Recipe Roundup No. 7: Top Five in Two Weeks

The family pilgrimage to Tahoe at the end of July provided a much-needed break from all things real-life related, and aside from a bit of Insta-action I really didn't go online much.  Which was healthy.  And should happen more. In contrast, this last week has been all the things a first-week-back from vacation usually is: laundry (sooooo much laundry, always), overdue visits to the dentist, grocery shopping, catching up on email, back-to-school shopping, freaking out that it's already time for back-to-school, and so on.  Also, after a week of virtually pickling ourselves in ... [READ MORE]

The Only Grown-Up in the Room

Home.  It's good to be home. Last week, after a glorious, extended July 4th weekend, I found myself standing in a hot, dry wind in the parking lot of an insurance office -- or possibly a bank, I'm honestly not sure -- in Travis, California.  My heart was beating in my ears and every inch of me was sweating as I stared at our crumpled hatchback and (perhaps slightly hysterically) instructed the agitated children in the backseat to PLEASE AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED JUST STAY IN THE CAR. I was breathing hard, trying process all the thoughts and questions stacking up in my mind.  In no ... [READ MORE]

Friday Recipe Roundup

It's Friday night, and my husband is off to his Fantasy Baseball draft (do you capitalize Fantasy Baseball? le hmmmm).  Anyway, this was fine with me because a) I totally get his need for a virtual escape and b) the kids were exhausted and went to sleep without a fight and c)  I was way jazzed to watch Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Deux...except that d) it's only available for pre-order and my TV picture is all screwed up because, kids + remotes. So instead I am reminded that my dear girlfriend the other day recommended I start doing a Friday Recipe Roundup on Less on the Floor.  She said ... [READ MORE]

Tahoe, Yo!

The truth is, although I was a bona fide world traveler in my twenties, my thirties have seen me sticking rather closer to home.  As in, we pretty much go to Tahoe and that's about it.  I sometimes look at friends who bundle their tots off to Italian ski resorts and Japanese food capitals and Spanish beaches and think, Huh.  So that's a possibility.  But Tahoe is so close, and, with kids, so fabulously fun and so incredibly easy in that there is so much to do and so little formality.  My parents bought a condo there about ten years ago, and thanks to their generosity we have a little mountain ... [READ MORE]

Sleepwalker

I took a vacation with the kids for a week this summer and it was wonderful but...touch-and-go. Not because of the sibling squabbling or the lack of personal space (I might have accidentally stepped on Babygirl three times in one day when she was following me around looking for some ATTENTION!).  Certainly not because of the ice cream afternoons and the beach battles and the fact that I actually let them spray me with the water guns for once.  Not because of the Hot Wheels bonus on every visit to the grocery store or Mommy's F---it burgers-every-day approach to meals. Seriously, for all ... [READ MORE]

Third Child

When Babygirl was a teeny tot, she loved her babies like a real mama.  She lined them up on meticulously smoothed dishtowels.  She wiped their faces shiny-clean with baby wipes, and bundled them up safely in her stroller to roam around the apartment. We always took her aptitude for baby care as assurance that she herself was well-attended-to in daycare, kept clean, warm, and well-fed all day long. When Babygirl turned three a friend emailed me a SALE from the American Girl website.  "These babies never go on sale!" she assured me. I do love me a sale.  And so we acquired Bitty Baby. I ... [READ MORE]

Vacation, Week Two

There were two straight days of rain.  The first day felt cozy and lazy.  The second day was frustrating.  Looking at a grim forecast, we felt robbed of our sunscreen-slick skin, our dry, sticky hair, our ice cream on the bench above the beach, our late afternoon grapefruit margaritas by the pool.  The children became restless, squabbly, cranky.  We scrapped our plans to grill spare ribs, contemplated the stove.  Our summertime vibe, man, was at stake.  So. Not. Cool. Puzzles, Candy Land, Netflix.  A fire in the fireplace (in August!).  Cookies in the oven.  A long drive, just to get out. ... [READ MORE]