Archive for the ‘Family Life’ Category
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?
April 2nd
Amateur professor and self-declared “findologist” Professor Solomon created a simple twelve-step method for finding things you’ve lost. According to him, “There are no missing objects, only unsystematic searchers.” Now Professor Solomon is making his 67-page book, “How to Find Lost Objects,” available online as a free PDF download. It may sound a little wacky, but many of his ideas aren’t far off the mark… I especially like Principle 6:
It is possible to look directly at a missing object and not see it. This is due to the agitated state of mind that often accompanies a misplacement. Go back and look again. It may be staring you in the face.
In college, I once combed through my entire dorm room piece by meticulous piece in search of a missing ID, only to find, when I got back around to my desk, that it was sitting right there in plain view, on top of my computer.
March 26th
Winter always seems to overstay its welcome, but this year I’ve got a new reason to look forward to spring: after years of apartment living, I recently moved into a small house in Red Hook, Brooklyn, which means, among other things, that I now have my own little yard. There wasn’t much growing when we moved in last December, but I just poked my head outside and noticed a couple of—tulips, it looks like, and some kind of thick grass?—pushing their heads above ground.
I don’t have much of a green thumb, but I can’t wait to see what else pops up, and do a little planting of my own. I’m going to start small, and practical: raspberries to cover up some of portions of the fence, tomatoes, herbs, maybe a lily or two (I love lilies). Then, if all goes well, I’ll branch out next year into some more adventurous options. We’ll see.
Do you have a garden? What do you grow?
March 22nd
The 39th Annual Cow Chip Throwing Contest will be held in Beaver, Oklahoma on April 19, 2008. It is the grand finale of a week-long festival sponsored by the Beaver Chamber of Commerce.
The festival commemorates the rugged self-reliance and individualism of the region’s pioneer settlers. In a land with few trees and no coal or peat, they desperately needed fuel to cook and heat their homes. Buffalo hunters found buffalo chips could be used to burn with adequate results. Since all the buffalo had been hunted to near extinction by the time the settlers showed up, they used cow chips instead.
Every fall settlers would take their wagons out to pastures and load up on cow chips for the winter. With the whole family along, it became a sport to see who could throw the chips into the wagon with the most accuracy.
In the 1970s, in a search for an identity, the town fathers decided to make a sport of throwing cow chips. The Cimarron Territory Celebration is held in Beaver in remembrance of these early pioneers. Only now, instead of throwing chips into wagons, competitions are held to see who can throw them farthest from the wagon. Competitions are divided into Mens, Ladies, and VIPs.Â
Only local chips can be used. Judges have stopped competitors from Texas trying to sneak in Texas-sized chips.
The record heave is a 182′3″ toss by Leland Searcy in 1979.
March 17th
It’s beautiful weather for today’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City. Our parade is the largest celebration of the Irish in the world, with over 150,000 marchers, three million+ people watching the parade along Fifth Avenue, and millions more partying-it-up in bars throughout the five boroughs of New York.
The big crowds and pageantry are thrilling, but I have found the most kinship in the enjoyment of traditional Irish dance and music. There are many “All-Irish Champions” from America in both arts. I think our American heritage has added some verve and vigorous expression to the originals.
I recommend to anyone looking to get in touch with their Irish roots–or non-Irish who feel drawn to the beat and melodies–to connect through the music and dance. O’Malley Irish Dance Academy in Brooklyn, NY has a wonderful troupe of dancers and teachers. I saw them perform at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Bay Ridge at our first St. Patrick/St. Joseph Celebration in 2006.  The kids had all the old immigrants from Ireland, the generations and their friends and families, clapping and stamping, and shouting and singing along to the music. The dancers and audience had a wonderful time together.
Enjoy the day!
Taking their name from the name of a traditional Irish jig, the group initially won recognition as the first and only all-women traditional Irish band. In a relatively short time, they soon established themselves as musicians and performers without peer and have won many thousands of listeners and fans of their music.Taking their name from the name of a traditional Irish jig, the group initially won recognition as the first and only all-women traditional Irish band. In a relatively short time, they soon established themselves as musicians and performers without peer and have won many thousands of listeners and fans of their music.
March 12th
Randy Pausch, the CMU professor whose inspiring “last lecture” became an internet sensation last fall, recently posted the transcript of another talk he gave about time management.
“I think at this point I’m an authority about what to do with limited time,” said Pausch, a 46-year-old father of three with terminal pancreatic cancer.
The talk, very broadly, is about setting goals and priorities to make sure that every minute counts: “Anytime anything crosses your life, you’ve got to ask, ‘This thing I’m thinking about doing, why am I doing it?’” You can read a transcript of the lecture here, watch the video online, or even download it as a podcast.
February 4th
Like most people, I’ve got a very sedentary job, so I like to get up early and do some sort of exercise before I park myself in front of a computer for 8+ hours at a time.
Back when I was in college, my dorm was right next to a park, so I’d get up each morning and jog. When it wasn’t raining or snowing, it felt great to be outdoors, and it also seemed like a very healthy form of self-sufficiency: I could stay in shape on my own, without the help of fitness classes or complicated machinery.
In grad school in Cambridge, England, the rain made running difficult. But then I discovered that I could bring reading material with me to the gym; I’ve been a devoted gym-goer ever since. (How else are you supposed to get through the entire Economist each week?)
Out here in Red Hook, though, the gym’s no longer convenient, and anyway it’s time for a change. So last week, I started jogging again—oh, soreness! I thought I was in decent shape, but no matter how fit you are, it seems, there’s nothing for running but running.
How do you stay in shape?
