Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 375

Delivering Homemade Meals to Friends in Need

Last weekend I took a little spill while skiing with my family. OK, actually it was more like a major wipeout that I'm grateful no one caught on video and posted to YouTube. I ripped a tendon in my knee and had to come down the mountain in the ski patrol sled. It will be remembered as one of the single most humiliating days of my life.

Fortunately for me, my kids and husband were nowhere around when it happened. I was actually with a ski instructor at the time and it was just one of those freak accidents. Icy trail. Another skier down, only he was on a wheelchair ski and his equipment was out of reach. Too many people were stopped on the trail trying to "help" while others slipped and slid trying to get out of the way.

When my neighbor—the only friend I really have on my street—learned of my accident she immediately went to work mobilizing a fitness group I had just recently joined. Yes, to add insult to injury, I was training to run my first 5K this spring. She asked the women to help out by preparing and delivering hot meals to my family this week while I was hobbling around on crutches.

This is truly the best thing you can do for a friend when she and her family are in need. After all, we still need to eat. And my husband's cooking skills are severely limited to dialing for takeout pizza and pouring cold cereal. When he's feeling inspired he might make pancakes or homemade waffles on the waffle iron.

My friend spent some serious time coordinating the deliveries and accepted many of them at her house. I know she sent emails with the entire food schedule and informed the cooks of my son's nut allergy. If you've ever tried to coordinate something like this for any extended period of time—maybe after the birth of a new baby or when a family is dealing with a long-term illness—you know how time consuming it can be.

So I started researching what tools are available to simplify this generous process and came across two free websites Takethemameal.com and VillageonCall.com.

 

Take Them a Meal allows you to schedule the delivery of homemade meals or takeout. Users can sign up for a particular day or date, remove or change the schedule, and see the other meals people are making. You can search for a meal schedule by last name or create a new schedule in minutes. The site makes it super easy to email the schedule link to friends and print a copy for the recipient.

Sometimes what people need is more than meals. That's why Village on Call was created. As the website says "help that's not well planned and coordinated can actually cause stress rather than relieve it." Here you can create a registry to schedule help with errands, laundry, household chores and more.

Have you ever organized a meal or domestic help for a friend? Are there other tools you've used besides email and phone calls?

 

 

 

 

 

The Science of Decision Making

I get a lot of news releases about new studies coming out in various scientific journals. Mostly it's stuff about women's health and fitness, but I've fallen in love with one journal in particular, The Journal of Consumer Research.

The research in the JCR has tons of real-world meaning—stuff that actually can affect your every day life/choices. For instance: look at the lipstick in your pocketbook. What's it called? Dusty rose? Brick red? Or, something like "Wanderlust" or "Luck, Be A Lady." According to a 2005 study in the JCR, people are actually more likely to buy products when the names are more creative or ambiguous. I guess that's why Cherries in the Snow, a deep-berry Revlon hue that's been around forever and still garners many fans, is so iconic!?

Anyways, if you've ever wondered about the intersection between our minds and our shopping carts, check it out. From the forthcoming August issue alone, I learned the following:

1. If your last name is Zoolander, you're probably already queue for the new Verizon iPhone next month. This study from researchers at Georgetown University and Belmont University finds that the "tendency to act quickly to acquire items" is related to the first letter of one's childhood last name. Meaning: the people at the end of the alphabet may be quick to buy. The so-called "last-name effect" means faster response to "purchase opportunities" and in the research, it showed up whether or not the items were real (i.e. tickets to a sporting event, cash, booze) or if they were merely hypothetical (i.e. a sale on a backpack). The reason, say the study authors, goes way back to grade school, when kids with names that fall at the tail end of the alphabet often end up at the tail end of the line, literally. Later on in life, these kids grow up to be swift consumers, turning into "early buyers" to compensate for those formative experiences. Hmm. So I guess revenue-hungry marketers and credit-card companies should start cold-calling for new customers after X, Y, and Z?

2. When it comes to seemingly cut-and-dried safety items (i.e. airbags, smoke detectors and vaccines) emotions get in the way of facts. Such are the findings of a study from researchers at University of Texas at Austin and Northwestern University School of Law, which looked at something called the "betrayal effect." This is where people actually feel betrayed when they learn about the risks associated with safety products. In the example of airbags: people had to choose between two cars. One had an airbag less likely to save a life in an accident. The other had an airbag more likely to save a life, but also carried a TINY chance of causing death due to the force needed to deploy it. The result: Most participants avoided that second airbag with the miniscule risk of harm, even though that made them less safe overall

3. After a hard day, we seek the easy way. Well, this seems sort of obvious at first—after all, when you've been through the wringer at work it's not like you're going to start in on calculus after dinner—but it's a bit more interesting than that. According the researchers at University of Hong Kong and Northwestern University, people who are tired from some sort of demanding tast will actually pass up the more desirable choice for the one that's less desirable, but easier. Drawing from the results of their study, this means that if you just got finished some big project, they'd be more likely to go to a concert that was nearby than one that's a tad farther away but is by a favorite band. Basically, it amounts to the fact that when we're already drained of energy, we make choices that somehow aren't going to require yet more feats of strength. My real-world takeaway from this? This is a big part of the success of fast-food at the food court and trashy novels. You're tired—a long shopping excursion or a rough day at work--and so you want nothing more than easy eats and easy reading.

 

Which Celebrity Home Would You Love to Live In?

I was reading in Curbed this morning that designer/show host Nate Berkus has his Chicago home on the market for a fat $2.65M, the same place we drooled over back when Elle Decor magazine ran a feature on it. Remember this gorgeous 4,000-square-foot lakeside crib? If you're a Nate fan, of course you do. Well all this can be yours... well perhaps not all -- I can't be sure, but I'd want the full monty, it would need to be furnished with Nate's lovely things.

The Chicago Residence of Nate Berkus

I love his massive Chicago palace home (above), but do you recall his NYC apartment? If not, it's shown below. I think THIS Nate home would be my personal pick from the two because I can see myself with a one bedroom gorgeously kept New York City pied-à-terre (ha ha can't we ALL?).

The New York residence of Nate Berkus

Seeing Nate's home for sale I couldn't help but think of which celebrity home I'd love to live in. I'm not sure I have just one though I always tend to love the homes that actress Molly Simms has in LA and NYC. She has such great style.

What about you, do you have a favorite celebrity home? I'd love to know about it!

(images: nate berkus/curbed/elle decor)

Fresh Inspiration For Your Work Wardrobe

 

In a work-wardrobe rut? Tired of wearing the same old thing over and over again? Well you're not alone. I find myself in that place sometimes and so does Jessi Odenbach---one of our readers and Real Simple facebook fans.

 

Jessie left us this post on our Facebook wall yesterday: "Do you have tips for making my wardrobe more professional? I'm getting tired of skinny jeans and blazers :)"

 

Yes we do!

 

Whenever I'm feeling unmoved by my repetative work ensembles, I often go to one of my favorite websites for inspiration...the Sartorialist.

 

It's basically a fabulous compilation of photographs taking on the streets of New York City, Paris, London and any other fashionable city Scott Schuman travels to. His eye for spotting the most stylish and well put together outfits is amazing. After just seeing a few pages of photos, my imagination is sparked and I'm able to look at my clothing in a whole new light.

 

And although I often use the Sartorialist, you can also find dressing inspirations anywhere....the catelog (J.Crew's is amazing), a character on a TV show, your favorite coffee table book of portraits, looking through a box of old pictures, etc. Just take a look around you!

 

With that said, here is a collection of looks that I think can take Jessi and YOU into a whole new and exciting way of dressing for your work day...

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 

 

How do you breathe new life into your work outfits?

Has technology ruined snow days?

For the third time in less than two weeks, a major snow storm is bearing down on New England (my husband, a Syracuse-native, confirms that major is, in fact, the correct term and we New Englanders aren't simply over-reacting to a few flakes).

I will confess that I'm actually hoping there won't be any school tomorrow so I can take a snow day to hang out at home. Leaving the office tonight, I crammed every piece of paper and folder I could lay my hands on into a big bag in anticipation of working from home.

At lunch today a new friend told me that, because of the the internet, e-mail, laptops and smartphones, snow days just aren't what they used to be because, not surprisingly, we are expected to work. (Which is not completely realistic when you think about the fact that if the parents are stuck at home, so are the kids and nothing is going to get done while they are around!).

Thinking about it, I can certainly see her point.

In the past, when schools closed and businesses were asked to have non-essential personnel stay home, there was not much left to do but build snowmen, drink hot chocolate and huddle next to the fireplace when the electricity went out. (What? You didn't know I grew up next to Ozzie & Harriet? Yes, my parents find it surprising also).

And no one but your neighbors knew that you spent the day cross country skiing through your neighborhood rather than reading through a stack of financial statements.

Snow days were a "get out of work/school/life" free day. And it was good.

That being said, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a snow day (sorry), because a day working from home in my jammies sounds like a great way to start the weekend.

What do you think? Has technology ruined snow days?

Taking Care of a Sick Pet

I'm sure you've all been there. Your beloved pet is not acting like his or her usual self. There is a listlessness, a mopiness, and a lack of appetite.

If only they could speak and tell you what ails them! But they can't, and so, you must put yourself in their shoes, or paws as it were, and attempt to read the signs. Or decide that this is above your paygrade as pet parent and get them to the vet.


 
My latest brush with the vet's office actually had to do with hair. Under the umbrella of "no good deed goes unpunished," I had attempted to shampoo my dog myself, seeing as I just happened to have dog shampoo conveniently on-hand and the dusty dear had seen better days. Perhaps my rinse cycle was wanting, or maybe the salt cast on the snowy sidewalks of Manhattan irritated his leg -- whatever the cause, he took to gnawing on his leg which created an epic knot. This in turn became an angry red appendage which he simply could. not. stay. away. from. On this rare occasion, his own leg proved more enticing than that of a chicken.

I had never seen him so agitated. He couldn't get comfortable, day or night. I tried to reason with him but you can imagine the limitations of that. I had to literally scratch him to sleep as a mental and physical distraction.

Two vet visits later, he's all patched up and on antibiotics and antihistamine and a soothing spray. Plus he's sporting a boot that looks to me to be top-of-the-line, the Rolls-Royce of dog boots. It certainly beats the makeshift bandage I made him and covered with a sports sock. He removed the latter within five minutes flat, in the pitch-darkness no less. (Note the improvised solution of medical tape on the Elizabethan collar -- a 5-minute doggie DIY project -- to soften the hard plastic edge which could cut his open wound.)



Yet this is relatively minor. A dear friend's cat recently received a bleak diagnosis, coupled with a refusal to eat that went on for days. My friend had to wrestle with the tough questions. How much would she put her cat through? Was she willing for her cat to suffer? In a word, she was not. She was crystal clear on this front. If heroic measures were required, such as surgery or chemotherapy, she would not go that route. She explained that it simply wasn't fair to the cat, especially as the situation couldn't be explained as it could to a human being.

And so instead, she visited the vet. She held her cat more than usual. She administered the medication. She willed her cat to eat. And on cue, her cat got up off the couch and started eating again. Time will tell if her cat recovers, and I'm praying that he will.

How do you handle things when your pet gets sick? Do you try home remedies or rush to the vet? How do you balance your own needs and love for your pet with the tough medicine you may have to swallow?

Kick-Start Your New Year: Make Kale Chips

There's been a lot of buzz lately about kale and how good it is for you. It's chock full of vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, and antioxidants. (It's on our list of the 30 Healthiest Foods after all.) But it seems to be one of those foods that people either love or hate. Luckily, there are a couple of easy (and tasty) ways to add it to your diet.

 

 

The first is to make kale chips. With olive oil and salt and a satisfying crunch, you'll forget that these "chips" are really good for you. Here's how to make them:

 

Tear the leaves into pieces and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 300° F until crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.

 

If kale chips aren't your thing, you can easily add kale to a variety of smoothies. This Kale-Apple smoothie, is especially delicious.

 

Do you eat kale? What's your favorite way to prepare it?

 

More ideas for healthy eating:

30 Healthiest Foods
10 Ideas for Smoothies
50 Heart-Healthy Recipes

 

Etiquette Dilemma: Your Perfume Stinks

Every time I ride the elevator down from my apartment, I fear it will stop at the floor where Aftershave Man lives.

Aftershave Man is an otherwise perfectly nice neighbor—who for some reason feels it is necessary every morning to douse himself with enough cologne to fumigate the entire building. When he gets into the elevator, which is by the way a pretty small elevator, my nose starts itching and my eyes water. Even on days when he doesn't ride with me, I can detect his recent presence: He wears so much scent that it lingers, like a cooking smell.

This is a small annoyance, in the scheme of things, because I don't get hives, or wheeze, or anything like that. And so I would never complain to him about it. Instead I nod politely when he gets onto the elevator, and then I breathe through my mouth.

But some people suffer greatly from stinky perfumes and overpowering aftershave. A reader named onebigralph wrote recently to describe his problem:

How does a man delicately tell a woman (stranger) that her perfume scent is offensive and way too heavy? I don't want to be rude, but some days it is just nauseating.

The answer to this question depends on how often—and for how long—you have to endure the odor. If your interaction with the perfume wearer is confined to riding in the elevator for just a minute or two each day, leave her be. Don't say anything. But if you sit next to her at the office, and have to experience the smell for hours, it's time to take action.

Don't tell her she smells nauseating, though. Instead, approach the problem diplomatically. For instance, you could tell her you are allergic to scents and since her perfume unfortunately gives you a headache, would she mind wearing a little less?

If that doesn't work, turn to your Human Resources rep who, chances are, will be aware of a recent landmark court decision, which banned some Detroit city workers from wearing strong perfume after a planning department employee complained she was having trouble breathing. The plaintiff also got a $100,000 settlement.

Have you ever had to endure a stinky colleague? Or sit next to someone at the movies who was wearing too much perfume? If so, how did you handle it?

(image by of misteraitch, courtesy of flickr)

We're Winding Down the February Poll

Hello there, Bookies:

If you haven't yet voted for the February book, now's the time: The poll closes this Sunday at 11:59 p.m. EST. And the nominees are...

Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls

The follow-up to Walls' best-selling memoir, The Glass Castle, is a novelistic re-creation of the amazing life of her intrepid, indomitable grandmother.

Born Round, by Frank Bruni

Candid, sweetly sad, and hilarious, Bruni writes of his life as a chronic overeater, serial dieter, and lover/hater of food who finds professional success as—ironically—a restaurant critic.

Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan

The great McEwan, author of Atonement and other modern classics, crafts a tricky tale of love and obsession.

Closing the Food Gap, by Mark Winne

In a country as rich in resources as the United States, a shocking number of its citizens go hungry. Why? Winne, the former head of a nonprofit agency that deals with food and hunger issues, offers an insider's take on the failings of America's food system.

What Should We Read in February?online surveys

Kick-Start Your New Year: Organize Your Bookcase

Tonight is the perfect night to give this often neglected area of your home a little love. If you have a large bookcase, it can be surprisingly versatile in terms of storage. Start by cleaning off your shelves, and then rearranging with these tricks.

 

 

Cleaning

 

1. Scan your shelves for any books that you no longer want to keep. Box or bag them up to donate to your local library or to sell at a used bookstore.

2. Start at the top of the bookcase and wipe the books and shelves with a dust cloth.

3. Dust the frame of the bookcase, including the top.

*Bonus: Keep your books from getting musty by hiding a silica packet (the kind you usually toss from shoe boxes or handbags that you buy) on each shelf.

 

Organizing

 

Try any of these tricks to make your bookshelves look professionally styled.

 

- Think vertically and horizontally. Stacking books in both directions adds visual interest. Plus, books that are stacked horizontally can be used as book ends.


- Store odds and ends in boxes. If you don't have room for your camera cables, cell phone and iPod chargers, use a fabric box to store them on your shelves. Just don't forget to label the outside.


- Organize books by color instead of by category. You'll end up with a bookcase that looks more like a work of art.


- Display things other than books. Clear glass jars or vases are perfect for displaying collections (and again serving as bookends).


- Finally, if you want to make updating your shelves into a weekend project, paint the back of the bookcase in a color that compliments your wall color but is a few shades darker. (As in the photo above.) It'll give your reading material that extra pop it's been missing.

 

Do you use any of these tricks to style your bookcases now? Or are there any of them you plan to try in your home?

 

Related:

22 Ways to Arrange Your Shelves

31 Smart, Low-Cost Home Organizing Ideas

Organizing for Your Personality