each fall in boulder, there is at least one wednesday morning when you are supposed to bike your children to school. i live on 7th between the “c” and “d” streets and school is on the “h” street and 9th… so really, school is only six blocks away. that may not seem like a lot (especially since we lived in amsterdam for nearly six years and i biked everywhere), but you have to take into consideration the hills and the severe altitude we have to deal with here in our mountain town. when i was married, i always pushed the “bike to school” responsibility onto my husband. when we got divorced and our parenting plan was set, giving me the kids every wednesday, i considered asking for a special stipulation exempting me from those particular wednesday mornings. but we had enough to sort out and i kept my mouth shut.
Read Moreas the holidays approach, stress levels elevate for most of us with all of the extra planning and socializing and spending and obligation to celebrate with perhaps less than favorite family members. and of course, there is always the possibility that you will be invited to share thanksgiving at the home of someone who puts raisins in their cranberry sauce, which is really the tipping point for me. so i am sharing my mother’s delicious raisin - FREE cranberry recipe once again. you can always bring it as a hostess gift to insure that you won’t be subjected to that dreaded dried fruit at your holiday meal. happy, happy thanksgiving!
Read More(carefree in new york when i knew everything about parenting, but didn’t yet have children)
when i was living in new york in my twenties spending sundays enjoying boozy brunches (after taking an early yoga class and wandering through the chelsea flea market - which is sadly now all condominiums - clutching a giant coffee from the bodega on my corner) i had all kinds of ideas about what my life would be like when i had children. i would, of course, still live in the city, but i would have a giant loft, rather than my run down holly hobby sized apartment and my children would just slip into my life without disrupting my routines. they would come to brunch with me wearing adorable outfits and contribute witty, charming stories to the conversation, enchanting the waiter so that we were sent a plate of free beignets each week. they would use their cutlery properly and keep their napkins in their laps and they would NOT whine or cry at the table like all the other bratty, poorly-parented children in the restaurant. they would be like this because i was going to be a GOOD mother who paid attention and set boundaries and generally just had my shit together.
Read Morehalloween in boulder is outrageous. when we stepped out to go trick or treating our first year in colorado, i thought we’d wandered onto a movie set. literally EVERY house in our neighborhood was decorated, and not just with a pumpkin or two but with strings of orange lights, giant spiders and webs stretched across the houses, skeletons and zombies and werewolves emerging from the lawns and ghosts and ghoulies hanging from the trees. and when you ring the bell, the homeowners answer in full costume. sometimes they jump out at you and sometimes they just smile and offer the kids candy and the parents a glass of wine or a beer. yes - if you accept all the libations presented, you will be quite tipsy by the end of your neighborhood rounds. there are even a few famous addresses that do full spook houses… i took lucy to the one on 10th street when she was a little too young and we were both traumatized … i nearly peed my pants when a gazillion enormous spiders dropped on us and she let out a wail that lasted for at least two blocks. we had to retire for the evening after that.
Read Morewe have a long history of dance parties in our family. they usually spontaneously begin when i am tired of waiting for my kids to finish their dinner or breakfast and a good song comes on the sonos. they take a break from eating (you would think i am serving them HORRENDOUS meals by the way i have to threaten and bribe them to eat - theo had a particularly painful masticating period where it could honestly take him fifteen minutes to consume a single bite of scrambled egg - something you don’t really even need to chew! i would be beside myself with boredom and fury and end up drinking that unneeded, extra glass of wine - not at breakfast, mind you, just dinner.) generally, my offerings are very “kid friendly” as i, myself, have the palette of a five year old and favor mid-western comfort food over anything with too much spice or herbs sprinkled on top or any kind of blue cheese or raw onions or mayonnaise or raisins or any brown, dried fruit or salmon or any fish that isn’t white and mild and preferably fried.
Read Morelucy was a very easy baby. she was GIANT (one week late) … nearly nine pounds and VERY difficult to get out, but as soon as she started life outside my belly, she was really accommodating. all she did was eat and sleep. since she was super-sized, i think she had a lot of capacity in her own belly. she would stock up on milk and then take epic naps. she didn’t get cramps, she didn’t spit up, she rarely cried and when she woke, she would pop up like a little prairie dog (without the bubonic plague - they are carriers, FYI) and smile. she didn’t get flapped on the TWELVE hour flight when we moved from amsterdam to boulder, she didn’t get bothered when we moved FOUR times during our first two years in boulder, she wasn’t upset about frequently being off-schedule and dragged all around to her brother’s soccer games or swim lessons or playdates. she was pretty amazing. (i know this because theo WASN’T an easy baby - he had loads of gas, he spit up EVERY time he ate, often on me, he refused to nap except when being pushed in the buggy and he cried A LOT… so i felt like i deserved my cooperative lu.)
Read Morewe created a clean interior envelope of white walls and light blonde flooring to house the eclectic mix of bold colors, varied textures and warm woods in this south boulder home. the owners, a young family of four, decamped from northern california to the front range bringing with them a collection of bright, mid-century graphic prints. these vivid, compelling pieces inspired the color palette in the downstairs living spaces. a gold-hued print set the tone for a family room done in burnt orange and golds featuring a tweedy cayenne loveseat, an orange powder-coated side table and a geometric felt rug.
Read Moretwo years ago i was talked into doing something so far out of my wheelhouse i am still stunned it happened. my second grader wanted to join the brownie troop at her school and it was full. the troop leaders said, “you can start another one… it’s just doing arts and crafts after school once a month for an hour or so.” i like arts and crafts and i generally like little girls and i like to be inside (which is where i assumed the arts and crafts would happen) and there was another mother who would be my co-leader. so i told my daughter i would do it. then the truth started coming out. turns out, the brownies are a part of the girl scouts. (i should know this, as i actually WAS a brownie when i was in second grade, but i had somehow buried this important information.) the girl scouts are all about nature and camping and outdoorsy stuff (unlike me… i am all about reading and sleeping in my bed and watching movies and indoor stuff) and selling cookies and do-gooding and it can go on for YEARS… not just second grade. also, i had to fill out tons of forms and register and attend a training session for several hours in a church basement.
Read Morethis is the final week of summer in boulder, colorado (which feels crazy as school will start in 90 plus degree weather.) like any superstar mom, i’ve been trying to fill the last few days with end of summer fun. last night we had our annual strawberry shortcake dinner (JUST strawberry shortcake for dinner - the BEST!) we had spent the afternoon at costco so we had a three pack of reddi wip on hand. (we’ve decided that homemade “whup,” as my daughter calls it, tastes better, but the cans are much more exciting to use.) we ate it on the porch because boulder had finally cooled down for the day and we could comfortably be outside. our little four year old neighbor came walking by and we offered him a reddi wip squirt in the mouth because i am that much FUN (his mother did agree.) i MIGHT have gotten him a little high as it took me three times to figure out how to hold the can at the right angle so that actual whip cream came out, instead of just vapors (too much fun?) i was also in the midst of planning a day at elitch gardens, denver’s roller coaster park, on the very last day of summer. we LOVE roller coasters, but we’ve never gone there as it is always so hot. but i was going to bring a big hat and suck it up because i am SUCH an awesome mom.
Read Morewhen i was nine years old i got a dollhouse for christmas. it was amazing… my mother had wallpapered some rooms and installed wainscoting in others and together we chose paint colors for the remaining areas. she had purchased a few key furniture pieces to have in place for christmas morning, but the house was mostly bare and i spent the next couple of years furnishing it. there was a shop called mz. mcphizz on solano avenue near my house and i used to walk down there and spend hours looking at the tiny candelabras and picture frames and dishes. they had loads of miniature room set-ups in glass boxes: a music room, a playroom, a parlor… and they were all inhabited by tiny people or little furry gray mice wearing clothes. ultimately, i filled my house with a large extended mouse family, which is funny now as i definitely do not welcome mice in my current house. (we DID get mice in our amsterdam apartment because we were the only family in our building without a cat - theo LOVED seeing them race across a room and i was always startled and horrified.)
Read Moreevery summer the kids and i spend a month in northern california. they go to camp during the day (kee tov) where they each have a gang of dear friends because all the same kids return year after year. EVERY day they come home smiling and full of stories about their crazy camp adventures. they also come home VERY dirty, which is a bit challenging for me, but i try not to get too flapped and keep baby wipes in the car, except on “messy day” when they need to be seriously hosed down and baby wipes are moot. (on messy day they are squirted with paint and chocolate sauce and whip cream and slime and whatever else their counselors come up with… they get off the bus wearing garbage bags!)
Read Morehank came home with us on december 5, 2017 and we have been beside ourselves with love for him ever since. we love the way he rotates his big, bat ears around, we love his snorty, white noise machine breathing, we love his little button that is too tiny to wag, we love when he rolls around on his back looking for a belly rub, we love when he snuggles up with us on the sofa, we love when he howls along to theo’s trumpet playing, we love when he picks up sticks four times his size and carries them around, we love when he flops down with his legs splayed out behind him like a frog and we love the way his bum wiggle waggles left to right when he is trotting about the neighborhood.
Read Morewe moved to amsterdam from san francisco when i was pregnant with my first baby. we stayed there for nearly the first five years of his life and the very beginning of my daughter’s. traveling with babies is not easy… particularly on eleven hour international flights. and then when you arrive there is the horrendous jet lag that kicks in (there’s a NINE hour time difference between california and the netherlands.) so i only brought my children home once a year, but we would stay for at least a month to stabilize and enjoy the visit before heading back. now that we live in colorado we have continued this summer tradition. the kids LOVE their camp in berkeley (kee tov) and i get to spend time with my family and all my growing up friends.
Read Morewhen we fly home to california my dad is the one who picks us up at the oakland airport. on the drive to berkeley we talk about the traffic (of course), how the weather has been, the many potholes in this one stretch of the highway, the changing graffiti on the brick buildings lining another stretch, the warriors (dub nation!) and when we pull up to my childhood home, my dad typically says, “look at the lawn… doesn’t it look nice?” followed by, “how is your lawn?” my father is very lawn proud. he likes an even expanse of pretty, green grass… maybe it’s his great love of golf or his mid-western upbringing, but maintaining the lawn has always been important to him. over the decades (i think my parents have been in their house for forty-three years) he has had very close relationships with the people who help him with the yard: takahooki, alberto, david, daniel and marty. he brings these people special sandwiches or chocolates or the newest kombucha to enjoy as they discuss what to do with the garden.
Read Morenow that we are in the thick of summer, i am reposting my favorite summer dinner… strawberry shortcake! ENJOY!
every summer when i was growing up, there would be one night where we had strawberry shortcake for dinner. no broccoli or pork chops or mac n’ cheese… just a heaping plateful of home-made(ish) strawberry shortcake. (i say “ish” because my mother always made the shortcake recipe right off the bisquick box… which is DELICIOUS, by the way.) there was nothing more exciting for me than having dessert for dinner. it literally felt like christmas in july.
Read Morefrom the time my first baby was born, we have always given his father something with his hand touch for father’s day. we started with theo’s tiny hand print on a tee shirt. in subsequent years, we put his hand or foot print on the interior of hats, the front pocket of pajamas or a button down shirt and numerous jackets. when lucy was born, we added her print too. we began strategically placing the prints in locations that only the wearer knew about, when we realized that some of the items were only worn around the house.
Read Morei was so delighted that the editors at houzz decided to feature my playroom project… THANK YOU bryan anthony!
Read Morewhen i was working at calvin klein in the late 90’s in the garment district of new york, there were a lot of rules. there was only one font used (futura light), all post it notes had to be white…no pink, blue or yellow ones, there were no metal paper clips and only white flowers were allowed on your desk. (i once received red roses for valentine’s day and had to hide them under my table until i could sneak them out at the end of the day.) desks were neat and you did not have framed family photos or stuffies or excess decor cluttering up your cubicle. everyone spoke in tones so low that you could always hear the click clack of heels as people walked down the spare white hallway with ebony floors. if you happened to end up in the elevator with calvin, you were not supposed to speak to him. and it was rumored that his assistant had a special brown pantone chip that he used to color match when adding milk to calvin’s coffee (i never saw the pantone chip first hand.) there were also a lot of unspoken rules… everyone wore shades of gray and black with maybe some hits of white. make-up and jewelry were both minimal… a simple cuff or metal hair clip was noted and daring.
Read Moreas much as i have admonished my children against growing up and getting older, they continue to do it anyway. i miss their dimpled hands and big round cheeks and chiclet teeth and pudgy toes and wobbly walks and uninhibited dances. despite my threats, their limbs have elongated, their knuckle dimples have disappeared, their baby teeth have fallen out and they orange justice and hype, instead of hokey pokey. there ARE some benefits… they are potty trained, they can clean their own noses, they dress themselves and they can even fold their laundry and put it away (when threatened)… i HATE dealing with laundry.
Read More
