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Monday, Monday– or more links about summer vacation and drinking

Maybe the perfect thing to help us get through the full on (in every sense of the word) days of summer is a nice drink. Or 4. Photo from Momfilter and most likely by Yolanda Edwards.

Bunmi Laditan is a woman after my own heart. Is it so wrong to just not want to take your kids to Disney World?

Scary Mommy might not have the greatest tips on how to survive air travel with kids (I just can’t get behind dressing everybody in elastic waisted pants, no matter how practical it may sound) but they sure are funny…

Travels with Clara, on the other hand, is one of my all time favorite blogs when it comes to traveling with kids. Yolanda doesn’t post all that often (what with her busy job up at Conde Nast Traveler plus overseeing Momfilter and all) but her advice is always solid and often unusual, the photos are lovely, and most of the places she talks about are off the beaten track (no Disney World here!)

When I read this Apartment Therapy post on making a summer to-do list, I felt both horribly inadequate (What? Was I supposed to do that too? Along with everything else?) and angry (Isn’t it enough just to make it out of the school year alive? Why put extra pressure on ourselves during vacation?) But then I started thinking that it might be a good idea. As long as the list doesn’t include a trip to Disney World, that is…

Whenever I start feeling inadequate about this transition into summertime, I just turn to this post by Jen Hatmaker on being the worst end-of-school-year-mom ever and laugh till I cry. It might seriously be the funniest thing I have ever read in my life.

Perhaps, at the end of the day, especially in the summertime, what is really needed is a good drink. Not anything too strong, mind you, just something to take the edge off. Leave it to Momfilter to supply just the thing in the form of an Aperol Spritz.

Monday, Monday… or more links about the importance of sleep

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A brilliant (if not appropriate for prime time) book read by Samuel L Jackson, who I imagine could intimidate just about any kid into sleeping by just looking at them… except, evidently, his own daughter.

Of course I know that you aren’t getting enough sleep. But if you’re still not sure, taking this test will most likely prove it.

And while we’re in bed, check out how much you and your partner’s relative sleeping position can tell you about your relationship.

Or just read this article in Slate about the joys of separate beds and toss your old queen mattress out the window.

Evidently part of being well rested involves clearing one’s space of excess junk, so lets start with our outdated music. Of course we all knew that they were lying when they said that CD’s would last forever. Now the Library of Congress wants to play with your old discs to help them figure out how much more time they have (from the looks of things, not long…)

But why get rid of stuff if not to make room for more stuff? After all, summertime is the season of the garage sale. While browsing krrb.com for local second hand treasures to make your own, keep Lifehacker’s Essential Tips for Buying Used Stuff in hand to make sure all goes smoothly!

Now that we’ve dealt with our sleep, lets concentrate on work. Here’s an interesting piece on how the office cubicle came to be… and may be on it’s way out sooner than we might think.

Monday, Monday… or more links about art, shopping and 3-D printers

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An indoor cloud by Berndnaut Smilde. Photo courtesy hifructose.com

Weather performance artist Berndnaut Smilde creates breathtaking clouds… Indoors!

Photographer Katherine Wolkoff transforms the branch of an ordinary oak tree into something mysterious and otherworldly.

Maybe we should all blow everything off and just go online vintage shopping now that Christene Barberich (Refinery29‘s EIC) has been kind enough to curate the coolest stuff into one neat package on Hunter’s Alley.

Speaking of vintage shopping, I skipped the store and just stole my favorite dress from my mother years ago. Yesterday, I was busted in the New York Times. Sorry Mom…

Harvard grad Grace Choi has figured out how to print your own make-up. At home. That you can put on your face. Finally, a 3D printer I can get behind!

And while we’re on the topic of Harvard, it seems some students of the esteemed institution are more interested in satanic rituals than beauty routines…

Totally unrelated but no less interesting… I was checking out A Cup Of Jo this weekend and saw a link to this US Immigration Dept marriage interview (a quiz to see if you really deserve that green card you’re seeking) and realized that after 11 years of marriage I still couldn’t answer all of the questions!

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Monday, Monday, or more links to potential Mother’s Day gifts

links - shopping

This isn’t strictly a gift guide, but I couldn’t help but notice that Mother’s Day is around the corner. 6 days away, to be exact. SO rather than share a bunch of links to various sites of interest, I decided that today’s links should all go toward potential gifts for your mom.

(If your mother were me, by the way, any of these things would be a home run in the gift department)

If your mom is into gardening, upgrade her watering can with this blue watering can from gretel home.

For mothers who love spices, Red Flower has put together a little kit of products sure to bring a bit of the exotic into your everyday via your sense of smell. And it’s on sale right now…

This beautiful wooden tape dispenser is so much nicer to look at than the plastic ones. Plus you can get her refils of all the cool tape for next year!

If your mom is kind of a hippie and loves to cook, the susan cianciolo cookbook is just the thing in all of it’s free spirited glory.

Giving jewelry is a classic gift that never fails and earrings from Jill Platner are as good as it gets.

If your mom is my mother, she can never have enough tote bags. So you should consider getting her this denim one from Loren.

They say having a slow cooker will change your life. And what mother doesn’t want her life changed a little bit, right? Especially when the item in question is so nicely designed…

Now if your mom is me, and she has her daughter’s fish in a drab little aquarium that makes her sad every time she looks at it but it was the least offensive thing at PetCo and only cost $25, you should definitely buy her this waaaay cooler fish tank by BiOrb.

Monday, Monday – or more links about potential style icons

links - style

I have been searching for a new “fashion icon” (or to be more honest, trying to search through my jumbled brain to remember whose style I most admire) and thought I might share a few of my contenders with you all:

This video of Iris Apfel on One Kings Lane (she did a sale with them recently) reminded me of how amazing she is.

Anna Piaggi, the late great Italian Vogue editor took the concept of haute dressing to a whole new level. And Vogue.com UK has a great timeline of Piaggi-related articles for us all to peruse.

Isabella Blow was Alexander McQueen’s BFF and had an incredibly singular and architectural sense of style, but it seems the world was just a bit too much for her…

Bjork could be good, and not just because her name rhymes with jerk.

Is it weird to put one of your own friends on this list? I don’t dress anything like Sarah Sophie Flicker, but the way she puts herself together always makes me happy.

Then again, so do the outfits of my friend Jennifer Mankins…

Or maybe I should just stick with the classics and go with Lena Horne…

So many choices, so little time…

Monday, Monday – or more links about us all being in it together

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The Dhobi Ghat is an entire neighborhood of Mumbai that is the central laundry service for the rest of the city. Your dirty clothes leave home in the am and arrive back home clean and pressed in the afternoon. Everyone’s clothes are washed together, putting a whole new spin on communal living.

Everybody should watch South African naturalist/activist Boyd Varty’s moving TED talk about the profound concept of ubuntu, which means “I am, because of you.”

Here are 26 stories that celebrate our humanity with beautiful imagery and a subheading that tells you exactly how long it’s going to take to read each one. (Because you might actually click through if you knew the piece was only going to take 5 minutes to read, right?)

San Francisco based artist Hunter Franks shows us how a simple postcard can build community.

The Art Shanty Project creates a temporary village of creative and interactive projects on a frozen lake.

Idealist is an amazing organization that is helping people everywhere connect and collaborate to make the world a better place.

According to Good Magazine, April 26 is Neighborday. So go out there and actually talk to the person who lives next door, instead of passing them by whilst texting.

Or you can just switch screens to your Krrb.com app, find out what your neighbors might have for sale behind those closed doors, and bring home an actual treasure (as well as that warm neighborly feeling.)

Monday, Monday– or more links about apps that will improve our lives (maybe)

links - tech

I wonder if anybody ever made apps for her phone?

Vertical videos have always driven me crazy… here’s an app called Horizon that keeps all your shots horizontal, no matter how you’re holding the phone.

Can’t bear the idea of going to the gym? Try Tabata, an app that delivers short (starting at 4 minutes) and sweet workouts you can do anywhere.

Why bother learning how to write more clearly and succinctly when there’s an app that will essentially do it for you?

Jauntful is an app that lets you print out (and digitally share) your own travel maps, complete with favorite spots and secret routes, so you have all the info you need in your pocket, without using up you batteries.

For the design-obsessed among us, there is finally Canopy, a filter that brings all the beautiful, useful and lovingly designed merch on Amazon into one spot.

Now that we’ve got all these well designed products coming into our homes, here’s a whole list of apps to help with spring cleaning – digital and otherwise.

And last, but definitely not least, we have Forecast, an app that gives you up to the minute weather reports wherever you happen to be.

Monday, Monday– or more links about Heather, Roxanne and the other Brooke Williams

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Roxanne Shante and The Real Roxanne had the same name just like like me and that other Brooke Williams... Photo by Ernie Panicciole

Roxanne Shante and The Real Roxanne had the same name just like me and that other Brooke Williams… Photo by Ernie Panicciole

Another Brooke Williams (and our name is Legion, for we are many) wrote a piece in the New York Times yesterday about the trauma of not being me.

Or at least not being the me she imagined from a few messages left on her phone by mistake. Which immediately reminded me of UTFO’s Roxanne Roxanne, Roxanne Shante’s bad ass rebuttal, and The Real Roxanne’s subsequent addition to the mix.

Sure, I am finding the above-mentioned situation a bit unsettling, but hey, at least it’s not tax identity theft, right?

Stuff like that kind of makes me want to throw up both of my hands. Like Marvin Gaye.

Or maybe I should just be quietly thankful that we are all Brookes and not Heathers.

This is a bit off topic, but did you guys know Cher actually got arrested for “borrowing” her moms car?

Oooh Easter is around the corner! And when one begins to think about dying eggs, one must of course consult the master of all things craft, Martha Stewart.

And last but certainly not least, check out this incredible video of old cellphones making beautiful music with their beeps and ringtones. It’s actually quite moving.

Monday, Monday, or more links to songs about sunshine

links - music

This is how everybody in NYC feels after what seemed like ages of soaking grey rains. Even if it was only a couple of days in reality. Or maybe it’s how everybody would feel if we all took mushrooms and were in a really good mood…

Of course, the change in weather also made me think of Mr Roy Ayers…

Here is Elton John, in his 1976 prime, singing Don’t let the Sun Go Down On Me live in Edinburgh. Genius.

And then there is, of course, The Fifth Dimension singing Let The Sunshine In. I also stumbled upon the scene from the film version of Hair that features this song but I had to turn it off because it made me cry. I forgot how intense that movie was…

TV On The Radio brings us back to the hood with Staring at the Sun, which I have always loved.

Check out The Violent Femmes reminding us live of what happens when you forget to use suncreen with Blister in the Sun.

This last one has nothing to do with sunshine, though I suppose it is about a massive weather shift in the form of some kind of mystical earthquake.

My daughter is learning all about Carole King now in her music class and I couldn’t be happier. Nobody rocks a mid-calf length skirt like Ms King, let alone a piano…

I am too old for The Standard

links - places

This is the very lovely sunset from our room at The Standard Hotel in the East Village.

This past weekend, we left our daughter (and our home) in the care of her visiting grandparents and took off across the water to stay at The Standard Hotel in the east village for the weekend. It was, in many ways, totally glorious, despite the fact that it took me 10 minutes of continuous calling to reach the front desk on the phone so that they could explain to me how the desk lamp worked, and the sheets didn’t actually fit the (incredibly comfortable) bed.

The view was mesmerizing. The bathtub was completely luxurious and the bubble bath did not disappoint. The entire look and feel of the hotel has been meticulously creative directed. The food at the restaurant was thoughtful and delicious.

But I worried that our waiter might have had, ummm, too much caffeine before his shift, lets just say. And the couple two tables down was heading for a titanic-esque drunken disaster complete with knocked over tables and slurred words. But hey, that’s what you get for spending any time at all in the east village on a Saturday night. Lets just say it won’t happen again. For us mortals, this is a Tuesday night spot.

And to that point, here are links to the hotels that I am going to consider for the next time my husband and I have a weekend to ourselves in the Big Apple.

If I, for some reason, feel the need to stay in the same neighborhood, I’m guessing that the beds at The Bowery Hotel are properly made. Though to be honest, if I never see that section of the Bowery on a Saturday night again it won’t be a real loss, in my book.

The Jane has all of the quirky secret-hideout-ness that I love in a hotel, but we would have to insist on a room with it’s own bathroom. That said, the money we saved on rates could be put to good use elsewhere, I am sure!

Whenever we go to Portland, OR, The Ace is our hotel of choice. So why I wouldn’t just stay at The Ace here in NYC, I don’t know. It’s pared down, but super comfortable and the trendiness is a bit more low key… it feels like your fellow guests are actually making things, not just drinking.

For just a little more money, we could head to Chelsea and stay at the High Line Hotel. Built in part of what was originally the General Theological Seminary, the building encircles a beautiful courtyard that offers a respite from the insanity of the city (rather than a direct chute into it’s midst) Plus it’s actually convenient to all the Chelsea galleries, as opposed to almost anywhere else you might stay.

Or we just keep it all on the DL and stay at the almost totally secret Inn at Irving Place. Because I am very much up for getting dressed up and having a fancy afternoon tea and not running into anyone I know. I think this is my favorite of the downtown spots.

I feel like I would be remiss if I did not include The Whythe Hotel on this little list. We eat breakfast at Reynard on a regular basis and the rooms are beautiful, with majestic views of the city. The only problem is it’s proximity to our actual home. It kind of kills the romantic weekend if one runs into one’s child, methinks.

Or maybe we just say f*ck it, like we did last time, and head uptown to the Mandarin Oriental, which is, in my opinion, the nicest hotel in all of New York City. Hands down. Who needs cash in their bank account when you can have the memory of three glorious nights in heaven? Knucklehead-free?

Now that sounds like a plan…

This is authentic - "

147 articles