Noor Saadeh

If you’ve been following this blog for the last few years, you know I’m an American convert to Islam. It’s been a joy and privilege to share my zany life and experiences. One of my first blogs was about my secon […]

When it comes to profanity, maybe I’m just old school. My son certainly thinks so. Like many others of his generation, he believes those words don’t mean what they used to.  Yet I still wince.  As a baby boome […]

Noor Saadeh I met Shivaun Palmer and it was love at first sight, two daughters of another mother, two peas from the same pod…something like that. We had […]

There seems to be a lot of discussion around keywords such as authentic, narrative, and voice. We’ve all heard Oprah talk about ‘personal truth’.  Are we missing something? Is that niggling little voice inside […]

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’, said President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1933 inaugural address – a phrase that has since become part of the pop culture. How true it is.

Think about fear […]

Connectors, *mavens, networkers, people with a gift for connecting others have a variety of titles. A friend recommended the book Tipping Point, saying, “You need to read this!”  I’ve been fascinated by the conc […]

So many of us today have grown accustom to our self-proclaimed independence and we wear it proudly like a badge of honor. While there is nothing inherently wrong with independence, what is wrong is the growing […]

The box is essential for Valentine’s Day.

The heart-shaped box of delectable chocolates nestled in pleated paper to share or savor alone.

The tiny, square box holding a precious ring linked to a nervous q […]

Have you ever searched for the perfect calendar this time of year only to later find a cuter one with better organization? If so, did you toss the first one or juggle both? I have to admit, I found myself using […]

I’m a big fan of setting goals and I love the idea of a fresh start at the beginning of the year.  Goals make me feel like the possibilities are endless.  But, like many others, I often struggle to achieve the […]

My love for this song began when I watched ‘The Story Behind the Making…’ video of the first time Keala Settle sang this song live for anyone. She began shyly, behind a podium, but soon the words began to co […]

How observant are we really? At my tender age of 67 I find I still have much to discover about myself. And in discovering, how much am I able to change?

My son has always had a gift for observation. Unlike his […]

As we start the new year, most of us have grand and exciting plans to make this new year the best year yet. And yet, many times we have already broken our resolutions by the second week of January! (Yes…..that i […]

It began when he was just a little guy of one or two. His love of color, love of pictures made him smile. A neighbor gave him a painting of a happy clown that hung over his crib. After his naps I would find him […]

Darkness is where I go for now.  To awaken from the grief is too much for me to handle.

It has been a brutal few months.  Death has knocked at my families door as we console one another.  Our beautiful Mo […]

It started in a moment, a word thrown at me over and over again until I took notice. I wasn’t having a great day, in fact, I was angry and done with all the things not going my way. The cashier’s name was Joy, I s […]

Here at Plaid for Women, we believe that when one woman rises, all women rise.  Women have more capacity than is being realized, and the world is a better place when women are encouraged to tap into their full […]

I have found that many of the “gifts” of transition come through “the back door,”  disguised as anything but a “gift.”  One such instance that sticks in my mind is the first Christmas after my divorce many years a […]

Twenty-two years of living in a gorgeous town in the Texas Hill Country surrounded by creeks, rivers, oaks, cypress trees and pure peace coupled with my dream job equaled heaven. No one plans on leaving heaven. I […]

This time of year always brings with it the promise and allure of a new beginning. It’s the time of year we all vow to do better, to be different, to do more, or to give up a multitude of things – all in an a […]