Dawn Downes
Hey, y’all! I’m Dawn – a native Tennessean who could not wait to escape the small town for the big city. After attending a women’s college in Atlanta, I took root there and stayed. One marriage, two homes, two kids, and 25 years later, here I am, back in Tennessee. My husband moved here in January of 2016 to start a new job while our two boys, Brendan (born 2003) and Beckett (born 2006), and I stayed behind to finish the school year and sell our house. We arrived in July 2016 and have been working to make a happy new home here since then. We love living on the North Shore and I am enjoying finding unexpected beauty and little joys throughout our new city. I am also mama to fur babies, Josie the Rhodesian Ridgeback/Lab mix, and Miller, a sweet orange and white tabby cat. I'm into art, movies, music, TV, pop culture, nerdy stuff like Doctor Who and Game of Thrones and I know more than my share about the DC Universe, Pokemon, Minecraft, Battlefield, and all things LEGO thanks to having two boys.
Making The Most Of Your Empty Nest
Over the past week or so, I’ve been thrilled to see so many of my friends moving their kiddos to college or helping them navigate the next steps of their journey in this life.
I...
Why Don’t We Talk More About Menopause? Margaret And Her Gen X Friends Want...
TW: This post contains references to suicide.
This past weekend the movie version of the classic coming-of-age novel "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blume opened to much acclaim. Gen X friend...
Self-Love: A Gift To Yourself And The World
I was shocked last week to see the internet erupt in criticism over Madonna’s Grammy appearance. The hullabaloo wasn’t about the words she spoke, her dress, or the fact she introduced the first transwoman...
Welcome Home, Stranger: How To Reconcile Expectations With Reality When Your College Kid Comes...
Moms, dads, and younger siblings will be welcoming their college-aged family members home this week.
Following the end-of-term flurry of final exams, holiday formals, packing, saying goodbye to friends and roommates and beloved (or despised)...
What I Learned About Parenting From Leslie Jordan
Leslie Jordan’s sudden and tragic death on October 24 hit me hard as I know it did so many others. Especially Chattanoogans. Whether he was hunkered down here in his hometown tending to his...
Halloween And The Great Glitter Compromise Of 2022
In my last post, I shared my love for all things Halloween as I began counting down the days to its arrival. And now, October is finally here. I started my decorating a bit...
Come Little Children: Only Three Months Until The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year
Halloween is just three months away…minus a day, really. And I can barely contain my excitement!
As horror writer Stephen Graham Jones has said, “Some people are born for Halloween, and some are just counting...
Why Are We Silent About Perimenopause?
“You know that’s a menopause symptom, don’t you,” asked the beautiful grey-haired woman selling jewelry at the farmers' market. “Ummmm…no,” I replied, “I assumed it was just allergies.” We had been talking about how...
The Five Friends Every Woman Needs In Her Life
A couple of weeks ago, two friends of mine who live in Atlanta collaborated to send a handmade gift to a friend of mine in Virginia who is fighting breast cancer. None of the...
Standing With Our Sisters In Crisis: It’s What Mothers Do
I sat down to write about a different topic. Something light and good-hearted about friendship. But as I sat there organizing my thoughts, a friend texted me a news story out of Ukraine where...