There comes an age when you realize the difference between homesick and home, sick.

Homesickness happens after moving out of state. You miss the backyard you grew up in, your family and friends, whatever it may be that just isn’t the same in your new digs. Home, sick happens when you’re too hungover to function or you’re legitimately ill, sometimes even ill due to the hangover. Most importantly, home, sick, as an adult, is when you realize how great it was when your parents were there to take care of you. Home, sick leads to homesick.

Maybe it was because I have no siblings, but my parents upped the love when I had what my father referred to as “the punies,” always pronounced with an exaggerated pout and a pat on the head, whether I was six or sixteen. He’d then quickly step away and make an x with his index fingers. “Love you, but I don’t want it,” he said, shaking his head sadly. Read More »

I have walked enough miles in bloody shoes and hobbled down too many roads to realize that band-aids just don’t cut it for blisters. While interning in New York my senior year of college I tried every form of blister protection: special blister band-aids, moleskin, Dr. Scholl’s and at the end of the day I was still soaking my feet in Epsom salt baths and cringing with every step.

Luckily, I didn’t give up. I tried every product in or around the foot care section of Duane Reade before stumbling upon an ingenious blister blocker: surgical tape. It stays on for the entire day and is thin enough to not create any discomfort between your feet and your oh-so-fabulous shoes. It works great as a preventive blister measure; and in my case so many times, after the fact to keep those shoddy band-aids in place.

Even better, though, is the fact that it is clear; making it less obvious you’ve wrapped your feet up like a post-op patient.

While my surgical tape is always in my purse, there are a few new blister protectors out on the market gathering rave reviews. Read More »