Months before Finn was born, I had my labor plan written and my hospital bag packed. I was taking birthing classes and listening to hypnobirthing CDs. I bought anything that anyone suggested and ignored anyone who started a sentence with the words, “you really don’t need a…” With Bennett I was a little more relaxed [...]
I have a not-so-secret desire to live in a Scandi country. When I reviewed foreign films, my favorites were from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. I dig the way those people live (and raise their kids). The boys' names list for every baby we've had or are about to have is heavy on the [...]
To Bennett, the spice drawer is a crazy adventure. He carefully takes the lid off each spice jar, smells it and says, "Ooooooh-woowwww!" like every one of them is the most amazing smell in the world. And he’s a toddler, so maybe it is. Finn and I used to play this game when he was about [...]
Like so many parents of toddlers, Robbie and I have a complicated relationship with the iPad. Finn would happily play it all day if given the choice. Even with advice from pediatric associations that limited use of learning apps can be beneficial, our gut feeling is that any more than very limited use is not [...]
Last week I discovered Aēsop's travel sized Resurrection Rinse-free Hand Wash. I love the Resurrection line (mandarin rind, rosemary leaf, cedar atlas) so I bought it, bringing my hand sanitizer collection to 7926 bottles. I don't even use hand sanitizer on my own hands. But I do use it on the boys hands after the [...]
So that trip to IKEA a couple of weeks ago produced something positive. Yeah! I'm happy with the RIBBA picture ledges I bought to use as bookshelves. The books add color to the room displayed like this and the shelves seem quite sturdy (nobody has tried to pull them down yet). Here's how they [...]
I'm not much of a product girl. I have started using a Clarisonic two to three times a week, but apart from that I don't do a lot. But lately my skin looks tired. It needs something more than I am giving it. For me, the prospect of buying cosmetics is so overwhelming that I [...]
Project New House is in full swing. Speaking from experience, this nesting bug will last about another two to three weeks. After the buzz wears off, the house will stay looking pretty much the same from that day until we move again. I'm pretty sure most of my family will be thrilled when I [...]
When it comes to rapid weight loss programs, I’ll try anything once. I’ve done the cabbage soup diet, the South Beach Diet, the Master Cleanse; and the very controversial Atkins diet (back in the day when all you could eat was bacon - it was pretty awesome). I've had the BluePrint Cleanse in my bookmarks [...]
Blue Apron Tilapia Meunière with Moroccan-Spiced Lentils & Rainbow Chard Life with toddlers is pretty crazy at the best of times. My wing-man is down with a back injury, so things have been especially hectic around here. I decided to try a meal delivery service to take some of the pressure off. No shopping for [...]
My blog post San Francisco Guide for Guilty Mamas tried to justify my decision to abandon my husband and children for 48 hours of debauchery with a bunch of girls from Cali. That post kind of highlighted the negatives. It’s true, I did develop a plugged milk duct (as well as a hole in my [...]
When one of my Cali girlfriends sent out an invite for a girls weekend in San Fransisco, I was pumped. For nearly 3 months my life had been changing diapers, sleepless nights and sore nipples. It had been a year between martinis and I was ready to get my party on (read: take a [...]