Tag: inspiration

Jackie Robinson West: Adults and society are to blame, so leave the kids alone

Jackie Robinson West: Adults and society are to blame, so leave the kids alone
Earlier today, Little League® International released its decision in the alleged Jackie Robinson West cheating scandal in the 2014 season. The decision in part reads: The Charter/Tournament Committee has decided to vacate the league’s wins from the 2014 Little League® International Tournament, including its Great Lakes Regional and United States Championships, and suspend team manager... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
February 11, 2015 at 11:33 am • 

Elf on the Shelf turns this hater into a believer

Elf on the Shelf turns this hater into a believer
Unless you’ve been living under a rock without internet access for the past few years, you’ve undoubtedly heard of or come into direct contact with the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon that will shortly overtake the otherwise rational minds of parents everywhere. It appears the Elf on the Shelf began innocently enough, but has morphed... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
November 26, 2014 at 8:23 am • 

This I believe

This I believe
A little over seven years ago, I did a Crash Davis-like Things I Believe In blog post on the original Little Merry Sunshine blog. To this day, it ranks right up there with my all-time favorite posts. Oh, you’re not familiar with Crash Davis’s monologue from Bull Durham? I won’t judge you (much), but you... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
November 14, 2014 at 2:10 pm • 
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Blogapalooz-Hour: Top 11 Tips for Success

Blogapalooz-Hour: Top 11 Tips for Success
Blogapalooz-Hour: One hour each month when the bloggers of ChicagoNow blog about the same topic sent out at exactly 9:00 p.m. CT by Community Managers, Jimmy Greenfield or Shavon Banket. (Ed. note: That’s the wrong Jimmy Greenfield. ChicagoNow‘s Jimmy is not related to that James Greenfield. Find the right one here.) Bloggers hit publish at 10:00 p.m.... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
July 30, 2014 at 11:44 am • 

Q&A with a ChicagoNow blogger: Kathy Mordini of Raining Cats and Dogs

Q&A with a ChicagoNow blogger: Kathy Mordini of Raining Cats and Dogs
One of my favorite ChicagoNow bloggers is Kathy Mordini who writes Raining Cats and Dogs. Kathy loves animals and it brings her much agony to imagine cats and dogs being abused, living shortened lives in kill shelters, and being bred in the horrible puppy mill conditions. Through her blog, Kathy has increased awareness of these... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
June 16, 2014 at 12:00 pm • 

A Life That's Good - Official Little Merry Sunshine Theme Song

In early March, I wrote a post titled “What’s Your Theme Song?” I’d been thinking about creating a theme song for Little Merry Sunshine and for me because ChicagoNow Community Manager, Jimmy Greenfield, posted the question on Facebook. In that post, I toyed around with the idea of A Bushel and a Peck because Nana... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
June 13, 2014 at 1:12 pm • 
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Mental Health Awareness Month Celebrated by ChicagoNow

May was Mental Health Awareness Month and the incredible bloggers of ChicagoNow shared their incredibly personal stories and expertise with more than 30 posts on the topic. Most of the bloggers who wrote are not mental health professionals, but there is at least one Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Nicole Knepper, writer of Moms Who Drink... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
June 2, 2014 at 11:07 am • 

Advice to new graduates: A ChicagoNow series

Advice to new graduates: A ChicagoNow series
Just like we did with the Letters to New Moms series, ChicagoNow bloggers have once again joined forces to share our life wisdom in a new series, Advice to New Graduates. One of the things I love most about being a CN blogger is that, although each blogger develops his or her own individual brand,... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
May 21, 2014 at 12:12 pm • 

Advice to new graduates: Create a legacy

Advice to new graduates: Create a legacy
My family has a three generation history of delivering commencement addresses. First, my Nana was the valedictorian of her Batesville High School (now South Panola High School) Class of 1933. In 1966, my mom delivered her commencement speech, What I’ve Willed I’ll Do, at Tarpon Springs High School. In 1969, her brother and my uncle... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
May 15, 2014 at 9:22 pm • 
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Happy National Siblings Day

Happy National Siblings Day
According to my Facebook wall, today is National Siblings Day. All of my friends are posting pics of their siblings and spouting lovely platitudes about just how great their siblings are, blah, blah, blah. I hate to break it to all of you, but I have the most supercalifragilisticexpialidocious brother ever. EVEH. Let me tell you why your... Read more »
By Jessica Gardner,
April 10, 2014 at 7:08 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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