Claire Bidwell Smith

My aunt and uncle were in town from Cape Cod over the weekend (hence the lack of posting — I went straight from the SF trip into out-of-town guests) and my aunt brought me a bunch of old photos. There was a whole little album with pictures of my mother pregnant and bringing me home. Read more…

I can hardly believe that I am about to type the following sentence. This week I accepted an offer from Penguin to publish my memoir. The Rules of Inheritance will debut in hardcover in the spring of 2012 through Hudson Street Press, and then again in paperback through Plume a year after that. I know Read more…

Almost two years after my mother died I had a dream that I was on Cape Cod. In the dream it was Thanksgiving and my whole family was present, my aunts and my uncle, my cousins, even my father. Everyone was seated around the long table in my aunt's dining room, a great feast laid Read more…

Every morning when V wakes up we bring her into our bed. This usually affords us another 20 minutes of snoozing, and sometimes (very rarely) she'll fall back asleep for a while. Most of the time though she nurses on and off, jabbers away and flops back and forth between the two of us, exclaiming, Read more…

This is a confession of sorts. The gist of it? I'm not that good at living a normal life. This is something I learned about myself a long time ago, but it's something I seem to forget from time to time. In thinking about my good enough project, and the hows and whys and the Read more…

Dear Veronica, You are 16 months old today. I took this photo of you this afternoon, just outside the house. There is no doubt that you know who you are. When I ask where Veronica is, you point proudly to your chest and declare yourself Gaca. Not surprisingly, I am almost too tired to write Read more…

Three years ago today I closed the door to my little Venice Beach apartment for the very last time and climbed behind the driver's seat of a moving truck, embarking on one of the biggest adventures of my life. Upending my life in Los Angeles and moving across the country for a guy I'd only Read more…

Today is my 32nd birthday. I'm at home with my little Bug, due for lunch with friends in a couple of hours and awaiting the arrival of a friend from Los Angeles later today.  I'm making myself a birthday cake this afternoon and we'll have a quiet dinner here at home tonight. Tomorrow night a Read more…

Some days are harder than others. I meant to post a blog today about all the great food we ate in NOLA (and I still intend to soon), but I just didn't get it together in time to do so. Greg went out last night with a friend, which is no longer a big deal Read more…

I'm feeling a little blah about the holidays this year. Now, before you get all preachy with me and berate me for feeling blah when I'm healthy and employed and have a wonderful husband and a beautiful baby girl who will celebrate her first Christmas, let me just say I KNOW. And I already feel Read more…