147 articles

Monday, Monday– or more links about clean water, evolution and talking to kids about terrorism

Sure, it’s an ad for a book, but you should all watch this video compression of the evolution of the human race. It’s less than 2 minutes long and absolutely mesmerizing…

Here is a nice, easy way to make rosemary oil for your hair, which is great for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is repelling lice.

In my constant quest to use less plastic, I’m thinking I might chuck the Britta filter in favor of purifying my water with a stick of binchotan charcoal in a glass bottle.

A few helpful tips on how to talk to your kids about terrorism, particularly in the wake of the attacks in Paris.

Who doesn’t love checking out creative slightly out of the box ways to use the furnishings you buy at Ikea? Apartment Therapy serves up 10 great Ikea hacks for our viewing pleasure.

Thanksgiving is RIGHT. AROUND. THE. CORNER. But never fear… The New York Times has a whole menu planner that will help your meal come together as if by magic.

And while we’re on the topic, the great Ina Garten serves up some make-ahead Thanksgiving advice on Food52.

Monday, Monday (on a rainy Tuesday)– or more links about unwanted visitors and Jodie Patterson’s house

louse

This week marks the first lice outbreak of the year in my daughter’s class. Suddenly my head itches, even though we have escaped this round without incident, and I find myself googling all sorts of topics related to this creature. I won’t burden you all with that stuff though, so fear not. Photo courtesy of thedoctorstv.com

Sometimes I feel like my battle against clutter is like trying to sweep the beach clear of sand with a dust broom, yet I continue to wage war. Yesterday I worked on clearing some space on my hard drive with the help of howtogeek.com.

I just spent way too much time on One Kings Lane checking out beauty entrepreneur Jodie Patterson’s incredible Brooklyn brownstone and wondering how she manages to run 2 businesses, take care of 5 kids (plus a husband), and keeps her house looking so incredible. But then I remind myself that this was all just a photo shoot and right now I’m sure her boys have their shoes and toys all over the place, her desk is overrun with piles of magazines, and papers and the last 3 jackets her husband wore are strewn around the living room. Or maybe not, but it makes me feel better to believe that.

Homemade ramen noodles. Need I say more?

When you are at your baby shower, opening gifts and being all coy about name choices, I am willing to bet $1000 that head lice are the furthest thing from your mind. But they are a pesky part of the reality of parenting (just one of soooo many…) I just got the dreaded email from school informing us that 3 (yep THREE) kids in my daughter’s class have lice. So it’s time to take action. If this happens to you, this Parents Guide to Lice will start you off in the right direction.

And while we’re on the topic of skin care, what’s all this business about oils vs moisturizers for your face?

And last, but not least, just a guy… reading the Sunday paper.

Monday, Monday– or more links about Halloween aftermath, elections and cooking with kids…

silver witch

This is my favorite photo of this year’s Halloween costume largely because you can’t see any of the cockamamie hand sewn seams.

Allah Akbar, Halloween is over. And in an effort to somehow counter all of the high fructose corn syrup that my daughter has ingested in the past 48 hours, I’m thinking of making Melissa Clark’s shiitake/tofu stir fry from the New York Times. It’s about as far away from Skittles as a person can get and still be potentially appetizing.

I would also like to declare that this will be the last year that I sew my daughter’s costume together by hand. Despite my new handy dandy needle threader, this year’s silver witch dress and cape almost sent me over the brink. I am currently considering sewing machines and am pining over the Bernina classic mechanical (ie totally analogue) models… Swiss precision at it’s best.

Speaking of Halloween costumes, please please take a minute to read Lena Dunham’s brilliant and hysterical piece about a lifetime of failed costumes. I laughed so hard I cried (and I was on the subway, reading on my phone, which is not an atmosphere conducive to such public displays…) After you read it you should subscribe to Lenny, which is a bi-weekly newsletter I actually look forward to receiving.

You may not be focused on it, but tomorrow is Election Day in NYC. There are a few important races out there for some districts… find out if you live in one of them (and who is running for what positions) by checking out the NYC Voter Guide and entering your address. Not that any of you guys have put this off till the last minute, of course, but just in case…

Probably the reason we have all but forgotten about tomorrow’s races centers around the fact that the entire country has been obsessed with the battle for the presidency, despite the fact that we don’t vote till next year. I have largely boycotted the whole thing until now (having to hear the words front runner applied to Donald Trump is almost more than I can bear), but am now beginning to pay attention. This 2016 US Presidential Race cheat sheet from the Atlantic has been a perfect place to start.

Oooooh… a chic (ie: black) french press coffee maker. Because black is the new black.

Or maybe, teaching your kids to cook is the new black… one can never be too sure. Check out what James Beard winning chef Hugh Acheson has to say on the subject and decide for yourself.

Monday, Monday– or more links about podcasts

Ok so this is not the Long Island Expressway mentioned below, but it is a road that I have driven on during the past year. In Hawaii. I wish I were there now, to be honest. Podcast or no podcast.

Ok so this is not the Long Island Expressway mentioned below, but it is a road that I have driven on during the past year. In Hawaii. I wish I were there now, to be honest. Podcast or no podcast.

I have discovered, after many many hours of experience, that nothing turns a potentially endless drive down the LIE into a captivating and sometimes enlightening adventure faster than a good story.

Like the Radiolab podcast about real life Dr Doolittles who are actually figuring out how to talk to the animals.

Or the second episode of The Mystery Show in which Andrea, a writer who nobody has ever heard of, discovers she may have one very high profile fan.

And then perhaps it is fitting to use technology to listen to Sherry Turkle talk (on Note To Self) about the psychology of our relationships with… well… technology. Because I would like to know if, when we get married, we are also marrying our intended’s smartphones.

Terry Gross interviews Gloria Steinem. Need I say more?

Sometimes it’s just cool to learn abut a phenomenal person who you may have known very little about before. Like this State of the Re:Union episode about Bayard Rustin, the black, gay, Quaker pacifist who schooled Martin Luther King in the ways of non-violence and was the unofficial architect of the March On Washington.

Halloween is coming (are your costumes ready?) so perhaps some real life scary stories are just the thing right about now.

And then no list of podcasts is complete without the gold standard, the shining crown jewel of them all: Serial. Which most people have already listened to, but I have only just discovered. I am on Episode 2 and I am tempted to just blow everything else off (including making my kid’s Halloween costume) to just listen to the entire season at once.

Monday, Monday– or more links about hayfever, organic farming, Gwyneth Paltrow…

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Bloom County is back, after 25 years in deep storage. But this time the comic strip in on Facebook.

It is hay fever season again. It might be worth try some of these natural remedies before you run to Claritin this time. Especially if you’re me and Claritin doesn’t really work for you…

Tis the season to start buying beautiful heirloom quality clothes for your kids… Soorploom has everything you need.

Goop (Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle blog/web zine) has expanded it’s beauty section, so now we can dive deep into moisturizers and facials while we also read about yoga and why stress is actually good for us.

And while we’re on the topic of wholesome living, turns out that “organic” does not automatically mean “better.” Modern Farmer shares the bad news about the organic industry.

Tonight for dinner we had chicken cooked in coconut milk and peanut oil with a pineapple and scallion relish. Sticky rice would have been the perfect thing to go with it… if only I had seen this recipe on Food52 earlier today. Next time…

I noticed pomegranates on the shelves at Whole Foods today… And while I feel like it’s a bit early in the season, this cabbage, pomegranate and tomato salad from Bon Apetit may have me returning to WF to pick up one or two of these cold weather fruits.

Monday, Monday– or more links about Fleetwood Mac, DIY Halloween costumes and teaching your kids about money

DIY bulb vase

Another beautiful DIY project coming at you from the FreePeopleBlog (via one of Krrb’s Pinterest boards)

Halloween is coming sooner than you think, so now is the time to start getting inspired to craft your kids’ get-ups. Here’s a list of 50 costumes (and how to make them) to get the juices flowing.

Malcom Gladwell preaches the gospel of Fleetwood Mac and how practice really does make perfect.

Hey my fellow car owning New Yorkers, wouldn’t life be easier if we had the alternate side of the street parking schedule on our phones?

I am going to make myself one (or 4) of these light bulb vases (see above) as soon as I get my hands on a clear bulb.

What your kids need to know abut money.

Going to the Frieze Art Fair next week? Artsy brings together some of the UK’s art world luminaries to create a special guide to London that will help you navigate The Big Smoke like an insider.

And last, but perhaps most importantly, if you haven’t listened to President Obama’s speech right after the recent Oregon mass shooting you should watch it now. And then give a bit of money, sign a petition, make a phone call and, of course, vote in such a way that reasonable gun control becomes a reality in the US, instead of some kind of esoteric joke.

Monday, Monday– or more links about how to do a few useful things properly

We all ned to watch the above video, because how many of us really know how to properly cut a chicken?

What to do if you open up your e mail and want to cry because you are on so many mailing lists and get so much spam and all you want to do is to blow up your inbox.

What to do if a friend loses someone close to them. (You remember what your mom always told you and write them a note, of course.)

How to apply eyeshadow (because I really have no idea, despite the fact that my 7 year old has tried many times to teach me…)

All the tech info you need to intelligently start a blog.

What to do if you get a flat tire.

How to transfer your favorite vinyl records into MP3′s so that you can play them in the car and as such continue to be totally in charge of all the music your family listens to. (This video is truly brilliant, by the way, and worth watching even if you don’t have records anymore.)

And, last but not least, what to do if you are walking along a path in the woods and you encounter a bear.

Monday, Monday– or links to interesting things other people have been blogging about recently since I’ve been a bit sluggish of late

cutaway-world.tumblr.com

Just another one of the multitude of mesmerizing diagrams on cutaway-world.tumblr.com

A Cup of Jo’s Joanna Goddard gives up tips for how to pack for the beach.

A curiously compelling tumblr of cutaway diagrams:

Molly Yeh (of My Name is Yeh) has a recipe for an amazing looking grilled pineapple + prosciutto salsa.

Mother/activist/producer/performance artist Sarah Sophie Flicker wrote a really thoughtful piece for Refinery29 about careers, motherhood and the importance of women finding a successful place in the world on our own terms.

Gather Journal’s blog has a cool and delicious looking take on a cocktail made from Cynar (Italian artichoke liqueur) which I am now feeling compelled to try.

The brilliant people over at Krrb have put together a list of their favorite boutique hotels, for your last minute summer travel plans…

Here’s what DJ & Kundalini Yoga teacher Yeva Don thinks we should be listening to. (Plus a whole bunch of other playlists from musical visionaries and friends of HereWeGoNow.)

You never know where you might discover a new favorite clothing line for your kids…

over and over kids dress

Who can resist seeing their daughter in this over+over dress? Photo courtesy of overandoverkids.com

A couple of weeks ago, we went upstate to visit friends and enjoy a full on summertime multi-generational throw down, complete with tie-dyeing, slippy slides, a trampoline and an above ground pool. Not to mention delicious food, wine and (of course) badminton. Kids were running around everywhere, and all of us parents were enjoying the combination of being slightly less encumbered by our little ones and watching them revel in the freedom that a huge yard and multiple (apparently unsupervised) activities affords.

One of our fellow revelers was none other than Corey Pak, the design genius behind the children’s clothing line over + over. And when I found out that she actually made and sold the essentially perfect clothes that her kids were wearing, i headed straight for the website and put in an order for my daughter. Because she loves herself a dress. And a simple, classic, well constructed, beautifully designed dress is oddly hard to find. Especially once your offspring becomes a kid as opposed to a baby or toddler.

For some reason, the powers that be seem to feel that all little girls want sparkles, logos, and Brittany Spears type styling. And all boys want to wear football jerseys. Luckily for us, there are labels like over + over that are fighting the good fight. And at reasonable prices.

Maybe they’ll start making clothes for grown-ups too!

Monday, Monday– or more links to videos to watch because it’s mid-August and our brains are all slightly melted by the heat so who wants to be productive, anyway?

Just sit back, relax and enjoy the first time Eddie Murphy appeared on the Tonight Show. Waaaay back in 1982. When he was really really funny.

Then maybe relive the 90′s via these music videos which were kindly assembled by the folks at Apartment Therapy. For what purpose, I’m not sure, but I, for one, am happy they went to the trouble.

I would tell you that learning how to properly chop an onion changed my life if I wasn’t worried about sounding crazy. (But it did.)

Ok this video/historical survey of aliens on film is random, but I watched it and was entranced. And now I am passing it along to you.

Oh America has our Presidential race really come to this? Because the frightening thing is that Jimmy Fallon’s impersonation of Donald Trump is pretty much a mirror image of reality. Which doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in our ability to choose viable candidates…

And last but not least, here’s another crazily impressive radial engine somebody built out of Lego’s.