You know how I love me some leopard- it is afterall, the ultimate neutral. For those of you that share my passion for leopard, hatred for wet feet and love of a plump wallet, I give you the J. Crew Chelsea Leopard Rain Boot for $48. Use the code SHOPPINGFIND to get your tally down to this here total. Go forth my friends and stomp stylishly in those soon-to-be spring puddles. J. Crew Chelsea Leopard Rain Boot   Related posts:Warm It UpThursday ThriftHappy Monday!

  

I have two little budding chefs in my house. I think most kids love to cook, it’s such fun to do together- my little ones also like to read about food (well, read along with me), complete foodie puzzles, and dress up like chefs. Again, I’ll bet most kids do. My kiddos don’t even seem to mind when The Barefoot Contessa is spreading culinary wisdom throughout the house (she provides excellent background ambience- I am hoping that I will somehow ambiently soak up her goodness), I know they’d rather have Daniel Tiger spouting wisdom, but they can be cool like[…]

  

One Nest Project (photo by Rashmi Pappu) There comes a time- and no better time than the middle of the deep-freezing winter- when your body and brain wish to simply retreat. Retreat- just what does that mean anyway? I don’t know, I guess it can really mean anything from retreating to your bedroom for a quick nap and a think, to going Hollywood and retreating to your Golden Door or Canyon Ranch, with lots of room for variation in between. As defined by Merriam-Websters, a retreat is:  a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a[…]

  

Happy Valentines Day dear readers- I know I know, it’s a Hallmark holiday but I have to admit that I’ve always had a fondness for this lovey dove-ful day. I have such nostalgia (there’s that word again) for the warm and fuzzy memories of opening those little paper Valentines we used to get from classmates at school, and going home with Elmer’s glue-encrusted hands after cutting and gluing those silly doilies to the backs of red construction paper hearts.  This year we made crayon heart necklaces for our classmates and friends. I love paper Valentines but we opted to just[…]

  

Sucré’s glittery gold King Cakes Or rather, let US eat King Cake. Until last weekend, I had never had the pleasure of sampling a proper piece of Mardi Gras King Cake. Boy was I missing out. A few friends and I took to the Virginia countryside for a little retreating over the weekend, and my pal Lindsay Boudreaux brought along this perfect little creation from the New Orleans patisserie, Sucré. She assured us that Sucre’s King Cake is the most delicious thing going and as a New Orleans native, she would know. To hear her compare the sweet subtleties that define[…]

  

A couple of years ago, I posted about my friend Natalia’s ingenius Crayon Valentine necklaces. Since this is my kiddos’ first year in preschool and they will officially be doling out Valentines to their friends, I decided that rather than make paper Valentines, we’d go for the gold and melt some old crayons into toddler bling. This project is very easy but it did take us a little while (the better part of an afternoon). Full Disclaimer: If you are not into crafts in the least, this is not for you. My pal Natalia is such an artist that her[…]

  

  So we had to try this. After reading all about those well behaved French toddlers who could almost single-handedly make the ubiquitous yogurt cake found all over France- (yes, I read Pamela Druckerman’s book and while I wish I could say I was confident that both my kids would pass the marshmallow test that apparently all French kids pass with flying colors, I have to be honest and say that neither one would), we had to give this a shot. They may not pass that marshmallow test, but I’ll bet they can bake this cake. Oh sure, I had[…]

  

It’s probably been over 25 years since I’ve seen Steve Martin’s Roxanne, I don’t think I’ve seen it since it was first released. I remember seeing it with my parents and little brother at our local AMC, we went to the movies together as a family a lot which I always loved. More recently, I caught this clever comedy on a snowy day last week during my kiddos’ naptime, it was playing on the Retro channel or something, I’m really dating myself here- just all around. A genius idea to rework Cyrano de Bergerac, Martin’s modern day Rostandian characters are living full[…]

  

  It’s February. It’s cold. And it seems like a great time to hit the open road. A few of my creatively inclined girlfriends and I are heading out to Virginia wine country for a mini escape and creative retreat. Translation: lots of wine drinking, cooking and eating of good food, laughs and by virture of the company- creative inspiration. So looking forward to this retreat. I think it’s so important to set aside a bit of time, even if it’s a day or an afternoon to retreat and re-energize. I’ve been getting back into yoga lately which has helped[…]

  

  A Frenchie striped boatneck for 20 clams? Done and done.   Uniqlo Stiped Boatneck, $19.90 Related posts:Paris vs. NYCHappy Weekend!Thursday Thrift: MJ-inspired metallic oxfords