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Marilyn Campbell

Stories by Marilyn

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New Yorker Discussion Group

Members enjoy intellectual stimulation, camaraderie over long term.

There was a time when 83-year-old Bob Kanchuger spent most Friday mornings on a 30-mile bike ride with friends.

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Removing Barriers to College

Local services help students complete college paperwork, remove barriers.

LaQuita King relocated across the state from Chesapeake, Va., to Alexandria in the summer of 2013, moving into an apartment with her aunt and three cousins. King had just graduated from high school and was looking forward to taking classes at Northern Virginia Community College. So far, that hasn’t happened.

Organized for School Year

Local organizers offer suggestions on dealing with the summer mess.

When summer comes to a grinding halt in a few weeks, a new school year will begin. From alarm clocks and school bells to piles of homework assignments and sports schedules, maintaining a coordinated household can be difficult, however. Local organizers are offering simple suggestions to help make the transition from summer to the start of the school year seamless.

Preventing Sports Injuries

How to keep kids safe while they’re having fun.

As students prepare to return to school, one activity many look forward to is sports. While the benefits of athletic activities are numerous, however, so are injuries.

Financial Education for College Students

Local experts offer budget tips to keep students out of debt.

As the summer wanes, many recent high school graduates are preparing to head to college. For those who are living away from home for the first time, this means newfound independence. But that freedom brings responsibility — especially when it comes to money.

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A New Work Order

Local designers help create organized and stylish home offices.

Whether it’s a nook, in the kitchen or a designated room, a home office is the place were ideas come to life. Local designers dish about the secrets to creating a workspace that is organized and functional yet stylish. “You’re going to spend a lot of time in it so aesthetics do matter,” said Patricia Tetro of BOWA in McLean.

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Creating Collages, Crowns and Even Dresses

Local artists turn paper into art.

Combining antiqued sheets of music and type-faced book pages with vibrantly hued paper, artist Brook Mowrey creates three-dimensional works that range from crowns and ball gowns to dolls and floral dresses. Her work shows that the use of paper can be varied and diverse.

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Summer Health and Safety Hazards

Keeping danger at bay during warm weather months.

Summer comes but once a year. From picnics and days at the pool to backyard barbeques and day-long hikes, many people spend the season outdoors.

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Gifts for New Grads

Local tastemakers offer suggestions from the sentimental to the practical.

After the tassels have been turned and the diplomas received, it is usually time for a graduation celebration. Whether you’re shopping for someone who is heading to college or venturing out into the workforce, choosing a present for the graduate in your life can be perplexing, but local tastemakers are here to help, offering suggestions for graduation presents that range from the practical to the sentimental.

After Graduation: Dorm Room Set-Up

Local organizers show how to maximize storage in small spaces.

After graduation comes off-to-college season. Often this means parents making design choices for their children or parents and their soon-to-be-college freshmen searching for supplies that will serve dual purposes, particularly when it comes to storage. For those who find themselves in a dorm room design conundrum, local organizers offer tips and tools for creating stylish yet space-saving designs for new college students.

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Creating Private, Restful Retreat

Designers offer suggestions for decorating the perfect bedroom.

While most people crave a good night’s sleep, it remains a dream for many. A bedroom that is both chic and comfortable can help the overworked find that restful slumber.

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You’re Never Too Young for Poetry

Local educators say exposing children and even babies to rhyme and rhythm can help develop reading and language skills.

Though Keith Ward's son is still a baby, the young child is already being exposed to exposed to not just silly stories, but poetry, and a variety of poetic forms at that.

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Outdoor Entertaining

Local style gurus offer tips for alfresco soirees.

The mild temperatures that usher in late spring and early summer beckon many outdoors for alfresco parties. Whether held on a patio, deck or veranda, the necessary logistics for coordinating even a simple gathering can be daunting.

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Hearing Loss Doesn’t Have to be Life-changing

“What?” May is Better Hearing and Speech Month.

On any given workday, you might find Arlington resident Erin Weiner sitting in a family-friendly restaurant causally coloring or playing games with a young child. At first glance, she might be mistaken for any young mother entertaining her offspring while they wait for a meal. In actuality, Weiner, who is a speech-language pathologist, is employing what she describes as an innovative approach to therapy that involves working with a child in his or her natural environment.

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Going into Business with Mom

Mother-daughter Realtor teams say working together can work.

Allison Goodhart has a vivid childhood memory: pulling a wagon filled with pumpkins and her younger sister around her family’s Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria, helping to promote her parents’ real estate business. Today Allison Goodhart works alongside her mother as part of Old Town Alexandria-based Goodhart Group of McEnearney Associates Inc., Realtors.

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Summer Learning Activities

Local educators offer tips to keep children learning during the summer.

When summer vacation begins and school ends in a few weeks, learning doesn’t have to take a hiatus. Students can keep their academic skills sharp without entering a classroom or even sitting down with a pencil and paper.

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Choosing a Summer Camp

Camp experts offer advice on selecting a camp, but now is the time to register.

Many families with school age children will plan to have their children spend some of the much-anticipated summer season in camp. If you haven’t yet selected camps for your children, now is the time.

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Many Ideas for Summer Activities

Avoid those dreaded words: ‘I’m bored.’

Molly McAlister enjoys the freedom of summer, but there are three words she dreads hearing: “Mom, I’m bored.” Creating activities to keep her three children busy during the summer is a task she enjoys, but it isn’t always easy.

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A Picture Perfect Home

Tips from the pros on boosting a home’s curb appeal.

When Realtors Marsha Schuman and Betsy Schuman Dodek drive up to a home to show it to a prospective buyer, they know that they have only one chance to make a good first impression. Potomac-based Dodek and Schuman of the Schuman Team of Washington Fine Properties say a home’s curb appeal matters. “When we think of curb appeal we think of the lawn and landscaping, front door, windows, roof and how it all looks,” said Dodek.

Del Ray Realtor Honored for Community Leadership

Jen Walker receives the Marguerite Payez Leadership Award.

When Jen Walker moved to the Del Ray section of Alexandria in 1997 she received a warm welcome and felt an immediate sense of community.

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What to Expect

Real estate experts offer a forecast for spring.

Real estate agent Joan Caton Cromwell says she lost a home bidding war last week in Falls Church even though her client was a strong contestant.

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Realtors: Great Kitchens Help Sell Homes

Real estate experts offer tips for creating an appealing kitchen.

Designer Jacquelin Lluy, of Nicely Done Kitchens and Baths in Springfield, recently transformed the kitchen of a home in Mantua, in Fairfax, from a small, dark space to a light-filled, free-flowing culinary oasis.

Challenging A Child’s Mind

Experts say reading is critical to cognitive and emotional development.

Arlington mother Holly Karapetkova reserves time for reading in the schedules of her two young children. It has become such an important part of their daily routine that it is a treasured family activity. It is also vital to her children’s development says Karapetkova.

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Clean for Spring

Local organization experts offer tips to help with spring cleaning.

Betsy Fein found herself in the middle of a spring fling in Fairfax recently. She wasn’t at a festival or involved in a new romance, but in the midst of organizing a cluttered bedroom that was littered with piles of shirts, pants, shoes and books. Spring often means renewal and local organizers like Fein are offering suggestions for clearing out winter clutter. From closets that are overstuffed with wool sweaters and down coats to kitchen drawers overflowing with batteries and appliance manuals, they offer suggestions for getting organized without getting overwhelmed.

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Local Designer Honored

Alexandria tastemaker blends a variety of styles.

Old Town Alexandra-based interior designer Anna Kucera has a knack for helping her clients turn their fanciful ideas in to concrete realities.

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Keeping up with Neal Gillen

Potomac attorney, open-water swimmer doesn’t slow down.

The fog was thick in San Francisco as waves crashed against the rocks in the Pacific Ocean. It was a cold morning and 73-year-old Neal Gillen found himself fighting against the current, gulps of salt water burning his mouth. Far from his Potomac home, he was heading for Alcatraz.

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Seniors Rush to Yoga

Yoga teachers, research point to health benefits for seniors.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on any given Tuesday or Thursday morning, 84-year-old Lola Wulchin can be found slowly stretching into a downward facing dog pose or lunging into a warrior one posture. The Vienna resident has been a yoga devotee at East Meets West Yoga Center in Vienna for slightly more than two years. In fact, she credits twice-weekly, gentle yoga practice with boosting her health and improving her quality of life. "I had been bothered by a lot of neck pain from arthritis," said Wulchin. "I had seen a pain management doctor who gave me shots, I had physical therapy, but I still had neck pain and very little range of motion."

How to Age in Place Safely

Local experts suggest techniques and programs that can help seniors stay in their homes longer.

The AARP reports that nearly 80 percent of adults age 65 and older want to remain in their current homes as long as possible. That population is growing. According to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging, the population 65 years or older numbered 39.6 million in 2009. By 2030, that number will grow to about 72.1 million. While people are living longer and healthier lives, there are still barriers to aging in place, including medication management, self-care, socialization and transportation. But there are innovative strategies and initiatives to help combat these roadblocks.

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New Food for Spring

When Dara Yaffe Lyubinsky was growing up in Potomac she always enjoyed cooking, whether it was with her family and friends, or for her synagogue. Today, she’s passionate about cooking fresh, seasonal meals. Lyubinsky, like many chefs and culinary enthusiasts, is looking forward to strolling through farmers markets and creating fanciful spring dishes with the season’s freshest bounty, especially as she prepares to return to D.C. from New York. However, she and other chefs are making the most of the available spring produce even if warm weather seems a like a distant dream.

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How To Prepare for New SAT

Local experts say working hard in class is the best way to be successful.

Linda Mitchell and her 15-year-old daughter, Alexis, say they don’t really know what to expect when Alexis sits for the SAT college admissions exam in 2016, but they’re not too worried at this point. Two years is a long time.

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Art Educators, Galleries Celebrate Youth Art Month

Experts say art can teach valuable life skills.

Brightly colored self-portraits, landscapes dotted with spring flowers and hand-carved sculptures fill a gallery at the McLean Project for the Arts in McLean. All of the art was created by local school children. Meanwhile, in Alexandria, parents and tots dip their fingers in glue, clay and paint to create collages, sculptures and paintings.

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Tips to Get Your Home Ready for Spring

Experts suggest a yearly spring maintenance check-up.

With warmer weather just around the corner, it’s time to focus on your home.

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Getting Your Garden Ready for Spring

Local experts tell you what you should do now, in spite of the cold weather.

It doesn’t feel like spring. Last week’s snow made it seem like warm weather might never arrive, so planting a garden might be the last thing on your mind. However, local gardening experts say this is the ideal time to start preparing your landscape to yield colorful spring foliage. Bill Mann, of Behnke Nurseries in Potomac, Md., said spring garden preparation plans differ from year to year. "It depends on the landscape beds you have and whether or not you’re planning to put in a vegetable garden," he said.

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Whimsy Meets Elegance

Potomac designer creates playful yet polished home for family of five.

When an active family of five approached Potomac interior designer Sharon Kleinman and asked her to give their home a makeover, they wanted a whimsical yet polished space.

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Kitchen Confidential

From light-filled to dramatic, local designers create dream kitchens.

When Allie Mann of Arlington, a designer and senior interior specialist at Case Design/Remodeling, Inc. was tasked with giving the first floor of a McLean, Va., home a face lift, she had to think free-flowing and airy.

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Arlington Family Outgrows Home but Stays Put

Family builds addition to accommodate their growing needs.

When a family of five realized that they’d outgrown their home in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, they pondered two options: purchase a new home or build an addition onto their existing home. They decided to stay in their home.

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The D.C. Design House Designers Announced

Some of the area’s top designers competed for an opportunity to donate their talent to transform a local, grand home into a showcase home. Local designers chosen to help transform the 2014 DC Design House include:

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Creating a Harmonious Family Life

Local experts offer tips for keeping your family happy.

As Elizabeth Rees drove her daughter and two of her daughter’s friends to a library reading group recently, the Alexandria mother of three admits that she felt like a chauffeur at first. But she had a change of heart after hearing sounds of laughter.

Incorporating Math and Science Into a Child’s Day

Simple suggestions for supporting math and science learning.

Maria Kennedy was driving her 5-year-old son to pre-school when he asked a question that stunned her. "Mommy, why is the sun following us?" Kennedy, who says she was stuck in rush-hour traffic and running late for work wasn’t sure how to respond.

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Home Design: What the Pros Know

A look inside the homes of some of the area’s top builders.

Remodeling industry professionals spend their days helping clients create dream homes, adding quartzite counter tops and outdoor, stacked stone fireplaces, turning ideas and photos into functional, chic living spaces.

Help for Dry Winter Skin

Skin care experts suggest hydrating solutions that range from nutrition to treatments.

Andrea Myers and her two young sons say that one of the challenges of winter is dry, itchy skin. Her boys, aged six and four, can only stand wearing soft clothing, because rough fabrics like denim irritate their skin.

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Consistent Bedtimes Linked to Improved Wellbeing in Children

Local experts offer suggestions for helping youngsters get a good night’s sleep.

When the clock strikes 9 on any given evening, 13-year-old twins Timothy and Danny Gulyn and their 11-year-old twin brothers, Christopher and Jonathan, know that it’s time for bed. Whether they are on vacation during the summer or at their Arlington home on a school night, the siblings follow a consistent routine that has them tucked-in at the same time every day.

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Summer Camp: Start Planning Now

Applications for many camps open in January.

The frigid January temperatures can make summer feel like a distant fantasy of sunscreen and popsicles, but it’s actually not that far away. If you have children who want to attend camp after the current school year ends, now is the time to start planning, said experts. In fact, registration for many camps begins this month.

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Kitchen Organization for the New Year

Local organizers, designers and culinary experts offer smart tips for making space and clearing clutter.

If organizing an unruly kitchen, one where there never seems to be enough space for storage containers and pots and pans, is on your list of resolutions this year, the project might be less daunting than you think. From creating a system for grouping spices to keeping plates in easy reach, local experts share secrets for a well-maintained kitchen. Hang pots and pans inside pantry doors, says Sallie Kjos of GreyHunt Interiors in Chantilly. "It organizes them, but decoratively can look effective."

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Top Designs of 2013

Local builders look back on their most impressive spaces.

From outdoor patios with the comforts of indoor family rooms to a stark white bathroom replete with Carrara marble flooring, local designers said they’ve created some spectacular living spaces in 2013. Their personal favorites may be surprising, and include a lot of kitchens and bathrooms.

Trendiest Color for 2014: Radiant Orchid

Local designers offer tips on using this exotic hue tastefully and share their own color predictions.

It has been called exotic, vibrant and even magical. Now it has been named the 2014 color of the year: orchid, or radiant orchid to be exact.

Bathroom Organization for New Year

Simple strategies for storing bathroom essentials.

Cluttered bathrooms where the medicine cabinet contains everything from batteries to old toothbrushes and a linen closet where towels and sheets are intermingled with flashlights and scrub brushes can be the bane of anyone’s existence. However, a new year can offer a fresh start in one of the most-used rooms in one’s home.

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Spiritual Wellness in the New Year

What is it and how does one achieve it?

As we begin a new year, many are focused on their spiritual health and well-being. In fact, the National Wellness Institute names spiritual wellness as one of the seven dimensions of overall wellness. It’s essential in life, say experts.

Cures for Cabin Fever

Creative ideas for housebound parents and children.

Winter brings frigid temperatures, icy roads, snow and often school closures. While sledding and building snowmen are fun, hazardous weather conditions mean much of the time is spent indoors, and soon the novelty of time off can become cabin fever. Local child education experts offer activity suggestions for filling those long winter days. Susan Friedman, executive editor for digital content at the National Association for the Education of Young Children and a Bethesda resident, suggests parents encourage a child’s natural curiosity. "In the same way that school classrooms have activity centers, parents can create boxes that focus on different activities like playing dress up with clothes, hats and neckties," she said. "You can create a box with art supplies and a box with games or puzzles."

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Home for the Holidays: Surviving a Long Trip

Keeping children entertained on lengthy airplane rides.

Liz Henry is nervous about her upcoming flight to San Francisco. It’s not TSA regulations or long lines that are causing her anxiety, however. It is traveling alone with her three children — all of whom are under the age of 6.