Lifestyle

A Few Pretty Great Things

September 26, 2017

Last night, I had an extremely long and involved dream about chocolate milk. I really, really wanted some, you see - like, needed some - but I was at my mom and dad's place, and they didn't have any. I was sitting with my mom at her dining room table absolutely panicking about how I was going to go about finding some chocolate milk, because it was an actual emergency, and you know what happened next?

I woke up, still upset about the chocolate milk situation, and then - in an single, glorious flash - remembered that I am an adult now, that I live in my own house, and that I always keep chocolate milk in the refrigerator. So I got out of bed, wandered through my pitch-black house, and stood in front of the refrigerator drinking chocolate milk straight out of the carton.

That was pretty great.

Continue Reading
DIARY

From WAHM To SAHM…Sort Of

September 25, 2017

How amaze is my new crafting room?!?!?!?

hahahahahahaha 

As of today, our childcare situation has shifted pretty dramatically. For the past couple of years, we've employed a part-time nanny to watch our daughter in the mornings (while our son is at school), and then occasionally watch both children in the afternoons, whenever my wildly inconsistent work schedule requires. But over the past couple of months we've realized that Goldie is clearly ready for preschool, which means that both kids are now out of the house until early afternoon - and beyond the prohibitive expense of paying for nanny + preschool (nope), I just felt like I could...make this work. Somehow. I can get most, if not all, of my work done in the morning, then pick up the kids and get to have afternoons with them.

Continue Reading
MY PRODUCTS
BUY THE BOOKS
Carrying-On-Jordan-Reid
CARRYING ON
Ramshackle-Glam-by-Jordan-Reid
RAMSHACKLE GLAM
bigfatactivitybookforpregnantpeople
THE BIG FAT ACTIVITY BOOK FOR PREGNANT PEOPLE
DIARY

Rookie Mistake Of The Week: We Told God About Our Plans (And, Per Usual, She Laughed)

September 21, 2017

The Instagram-friendly Disneyland family portrait, which came neither easily nor naturally

Last year we went to Disneyland as a family for the very first time, and we completely fell in love with the place. Having gone in with expectations of total madness and three-hour-long lines and oversugared, undernapped, hysterical children, we were happily shocked when we emerged from our two days of Disney with oversugared, undernapped, hysterical children who were nevertheless in a state of total nirvana - as were we - and immediately decided that an annual trip was in order.

So I'm not going to say that today took us entirely by surprise. Best laid plans, et cetera.

Continue Reading

Shop My Favorites

Glam Camp
Lifestyle

Ranching (And There Were BUNNIES)

September 19, 2017

The first thing I noticed when we walked into our room at Alisal Guest Ranch was the books: there were huge bookshelves filled with them everywhere - plus a library next door with floor-to-ceiling shelves and enormous leather couches. It reminded me of the hotels my parents and I stayed at when I was a kid, and how you could always borrow a few paperbacks from the front desk. It was only the next morning, when our kids came in to wake us up, that I realized what had felt so odd about our hotel room: there was no TV; not anywhere.

We're staying at the ranch for a couple of nights on a press trip before we head to Disneyland, and I spent the drive down to Santa Barbara figuring I'd regret having told the kids what the next stop on our trip was (imagining hearing "BUT WHEN ARE WE GOING TO DISNEYLAAAAAND?" on repeat for the duration), but we got here, dropped our stuff in our room, then ran out onto the lawn to play leapfrog. And then today we rode horses and petted zebus and gathered chicken eggs from the coops and got to sit in enormous piles of bunnies and guinea pigs (!!!!! I died) and made mosaic butterflies in the arts & crafts house, and I swear to you: I have not heard the word "Disneyland" one single time.

You know what other word I haven't heard? "TV." They haven't even noticed it's not there.

Continue Reading
Style

10 Perfect Fall Sweaters

September 18, 2017

Me and my sweater dress and my Highlands c. 2013

I was just browsing through old posts and realized that my most recent post about sweaters (and there have been oh, so many, because I love few things more than a really good sweater) went up last spring. Which doesn't seem like an ideal time to post about sweaters. (Unless, I suppose, one is planning to buy them on clearance and wear them the next fall. Which sure, I did because Zara made me do it - this dress is similar - but still.)

It's fall! Let's talk about sweaters. Mostly because I spent last night fascia blasting and catching up on Bachelor In Paradise and packing, and then I spent the bulk of today driving from San Jose to Santa Barbara, and then I spent the past three hours trying to convince two small children to go to sleep in what is apparently the most exciting hotel room that has ever existed (and yes, okay, the Alisal Ranch is indeed beautiful, but still: GO TO SLEEP) and now my brain is fried.

Continue Reading
Lifestyle

We Are Living In The Future

September 15, 2017

Usually, when I do a double-take at something, it is a pair of shoes. Or, I don’t know, a couch (I do love me some couches). It’s not particularly common for me to do one while wandering through the home appliances section of a department store, because it’s hard to get all romantic about a fridge or a washer and dryer, you know?

But a few weeks ago Samsung contacted me, asking if I wanted to work with them on a review of their new FlexWash + FlexDry washer and dryer. And then a few days after that I was in Sears shooting a video, and may wanderings took me through the home appliances section…and that’s when it happened:

I did a double-take for the ages. At a home appliance.

Continue Reading
Lifestyle

One Day’s Worth Of Googles

September 14, 2017

Who knew Kendrick was such a mystery man? 

The other day, in LA, I was driving around with Francesca and her cousin Valentina, and Francesca said "Google 'flexible old lady,' will you?" So I did - no questions asked - and this wonderful, wonderful image came up. The point of the Google was that Francesca had seen the image somewhere before and wanted me to see it because she said it was her vision of me as an old lady. But out of context, that's a hell of a random search.

But the thing is, the very identity of Google searches is based on the fact that they're decontextualized. So they're kind of always funny. Or at least bizarre.

Continue Reading
Style

My Favorite Fall Trends: A Top 10 List, In No Particular Order

September 13, 2017

via

I'm officially ready for fall to commence. It's still hovering in the high 90s out here, but every day lately I wake up, open my closet, and gaze upon my lovely OTK (and thigh-high) boots, awaiting the day when I can throw them on with a big old sweater dress.

What I like about the trends I've been seeing for Fall 2017 is that they seem so wearable, even for someone like me, whose lifestyle rarely, if ever, involves going anywhere fancier than Aqui's for Sangria Swirls (hush, they're delicious). Sure, there are trends that I will not be embracing, such as uber-long nails (which do not mix especially well with diaper-changing), ruffles upon ruffles (the look is just not cute on me), or tiny bralette tops that look like actual bras (that ship has sailed, my friends), but there's so much good fashion to look forward to in the coming months.

Continue Reading