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.
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...
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...
Survival Is Insufficient: Getting Unstuck From Your Pandemic Depression
January 2022 has been the most brutal of months. More than once I have apologized to friends for my depression or my anxiety or...
After 18 Years, I’ve Learned I Was Never Doing It Wrong
Dashing through the aisles at Target on a mission to grab a few more storage bins for packing, I skid my cart to a...
Got Big Feelings? Make a List!
Like any major life transition, graduating brings on a whole lot of emotions for both the kid graduating and their parents. If you're like...
It’s Never Easy, but It Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard: Raising Emotionally Intelligent...
Do you remember being a teenager? Riding on bright white crests of joy and excitement one moment before being pulled into a dark, swirling...
That Cliché You Hate is True
The days are long, but the years are short.
It’s such a cliché. And in a year when time got turned on its head and...
Crave Connection? Embrace Vulnerability
A common thread woven into the lives of many people I know is a longing for deep, meaningful connection. As human beings we are...
I Can’t Wait to Nudge My Little Bird Out of the Nest
Amidst all the COVID-19 chaos, one bit of normalcy dominated the fall for my family: the college application process.
My older son, a senior at...
5 Ways to Help Your Relationships During a World Crisis
We are now almost eight months deep into a pandemic that has strained the already thin fabric of our nation even farther. The effects...