But today isn’t all about snuggling up and staying in. I’m also packing for some winter adventures.  The first is this weekend to Utah to do some novel research and attend a conference on Mormon Arts.  I’m packing with one eye on the chilly weather there and one on the frigid weather of our just-booked trip to Korea next month to attend the Winter Olympics.  A good friend who has been part of the Olympics going back to the Salt Lake City games in 2002 says the Pyeongchang Olympics will be the coldest Olympics in modern history.

Winter sports enthusiasts says that if you can keep your feet warm, you’ll be fine.  So last week I swung by REI to look at some Serious Snow Boots.  Alas, I have Seriously Long Feet and even the few size 11s they had in stock scrunched my toes.  Assuming I’ll need boots big enough to accomodate thick socks and maybe some of those little packets of feet warmers that skiers use, I went to the Sorel website and discovered that they had a few size 12s still available. Of course, this time of year the pickings are slim, but I was able to order this All-American looking pair with the Italian name. My toes have plenty of wiggle-room which means these boots are getting a trial run in Utah.

They will certainly be far superior to the footwear my characters wore while homesteading in 19^th century Utah and Idaho.  Even the fancy folk in Victoria’s court never had it so good. And poor Sunja making pickles and battling the cold in Japan and Korea would never have dreamt of the affordable yet luxurious footwear that for me is just a click away.

What are you reading this winter?  Does a change in season affect what you read?

When I was a kid the biggest event of the summer happened one town down the line on July 24th. Known as “Pioneer Day” or, more pragmatically, “The 24^th,” this county-wide celebration commemorated the day that Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley after leading his people across the plains. On that fateful July 24 in 1847 Young rose up from his sickbed to announce that the pioneers had finally found a home. His “this is the place” pronouncement launched a flotilla of crepe paper floats in small town parades across the Intermountain West for decades to come.

When I was a teenager I marched in the county parade in a short pinstriped jumper and white Keds with my high school drill team and later rode on the front hood of a sports car in a pale blue Gunny Sax dress (see above) waving my best beauty queen wave.

As a child I was most often a bystander hoping to catch the salt water taffy thrown from the flatbed floats carrying displays of our proud history.  But one summer a friend’s dad arranged for us to ride our bikes in the parade and we spent the night before weaving red and yellow crepe paper through the spokes of our bike wheels and making tassles to dangle off the handlebars.  We dressed up as clowns and threw our own candy stash out of our bike baskets as we rode beside the floats depicting busted handcarts and giant beehives.  Makes me hanker for some salt water taffy just thinking about that giddy ride.

Here are a few other things I’m thinking about on this Pioneer Day.

The inspiration behind Sea Ranch.

Cross-stitched furniture.

This image of a girl with her head in the (cotton-candy) clouds.

Shoes made from ocean waste.

Almonds and chilies in a summer melon salad. 

Letting kids figure things out on their own.

Some thoughts on Bill Cosby.

Penn Jillette on Donald Trump.

James Corden, Rod Stewart & A$AP carpooling.

Happy Pioneer Day All!

Yes, I was in the crosswalk.  And no, I hadn’t looked both ways before crossing.

I was a few minutes late, having stopped to talk with my handyman who had just shown up to install some trim in the downstairs bathroom.  Rushing across town, I hurriedly pulled into a spot across the street from the restaurant and waved to my friend who was waiting across the way.

The next thing I remember was seeing the hood of a white car.  I recognized that I’d been hit by said car but had no idea where it had come from.  A second later I had flipped 180 degrees and was face down on the ground searching for my glasses which, amazingly, were still on my face.  There were screams and a rush of people heading my way.  I made it to my feet noticing that my left foot was hurting.  The rest of me seemed ok.

Kind merchants found me a chair and offered me a dixie cup of water and treats from a plastic jack o’lantern.  Paramedics assessed me, a policeman questioned me.  The driver stroked my arm as he apologized for hitting me, offering up that he’d swerved as soon as he saw me.

The cop ran his name and discovered that the driver had a suspended license and multiple DUIs. He also suffered from cataracts. At the time he seemed dazed or drunk or high but thankfully he somehow snapped out of it soon enough to swerve when he finally saw me and only caught me with the front right side of his car, not straight on.  The cop thought I would have died if he hadn’t swerved.  I certainly would have been injured more severely.

As it is, I have some general aches and pains and a scraped and swollen left foot.  No broken bones even though it’s likely that the car actually ran over my foot.  It’s miraculous that I limped away so relatively unscathed.

After a week of replaying what happened and taking stock of what’s to come—near misses will make you do that—I  just wanted to say that I’m glad I’m still here.  Thanks for letting me share that.

Some things that caught my attention this week as I was icing, elevating and taking note of some exceptional sunsets.

Clever ceramic figures exploring cultural and language differences.

Good advice for creating something–“I squeeze a ball of yarn (tube of paint/head of lettuce/keys of a keyboard?) and see what it wants to be when it grows up.”

Learning to self-soothe.

Why aren’t there more women guiding toy companies?

A plus size article about plus sizes.

The dishy new fashion-focused memoir from Bergdorf Goodman’s Betty Halbreich. Here’s a little glimpse into her world–

Happy Weekend All–Stay Safe!

“For several weeks now I have had the sense of something about to come to an end—that old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air. . .another fall, another turned page.”

Here in the Oakland hills September means glorious sunsets and warm—sometimes too warm—days.  The deer grow bold and forage for food under our noses.  Every night as the golden hour begins they cross the road from the open space and sniff around my front yard hoping to score some fallen apples.  Yesterday I played peek-a-boo with an antlered buck as I made my way to and from the mailbox then sat on the front deck reading the latest issue of the New Yorker as he and his family milled about under the oaks.  They made good company for turning pages.

Here are some other lovely things I observed this week—

Beautiful DIY blue wrapping paper

A cool but vertigo-inducing off-the-cliff dwelling in Australia.

Helpful humor for household dilemmas.

How techies limit tech time for their kids.

Two very different work spaces for two talented fashion designers—Vera Wang’s monochromatic zen office and Diane Von Furstenburg’s colorful library office .

And speaking of fashion, I’ve mentioned before that my daughter Claire designs sets for the fashion industry.  It’s always fun during NYFW to see what she’s been up to.  Check out the Barbie-pink suburban house surrounded by pink gravel and pink shag carpet she worked on for the Marc Jacobs Spring 2015 fashion show.  Wow!

 AP Photo/John Minchillo

 Happy Weekend All!

Reading this essay about a woman asking for a better table when given a crummy one made me think about a recent failed attempt at being more forceful.

Claire was in town from the frigid East and wanted to spend every minute of the weekend out in the sun.  So we drove over to Point Reyes Station intending to hike out to the beach after stopping for lunch at Osteria Stellina.

The meal was great but the service was so-so.  Over the course of an hour we had three different attendants, all pleasant but often out of sync with what was going on at our table. Food came out erratically, two different waiters asked us multiple times whether we were done when there was still clearly food on our plates and then they both abandoned us once the plates were removed. No one checked to see if we wanted dessert or even bothered to bring us the bill.  Finally, anxious to get on our hike, I flagged down a waiter asking to see the dessert menu.

The hostess then showed up with the check but no dessert menu.  So I asked her to bring one.  And then I snapped.

“We need some attention,” I said sharply.  “We’re tired of being ignored.”

She scurried to get a menu and kept her eyes on her notepad as she took our final order.  Feeling like I’d made a stronger statement than I’d intended I ordered a dessert I didn’t want.

“That wasn’t like you,” said M.J. as he helped me finish off the (admittedly very good) blueberry ice cream and oatmeal cookie sandwich.

“I know,” I said. “But it was just one thing after another with the service and I felt like I needed to let someone know.”

That “someone” probably couldn’t do a thing about the wait staff confusion and I left wishing I’d acted differently–just requested the dessert menu (again) without adding the extra cry for justice at the end. Have you ever tried to be forceful and ended up feeling foolish?

Here are some other things that had me all excited this week:

Though Mardis Gras is past, you could still make up this tasty King Cake recipe and decorate it with green for St. Patrick’s Day or pastels for Easter. I liked both versions of the recipe but had a slight preference for the cream cheese raspberry.

Other St. Paddy’s ideas include this Shamrock Money Cake  and a tried-and-true version of Irish Soda Bread.

One family tries to go zero-waste.  Could you?

I’m thinking these would help keep my herbs in line.

Did you know we’re all reading the equivalent of a novel a day?

How personal rituals can help us cope with grief.

They’re just like us! Fashion folk loot the aisles at Chanel.

Happy Weekend All!

The Blue Belles

Sandra Bullock (Alexander McQueen) in deep space navy.

Lupito N’gano (Prada) in sky blue.

The Ice Queens

Cate Blanchett (Armani Prive) in barely-there baubles.

Angelina Jolie (Elie Saab) in tinsel-town silver.

 The Ladies in Red

Anna Kendrick (J Mendel) in cut-out crimson.

 Pink rocking her Ruby Red Slipper dress.

And I was happy to see Meryl Streep (Lanvin) looking so effortlessly elegant. That’s a look I could see myself copying. So what were your favorite frocks of the evening?

After reading Jackson Lander’s chilling account of being bit by a black widow spider, I’m cautiously eyeing the fall crop of spider webs around my yard.  Though Landers writes that black widows are notoriously shy and likely to stay clear unless threatened, he was still caught unawares when he stepped into a water shoe to go fishing. Unbeknownst to him, an industrious black widow had turned his shoe into her citadel and she needed to defend herself against his wriggling toes. Alerted to potential danger, I put down Lander’s story and looked in my nearby gardening clogs where, sure enough, there was a newly formed spider’s web. Clearly there will be no more mindless slipping on of said clogs to cut some late season cosmos. No siree.

Other things that caught my attention this week–

How women’s travel patterns influence city planning in Vienna.

Victorian novelist George Eliot’s relevance for modern-day “Girls.”

The perfect packing list for Paris in October or the East Coast when I head out to Parent’s Weekend next month.

Things that work and look better with IOS7 (not so sure about the new graphics, are you?)

And finally, some wry commentary about the Top 5 IOS7 ringtones.

Happy Weekend!

Judging by the size of this year’s September Issue, it looks like the recovery is well underway.

For fun the past few months I’ve been taking e-courses from British photographer and blogger Susannah Conway.  Prior to signing up for Susannah’s courses I had no idea that people often photograph their feet.  Susannah says it’s to show where we are in the world—not just our extensive shoe wardrobes or the state of our pedicures.  Through her courses I’ve seen photos of feet in boots, sandals, leopard-spotted driving shoes, tap shoes and barefoot.  I’ve seen shots of them in gardens, on beaches, in bathtubs and hammocks.  I’ve seen them side-by-side with children, lovers, dogs, cats and friends. I now have a series of my own feet shot in exotic locations like my laundry room and front porch.

Initially these feet photos seemed like something a tween would snap between Twilight videos, but with time they’re working their charms on me. I look less at the shape of the feet or the color of the nail polish and more at the soul attached to these soles. Where are they walking? Who are they walking with? Why are they there then? Like the toe-to-tentacle shot of my sandaled foot after a friend’s birthday lunch or the poolside portrait of my Big Apple Red nails next to my husband’s birthmarked foot on our 33^rd anniversary, there’s often more than tootsies to tout in these images. Do you ever snap photos of your feet to capture a place and time in your life?

When I wasn’t pointing a camera at my feet this week, I discovered a few other things to kick up my heels about, like:

1.The flippered mermaids in this charming video.

2. Jill Lepore’s wonderful teaser for her new book on Benjamin Franklin’s sister Jane.

3. Quilted Petticoats.

4. Screened-in Sleep Porches.

5. The perfect summer tea towel.

6. Musings on hosting houseguests by David Sedaris.

Happy Weekend!

I couldn’t find a still image of Jackie in her petaled cap, but it looked something like this:

I did find this charming image of her in her fringed toque. Oh, Jackie.

I swim in sleek lycra or silicone helmets that are no more flattering than the festooned bathing caps of the past. Seeing the queen of Camelot in her aquatic garden bonnet made me think that a little froufrou on top could actually be an attractive option, if I dared.  Alas, I have no modern Jackie O to lead the way.

Photos from Vogue, Froot Loops, and Jaques Lowe Photography