The Dolly Mama Diaries

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Dolly Mama woman with curly green hair holding a cup beside the quote, “My thoughts need a makeover more than my face does.”

Overthinking Everything

I can replay a conversation, reconsider a decision, and examine something from seventeen different angles. By angle eighteen, I’m tired, confused, and no closer to an answer. Maybe we don’t need a ...

Pink-haired Dolly Mama holding a feather duster beside signs reading “I feel like I should clean the house…” and “So I am going to play with crafts until the feeling passes.”

Relaxing Shouldn’t Be This Much Work

Why is relaxing without guilt so much work? Before I can read a book or pick up a paintbrush, Judge Joey demands evidence that I’ve earned it. Apparently, happiness needs a permission slip.

behind the scenes “Illustrated Dolly Mama holding a sign that reads, ‘That’s a horrible idea. What time?’”

I’m My Very Own Test Dummy

I’ve been called stubborn since birth. Sometimes that leads to a shaved head and a pink bow. Other times, it leads to the Dolly Mamas.

The Dolly Mama Diaries

A weekly dose of Dolly Mama humor about getting older, friendship, readers, chin hairs, and all the ridiculous things life throws at us. Because laughing is cheaper than therapy.

Dolly Mama illustration holding coffee with the words Anything is Possible After Coffee

When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned: Finding Hope.

I had a plan: marriage, 2.5 kids, a white picket fence, and my own advertising agency. Life looked at that plan and laughed. Now, at almost 63, I’m still figuring it out—one cup of coffee at a time.

Funny Dolly Mama illustration of a stylish woman with the saying 'I tried to keep my mouth shut. Worst three minutes of my life.

The Day Oprah Shut Me Up (It Didn't Last)

I've been told my entire life that I talk too much. I disagree. But there was one moment — live on The Oprah Winfrey Show — when I had absolutely nothing to say. Here's that story, and why I've sto...

Dolly Mama illustration — "If we get caught… you're deaf and I don't speak English."

The Funny Side of Getting Older: A Dolly Mama Story

My filter isn't broken — it's clogged. A story about inherited humor, a stolen parking spot at Bloomingdale's, and why saying exactly what you think might just be the best perk of getting older.

Empowering women illustration – embracing getting older wrinkles and all – Dolly Mama

Turns Out My Dolly Mama Was Right

I drew this Dolly Mama over twenty years ago. Back then I thought she was funny because… well… I was forty-one. Forty-one-year-old me didn't actually have wrinkles. Turns out she wasn't making a jo...

Funny Dolly Mama blog post – I'm Not Talking to Myself, I'm in a Meeting

I'm Not Talking to Myself... I'm in a Meeting.

Somewhere between paying bills, raising kids, and remembering passwords, I started having full conversations with myself. Turns out I'm not crazy — I'm just over forty. And honestly? The meetings a...

Funny relatable women illustration – my ego thinks I'm amazing my anxiety would like a word – Dolly Mama

My Ego Thinks I'm Amazing. My Anxiety Would Like a Word.

I can convince myself I should be running the country — and five minutes later, I apologize to a self-checkout machine. Nobody has it all together. They're just better at hiding the junk drawer.