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Serena Kovalosky, Author at All The Single Girlfriends

Gluten-Free Dog Treats

Dec 16, 2011 by

Last week, I shared a yummy recipe for homemade Bacon Doggie Biscuits. Since “gluten-free” is becoming popular as people adopt healthier eating habits, I wanted to also share a low-fat, gluten-free alternative for people who want their dogs to eat healthy, too! I must warn you, however, that dogs are no different than the rest of us. They have a taste for treats that are a bit more decadent than this one, so if you offer them one of these “good-for-you” snacks, they just might look up at you as if to say, “Where’s the Beef?” One little dog named Spencer, who’s a rather finicky eater, was clearly not interested in these new-fangled dog bones. His owner, a journalist from an area newspaper who had written an article on my dog-biscuit endeavors, told me...

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Tail-Waggin’ Doggie Bones...

Dec 9, 2011 by

I’m starting a new revolution. From now on, instead of buying “stuff” for friends and family at Christmas, I’m giving gifts to their animals instead. Actually, I rarely buy “stuff” for Christmas gifts. I’m not a shopper by nature, and since I’m a professional artist, I usually offer my sculptural artwork as unique, one-of-a-kind gifts. But after a number of years, I realized my friends and family had only so much room in their homes for all of my art! So two years ago, I started considering gift-giving alternatives without jumping on the Black Friday consumer bandwagon. What could I make that would be useful, as well as thoughtful and fun? Scanning the internet for ideas, I came across a site that offered recipes for homemade dog treats, which sparked an inspiration. People have...

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Notes from a Deliberate Non-Mom...

May 6, 2011 by

I’ve never been a mom. Even though I had the kind of mother every kid hopes for – one who was always there when I came home from school, who baked the best cookies in the neighborhood, who patiently listened to my teenage tales of angst and romance, and who taught me things I’d never learn in school like how to make my own clothes and tend a garden – I just never saw myself in that nurturing kind of role. This was apparent from an early age when I’d be “playing dolls” with my friends. While they were busy with their “babies”, feeding them, changing their diapers, dressing and undressing them in various outfits and taking them for walks in their carriages, mine would always be sleeping until my imaginary husband came home...

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Change Your Life – Clean Your Sock Drawer...

Apr 18, 2011 by

If you want to make changes to your life, begin by cleaning your sock drawer. I discovered the power in this simple act from a story I read about a psychologist who received an emergency call from one of her patients late one night. He was clearly panicked – ranting and raving and threatening to kill himself. She let him talk for a while, and then she quietly said, “Here’s what I want you to do right now. Go into your bedroom and clean your sock drawer.” Then she hung up. An hour later, the patient called back. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he said. “At first I though you were crazy to suggest that cleaning my sock drawer would help, but I was desperate to try anything. I have to tell...

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Spring Cleaning: Busting Tradition...

Mar 31, 2011 by

I hate to clean. And it’s that time of year again when millions of women participate in the annual rite of Spring Cleaning. Handed down from mothers to daughters, this tradition is steeped in the symbolism of beginning anew after a long winter, where the entire house gets cleaned, sorted and rearranged from top to bottom. I’ve always envied men who seemed to be exempt from this tradition, although I have witnessed a husband or two in their garages, reorganizing their manly tools, getting their farm toys ready for yard work, dusting off the barbecue and perhaps even washing the car. My mom is one of those women who loves to clean and, even though she’s in her 80’s now, she still looks forward to spring cleaning every year. I remember witnessing her version...

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Super Hot Boots And Other Shoe Stories...

Mar 15, 2011 by

Every one of my shoes has a story. Each pair I own brings out a different side of my character – the sexy stilettos for going out on the town, the funky-but-classy heels I wear to my art openings, the comfortable moosehide moccasins I purchased at a Native American pow wow, and a pair of bright red faux-alligator shoes that I just HAD to buy, even though they were too tight, and I’ve never been able to wear them. (I keep them because they remind me to lighten up and have fun.) But this modest shoe collection was no match for an amazing art exhibition I saw last summer that’s currently traveling throughout the United States. Think about what would happen if you took 100 visual artists from the U.S., Canada and Israel and...

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International Women’s Day: Honoring The Less Famous...

Mar 8, 2011 by

In honor of International Women’s Day, I was tempted to write about famous women who have inspired me, like Oprah or SARK. Or perhaps I’d share moments from my own achievements as a professional visual artist. But there’s a woman whom I hadn’t thought about in years who suddenly kept coming to mind as I was deciding what to write. Her name was Rita* and I met her over a decade ago at a women’s shelter in Montreal, Canada. She wasn’t one of the volunteers, she was one of the women who came to the shelter from time to time for a hot meal and a place to rest. In the beginning of my career as an artist, I had created a project where I would take plaster casts of people’s faces and hands...

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Passion vs The Economy

Mar 7, 2011 by

Fifteen years ago when I left an 18-year career in corporate travel management to become a professional visual artist, I had made a life-changing choice of Passion over Money. Little did I realize that the decision to follow my passion would soon become a cyclical battle of doing what I loved, then picking up a day job, then quitting the day job to do what I loved, then finding another day job. I had read the book, “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow”, and while I was certainly doing what I loved, the appropriate amount of money was slow in coming. Then the economy tanked and I found myself repeating the words I started hearing over and over in the news, on the radio, from friends and relatives, and especially from...

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Ladies Welcome

Feb 22, 2011 by

As a frequent single traveler, I must admit that finding an appropriate form of evening entertainment while on the road in an unfamiliar city can be a challenge. Let’s face it – a Single Girlfriend in a bar or a restaurant always looks somewhat suspect, although that never stops me. My primary motive is to have a nice night out on the town and perhaps meet new and interesting people, while practicing a certain amount of discretion to insure that I return to my hotel in one piece. That was my intent when I was in London several years ago for an art workshop, which was held at a artist’s studio in a residential neighborhood. On the way from my B&B to the studio, I noticed a pub that looked rather inviting so I...

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Skinny Little Dress

Feb 14, 2011 by

Shopping for clothes is not what it used to be. It seemed so much easier when I was in my 20’s and 30’s and had a body that could wear just about anything and look fabulous. I never had a weight issue until my late 40’s when changing hormones began wreaking havoc with my formerly maintenance-free body. A single dessert now seemed to be able to add five pounds to my frame overnight. This is what has made clothes shopping less appealing to me in recent years. I’m in that in-between stage of not resonating to most “women’s” fashions (too “matronly”) and not being able to fit into alot of the trendier clothes that are geared for younger Girlfriends. And if I did manage to find something I loved, I’d get in the dressing...

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