Today, Debbie (also of Two Adopt Two) shares six ideas for outdoor fun:
Particularly now, as we're all buried under huge piles of snow, recovering from shoveling induced aches and pains, and the novelty of snow days has worn off, you're probably dreaming of beaches, sandals, and umbrella-laden drinks. Your kids are even tired of electronics and you've already built an army of snowmen. Now what? If lift tickets are beyond your budget, fear not. Here are six ideas for outdoor fun for next to nothing.Today, Debbie (also of Two Adopt Two) shares six ideas for outdoor fun:
Particularly now, as we're all buried under huge piles of snow, recovering from shoveling induced aches and pains, and the novelty of snow days has worn off, you're probably dreaming of beaches, sandals, and umbrella-laden drinks. Your kids are even tired of electronics and you've already built an army of snowmen. Now what? If lift tickets are beyond your budget, fear not. Here are six ideas for outdoor fun for next to nothing.
I love when I can be the chill mom who doesn't care about another snow day. But the reality is that that is not where I'm at right this second; my work load is very heavy and Violet hasn't been sleeping well (cue zombie mom music). Given that everything in Massachusetts seems turned upside down today, I'm skipping the Weekly Blueprint and instead present you with what offered a wonderful source of cabin fever relief this weekend: a recipe for ridiculously easy and yummy gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Seriously, 5 ingredients, 10 minutes of prep time, and 10 minutes of baking time is all that stands between you and a dose of happy.
Today, Jane (also of see jane blog) shares a great way to repurpose wine corks for craft:
Given that my four kids and I love crafting, I collect things that look like they might be useful later: jars, pine cones, cool sticks, wine corks, etc. I recently decided to be more proactive in my collection of wine corks by sourcing local. I printed my contact information on two reusable bags and took the bags to two local restaurants and explained to the bar managers that I wanted to collect wine corks for crafting with my kids -- both restaurants were happy to help! About six weeks later, the restaurants called to say the bags were full: presto, free recycled crafting supplies!
I love sending and receiving holiday cards. And since becoming a parent, I have fully embraced that it doesn't really matter when you send them -- the point is to reconnect in a way that matters to you whenever you have the chance to do it. (For example, one year we sent our holiday greetings in March...we had many people tell us they loved receiving cards off peak season!) As has become the norm, my holiday cards did not make it out before Christmas (the last batch is going out in the mail today), and it was so delightful to create them and even hand write the addresses. And Pinhole Press made the process absurdly easy.
I'm so proud to work with the American Cancer Society and it was super fun to put together A Healthier Holiday Table, a crowd-sourced repository of recipes to help inspire people to eat well. Come share a recipe! Today, I'm sharing a colorful vegetarian lasagna I recently made; it's great if you have a vegetarian in the house (as we do with Laurel) or want to take a break from meat (as Jon and I periodically do); I bump up the protein by adding tofu. Also, it's fast, easy, and kids can help (Laurel chopped the vegetables and did all the layering). And since I'm obsessed with crockpots, I'm thinking about tossing this whole thing in there next time!
Today, Jules shares four recipes to put a fresh spin on traditional Thanksgiving vegetables:
As our household chef, every year for Thanksgiving I love cooking my family's favorite classic dishes, and I also love getting creative with traditional ingredients. Here are four side dishes that I've whipped up, all using classic vegetables, but with a fresh presentation. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Today, Jane (also of see jane blog) shares her four favorite ways to pin it forward:
Some people consider Pinterest a bit of a narcissistic time waster. After all, it tends to be all about the things you love, right? So I was utterly surprised when a dear friend recently used my Pinterest board in a most thoughtful, unselfish way (more on that in a second). It made me think about how to use Pinterest for reasons other than cataloguing my own wants.
Our final site visit in Ethiopia represented the awesome and the ironic. Muya (which means talent) is a woman-owned, fair trade business that has "made it" in many ways. In contrast to the primitive yet productive trappings of fashionABLE, Muya is situated in Addis Ababa on a rather restorative feeling compound -- a series of modern buildings (vs. wood and tin roofed huts) nestled between plenty of foliage. They make a gorgeous array of home and fashion products and produce scarves for Lemlem (which distributes to clients such as J. Crew). Yet despite their successes, they still struggle to gain footing with sellers; largely, it seems, due to outsider stereotypes of Ethiopia.
A few weeks ago I arrived home from Mighty Summit with my heart full of admiration for the talented women I connected with on the trip, and my head and notebook full of inspiration resulting from conversation and reflection time. I also returned with lovely accessories -- some of which I've been wearing, well, pretty much constantly. I wanted to share them here because they are awesome and I think you will love them too.
I love cooking, but like many parents, on weekdays I need dinners to come together fast (often one handed while I haul around Violet, whose latest great delight is honking my nose repeatedly). We've been in a bit of a food rut, so when my friend Kristin Appenbrink at Real Simple asked if I would participate in a blog relay about their stress-free month of dinners, I was like, um yes, I need ideas for a stress-free month of dinners!
There have been a lot of yummy endeavors underway in my kitchen this summer, thanks to my Stonyfield Summer Kitchen Camp series (through which I share recipes that are not only tasty, but also encourage kids to have fun in the kitchen). A few weeks ago I shared three kitchen camp posts (pudding pops, vegetarian BBQ, rainbow parfaits) and today I wanted to share the final two posts in the series. Try something new over the long weekend, or really, these recipes are good any time of year. Enjoy!
Today, Hillary of Mass Audubon shares a primer on odes:
My four year old has a completely irrational fear of bugs. One measly little ant comes into sight and you'd think we were being attacked by a swarm of bees. Full disclosure: I'm not a huge fan of bugs myself. But I feel it's my duty not to pass my crazy on to her. Plus, the more I learn about bugs at work, the less I fear them. So when I see a cool, completely harmless bug, I try to bring her around.
I have developed a deep appreciation for many things in the six years since I started this blog, and two of those things are photography and daily reflections of gratitude. So when my talented friend Tracey Clark told me she was writing a photography book called Elevate the Everyday, I thought, this sounds divine. And the book is just as delightful and artful as I imagined it would be, given Tracey's general thoughtfulness about life and her experience with publishing (among her publications is the lovely Expressive Photography).
Today, Lindsey (also of A Design So Vast) shares a recipe I totally want to make this week:
I've always loved rice krispie treats. I've always loved s'mores. The combination? Divine. This is one of the easiest and most crowd pleasing desserts in my repertoire. They come together very quickly, travel easily and well, and kids and grownups alike clamor for them. Also awesome? My kids love helping in the kitchen with these treats and my son who is allergic to nuts can also indulge. Enjoy!
Today, Miriam (also of Other Pieces of Me) shares thoughts and resources for those considering home sandboxes:
A few months ago, I decided I was tired of having to redirect our almost three-year-old son from my (then dormant, but soon to be planted) raised garden beds. He was overwhelmingly attracted to the 8' x 4' plot of dirt to the point that the area became replete with sand toys and multiple baths were required each day.