Archive for March 2014

Chicagoans React to Ban Bossy

In response to my blog post last week titled “Why I Can’t Lean In to Ban Bossy,” I received an email from a journalism student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism asking if she could interview me for a class project. To say I was flattered would be a gross understatement. I immediately wrote her... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 21, 2014 at 3:16 pm • 

Bring Me Some Texas Tea, My Guilty Pleasure is Dallas

Bring Me Some Texas Tea, My Guilty Pleasure is Dallas
Once a month, the bloggers of ChicagoNow come together for Blogapalooza. It’s a one-hour event. At exactly 9:00 p.m., our fearless leader, Jimmy Greenfield, emails us a topic. We write and post whatever we have at 10:00 p.m. This month’s Blogapalooza topic was just released. Welcome to ChicagoNow’s Blogapalooz-Hour! Your challenge, if you choose to... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 19, 2014 at 10:08 pm • 

Thank You for Reading Little Merry Sunshine

Thank You for Reading Little Merry Sunshine
It’s been a busy week of New Experiences and I’ve gotten a little behind sharing them with you. I will remedy that situation this week. Do you remember how, when I reached my goal of having 100 New Experiences in 8 1/2 months, I decided to reset the goal and have 150 new experiences by... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 17, 2014 at 4:50 pm • 
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Do You Make Your Bed?

Do You Make Your Bed?
If you know me at all, you know I tend to lean towards the OCD side. I’ve never been diagnosed or anything, but my uber-organized ways, along with my love of office supplies, and constant desire to be surrounded by cleanliness, is ample evidence of my tendency. One of the ways this comes out is... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 16, 2014 at 7:57 pm • 

National Day of Unplugging, Oil Pulling, Pinterest, & Spaghetti Squash

Last Friday I wrote a post about my plans to participate in the National Day of Unplugging from sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday. I was going to give up my electronic devices – iPhone, iPod, and laptop – for 24 hours. At exactly 5:48 p.m, as the sun went down, I shut down... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 13, 2014 at 4:09 pm • 

Why I Can't Lean In to Ban Bossy

In the middle of the day yesterday, my Twitterfeed blew up with tweets containing the hashtag #banbossy and a Facebook friend of mine posted a cryptic message saying a rich white person wanted to ban the word bossy. Because I was offline most of the day, I had no idea what all this talk about... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 11, 2014 at 4:18 am • 
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A Day in the Life of Little Merry Sunshine

Do you ever have “those” days? You know, those days when you’re kind of feeling a little blue? Where the blue feeling may or may not be based in what’s actually happening in the world, but where you’re only focussing on things that make you feel that way? Don’t lie. I know I’m not the... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 7, 2014 at 5:33 pm • 

Do Not Hide Your Guns in Your Socks

Do Not Hide Your Guns in Your Socks
I just saw a story on ABC7 Chicago about a woman sorting clothes at a thrift who was killed when a gun fell out of a sock. It absolutely breaks my heart that something so easily preventable just ended a woman’s life. It also breaks my life because this happened to me a couple of... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 7, 2014 at 2:42 pm • 

Could You Unplug for 24 Hours?

Could You Unplug for 24 Hours?
Could you unplug for 24 hours? No, this is not a rhetorical question. I’m completely serious. A few days ago, my friend Anthony posted a story from Fox Chicago about something called the National Day of Unplugging. Without knowing anymore than it meant taking a pledge to turn off all electronic devices for 24-hours from sundown... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 7, 2014 at 1:29 pm • 
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What's Your Theme Song?

Yesterday, the intrepid ChicagoNow leader, Jimmy Greenfield, posted a question to all the bloggers that I thought was delightful and made me wonder why I’d never thought of it before, given how much I like music and how many times I’ve written about music on Little Merry Sunshine. The question was “What’s your blog’s theme... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
March 6, 2014 at 12:58 pm • 
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    Jessica Gardner

    A native of Chicago's Northwest Suburbs and resident of the North Shore, Little Merry Sunshine comes by her name honestly. The story goes that as a child, she was always so happy that she even slept with a smile on her face. Her mom nicknamed her Little Merry Sunshine. It stuck, along with her insatiable desire to focus on the good in the world and to leave it a little better than she found it. She does this by sharing her passions and dreams, what inspires her, and maybe you too, and furthering the discussion about how we can listen to our better angels. You can reach her at LittleMerrySunshineCN[at]WowWay[dot]com.

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