Cherri Ellis

To the class of 2012 by Cherri Ellis This column originally ran last year. It has been updated and offered again thanks to its timeless advice… I would like a word with the graduating class of 2012.  Listen up, because I have been burdened with wisdom far greater than what is immediately apparent. I would… Read More

There is little in life that can’t be addressed with a solid quote from Dr. Seuss. by Cherri Ellis Last night I met a baby named Eli. He was just a couple of weeks old, and when his mother put him in my arms the rest of the room melted away. Babies are the crack cocaine… Read More

It’s Jean-etic. by Cherri Ellis Don’t take this the wrong way, but the difference between men and women can be found in their jeans.  Men have jeans.  Women have a highly trained battalion of little jean soldiers, and they all know their role.  There are black jeans, faded jeans, boot-cut jeans, jeans for when you… Read More

Two problems. One solution. by Cherri Ellis I recently was able to take my daughter on a mother/daughter trip to New York City.  For three nights, we shopped and laughed and napped and ate in cool restaurants of all varieties.  We bought black/black gel mac eyeliner and walked everywhere, guided by her ever-present iPhone, of… Read More

Medium Rare, Please by Cherri Ellis Of all the qualities a creature can bring to this universe, love is clearly the most important.  Right behind love, however, is a sense of humor.   If you want people to consent to being around you for any length of time, you had better have some semblance of… Read More

Finding something often requires losing something. by Cherri Ellis My groove recently got away from me.  It had a lot of compelling reasons to go, so I can’t really blame it, but I indeed looked around for it one day and it had vanished. What, I wondered dully, had been the final straw?  The radiation… Read More

My smartphone is making me dumber. by Cherri Ellis I think there is no bigger danger to world society than the Global Positioning System (GPS) and it’s evil twin MapQuest. Like the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, when they are good they are very, very good, and when they… Read More

I survived, and she would, too. by Cherri Ellis Yesterday we moved my daughter into her house at the University of Alabama. She is about to be a big sophomore, and she is done enduring the group living situation of the Tutwiler freshman girl’s dorm. Anytime you need to wear shoes both to and in… Read More

No matter what you’re going through, the gift of time shows that sometimes just the beauty remains. by Cherri Ellis I can’t seem to avoid the lesson of duality lately.   The special of the day is the same as always: With every plate of yin you get a free side of yang, whether you order… Read More

A week at the Four Seasons in Costa Rica makes for a heady combination of natural splendor and man-made opulence. by Cherri Ellis If you are ever feeling like you have lost your swerve, spend a week at a Four Seasons Resort. It doesn’t matter where—any Four Seasons will do—but you have to stay a week…. Read More

Don’t head to the altar unless you mean it, and then, hang on like a marsupial. If you’re lucky, you won’t lose your grip. by Cherri Ellis It is wedding season, and we take that seriously here in the Deep South. You can’t open your car door at Botanical Gardens without smacking into a bride,… Read More