It doesn’t matter where I am or what I am doing, there are just some items that I am never prepared enough to have on hand. Such as a rain coat, which is what I so desperately needed last Saturday in San Francisco, when a friend and I took our four children to Fisherman’s Wharf and promptly got caught in a torrential downpour.

Ugh.

There is just nothing worse than being caught unprepared, especially when it comes to rain.

I’m adding this rain coat to my list, and hopefully it will be in my possession the next time I am caught in a storm.

This sled is going to be under the Christmas tree for the girls this year. Santa is dropping it off. My favorite because he says I don’t have to wrap anything that comes from him. Phew.

It’s an heirloom, for sure. I’m going to be zipping down the mountains on this thing with my grandchildren someday.

I am dreaming of this jacket. I cannot get it out of my mind. A little on the pricy side, but my God, it’s winter here for about nine months out of the year! So I could totally justify it…

On a rainy Saturday morning, the girls and I stumbled into a charming toy store in Berkeley, California, that harkened back to my own childhood: one filled with wooden toys, Legos, design-a-plate kits and lots of books.

I loaded up on Melissa & Doug place mats and special crayons. So much fun for Coco to work on her alphabet and Pea to work on counting to 100 over breakfast each morning.

These would make great Christmas gifts for any kids you can think of. Such as Secret Santa recipients at your kid’s school…

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! We sure did, northern California was great, but there’s nothing like coming home.

So, the last thing you are interested in, I’m sure, is more about one of my favorite topics – food.

But…

Thanks to the Goop newsletter that I receive, I came upon this amazing site, weelicious. It’s all about cooking for your family, the youngest ones included. Definitely worth a look!

So the family is off on a road-trip to northern California for Thanksgiving. My husband has a show up there on Saturday, and with flights in and out of our home base being slim pickings, it was looking like he was going to have to leave us for the holiday in order to get to his destination on time. Not okay, in my book. This is the one holiday that we absolutely must be together for as a family.

So we are packing up the car, dropping the dogs off at the kennel and heading out. We’ll be spending Thanksgiving day in Marin County with friends.

Can’t wait!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. See you back on Monday!

My in-laws sent us the most beautiful gift as a thank you for our hospitality during their last visit. It’s from a site called Viva Terra, which is lovely.

Yes, the fruit was delicious, but it’s the basket that I can’t get enough of…

I know I’m not supposed to use it. Petroleum, and all. But I can’t stop. It’s so dry here, and the climate plus the heat in our house is just destroying our skin. Little Coco had a nasty case of excema break out on her chin and upper lip, but I put Aquaphor on the spots for a couple of nights, and now her gorgeous and peachy little girl skin is back, once again.

I just can’t do without…

And those small tubes that they sell in 2-packs? I have them everywhere – all over the house, in the car – but never found them that great for lip application because there was no, well, applicator. But now? It seems they’ve done a little tweaking, reformulated it specifically as a lip product (no petroleum, as far as I can see), and added an applicator!

Heaven for my very chapped lips…

Pea is totally into science, which is so special for me because I was not. I’d do anything to avoid it. But she embraces it. So when we were in Chicago, her grandmother bought her a copy of “50 Science Things to Make & Do,” and I think it’s safe to say that as the wintery weather rolls in out here in the mountains, we are going to get busy checking off the projects in this book, one at a time…

Katie Did is a blog that I used to read religiously. A lovely mother in Brooklyn who was creative beyond creative. Check out the photos on her blog of the clothes she made her children. I found every little thing that she did so completely inspiring. It’s a shame that she’s no longer out there, writing, for those of us who hung onto her every word. You can read why on her blog. But you can also scroll back and see what I’m talking about.

And then you can make her recipe for granola, which I made last week. The girls and I have been eating it non-stop. In the mornings, mixed with fresh berries as a topping on our vanilla yogurt. Or just straight from it’s airtight container. It is that good. Not too sweet, not at all boring (and much to my surprise, the addition of coconut does not give it a coconut-y taste at all).

(For some unknown reason, probably my own issue, I cannot link to her blog. Which is weird since I’ve been successfully linking to things for years now. But being of very-short patience, I’m giving up and asking you to cut and paste her URL. It’s worth it.)

http://katiedid.squarespace.com/

I am so ready to go see someone for one of those IPL treatments. Living in a high-altitude community where we are outside most of the day is about destroying my skin. The brown spots. Ugh. I look in the mirror and can’t see past them. I’ve cut bangs (myself, not a good idea, ever) to camouflage them, gone through the way-too-much concealer phase (ever looked in your car’s rearview, so sure you’re going to like what you see? And then been crushed, wondering how it is you walk around in public like that?), and the very brief and amusing “this is just who I am phase, so take it or leave it.” That one was particularly funny because I’m always working on myself. Inside and out. And can’t believe that those words would ever leave my lips.

So this time of the year, just on the cusp of ski season, is when I step up my sunblock regimen. And anyone who knows me knows that I am absolutely obsessed with SPF. I slather it on everyone, everywhere.

What I’m using now: SkinCeuticals Ultimate UV Defense (SPF 30). The tube is 3 oz. and it goes on nicely underneath make-up, hasn’t made my very sensitive and finicky skin break out, and touts itself as “optimal in high-altitude climates or on oily/problematic skin (both of which apply to me).”

And on my lips: LipCotz (SPF 45). (Please note, this link is for three tubes. Not one.)

My obsession with any and all products that you apply to your lips continues…

Mally Beauty has a liquid lipstick-like thing (I don’t know why they can’t just call it what it is: a really nice gloss) that I am currently fixated on. And I’ve Googled her make-up line six ways to Sunday but could only find this exact product on the QVC website, which stinks because it means I had to pay shipping, although I’d like to give a shout-out to QVC for having such reasonable shipping costs in the first place.

Anyway, ordered it in ‘Supernatural,’ and it is that, indeed: a super-duper natural shade that is, as they say (“they” being the beauty experts) my lips only better…

A couple of weeks ago, we took the girls to Chicago for a whirlwind weekend. The highlight for me? Our trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. As far as I am concerned, it’s the greatest museum in the country for kids and adults alike. I could spend days in there…

One highlight? The Jim Henson exhibit. An idol of mine since I was a babe.

We’ve already had our first snow here, in the mountains. But it didn’t last long. Bummer. I was all geared up for sweater weather: warm knits, tall leather boots, chunky scarves.

Sigh.

A girl can dream, though. And if she really had it in her, she could also get to knitting. (Note to self: get back to knitting!)

I love this shrug. And I really love this cape.

About six months ago, I attempted to order two pillow pets for the girls, so that they could have them for a long road-trip to Arizona. Unfortunately, they arrived at our doorstep the day after we loaded up the car and headed out. Needless to say I was so pleased with myself that I actually kept their ordering a secret: I am notoriously bad when it comes to surprises. And had they known they were en route but we might miss them by a day, the girls never would have gotten into the car sans pillow pets.

They like them just fine, it would seem. They’ve been in the car on many, many road trips and have even joined us on a flight to Chicago. We’ve since sent one to their little cousin in Texas for no reason other than they’re so darn cute, cuddly and cheap.

Seriously, you can get these things for about $15. And now they’re even selling them at Wal-Mart. And you know what? I’ve since changed my mind about them: I like them. I’m not usually one for cutesy, but the kids love them. They’re harmless, right? And again, they are so cheap! You can load up on them and give them to every kid you know this year for a Holiday gift.

You can’t imagine how many there are to choose from! Pea has the dolphin (whom she calls “Daphne”) and Coco has the Dalmatian (or as she says alternately, “donation” or “canation”). And we sent the unicorn to their cousin, who’s all about everything pink that glitters and exists in a Fantasy Realm.