Sarah Yakel
Little Bits of Joy
My recently received edition of Entertainment Weekly started with this glum opening editor’s note: “Nobody with a lick of sense should wax nostalgic about 2020. Should some future soul discover this letter many decades hence, when humanity lives in climate-controlled domed cites
Sarah YakelDec 22, 2020
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Finally, Christmas music is legal…and so are outdoor Christmas lights and decorating Christmas trees. The rules of the holiday season dictate no signs of Christmas until after Thanksgiving, and all Christmas artifacts must be removed by January 2nd. 😊 At the Yakel household, we
Sarah YakelDec 1, 2020
Over and Out
This election season has been a challenge, driving Crush to binge on chips… However, with the election (yet perhaps not the end of the debate) behind us, hopefully we can start to mend fences and live in peace with each other. With the market soaring to all time highs today on th
Sarah YakelNov 10, 2020It’s Fall Y’all
October is my favorite time to live in Virginia…I know we take our knocks when it comes to the weather, but October is the payoff for the crazy weather we have all year long.. I do love the shades of green in April and the springtime flowers of May, but October is when Virginia c
Sarah YakelOct 20, 2020
Reader Mailbag
Every time we send out the weekly blog email, we invite our readers to send ideas for future posts our way. Every now and then, a reader takes us up on that! 😊 Here’s one question that we’ve been meaning to answer for a while (but were waylaid by one of the craziest market cycle
Sarah YakelSep 22, 2020
Splitsville
With Apple and Tesla completing their stock splits last Friday, we’ve been talking to lots of investors that have become interested in their stock…which sort of baffles us, as the basic principle of a split doesn’t alter the fundamental value of a company in any way. When a compa
Sarah YakelSep 1, 2020Adulting, deferred
When the world stopped in March with the arrival of COVID-19, we got a small reprieve from the endless string of ‘grown-up’ appointments…no routine doctor visits, hair cuts, teeth cleanings, vet visits, etc. It sort of felt like playing hooky from doing adult things…but now, sadl
Sarah YakelAug 11, 2020
The Rest of the Story
My dad engrained many things in me from a young age…value of hard work, honesty, family values, etc. But also his love of the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers movies, Johnny Cash, the Beatles, Neil Diamond, Looney Tunes, Ray Stevens, lots of old movies, and Paul Harvey… I don’t r
Sarah YakelJul 21, 2020
Perspectives
We just returned home from an epic road trip across Montana—we started in Glacier National Park in the north and worked our way to Yellowstone in the south. The trip was a feast for the eyes—and many times, it was hard to take it all in. The perspectives were so grand that it was
Sarah YakelJun 30, 2020
Topsy Turvy
Today, the Meridian team is attending a virtual JP Morgan Investment Forum. We usually head to Tysons to a nice hotel conference center and hear from the top economists at JP Morgan in person…but this year, we are all sitting at our desks, listening in. While virtual events are a
Sarah YakelJun 9, 2020For Better or Worse
With the beautiful weather this past weekend, Jonathan and I tackled our first major project in a very long time. We built a raised bed garden with deer netting and a hinged door—here is the finished product: We usually don’t do projects together—it’s not great for our marriage.
Sarah YakelMay 19, 2020Reflections
It has been a challenging couple of months, and I was thinking through how wild it has been (January seems like forever ago!). Here is just a collection of things we’ve seen personally and professionally (they sort of all blend together when you work from home) during the past se
Sarah YakelApr 28, 2020