This is the kind of gift that is both brilliant and a little mean. Because once you’ve tried this skin care line by red flower, you cannot go back. Which means you end up throwing out all of the products that you used to think were so incredible and perfect because they now feel like tar and dishwashing detergent in comparison.

Or maybe you’ll be like me, and slowly replace your old products with these new ones as they run out, everyday secretly using more of the old stuff than you should in order to more quickly deplete them.

However it happens, if you know somebody who is not already turned on to this stuff, hook her up. All natural (for real!) and light on fragrance, this little set is like getting to go to a super high end luxury eco spa in Costa Rica or something. Without the hassle of a full body scan at the airport.

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Mind you, you don’t get to go to the beach right afterwards or anything, but whatever. When I find the skin care line that includes a trip to paradise, I will let you know.

ps: sorry to have been off for a couple of days– we had a technical glitch that took a minute to solve. aaaah computers……

When in doubt, a subscription to a brilliant, thoughtful, singularly constructed art and literature (oh and music) magazine can be just the ticket to happy gift-land. And by far the best mag out there (in my humble opinion) is Esopus. I have been hoarding issues of this inspirational work since it’s second issue (the first issue is completely sold out, though I have considered trading my husband in should one become available. He would understand.)

Each issue is built around a theme (the current one considers the medium of television) and includes written, musical and visual work that digs deeply into said theme. This issue, for example, includes an interview with Norman Lear by Claire Barliant, artist Alex Bag’s storyboards of parodic TV commercials, and a CD of original songs by various artists inspired by their favorite TV shows.

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SO click here to subscribe for yourself and as a gift for somebody else. The CDs alone are worth the price of admission. And I promise you, this magazine will not disappoint. It is actually an illuminating example of the power of the printed medium when it is at it’s best, and something that digital could never replace.

And that is a beautiful thing.

A moment of silence for my friend Josh Levine, a farmer who lived in Sag Harbor with his wife and two children. Their life was the stuff that dreams are made of– they left the city to live a more authentic life, Josh as a farmer and Anne, his wife, as a teacher at the local Waldorf school. Our daughters have similar spirits and play together. Josh lit up any space he was in and was loved by literally every person he met.We were not super close, but he made me happy every time I saw him. And I had been very much looking forward to and working toward a life in which he and his family played a much bigger part.

He was tragically killed on Tuesday beneatht the wheel of a tractor he was operating.

My little family feels so lucky that we were able to know him and that we will continue to know his amazing family. His light will continue to shine.

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My advice? Call everybody you cherish and tell them you love them. Right now and often.

I’ll go back to the usual topic of holiday shopping tomorrow. Just didn’t feel in the mood for that kind of thing today. 

I have a special place in my heart for Waldorf schools the world over. Some aspects of their educational philosophy may be a bit extreme for my taste, but in general, every experience I have had with their teachings has been a positive one, and the kids in my life have benefited quite a bit from their Waldorf-inspired activities.

And speaking of benefiting, this Sunday, if you are out and about in Brooklyn looking for something to do with your kids, you should check out the Brooklyn Waldorf School’s Winter Fair. Which I have actually been looking forward to for weeks now.  For real. There will be all sorts of creative, hands-on activities for the kids that don’t involve sponge bob or dora or video games (thank god or allah akbar or whatever) plus an assortment of the most beautiful handcrafted objects you could possibly want to populate a playroom with. I’m actually so excited about this shopping opportunity– oh no wait– fair, that I have had not one, but several dreams about it.

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Now granted, my dreams have all featured my friend (and one of the most talented photographers out there) Roe Ethridge in his role as the pocket fairy, which promises to be an outstanding performance filled with irony for the adults and prizes for the kids. That alone should be worth a trip across the river. I’ll be the one with the video camera.

SO I got a new computer (woo hoo!!) after 8 years or so (yep. 8 years. close your mouths) and was 100% thrilled until I started looking for a new case. I hate to say it, but pretty much all of the commercially available cases out there are lame.

My husband, of all people, suggested I check out Etsy, which I did. And happily discovered a few options that I really quite liked. But this one actually took my breath away. Beautifully constructed by Blythe King out of Richmond, VA, the entire line of  i-socket cases are individually (and beautifully) made from vintage fabrics– which addresses all of my issues (ie, is it cool? are they limited in number? and is it somehow friendly to the environment?) So you can be pretty damned sure that your boyfriend or sister or teenaged daughter won’t already own one. And if they do, they are living pretty far ahead of the curve.

She’ll also make a custom size for you if she has enough fabric on hand. And there is plenty of padding, so your precious machine is kept snug and safe, as well as looking good.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I lifted this photo from Blythe’s Etsy page… I’m hoping that the good vibes (and sales) engendered from this post will make up for the unautherized use of the image! The photos that I just tried to shoot (in the dark) of my own case just didn’t do her work justice.

So the person in your life who has everything (except maybe a live-in cleaning staff) most likely does not have this Japanese street broom. Available at Kiosk, one of my all time favorite stores for buying unusual versions of everyday objects, this doesn’t say ‘I think you’re a mess’ as much as it says ‘you are the type who cleans with style.’

What makes Kiosk a place worth returning to again and again is the fact that they choose a country, go there, and bring back hard to find useful (or just cool) items that bring a smile to any design obsessed person each time they are used. I mean, I even love the fly swatter I bought there last summer and am horribly upset with myself for not buying 10 of them. Cause now they’re gone. Oh, will I ever learn?

for more, click below:

I would be happy if somebody got this broom for me, if that counts for anything. Actually, I would be happy if anybody got me any of the things I’m about to share with you guys in the next couple of weeks. Unless I already have it, in which case I will happily save said item until the one I currently have wears out.

I know I haven’t been around in a long time and yet now here I am back, promising never again to leave you stranded for so long. Famous last words, I know. To be perfectly honest, the loss of regular babysitting has put a bit of a crimp in almost every aspect of my life. Except face time with my daughter, which for the most part is really rewarding, when she’s not driving me crazy. The challenge in this particular new phase of life is to come up with fun things to do constantly, lest I end up in a showdown with a cranky toddler. Plus I have to keep myself amused, too. Because a bored mother is not the kind of example I’d like to set for my little angel.

Which leads us to the American Museum of Natural History. A semi forgotten treasure from my own childhood growing up in the big city, this place ROCKS. It’s huge, and filled with endless exhibits, little (educational!) movies narrated by the likes of Meryl Streep, HUGE dinosaur skeletons and more. The butterfly conservatory was a particular favorite– we even had one land on us! Next time we will hit the plantetarium for one of the space shows, my own personal favorite from my oh so distant youth.

Plus if you brave the crowds on a Sunday as we recently did, you will be rewarded with an extensive farmer’s market right outside the museum door, where you can pick up brussels sprouts and apples and wine and cheese and all sorts of other seasonal goodies for your supper. So you can fortify your bodies as well as your brains, supporting the Earth as you learn about it’s history.

Can’t get much better than that, can you?

Last weekend, my little posse (which includes one exuberant 2.75 year old) went over to the Fairview farm in Bridehampton, NY for a little pumpkin picking. It was a beautiful day, and we left the farm a few hours later with big carving pumpkins, smaller doorstop-style pumpkins, tiny tabletop pumpkins, plus all sorts of amazingly colored and shaped gourds which I have carefully arranged on our dining room table as a sort of ode to the season.

And I’m telling you about this because we had so much fun that we found ourselves back there this weekend, with a slightly different cast of characters, for more fresh sweet potato chips, shooting the corn cannon and, this time, a walk through a labarynth that has been cut out of a huge field of corn stalks 10 feet high.

If any of you happen to find yourselves on the east end of Lond Island between now and November 7th, you really should go check this place out. It’s authentic, without feeling the least bit hokey, plus they have a farm stand with some of the most beautiful produce I’ve seen this season just waiting to jump into your cars and onto your tables.

For website/contact info, click below:

If you have kids, this is a no brainer. A fun, seasonal thing to do that doesn’t involve ingesting insane amounts of candy corn and chocolate kisses.  All the info you need is right here. And, it turns out, there are actually corn mazes all over the country– just click here to find a location near you.

One of my favorite places in the whole world is a beach in Sagaponack, NY called Gibson Beach. The parking is very limited, so it never gets too crowded, and the expanse of sand and sea is so magnificant that even the most annoying city-life issues seem to melt away as soon as I crest the hill from the road and feast my eyes upon the ocean.

Forgive me for sounding a bit romantic about this place, but I really would marry it, if such a thing were at all possible. And I was there this past weekend, with my family, enjoying what was probably the last real summer feeling day of 2010. Desperately trying to hoarde that easy lazy summer feeling before the fall really sets in for good. Sigh.

But I digress, because what I really wanted to tell you all about are these amazing beautiful anonymous sculptures that some magic fairy person builds on these shores. Mind you, this was in July, and I have been meaning to blog about this for, well, months now. But they are still a wonder, these delicate constructions of bamboo and shell, and I find them incredibly inspiring as they are truly sculpted by someone who just loves making beautiful things. And sharing them with the rest of us.

So this entry is a thank you, to whomever the person is that made these creatures and left them for us to marvel at, one sunny afternoon in July. Please make them again next year.

My not-so-secret wish is that I get to catch you in the act and thank you in person…

I made it back to Union Square on friday and was thrilled to see that the above pictured “Fractured Bubble” by Henry Grosman and Babak Bryan won the Sukkah City People’s Choice award. Not that I have any special links to these designers, but they do hail from Long Island City, which is a mere stone’s throw from my own HQ, so I feel like we’re family.

Congrats to you both, whoever you are, and may you continue to make thoughtful and expansive pieces of art for us all to enjoy…