Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 421

Straight Talk On Straightening Your Hair

Whether you visit your hairdresser every six weeks or every six months, you might have noticed a new addition to the menu of services at your hair salon. Or perhaps you've seen the placards in salon windows, or heard chatter about it on Facebook or at the gym. It goes by many names, but the most generic, overarching term is a Brazilian keratin treatment or simply a keratin hair treatment.

The promise: to smooth, de-frizz and relax the curl of your hair for up to four months.
The problem: the i...

Kate Sutton Inspiration

Hello and happy Friday to you! I just love knowing that the weekend is almost here, this week felt especially long to me, what about you? Well at least we know it's nearly time to enjoy happy hour and get our weekends underway! But first, let's look at some lovely illustrative work to put us in a cheerful, creative mood! I don't know about you, but I find myself regularly inspired by art, it can often lead to an outfit purchase, room design or personal crafting projects as the colors and...

Germs Where?

Recently, I learned some disturbing facts about germs. Now, we all know we should be wary of these infectious critters. We try to wash our hands when we can, sneeze into our arm, and use a tissue to open the door handle of that nasty Starbucks on the corner.

But, until a couple days ago, I never thought about HOW MANY germs are out there. Here, a brief run-down of germs per square inch on some everyday items (provided by Colgate and Ameritech Laboratories):

Pen--65 germs per square inch

Wallet--...

Three Organized Things To Do Right Now That Have Lasting Benefits

I've found that some of the easiest things you can do to be organized often have the biggest impact to your daily life. Here are three simple things you can do right now to become more organized and reduce your stress:
Make a "home" for your keys. Whether this is installing a hook on the wall in your mudroom or setting a bowl on a dresser near your door, create a spot where you can immediately store your keys when you come home. You'll no longer waste time hunting for your keys when you need...

Hi, Bookies.

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the August edition of the No-Obligation Book Club.  I'm Jennifer Mirsky, soon-to-be pets blogger on RealSimple.com's Simply Stated. I've been reading an eclectic mix of books this summer—Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (just wonderful), Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert (thought-provoking), and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (yes, I finally succumbed). Since I've come far from the days of buying gifts for...

"How did you sleep?"

A seemingly innocuous, considerate question when posed by a host to her houseguests over breakfast, right? Wrong! I'm realizing, during this hot summer of hosting and being hosted, that an honest response can be hazardous to one's visit, and lead to, well, future nights tossing and turning, worrying about the correct reply. 

For instance, I was recently hosted by a friend in Los Angeles. The first night I slept in a bedroom in the main house, only to be kept awake by her dog, who was...

The Dog Days of Summer Are Approaching...

As a dog owner and dog-lover, I've been tucking away a few canine-related items to group together into one pooch-related post. One product, one health issue, and another is simply too wacky to be believed.

Since I'm as interested in going hands-free/bag-free as possible on a dog-walk as I am while jogging, the new leash and dog collar I found, from a company called ALITE, are a revelation, and yet it's almost surprising that other pet-product designers haven't though of this yet! The Boa...

3-Ingredient Small Bite: Bacon-Wrapped Broiled Figs with Goat Cheese

Today's 3-ingredient dish comes from Phyllis Grant, the recipe-master behind Dash and Bella, which is adorably named for her two children who help with all her recipes. Prior to Dash and Bella, Phyllis was a pastry cook at Bouley, Michael's and Nobu in New York City (as well as a dancer, an editor at Zagat Restaurant Guide, yoga teacher, and birth doula). As a lover of multiple ingredients, this posed quite a challenge, so enjoy her best simple recipe:

I've been known to put up to 10 toppings ...

Is Your Nightstand a Clutterstand?

Nightstands are often magnets for clutter and they take up a good deal of space in a small room. We recently removed the two nightstands that flanked our bed and donated them to charity because I didn't like waking up and looking at clutter first thing each morning.

Since bedrooms are your sanctuary and retreat from the responsibilities of the world, clutter is a no-no in your bedroom. If your nightstand is also a home for forgotten things, consider getting rid of it or giving it a...

Drumroll Please...

Hi, Bookies: This month's vote was a close one! Just a handful of voters made the difference between Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and Sarah Dunn's The Big Love.

And the winner is...The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Check back here on Thursday when Jennifer Mirsky, former managing editor of RealSimple.com and soon-to-be author of our pets blog, will introduce herself and set up the reading plan. So, get yourself to your library or bookstore and snatch up a copy.

Until...