfully slow pace when you are having chemo, which may be defined as many things, but never, ever as fun. But finally, after six months, I have come to the end of my chemotherapy treatments. [...]
Carmel Farmers Market Serves Up Fresh, Local Fun
Every Saturday morning from May 22 to October 2, the south parking lot of Carmel’s City Hall becomes a summer festival full of live music, cooking demonstrations, and most importantly, great food. The Carmel Farmer’s Market (CFM) is going strong in its 12th year, and this year promises to be as successful as ever. CFM [...]
Bucket Full of Wishes on My List
I’ve never made a bucket list. I guess I have always been so busy trying to get the things I need to get done completed that I haven’t had any time to think about doing the things that I wanted to get done. But when I was diagnosed with cancer, I naturally started thinking about [...]
Carmel 2010 Al Fresco Dining Guide
For most residents of Central Indiana, spring is the best time of year. Everyone emerges from their winter hibernation, greets their neighbors, and gets outside. Carmelites are particularly fond of celebrating the arrival of warmer weather by dining al fresco. According to the good folks at Webster, al fresco is defined as “taking place or [...]
Cancer Brings Questions, Few Answers
This past weekend my family and several friends participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Over 40,000 people participated in the event, which seeks to raise funds for breast cancer patients, help with their treatments and, hopefully, find a cure for breast cancer. It was an amazing day. Everyone was decked out [...]
Chemo Brain is a Terrible Thing to Waste
I have to be honest. Until I started taking chemotherapy, I didn’t really understand chemotherapy. I knew a little about how the treatments were given, and had a vague understanding that the chemo drugs somehow killed cancer. I also had a vision in my head based on what I had seen in movies and read [...]
Wigging Out
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I immediately began reading almost everything I could get my hands on about the disease. Cancer medical books, cancer survivor books, funny cancer books, sad cancer books, everything. And the one topic that was prominently discussed in all of the books was the loss of hair due to [...]
Group Helping Make Carmel Greener, One Teen at a Time
So often, big ideas are born from small places, and sometimes a fresh set of minds can create new ideas to old dilemmas. Such is the case of Carmel Green Teen, an organization dedicated to “Making Carmel greener, one youth project at a time.” When Lauren Gibson was in the fifth grade, she wrote a [...]
Surgery Surprises
I have always been pretty healthy, and my hospital experience has been limited to the labor and delivery of my three kids. I’ve never even had a cavity, let alone major surgery, so when I entered the hospital early on the morning of December 7 to undergo bilateral mastectomies, there were some surprises. My six-hour [...]
Toys to Inspire this Christmas
Christmas is rapidly approaching, and for many parents that means full-blown, Mach-10, “all systems go” toy shopping mode. And while video games and iPods are at the top of many lists, some parents may be looking for alternatives to the selection of toys available at the large retail stores, and if those alternatives provide some [...]
Keeping Holiday Photos Jolly
For most of us, this time of year feels like it has been put in fast forward. The weeks between Labor Day and the holidays seem to get closer every year, and there is always an endless to-do list to accomplish before Santa is hauling his happy butt down the chimney. At the top of [...]
Booming Carmel Businesses
On a chilly fall morning, Amanda Newman begins her day by sweeping the leaves from the front porch and sidewalk of her store, Amanda’s City-Chic Consignment in Carmel, a consignment store specializing in reselling furniture, home décor, and art work. “I wouldn’t say that people are spending more than in years past,“ states Newman, “but [...]
Wall-to-Wall Carmel Artist
Twyla Tharp once said, “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” A local Carmel artist is bringing this quote to life by allowing her clients an escape through the art she creates inside their homes. Jacquelyn Van Dourn, owner of Van Dourn Designs, is a self-taught artist who honed her skills [...]
Fall Color Brings Community Together on the Monon Trail
As mild fall weather approaches, many of us in Carmel will be dusting off our bicycles, rollerblades, and running shoes and exploring the Monon Trail. With 5.2 miles of trail in Carmel and 16.7 total miles of trail, the Monon Trail offers ample opportunity for Carmel residents to get out and move through the city. [...]
Dog Day Afternoon
About 12 years ago my boyfriend (now husband) told me he had found the perfect birthday gift for me, and asked me to go see the gift. I was completely shocked when we walked into a local pet store, but just moments later I found myself falling completely in love with the big brown eyes [...]
An Afternoon at Cool Creek Park
One of the things I love most about living in Carmel is that on any given day there are tons of activities for families to participate in, and the majority of these are free. I was certainly thankful of this fact this morning when my toddler refused to nap and my preschooler was climbing the [...]
