Start Here + About

Start Here

Hi, I’m Dory Loomis — a Chinese-Filipino American writer based in California, telling real-life stories with humor, heart, and the occasional meltdown that becomes wisdom later.

Chuckles & Dagger is my creative journal and writing home. Here you’ll find honest essays about family and second chances, sarcastic travel stories, comfort food moments, and the kind of life reflections you only discover after surviving a few plot twists.


✨ What This Blog Is About

This space is for anyone who loves:

  • Travel stories that mix mishaps, nostalgia, and useful tips
  • Emotional essays about resilience, healing, starting over, and midlife reinvention
  • Real-life humor — marriage jokes, family chaos, culture clashes, overthinking, overpacking
  • Comfort food moments and the stories behind the recipes

If you’ve ever rebuilt your life, laughed through stress, or been blindsided by a family reunion — you’re in the right place.


📍 Who I Am (The Quick Version)

  • Writer, digital publisher, late bloomer, and recovering retail manager
  • Filipino-Chinese roots, American heart, global wanderer soul
  • Mom, grandma, storyteller, and lifelong reinventor
  • Publisher of bilingual children's books + adult coloring journals
  • A woman who deeply believes humor is survival and storytelling is healing

I write because the world is messy — and saying things out loud helps make sense of it.


🌍 Where to Start Reading

1. Travel Stories

Funny, heartfelt, sometimes chaotic — always honest. Perfect if you love itineraries, island discoveries, cruise diaries, or “I definitely didn’t plan that” moments.

2. Life Essays

Midlife, motherhood, blended families, healing, identity, and second chances — the heart of this blog.

3. Recipes & Food Moments

Comfort bakes, quick meals, and the sentimental stories attached to the kitchen mess.


💛 My Promise

I don’t pretend life is perfect. I write the truth — sometimes funny, sometimes tender, always real.

If my stories make you laugh, feel seen, or breathe a little easier… that’s the entire point.


📬 Find Me Elsewhere


Welcome to Chuckles & Dagger. Grab a story. Stay awhile. You’re home.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Latest from Chuckles and Dagger

What She Kept

I showed my mother‑in‑law the dishes the way you show someone proof that you were paying attention. Proof that you listened. Proof that you ...