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One of the things I most love about France is the effortless sense of elegance, even in every day items. Oh oui, oui, ma cher, how I’d love to be that effortless. And chic. Alas, I’m little ole’ American me, so it’s not to be. But. I can pretend!

There is a store in Paris – and if you are headed to that wonderful city you MUST go to this store – called Merci. It’s just amazing. I could have filled a whole separate luggage bag full of their offerings. I didn’t. But I could have. Read more…

Growing up in New Orleans, you’d think my mother would have made us a cold soup and salad for Easter, knowing how hot it usually is in April. But no, she slaved over a hot oven to make us roast lamb. Such a good woman! It was delicious, and to this day I haven’t been able to make a dinner that compares. One day, maybe I can live up to her kitchen prowess.

Now, this isn’t her recipe. If I were to print her recipe, it’d look something like this: rub lamb with some herbs, put it in the oven. Great cook, that woman; not a great recipe writer-downer. Read more…

Guess what! Now ladies can participate in March madness – but in a less sweating and yelling sort of way and a more baking and cooking way. Typically, I don’t do profiles on stores because not everyone lives near me. Though San Francisco IS a lovely place to live, let me tell you…if you have a trust fund, work for soon-to-go-public Facebook, or inherited your rent controlled apartment from your Granny who paid only $75 a month rent back in the gold rush. But still. I’m moved to tell you about March. Read more…

Messy and outside, a toddler’s dream. Modern Playhouse has made an outdoor playhouse for all those times when you want to go out and play in the garden rain or shine. It’s called the Dacha playhouse, named for a Russian garden house. Not to be confused with danke, which is German for thanks.

The playhouse can simply provide shade or it can be a garden/green house or Read more…

Who knew there was such a thing? Oil cloth chalkboard placemats! I’ve long loathed the typical sickly sweet look of oil cloth. I’m sure I could find something that didn’t make me conjure a picnic back in 1950 but I have yet to find a pattern that I like. And yet, I love the idea of oil cloth. I mean, a wipeable table cloth or placemat that is easy to store AND clean.

Now, I don’t know if my kids would truly use a chalkboard placemat to ‘busy’ themselves before dinner and then magically change gears once the plate is served. Something tells me they’d be pretty preoccupied. That said, maybe this is just what I’ve been needing to add some calm around dinnertime?

Ahh. Probably not. But still. Fun!

Here are a few of my favs that I’ve seen around:

Polkadot birthday
Beautiful Life Photos
Bellocchio
And taking this all a step further, Chalkydoodles

photo credit: Polkadot Birthday

What if the secret to success is failure? That was the question the New York Times posed at the beginning of the school year last year and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

The article is about character, about children learning and practicing ‘good character.’ It’s also about teachers (and in some respects parents) teaching and measuring good character.

For me, until now, good character was sort of like Read more…

Cooochichooochicoooooo.

Truth be told, it’s not hard to photograph babies. They are always so, so, so cute. But it is hard to take a GOOD picture of babies, what with all their moving, squirming, and drive-by smiles. You’ve got to be on your toes!

Here are few tricks Read more…

Have you heard of vision boards? Yeah, well, if you haven’t they are like your high school locker – all those things you pasted inside so when you looked at it you felt cool, awesome and just, well, less of a teenager. It’s like that. Only for grown ups.

I can’t seem to get my act together to make a vision board, try as I might. But. I do have a little notebook that I tape things into: phrases cut out of magazines, pretty houses I want to live in, exotic places I dream of seeing. I feel oddly childish when I do this, in both a bad and good way. I’m embarrassed sometimes but I honestly feel inspired when I re-read or re-see these things.

So. I was looking in my vision book and I saw this…”whatever you think, you become.”

I’ve been thinking about fighting. I’ve got a friend who, well, let’s just say things have become strained. I’m upset about it. I’m hurt. I’m angry. I also feel like telling her off a bit – in an “I’m standing up for myself but also Read more…

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Marvelous. Each time I see this I get lost in the magic of it. The sense of something bigger than us guiding us, en masse. A silent, collective knowing of which way to turn.

So as we end this year – and for some, myself included, this time of year is bittersweet – I thought I’d share a bit of wonder.

Joyeux noël et bonne année.

If I were throwing a new year’s eve party, I’d seriously think about one of these drinks to serve. Yum. I’m more of a low-key wine or beer girl, or bubbly. There’s always room for a little bubbly. That said, sometimes wine and beer don’t LOOK so festive. They come off a little snoozy. I wish I knew of a way to snazzy-up a wine presentation. In fact, if you know, I’m all ears.

In the meantime, check out the bright colors of these drinks. And, might I add, I bet the drinks would be just as good without the alcohol for an afternoon shindig or even a kids party. Read more…

Apropos of nothing…do you allow yourself to daydream?

I usually daydream while surfing the Internet and wind up lost in the cyber-web of blah blah blah and can’t find my own thoughts. I gotta spend more time just dreaming!

Here’s a quote for you: everything starts as somebody’s daydream

Imagine. Where would we be if Steve Jobs didn’t dream his way into Read more…

My new attitude: gratitude. As the new year commences, I’m going to be more grateful. See how I said that? With conviction! With assurance! With umph? It’s my way of tricking my mind that I actually WILL be more grateful, not aspire to be more grateful. Because that’s where New Year’s resolutions always fail me…in the attempt. Kinda like the wisdom from Yoda…”There is no try, either do. Or do not.”

My 4-year-old has a unique way of expressing herself. She seems to embody newness. Like when we went to tea at a fancy hotel and the hostess brandished a crown for the “princess.” My girl turned to me and said, “it’s so nice she knew I am a princess!” Her gratitude was genuine and completely heartfelt. Yet she amazed me with her assurance that she should be given a crown – she is a princess after all – and how nice of other people to acknowledge that. She owned it.

That’s when it struck me that gratitude is deeper than saying thanks or even feeling thankful.

When I was my daughter’s age, my mother took me to see my first performance of the Nutcracker. I have no actual memory of that first time really. Rather, I have a volume of memories, all stacked on top Read more…

It’s crazy, isn’t it? This time of year. Christmas may be over, but there’s still lots of celebrating and good cheer to come. I do love the holidays but I find myself dreading them just a bit as well.

All the work. All the expectations. All the hassle.

One thing I’m focusing on is keeping the rhythm of the day in order to keep me sane. I thought I’d share a little wisdom from my daughter’s preschool teacher – she’s my rock in this toddler maelstrom.

It’s all bout the rhythm.

Kids – especially smaller ones – like consistency. They like predictability. This is not news, I imagine. However, when the holidays hit and school lets out, we travel from place to place, have big late dinners, and basically throw the ordinary rhythm out the window.

And that’s OK. That’s part of what makes this time of year feel so Read more…