Danielle Venticinque
Danielle lives in Saint Paul with her husband Don, their 2 boys and a 75-pound mutt. She writes for Summit Hill Living and moonlights as an actress. Follow her “likable” Instagram at daniellexxv
Riding it Out
The past year has been a wild ride and just like a roller coaster at Valley Fair, last March the safety harness of the pandemic securely locked us in and no matter how much...
New Growth
Springtime has always been my mother’s favorite season. I never quite understood this as it was my least favorite season. It was “mud-season” and merely a necessary transition. It meant the fun, sledding and...
Blessings in Disguise
Over the last several weeks I’ve checked in with many of my mom friends. Most are not handling the current state of things very well. Sometimes that last sentence is true for me too....
Be Patient, Life’s in the Details
When I paused for a moment to consider this month's Twin Cities Mom Collective theme - Mama, you can do hard things - my mental list of “hard things” was long, but there was...
Cultivating Confidence
It isn’t enough that we obsessively show and tell our children we love them. We also have to teach them to love themselves; to believe they are worthy and to be confident.
I've come to...
Your Resolution Roadmap
Every January we each embark on our unique journeys of personal improvement. Many of us resolve to get healthier or to become a better {parent, partner, meal-planner}, or fix finances... the list goes on....
Christmas Traditions: Making Magic Happen
Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen nearly a jillion social media posts featuring mom friends and their families practicing holiday traditions. In the mix were time lapse tree trimmings, kids stirring cookie batter...
Love Thyself
The other night after our bedtime thanksgiving my oldest son asked, “Mom, do you love me?” My response was exactly as he expected and had heard a million times before, “of course!” He went...
Every Mile was Worth the While
“Momma is going to run a marathon.”
Vaughn looked at me, his nose wrinkled, “What’s that?”
“It’s a really, long, long run.” How can I expect him, a four-year old, to wrap his mind around this...
The Last of the Throw Away Generations
This is us; or rather, anyone born in the 20th century. We’re all descendants of thrower-outers. It wasn’t until several years into my grade school youth that the concept of the 3 “R”s, reduce,...
Bedtime Thanksgiving
I didn’t realize it at the time, but once we started our family and had to be more mindful of our spending, I began my practice of gratitude. When I was thankful for what...
Summer, Simplified
Every now and then I catch myself looking at my boys. Bewildered, I wonder when did they get so big? It’s cliché, but it seems like in a blink of an eye, I no...
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Clutter
Dear Santa - all I want for Christmas is a clean house!
With the holidays right around the corner, we are bracing ourselves for the barrage of toys that will descend on our home. I’m...