Waiting for Holiday Cards (Are They Coming?)

I am SO behind on my holiday cards.. haven't even taken a pic of the kids yet as I keep waiting for a sunny day...arghhh. (This is the photo for cards sent last year.)

That said, I am curious how this season will be. Will people try to save money and just send e-cards? They're not going to post them on Facebook and call it a day, are they? Here's my rant about needing holiday photo cards , which was on the Lifestyle Insights blog recently. PS: Read some more recent posts there for great tips on Cookbook gifts, simplified holiday decorating and easy, homemade holiday gifts.

So THAT'S How You Get To Attend A State Dinner

I am a bit late to weigh in on this -- due to sick child and THIRD visit to pediatrician in a month -- but...

Oh how I would have loved to attend the Obama's recent State Dinner for Indian PM Manmohan Singh!

From the pics and descriptions, sounds like the First Lady (and staff) once again hit it out of the Beltway with great taste and elegance in everything from the place setting to the mostly Veg menu of lentil soup, eggplant salad and potato dumplings, to Mrs. O's fab dress by Naeem Khan.




Prominent Indians on the list came from Hollywood (Deepak Chopra, M. Night Shyamalan) the business world (Pepsi Co chief Indra Nooyi) and elsewhere (author Jhumpa Lahiri).

Of course there were other usual suspects: politicians, Hollywood directors, TV anchors. Michaele and Tareq Salahi...

Wait, who??? Apparently this couple from Northern Virginia crashed the party! Read how they got through White House security.

The best part of the story: they posted pics on their Facebook page.

Guest Blogger on Cozi, Part II

I was a guest blogger on Cozi's Live Simply site again today. Cozi has over 2 million registered users, mostly families that use it to simplify and get organized, so of course I was excited to take on the challenge! Today's post is about Planning a Busy Holiday Week Using List After List After List, so be sure to visit me there to read all about it.

Thanks, Kavita

Most Dangerous Toys of '09

Just in time for next Friday's Black Friday shopping rush, W.A.T.C.H -- World Against Toys Causing Harm, Inc. --
has released its list of 10 most dangerous toys. These are toys with the potential to cause childhood injuries, or even death, says W.A.T.C.H.



A lot of the toys seem harmless by their looks. What could, for example, be wrong with the set of musical instruments shown here? With the Just Kidz Junior Musical Instruments, it's the drumstick that's problematic. According to W.A.T.C.H:

Babies as young as eighteen months old are encouraged to use the “drumstick” to play music on the xylophone. The slender, 4 1/4” drumstick is connected to the xylophone only by a knotted cord. Once separated, the drumstick could be mouthed and occlude a child’s airway.

Guest Blogging on Cozi.com

Hey Bellevue Blogette Fans!

I was recently invited by Cozi.com to guest-blog on their Live Simply site. Cozi has over 2 million registered users, mostly families that use it to simplify and get organized, so of course I was excited to take on the challenge! Today's post is about Bridging The Organizational Divide With Your Spouse so be sure to visit me there to read all about it.

Thanks, Kavita

Permatan, Rested and Ready

Ok, I'm sorry. But I can't get enough of this story.

If you haven't seen this hilarious take-out on Carrie Prejean, you just.. must!

Even if you aren't a liberal, msnbc-lovin', you-go-Rachel-Maddow kind of person, you really just must. Because it's FUNNY.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

For One Bellevue Family, Milk Cartons Are The Building Blocks Of Life

Posted this on Red Tricycle today.. it's the ultimate twofer -- you help the environment by recycling AND you get some really cool building blocks. Thanks to the Brush Family of Bellevue for the idea.

When Colin and Ryan Brush have a play date at their West Bellevue home, there’s bound to be some building going on. That’s because these brothers have an astounding collection (like, hundreds!) of homemade milk carton blocks.

The idea to reuse milk cartons came from their mom, A.J., who grew up doing it and even competed with her neighbors. “I was always jealous when they had more blocks than we did,” she says.

So when son Colin was born, she started saving every half-gallon carton of milk the family used. Fast forward 7 years and another child later, and the Brushes have consumed lots of milk and conserved lots of cartons.

To make a block, you need two cartons. Wash and dry them thoroughly. Then cut the tops off of each and slide one into the other. The result is a solid, sturdy-yet-lightweight rectangular block. They are perfect manipulatives for toddlers because they’re easy for little hands to stack. As kids get older, they can use the blocks for forts, castles, tunnels and whatever else their imaginations inspire.


While the Brush brothers—and all their friends—love their blocks, dad Mike envisions a slight problem in the near future. “We’re running out of space to store them,” he says.

Do Team Sports Guarantee Good Teens? Not Necessarily

With both parents having grown up playing competitive sports, it is no surprise that our kids are on the same path. Fortunately they seem to like it and are fairly athletic, so at this point in the game (which is early on) it seems like a healthy, positive way to spend their time. Miss P, at 10, is already involved in premier level soccer (which is 10 months of the year) and plays softball, a little tennis. This winter she'll give a shot at basketball. JJ is only 7 but is already passionate about baseball and basketball. He has his eye on football, which he'll be eligible to play next fall.

I realize we may sound like crazy sports parents who overschedule and push their kids into way too many activities, but honestly we see our kids enjoying themselves and at the same time learning about discipline, rules, respect. We have also had a longtime goal of preparing the kids so that they could play some kind of sport in high school. Why? Because there's much to be gained from being on a team, plus it keeps them active, occupied and less likely to engage in typical teen troubles (smoking, drinking, truancy, etc..).

Or so we thought.

I was a bit dismayed when I saw this recent study, which says being on a high school team sport won't necessarily keep your kids away from drugs and alcohol.

Researchers basically found that sports participation results in both positive and negative effects. For a majority of young men surveyed, team sports kept them from depression and smoking, but made them more likely to fight and binge drink. For a majority of girls, team sports decreased levels of fighting, depression and smoking but increased unhealthy weight loss practices.

Obviously this is just a warning that you can't throw all your eggs into the sports basket as a 'panacea for social ills'.

That said, we are not stopping our sports training anytime soon. At the very least, being on a team -- and committing to practices, training and games -- will give the kids less time to be doing the things they shouldn't.

Design Diva Kelley Moore's (Terrific) Turkey Day Entertaining Tips

Hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year? We're betting the idea factory is already at full throttle with thoughts of menu-planning, table-designing and the like.

When the gathering includes a large group of adults and kids, certain entertaining issues crop up year after year. Among them: how to seat all of those guests and how to keep the kiddos occupied.




Fortunately, Seattle-based lifestyle guru Kelley Moore just did a segment on Moore To Life and addressed both of these topics in her trademark super-savvy style.

The issue: You only have six matching dining room chairs; the rest are a hodge podge of seats from around the house. How do you create a unified look?

Moore's Mantra: Get covered! Make adorable slip covers out of pillowcases. Paint them with stenciled designs. You can use a design that's similar to your dining chairs; or you can do a fun monogram. Another option is to get knit sweaters from a thrift shop, cut off the sleeves and then stitch closed the neck and arm openings. Voila -- You've got a cozy chair cover!

The issue: How do you create a kids' table that does double duty by attracting them and keeping them occupied.

Moore's Mantra: Bring on the whimsy! Create a fun-tastic tablescape by decorating a large golf umbrella with colorful fall leaves and anchoring it in a hurricane lantern filled with popcorn kernels. Make old-school turkey place cards using pine cones and playdough. And load the table with tons of decorating supplies so that kids can fashion their own takeout boxes into mini floats (inspired by watching the Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade!) Later, they can use them to take home yummy leftovers.

Forget Brunch.. how 'bout Brinner

I have gone on at length before about my affinity for breakfast.. here's a post I did recently for Lifestyle Insights on the topic of Brinner (that would be breakfast for dinner...)

PS.. I am not the only one who loves a little breaky. Check out my colleague Debra Prinzing's interview with Martha Stewart on recession entertaining and one of her fave ways to entertain (it's question #2)..

The (Former) Beauty Queen Who Won't Go Away

The latest revelations in the Carrie Prejean story (the former Miss California who got second in the Miss USA pageant and lost her state title after she stated her opposition to same sex marriages; then sued the pageant and finally settled the lawsuit because of a "sex tape" that emerged)is the stuff of legend. I am trying to decide which part is most astonishing/amusing. So let's take a little vote.

Is it:

A) The fact that when Prejean sued pageant officials for libel, slander and religious discrimination, the pageant countersued, demanding that Prejean pay them back for the breast enhancement surgery they paid for. They pay for those??

B) The fact that in her new book (which is why she's on TV again) she writes about her Christian beliefs and her disdain for the "ubiquity of pornography." This from the same chick whose racy photos showing her bare (aforementioned) fake boobs have been all over the web?

C) The fact that the so-called sex tape that appeared was of Prejean masturbating. According to this story by TMZ, pageant attorneys showed the tape in front of Prejean's mother, who turned sheet white when she saw it. Yes, mom, even beauty queens masturbate..

Or maybe it is D) All of the above!

The Ponytail Takedown Seen 'Round the World

If you have a daughter who plays sports and you care that they play fairly and display good sportsmanship, you've gotta show them this disturbing video of a women's college soccer player who is absolutely psycho throwing punches, knocking down and opponents and even pulling their hair on the field.

It has been all over the web the past few days and when we showed it to 10-year-old P (who plays on a U-11 Premier soccer team), she was pretty speechless. "How did the refs not see that?" she asked.

That is a great question, as is, "Why didn't the coach do anything about it?" and "Why did she think she could get away with it?" The player in question, Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico State, got one yellow card after more than a half dozen egregious offenses. It is seriously hard to watch when she YANKS the ponytail of an opponent so hard that the girl is thrown to the ground.

Lambert, whose coach calls her a "quality student-athlete," apologized saying "I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation." She's been suspended indefinitely and has had her 15 minutes of fame (infamy?) since the video's all over YouTube. There are even two Facebook groups devoted to her. One is "Ban Elizabeth Lambert from Soccer" but the other is "Go Elizabeth Lambert" (which at last check had 2,674 fans.)

(I will say the one pity about the Lambert news breaking when it did was that had it happened a week earlier, it would have been an awesome Halloween costume..dress as #15 in a soccer uniform and go around pulling people's hair...)

SJP has lost her senses (at least one of them)

Quote of the day, from a story on actress Sarah Jessica Parker.

"I love the smell of diapers; I even like when they’re wet and you smell them all warm like a baked good,” she said.

The cynic in me wonders just how many diapers SJP is changing, given that she's constantly on a movie set and surely has a nanny or two. But even if she does get to the nappies of her baby twin girls, this is still just a WEIRD thing to say. Even with the amazing Diaper Genie (worked wonders for us), there is nothing lovely about the stale diaper aroma that lingers in your baby's room pretty much till they get pottytrained. Just sayin'....

Pound Cake, Part II

Just a little update. We went out to dinner with Uncle V. tonight and afterwards he came over for dessert. The BS Pound Cake (love that nickname!) was super delightful when you put a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. Need that dollop of sweet creaminess to make it a homerun. Very apropos that we ate it while watching the Yanks clinch the Series.

Afterschool Snack Magic (with a little help from Google)

While perusing our pantry for an afterschool snack, P discovered I had not one, not two, not four, but SIX (half-used) boxes of brown sugar!! So she did a Google search for Brown Sugar recipes. (Her first search was "Human treats with brown sugar" -- I asked why and apparently there are numerous dog treat recipes.:))

The only criteria for the recipe was that we had to have all the ingredients already.. no going to the grocery store.

She found this one for Brown Sugar Pound Cake from Cooking Light.

The only thing we didn't have was vanilla. Not sure what a difference that would have made. Other than the mixer part, P was able to follow the whole recipe without too much help. The result: Pretty darn good. The cake was dense, not too dry and not terribly sweet, but for the confectioners sugar dusting on top. (I have about three boxes of that in the pantry too.. such proof that I rarely bake and when I do, I go to the store and buy ingredients I already have.)

A Buckeye, a Tornado and other Halloween weekend miscellany..

Observations from this year's night of Trick or Treating:

1. Best costume seen in neighborhood: a 10-year-old boy as Paul Blart, mall cop, complete with pot belly, security uniform and scooter.

2. In the four lbs. of candy P collected, there were a total of six full-size candy bars. Signs the recession is coming to an end??

3. When you spray silver hair paint on black hair the result is white, not silver.

Here's what the kids looked like. P was a tornado (look closely and you'll see farm animals, leaves, clouds on her dress). JJ was a football player, again.

On Sunday I took P and her friend Abbey to a matinee showing of This Is It, which is real tribute to Michael Jackson's talent..the dancing and choreography was ALL TIME. I asked the girls what they learned about MJ that they didn't already know. "He says God Bless You a lot." "His feet move like magic."

All the makings of a Thriller of a weekend.