Archive for the ‘Family Life’ Category
July 2nd
My garden is small, and young, so everything seems precious. The bowlful or two of strawberries we harvested last month felt like the best I’d ever tasted; now, my first daylily blossom—pictured above just after a light summer rain—strikes me as beyond gorgeous. I even love its small asymmetries, because they make it seem more natural and less expertly cultivated.
The daylily offers a great lesson in appreciating the beauty of a moment. Most daylilies blossom only for a single day, opening in the morning and closing up at nightfall. (Each plant has several blossoms, though, so the pleasure’s not quite so ephemeral.)
June 17th
Don’t get me wrong: I like cats. I think they’re fine animals. It’s when they use my flower bed as a litterbox that I start to get annoyed. They love soft, loose soil, and they don’t seem to care what they have to step on or dig around in order to get to it. Plus, they’ve been here for longer than I have, and old habits are hard to change.
I started small: the smell of citrus will supposedly deter them, so I went out and bought a bag of lemons and scattered the juice and rinds all over the garden and shed. An hour later, my tender little cosmos seedlings (which I’d taken extra care to protect) were covered in dirt, with a pile of poop nearby.
I planted things that people’d said cats don’t like—lavender and rue. Didn’t help. Neither did my cedar mulch.
Then I went to my local garden center and bought some very strong-smelling herbal pellets—essence of clove, citrus, sesame, and God knows what else. No luck: the cats were absolutely unfazed.
Finally, I decided to get physical. On the advice of a different garden center, I bought a big package of kebab sticks from my local supermarket and stuck them all around the flowerbed, plugging the gaps between flowers and all around my youngest plants. It looks ridiculous, but it works! Last Sunday, I watched from the window as one of the neighborhood cats headed straight for his favorite patch. He stopped and stared for some time before giving up and leaving the yard, but leave the yard he soon did… it was so satisfying.
Once my plants are a bit better established, I figure I won’t need the sticks. In the meantime, I’m glad to say that the war is finally over!
June 6th
Are you going on vacation this summer? Will your kids be traveling solo, or going away to camp? If so, you might want to check out Forms4Parents.com, a website created by New York based lawyer (and mom) Linda Kagan that can help you organize your child’s and your summer travel. Here, Linda talks about what you’ll need to get ready:
Summer is here. Our children will begin to travel with grandparents, on their own or with a teen travel organization, and likely to other countries.
To make the experience better for our children (and those daring enough to travel with them), it’s best to make sure the proper travel and medical forms are in place. That way, you’ll know that you won’t be called on suddenly to sign a medical authorization, and that your children won’t be stopped at the border because a notarized authorization is not in hand.
The key is having comprehensive information about your children’s doctors, allergies, medicines, special needs, insurance, etc. on the forms that will accompany your children as they (or you) travel. In addition, it always helps to have the family rules clearly outlined for your children and their brave caregivers to minimize the endless negotiations about which tv shows, computer games, bedtimes, chores they can watch and must do. You should also provide contact information for each parent.
To make it easier, I created a website that allows parents to create necessary travel, medical and other types of authorizations, as well as a Family Rules form, online in a matter of minutes. It’s called Forms4Parents.com, and it’s dedicated to helping you organize your child’s and your summer travel.
Happy travels!
May 28th
Should workplaces be “pet-friendly?” Would you be a happier, more productive employee if you could bring your dog to work?
Advocates say a pet-friendly workplace is a cost-free benefit to help employees maintain a life-work balance. Allowing pets at work helps reduce stress and boost morale, as employees take a break from the computer to play with one of the office dogs. And, when a dog starts wagging their tail you know at least someone is happy to see you!
On the flip side, people who don’t like animals, don’t want to brush hair off their clothes and furniture, and don’t want to endure endless begging for a piece of their lunch, or find their garbage has been nosed through thoroughly are less than thrilled with the idea of animals in the workplace.
Pet-friendly policies vary by company, but they usually include several basic components: the needs of people who have allergies or don’t want to work near animals should be accommodated; pets must be kept on a leash or under control; pets must be housebroken, and employees must clean up after their pet outside.
What do you think?
May 21st
Gardening is not for the impatient. By now, most of my new plants are safely in the ground—day lilies, daisies, irises and the like—and after all of that hard work, how I’d love to see something in bloom! (My beloved tulips didn’t last long, sadly.)
This weekend, I was feeling particularly impatient, so I decided to go back and look at some photographs I took before I started. I may not have the luscious English garden of my dreams (and the fence is still falling apart), but it’s comforting to see how far I’ve come… even if a lot of it’s due to the ivy that I didn’t actually plant myself.
April 28th
I’ve got all the enthusiasm of a beginning gardener—and very little skill or knowledge—so it feels like a bit of a miracle to see my tulips blossoming. Meanwhile, I’ve been removing dead debris from the rest of the flower bed and slowly acquiring more plants. Now if I could only persuade the neighborhood cats to go elsewhere when they poop…
April 23rd
Kelly and Katie McMenamin are two sisters who run a New York based home and life organization service called Pixies Did It. Their philosophy: life should be easy, and if your home is not organized around your own habits and personality, it won’t run smoothly. Here, Katie talks about how she found an organizational system that works for her:
“I’ve spent much of my life envying people who seem to have it together—organized, always on time, cautious, well dressed (and without cat hair, lint, dandruff, etc. upon their clothes) The kind of people who have no problem working first and playing later.
As much as I have tried, (watching television WHILE I write this, for instance) stray hairs are upon my clothes (which are, nonetheless, comfortable & stylish) and no matter how hard I try, I have never been able to be the strictly organized, on time, work before play person I have so much envied.
Turns out, those super ‘together’ people I’ve been jealous of were born with innate abilities for discipline & order. It comes EASY to them because if they don’t do these things, they get anxious, and annoyed. Life becomes hard. These people (my sister, for instance) are uncomfortable being messy, they aren’t happy unless they are crossing things off their lists, making sure their outfits are put together, the world around them ordered, filed away, clean. It’s simply who they are.
Not me. Read the rest of this entry »
April 15th
Lani Rosenstock is a New York based style consultant whose philosophy is that fashion is about being confident in your own unique look. In that spirit, we figured it’d be fun to get her perspective about planning a spring wardrobe: what’s out there, and what works for you?
“Fashion trends exist to keep us excited about getting dressed every morning and feeling good about ourselves. We all feel excited when we get a new piece of clothing that we think will express our personality or our mood.
This season there are so many contrasting trends, there is something for everyone. Clothes are moving closer to the body again and waists are back to the waist. No more babydoll look! Every decade is referenced this season. There’s neon from the 80’s, hippie chic from the 70’s and shirtdresses from the 50’s.
Some other major trends of the season are Color, Safari and Nautical looks as well as Floral prints. How do you pick which trends to follow, wear some of these looks to work, or know which of these trends are right for you?
Does it make you excited? Is this a color story that works for you? If you don’t look good in brights like hot pink and electric blue, what about tropical colors like turquoise and lemon yellow? Too much for you? Neutrals are in too. And if none of this sounds good, you can always go back to tried and true black and white.
My favorite safari look is this dress by Diane Von Furstenberg. Why not wear it under a black jacket and a peep-toe pump to your day job? Take off the jacket and add metallic sandals for a date after work? If prints aren’t your thing, express your inner tribal spirit with wooden bangles or a tiger’s eye ring.
The Nautical look can be anything with a navy, white and red theme. You can embrace the nautical stripe or mix a navy top with a khaki pencil skirt and red flats.
The floral prints of today are not the same of yesteryear. Witness this in the modern collection from Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. If large florals are too much, go for the smaller liberty print floral in a bikini.
You don’t have to buy a new wardrobe each season in order to follow the trends. You can simply use what is already in your closet and purchase a few new pieces. Fashion trends are not about changing your style completely each season, they’re about adopting fresh ideas into the style that is already yours.”
April 14th
When I was growing up, my mother always kept a “yuck bucket” under the sink to store our biodegradable waste: stale bread, leftovers, eggshells and coffee grounds… periodically, someone would be tasked with taking it outside and dumping its contents on top of her compost pile.
Here in New York City, though, composting is rarely practical. Indoor bins are expensive, and besides, who has room for them? Few of us have any outdoor space, either, and when we do, our yards are quite small.
Fortunately for my own tiny yard, they now make reasonably small, compact outdoor composting bins; the one I just bought online is made from recycled plastic, and it doesn’t look atrocious tucked away on one side of the patio. Apparently our yard has also been blessed with a number of tiny red earthworms—earthworms are great for compost—so I dropped a couple in the bin last weekend to give them something new to chew on. (If they don’t like what they find, they can crawl back out through the bottom.) I’m so glad to be able to put our garbage to good use, and I can’t wait to put the finished compost on my flower bed: there’s no better fertilizer, I’ve heard.
Do you compost?
April 7th
Great post on Unclutterer about taking a good stern look at the knick knacks in your life… They lend interest to a house and give their owners pleasure, but when do they outlive their value? Here are the questions you should ask:
1. Why do I own this and choose to display it?
2. Does it represent who I am right now and the mood I want to create in my home?
3. Do I care for this object the best way I can care for it, or is it really just clutter?
4. Will my place be a better sanctuary or place of relaxation without this object in it?
