Although our six year anniversary was about one month ago, at the time, my husband was in Beijing, so there was very little celebrating going on over here. Although he did send me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from our local florist, who has been known to come up with some very, very interesting arrangements. [...]

Carrot & Stick Press has long been a favorite resource of mine for fantastic gifts. Elegant, classy and with a little bit of sass, you cannot go wrong with a stack of their notebooks for a recent high school graduate or a box of their notecards for your best friend’s birthday. Throwing a dinner party? [...]

I am in love with the idea of displaying our girls’ art somewhere in our home, on a wall. Front and center. I read recently that this proud display of a child’s creation will add to the child’s self-confidence. I like that. But even more than that, I like it when Pea walks through the [...]

Not that long ago, I wrote about a bird mobile that I was dying to make for Coco’s room. And while I am still planning on making my own, particularly after finding some to-die-for fabrics at a little shop on Etsy, I also stumbled onto the Etsy shop of the creative genius who originally came [...]

Pea announced a few days ago that she doesn’t like her bedroom because it’s “not pretty.” Strong statement coming from a 3-year old. So I’ve decided it’s time to do something about that. Her room should be pretty and luxurious and cozy. And you know what? So should Coco’s! Why did I forget that? A [...]

How many times have you been invited to someone’s home, and you’ve brought along a bottle of wine? We’ve done that. A lot. And I don’t know the first thing about wine. I really don’t. And that’s rather sad, when you consider that my uncle ran a Napa Valley Vineyard. And now owns a successful [...]

Okay, I know I’m really late on these tubtrugs. But I have good reason. They were everywhere. For the longest time. And I got so sick of seeing them. And looked the other way. All the while? Had bath toys that could’ve used one. And dog toys that needed one. And outside toys. They all [...]

Yesterday, after dropping Pea off at camp, Coco and I headed to the other side of SLC, to IKEA. I’ve only been in an IKEA once before, years ago, in New Jersey. My husband and I stopped on our way to visit my half-sister at school. And it was so crowded I nearly died. So, [...]

I have over 22,000 photos stored on my computer. And those are just the shots from my digital camera. In a closet, I have 10 more storage containers, each larger than a shoe box, that I have pictures in that were developed from film. Remember the good old days? I much prefer the digital storage [...]

So this is going to sound cliche, I’m sure, But cliche? Not so bad if it’s actually doing something good, right? Here goes… I’m trying so simplify life over here. Yes, you read that correctly. The ultimate consumer is on a down-scaling binge. It’s too much. There’s just too much stuff in my home. In [...]

My husband loves pizza. Almost as much as I do. And although his preference is for deep-dish, and my preference is for a simple New York slice, we do see eye to eye on one thing… It has to be good. Really good. No Tombstone frozen pies over here. And so as it happens, right [...]

My husband left very early this morning for Beijing. As in China. For six weeks. He’s on his way over there for the Olympics. And it was a really tough goodbye. We didn’t have a lot of time to make the decision whether or not he should go, so I’m not sure how much thought [...]

My husband’s new barbecue grill arrived on Monday. He couldn’t get it into the backyard fast enough, he just had to fire it up and test it out. What is it with guys and grills? I won’t get near the thing; it’s intimidating. Gas. Matches. So close to the house. Not for me. But I [...]

So this is, apparently, the week of cool websites that you just need to check out. I am completely in awe of Haute Nature. I mean, really. This site is fantastic. In addition to being about creative projects, which I’m all about these days, it’s also green. As in good for everyone and everything. And [...]

Yesterday, we were in the car, en route to the grocery store. Pea was in the backseat, with a little notebook. She asked me for a pen, to make her own “list.” I reluctantly handed her one. Something told me not to do it, but I did. And then… the pen exploded. All over her [...]