Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 447

A Moveable Feast: Chapters 8 to 16

Hi again, Bookies!

I know a few of you have been commenting about Hemingway's spare style and how it makes you feel that you're not getting the whole story. Well, it turns out you're right. In the chapter "Hunger Was a Good Discipline," Hemingway tells us that straight up, and gives the example of his short story "Out of Season," when he says he left out the real ending about an old man hanging himself (um, kind of a big deal to skip, Hem). He says, "This was omitted on my new theory that you...

Well-Being Is More About Needs Than Wants

I sheepishly admit to coveting a mudroom this weekend. I mean really, really coveting a mudroom. Because when the ancient Beech tree right outside our back door launches into full, glorious splendor, it kicks off a lot of debris (I think it's the outer layer of the bud that held the burgeoning leaf, but I'd have to ask an arborist). Anyway, the kids track mountains of this dead brown leaf stuff into the house and I'm typically sweeping a dozen times a day just to keep the kitchen floor...

Great Kitchen Tool: The Oven Stick

My parents had one of these oven sticks in our kitchen when I was growing up, and it was definitely something I used, but  never really thought much about. It was incredibly helpful as I was learning to bake especially since I started out being afraid of getting burned. The idea is that you pull the oven rack out with the notch shown on the top edge in the first photo, and you push the rack back in with the notch on the short end.

 

 

It would also be incredibly easy to D.I.Y. from a wooden ...

Pillows: Does Your Partner Think You're Nuts?

My first West Elm experience was in 2005 when I was in San Diego and "just had" to visit their store there because, at the time, there were none in the greater Boston area where I was living. I remember walking through squealing in delight over each pillow that I saw -- touching them, zipping and unzipping, displaying them on the sofas in "my way" to see which ones would come home with me in my luggage... And I could tell -- my husband thought I was nuts.

Then when West Elm came ...

Marie Veronique Organics Offers Skincare With "Intelligent Ingredients"

We all know going green is great! You've got your reusable grocery bag, organic vegetables, free-range chicken cutlets and no-glue shoes. But what about your skin?

Don't you wish there was a line of products that were organic...fair trade...used local ingredients and were vegan?

Well, Marie Veronique has done just that with her collection of skincare products called: Marie Veronique Organics.

 

The company uses scientific studies and direct research to better understand the aging process. ...

New Stationery Crush

Tallow Studio is my current paper goods obsession. It's a small company in Massachusetts that makes the most delightful letterpress stationery, wedding invitations, and even business cards.

There is an abundance of talent out there in the world of letterpress, with so many independent designers of paper goods, and I love coming across sources I haven't yet heard of. I could spend hours looking at wedding invitations - so many possibilities! Check out these gems from Tallow...

 

Such thoughtful ...

When the Going Gets Tough, Sing a Song!

Last night some girlfriends and I got together at a local bar for cocktails and karaoke. It had been a very busy Thursday at work, capped off by an open house at my second grader's school. At the same time, my husband was prepping for a six-hour drive to Rochester, NY where today we hope to make an offer on a house we've seen only on the Internet (more on that next week).

So after my crazy day, the last thing I felt like doing was putting on make up and going out. I was tired, a tad bit...

Jackie Rueda Photographic Prints

Jackie Rueda is a photographer, TV writer, journalist and mother who lives in Montreal with her husband and two daughters from her hometown of Caracas. Jackie loves to take photos and in addition, has a small Etsy shop where she sells some of her photographs as prints that are largely inspired by her life in Montreal along with her diverse background -- her father is French, her mother is Spanish and she was raised in Venezuela!

About her background Jackie says, "I connect...

Hyperopics and the All-Inclusive Vacation

I just got back from six days in the Dominican Republic with my husband and three kids. It was the first time we stayed at an all-inclusive resort, and I learned some important lessons about happiness – specifically for hyperopic people like myself. Hyperopia is an excess of far-sightedness. Hyperopics tend to think too much about the future, and save like crazy for retirement and college. "Carpe diem" isn't in our vocabulary.

Columbia University researcher Ran Kivetz has conducted 20...

Am I ready to give up television?

Something funny has been happening in my house recently – I think we're giving up television.



I say I "think" because it hasn't been a conscious decision, but instead a combination of little changes, weather and technological snafus which have conspired to reduce the number of hours and programs we watch on any given day. And I'm surprised to say, I don't think any of us (including the kids) misses it.



This statement is a big deal coming from a woman with two TiVo's which can simultaneously rec...