Happy Friday everyone, I hope you've had a wonderful week and are looking forward to a reflective and relaxing long weekend. This week has included many fun moments, such as attending Violet's art open house (Eric Carle extravaganza!) and doing this live segment with NECN yesterday on planning summer vacation for your kids. Enjoy the long weekend; following are 18 events lovingly curated for your consideration. Also, if you will be, like me, beating back your overgrown garden, read this primer on identifying and treating poison ivy!

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Posted by Christine Koh on 24 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Fun Indoors; Fun Outdoors; Local

Today, Hillary of Mass Audubon shares a primer on identifying and treating poison ivy:

My gardening skills are subpar, at best. When we moved into our house, we were blessed with beautifully organized and manicured gardens. Now, it's a bit overgrown with who-knows-what growing in between. And it's the who-knows-whats that scare me. Not just because there could be weeds or invasive plants, which there are. But also lurking: poison ivy. The mosquitoes torture us enough -- the last thing my family needs is another excuse to itch.

Continue reading "How to Identify + Treat Poison Ivy" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 23 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Bath, Beauty & Health; Home; Solutions

First, man do I need a nightstand (I'm coveting the one pictured here but it's a little spendy); right now I have a big stack of books sitting in a pile on the floor next to my bed. Second, one of my favorite ways to unwind and get my brain off the work/household minutia track at the end of the day is to curl up with a book in bed. Today I wanted to share three recent reads that I think deserve a place on your nightstand (or in your summer beach tote!):

Continue reading "Three Fantastic Books For Your Nightstand" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 22 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Books & Entertainment; For Grownups

Today, Lindsey (also of A Design So Vast) shares a roundup of great books for boys:

My 10-year-old daughter was an enthusiastic and avid reader from the day she figured out how to sound out words. She reads everything: novels, biographies, Ranger Rick, the side of the cereal box. In contrast, my son was much harder to interest in books. He was so disinterested, in fact, that I went into his 1st grade teacher conference convinced he needed outside help with reading. Imagine my surprise, then, when we learned he was one of only two boys in the top reading group, and that his aptitude was galloping ahead.

Continue reading "Great Books for Boys" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 21 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (7) | Filed in Books & Entertainment; For Babies & Kids

Happy Monday everyone; I hope you had a wonderful weekend! As I mentioned on Friday, last week was a tough one for me so I largely stayed offline this weekend and focused on lots of fun household things with Jon and the girls (designing a quilt with Laurel + teaching Violet to make lasagna = awesome). Meanwhile, I hope you have a great week -- here are some fun event ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:

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Posted by Christine Koh on 20 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Fun Indoors; Fun Outdoors; Local

Happy Friday everyone; I hope you've been enjoying a great week. It's been a stressful week on my end, so I'm looking forward to taking things down a notch this weekend (starting with a new quilt project Laurel and I are working on together!). Meanwhile, a couple of fun things: First, I weigh in today at the Boston Globe on managing princess obsessions re: the Princess Merida controversy -- come share your thoughts! Second, you definitely should enter to win these organic house cleaning service and Canon DSLR + Epiphanie bag giveaways -- amazing! And now, on to the weekend; here are 23 event picks, lovingly curated for your consideration.

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Posted by Christine Koh on 17 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Fun Indoors; Fun Outdoors; Local

Today, Debbie (also of Two Adopt Two) shares tips for creating waking rituals for kids:

Do your kids wake up cranky? Do they complain about (or sleep through) the alarm? Do your mornings begin with chaos and just get worse? Then consider incorporating a waking ritual into your morning. Just as bedtime rituals can help kids transition to sleep, waking rituals can ease kids into the day. Not long after my husband and I adopted our preschoolers (who, at the time, were just as likely to bite us as hug us) we discovered how important waking rituals were for our kids.

Continue reading "Make Mornings Easier: Waking Rituals for Kids" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 16 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Development & Behavior

I am, obviously, a big fan of the internet. And while my adventures around the web largely swirl in the domains of writing and online shopping, I'm always super impressed when service-based companies step it up and take advantage of technology to make getting stuff done easier. Such was my experience with Exec Cleaning, an organic house cleaning service that makes it absurdly easy to, well, get your house clean.

Continue reading "Exec to the Rescue (+ An Awesome Giveaway)" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 15 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (15) | Filed in Domestics; Home; Local; Solutions

Today, Paige (also of Mudroom Boston) shares 4 quick steps to, and 5 examples of, easy flower arrangements:

One of my favorite forms of art is floral arranging. It need not be inexpensive and you end up with a beautiful end result really fast. Many people find flower arranging daunting, so they buy a pre-arranged bouquet, pull it out of its cellophane wrapping, and stick it in a vase (and then wonder why it doesn't look quite right!). Today I'm here to help with a super easy how-to prepping and arranging flowers, including five easy flower arrangements.

Continue reading "Five Easy Flower Arrangements" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 14 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Home; Solutions

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you had a great weekend. It never fails to amaze me how the simplest things (sleeping in! breakfast in bed! handmade cards! a quick run!) are so rejuvenating; I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who came out for Pivot 3.0 on Friday, don't forget to enter to win this amazing DSLR + bag giveaway, and here's to a fantastic week. Following are some fun event ideas to consider in this week's Weekly Blueprint:

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Posted by Christine Koh on 13 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Fun Indoors; Fun Outdoors; Local

These days, I've been using the word epic with some regularity, there's just been so much good stuff going on! And today, I have something to share that is truly epic in the fun department. I'm teaming up with some wonderful bloggers to offer you an epic May giveaway including a Canon T4i DSLR + a gorgeous Epiphanie Charlotte chevron bag (I have been coveting this puppy), collectively worth ~$1055! Woo hoo!

Continue reading "Epic May Giveaway: Canon T4i DSLR + Epiphanie Bag" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 10 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (14) | Filed in Home; Fashion; For Mamas & Mamas-to-be; Gadgets; Gifts & Paper

Happy Friday everyone...I hope you're gearing up for a wonderful weekend. I'll be sending virtual hugs and kisses to you all on Mother's Day! But before we get there, I need to say how excited I am about the Pivot 3.0 style event I'm co-hosting tonight and I hope to see you there. Meanwhile, if you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, here are 23 weekend picks, lovingly curated for your consideration.

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Posted by Christine Koh on 10 May 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Fun Indoors; Fun Outdoors; Local