What’s in my Bag (and my 9-year-old’s)

by | May 16, 2018 | Stories | 0 comments

ME

One loose Advil

One bandaid

Burt’s bees hand cream

Starbucks mints

Burt’s bees lip shine in “Spontaneity”

Wallet with $0

Daughter’s Epi-pen

Burt’s bees peppermint lip balm

Two black hair ties

Swiss Army knife

Rx sunglasses

Rx glasses

Zipper bag

Ear buds

Pen

Emory board

(Not pictured: iPhone 6)

DAUGHTER

Necklace that belongs to a friend

One navy blue hair tie

Juicy fruit gum with one piece left

“Strawberry Fields” tic tacs

Two erasers

Eyeglasses with no lenses

Compact mirror

Rainbow pencil

Pen

Lip balm

Burt’s bees tinted lip balm

Home made lipstick

Journal

Change purse with $10.05

Ear buds

Sunglasses

Answer cards

(Not pictured: old iPhone 5)

I’m So Done with Dieting

by | Apr 19, 2018 | Stories | 0 comments

Are you tired of watching what you eat? Me too.

Recently I had a thought, what if I was my ideal weight? What would I eat if I didn’t need to lose a few pounds? The answer came surprisingly quick. I’d eat like a French woman. I’m sure that means different things to different people, but in my mind it was fresh, whole food that is delicious and satisfying with the occasional indulgence. I remembered the book I got from my mom, “French Women Don’t Get Fat.” I decided to finally read it. Author Mireille Guiliano recommends eating a variety of foods, mostly in season, in reasonable portions. Fresh food is preferred to processed and truly enjoying your meals is very important. This is the philosophy I’ve been craving all along. It’s not about depriving oneself or eating diet substitutes. Food is meant to be enjoyed!

Meanwhile, full of excitement and motivation, I finally worked up the courage to tackle a cookbook I received as a gift (in fact I has specifically asked for it): It’s All Easy by Gwyneth Paltrow. I don’t generally use cookbooks because, Google. This book was worth it. It won me over with the fresh-faced photos of GP and the beautifully photographed meals. I remained very skeptical that it was “easy”. After I tackled the shopping for a bunch of ingredients, many of which I don’t ever buy, the assembly was simple. The first thing I tried was chicken tortilla soup. Not only was it easy, but my whole family liked it. Maybe loved it. My picky 9-year-old son ate a meal with multiple green things in it including zucchini. It was such a big hit. I made smoothie bowls, sheet pan chicken, etc.

Both of these books have changed my life. I learned that where I thought I hated cooking, I was just bored. I was constantly buying and cooking the same foods over and over and my tastebuds had lost all interest. In an effort to please my family, I had narrowed our cuisine down to so few things that they were bored too, and hesitant to try anything new. I also learned that the more I cooked, even complicated recipes, the more confident I became and the more fun I had. And of course the more healthy we eat, the more energy we have.

I hope you check out one or both of these books, and try cooking something new. Or buying something new. I find that I don’t put things on the grocery list anymore just because we ran out of it. I plan out a few new meals, a few old standards and make my list from that. I think our food bill has gone down. I use more leftovers and I waste less food. (I’m probably the last person on the planet to figure this out.)

Oh, and I’ve lost a few pounds…

Living in England

by | Mar 12, 2018 | Stories | 2 comments

 

Alright, so I’ve recently noticed just how far down the rabbit hole I’ve gone. It’s to the point that I am pretty much ‘living’ in the UK.

Over the last few months I’ve been reading two books written in a language I struggle to understand: English. All of the British slang and references made them hard to follow at times. While reading these books, I started watching a lot of British TV shows. Soon I was so completely immersed in the culture I forgot that I live in America. I suppose it’s partly my distant connection—both my grandfathers were born in the United Kingdom. So, it’s not surprising that I’ve always wanted to visit.

 

It started with:

BOOKS

Night of the Animals, by Bill Broun—this is Animal Farm meets 12 Monkeys. Broun is American but has lived in England and some of the language is so English it hurt my brain. But seriously, I really enjoyed this book and found it extra fascinating because I actually know the author.

The Year of Living Danishly, by Helen Russell—I love Scandinavian culture, so this account of a British transplant dealing with the culture shock of moving to Denmark was a two-fer. A completely separate tangent, but this led to me watching the fabulous series Hjørdis and then Rita on Netflix.

 

And moved on to:

SHOWS

ON NETFLIX

The Crown—I loved this show so much. I want to go back and watch it all over again. Queen Elizabeth’s life when she was young. Claire Foy is so watchable. God, this is the best show since, ever.

Sherlock—Benedict Cumberbatch. I think that’s all I have to say. So amazing.

The Great British Baking Show—my kids got me watching this. They binge watched it to the point that they now critique everything I cook, with British accents.

Broadchurch—I was addicted to this crime drama. Although I didn’t love the dark, violent subject, the characters… they made me want to be there.

ON AMAZON

The Durrells in Corfu—My FAVORITE SHOW which I’m still watching. It’s set in the 30s about an English family who moves to Greece.

Poldark—sex in the 1700’s.

 

Combined with:

BLOGS

Fashion Me Now — I’ve been following Lucy WIlliams’ fashion and travel blog for a while. Listening to her is so strangely hypnotizing. I can’t believe I watched this entire video where she just talks about some stuff she bought.

The Frugality Blog —Alex Stedman, though on maternity leave now, has such adorable and accessible posts that I became hooked right away.

Juliet Kinsman—one of my most interesting British friends, a luxury travel expert.

 

If you’re looking to travel virtually to the UK or pretend you’re more British than you are, I hope you check out some of these lovely escapes.

Fur Guilt

by | Feb 6, 2018 | Stories | 0 comments

I’ve been pondering this topic for a while: What do you do with a fur coat that you don’t feel good about wearing? I’d been wanting a leopard coat forever—faux leopard, obviously. I’ve pinned lots of options:

 

Then, one day I was talking to my mom and she said she had a vintage fur coat I could have. It was “ocelot”. I pretended to know what that was and then promptly Googled it. I’ll save you a click and tell you: “The ocelot is a wild cat native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central, and South America. Its population is estimated to comprise more than 40,000 mature individuals and is considered stable. Its fur was once regarded as particularly valuable, but legal trade of its fur ceased decades ago.”

My mom said she’d send me the coat, she didn’t wear it and probably wouldn’t need it in California. When it arrived, I quickly opened up the box, took out the massive garment, and tried it on. I knew immediately. I would never wear it … Not as clothes. Not in public. Now what? I hung it in the closet and put off making a decision about it.

Recently, I decided I needed to find it a new home.

I’ve never been really definitive about my feelings on real fur. I feel pretty awful about that statement. It’s as if I don’t want to offend anyone. But the longer I think about it, I can never condone wearing real fur. I can’t even be okay with wearing a fur that was made a really long time ago.

You can’t sell illegal fur. I didn’t want to just take it to the thrift store. After a little research I found a few options: donate it to a museum, to a place that helps the homeless like PETA’s fur campaign or to a place that helps animals like Cuddle Coats.

I contacted Cuddle Coats and arranged to send it off.

I haven’t told my mom.

I thought more about finding a faux fur. They look so cool. But, now I don’t know. Do they?

Winter 10×10

by | Jan 30, 2018 | Stories | 0 comments

The Pieces

The Outfits

My Thoughts

I decided to jump on the bandwagon this time around. I love reading blogs like stylebee.ca, un-fancy.com, seasons-and-salt.com and stylethislife.com

I’d never done the 10×10 challenge and I guess I thought I wouldn’t get much out of it. It’s funny how different it is to do something in your head versus in reality. This is what I learned from doing it:

  1. A capsule wardrobe makes picking out an outfit lightning fast! In this case, I had 3 bottoms and 5 tops (and 2 pairs of shoes) and a goal to not repeat combinations.
  2. I really prefer jeans to skirts.
  3. It’s okay to wear only your favorite items—on repeat.
  4. I became more accepting of myself. I realized it’s okay to be really casual or not even wear makeup.
  5. I gave myself permission to be cozy and warm. Layered as needed.
  6. Wearing Birks with socks indoors is my new fave.
  7. I have clothes in my closet that I rarely wear that I really like!
  8. I DO NOT need more clothes.

That’s it. I really enjoyed participating in the challenge with amazing women all over the world. Check it out if you want more inspiration: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/winter10x10/

Book Club 3

by | Dec 31, 2017 | Stories | 0 comments

If you don’t belong to a book club but wish you did, welcome to my ever-growing list of suggestions.

 

The Courage to Be Disliked
by Ichiro Kishimi And Fumitake Koga 

My friend Jenny recommended this and I bought it on iBooks. I thought it was going to be a book about setting boundaries, but it really wasn’t. I have to say I thought the format — a Socratic dialogue — very awkward. Maybe it was the translation from the Japanese. It was like, people don’t talk like that. But once I accepted that, I was able to enjoy and benefit from the ideas put forth. Although the concepts weren’t new to me, I loved them! I won’t spoil it for you, but I highly recommend!

Raising a Screen Smart Kid
by Julianna Minor

This book has become my parenting bible. Limiting screen time is all my family talks (fights) about! Raising a Screen Smart Kid has helped so much. It is extremely well written (easy to read) and well researched. Oh my god, did Julianna do her homework! I truly answers all the questions. Please, for your sanity and survival, buy this book. Like, now.

The Miniaturist
by Jesse Burton

Okay, now a lovely novel. Set in 17th century Amsterdam, it feels a little like Henrik Ibsen’s A Dolls House. I love a good family secrets book. A truly enjoyable literary journey.

The Call of the Wild
by Jack London

I read this because my 11 year olds had to for school and I needed to quiz them on it, but I ended up loving it. So interesting. Quite violent. I’m glad I finally read this artfully worded classic based on real events in 1900 Alaska. I downloaded it for free on my iPad.

All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr

I swore I’d never read another WWII/Nazi book. This was worth an exception. Two young lives, on opposite sides of a war, ultimately converge. Beautiful described scenes and action.

Lagom
by Niki Brantmark

Such a cute little book. I love Swedish design and culture. (I read and loved A Year of Living Danishly.) I’ve followed the blog My Scandinavian Home for a while and knew I’d love this book. I’m also a sucker for great photography and illustration.

Full of Beans
by Jennifer L. Holm

This is one of the books I read to my kids. I got it at the library. Their dad read The Third Mushroom and The Fourteenth Goldfish to them and they loved those, so I thought it would be good. So many kids’ books are a real drag for the parents but this one was enjoyable! It was fairly gritty, kind of a Elmore Leonard vibe. Set in Key West in the depression, it follows a sort of little rascals group of kids who are very resourceful.

Becoming…
by Michelle Obama

Not to be political, but I love the Obamas. It was obvious I was going to read this book. How fun to hear her life story, and all the presidenty stuff we already know, from her perspective. You gotta love her. Plus she is amazing in Carpool Karaoke.