Last week, BlogHer Co-founder Lisa Stone talked to President Obama about women, wages & the future. Here are the highlights, along with commentary from members of the blogging community. Pretty cool, eh?
Hello folks, I hope you're enjoying the gorgeous weather! It's been the perfect weekend for soccer games, yard work, outdoor adventures, and of course welcoming so many athletes and spectators to this beautiful city for the Boston Marathon. I'm sending so many good wishes for this city tomorrow! Meanwhile, enjoy this April vacation mega-roundup, and please come meet me and Gabrielle Blair at Trident Booksellers on Tuesday!
ACTON: An Earth Day celebration.
ARLINGTON: Spectacular art activities this vacation week.
BOSTON: Color in motion at Isabella Gardner Museum.
BOSTON: The 119th Boston Marathon.
BOSTON: School vacation is revolutionary at the Old State House.
BOSTON: Recognizing the 240th anniversary of Paul Revere’s midnight ride all week.
BOSTON: Goodwill projects and crafts, inspired by the early life of Mary Baker Eddy.
BOSTON: The kids get their very own marathon at the museum.
BOSTON: It’s Earth Day at the museum.
BOSTON: The Ecology of Sound live performance by Ricardo Frota.
BOSTON: Music and movement in English and Spanish with Mariana Iranzi.
BOSTON: A wild school vacation week at the zoo.
BOSTON: An Earth Day party for the planet.
BOSTON: Artistic adventures at the MFA.
BOSTON: Come meet me and Design Mom at Trident!
CAMBRIDGE: The 2015 Cambridge Science Festival.
CONCORD: Patriot’s Day reenactments.
CONCORD: FREE drop in family art days.
CONCORD: Special events at Orchard House for Little Women fans.
EASTON: Get your mini makers over to the children’s museum.
GLOUCESTER: A Cape Ann staycation of outdoor adventures.
GROTON: Learn to bike camp for children with special needs.
IPSWICH: Become a farmer for the week.
LEOMINSTER: Celebrate Earth Day and receive your very own tree sapling to plant.
LEXINGTON: Craft workshops and cooking classes.
LEXINGTON: Patriot’s Day reenactments.
LINCOLN: Vacation activities at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.
NANTUCKET: The Nantucket Daffodil Festival kicks off.
NEWTON: Weaving workshops at the Jackson Homestead and Museum.
PLYMOUTH: Make your own history at Plimoth Plantation.
SALEM: Spread your branches and celebrate the return of spring.
SOMERVILLE: Independent Film Festival Boston.
STONEHAM: Stone Zoo gets wild this week.
STURBRIDGE: School vacation the old fashioned way.
WORCESTER: Build It! For a Greener Tomorrow.
Image credit: Peabody Essex Museum
Happy Saturday everyone, I hope you're enjoying a wonderful weekend! Once again, we've got a rather crazy full Satuday and a very relaxed Sunday on tap, though it's definitely all good and fun things for today! If you're looking for some interesting content and visuals to absorb during downtime, here's what caught my eye around the web this week, via Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome. Enjoy and I'll be sharing the April vacation mega-roundup soon!
- The secret language of girls on Instagram.
- After 49 years, mother reunites with the daughter she thought died at birth.
- The moral bucket list.
- The fight of angels.
- A map of restaurants based on MBTA stops.
- The 10 most beautiful neighborhoods in America (Woo hoo #1! And here are 15 awesome local gems in that neighborhood.)
- 40 kids who got ridiculous detention slips and don't regret a thing.
- Girls with nagging moms grow up to be more successful. (I'm not wild about the link bait title, and keeping up with your kids isn't the same as being a Tiger mom, but still, an interesting research snippet!)
- Colorado teacher shares heartbreaking notes from third graders.
- Report debunks "earlier is better" academic instruction for young children.
Image credit: 15 sparkling drink recipes for spring via Pinterest
Happy Friday everyone! I apologize for being light on posting this week. I was in Chicago for a couple of days to serve as part of the media team to kick off a really wonderful charity initiative and my editorial planning went a little off the rails since I wanted to make up time away from the girls when I returned. Anyway, enjoy these 21 weekend events, lovingly curated for your consideration. And be sure to check back for the April vacation mega-roundup!
1. A swashbuckling adventure and pirate mystery. (Amherst)
2. Spring food festival on the Greenway. (Boston)
3. Become a junior ranger. (Boston)
4. Book reading with illustrator Renee Kurilla. (Boston)
5. Children’s performance of The Diary of Anne Frank. (Boston)
6. Nothing stinks about the sense of smell day. (Boston)
7. Meet the string section of the New England Philharmonic. (Boston)
8. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about composting. (Boston)
9. Marathon weekend kicks off. (Boston)
10. A Saturday jam with Ethan and the Jamberries. (Brookline)
11. Harvard celebrates the Boston Marathon. (Cambridge)
12. All about vernal pools. (Gloucester)
13. An Earth Day family festival and FREE admission. (Harvard)
14. A day of outdoor scientific discovery. (Lincoln)
15. An open house and sheep shearing. (Princeton)
16. The Revere Spring Carnival. (Revere)
17. Hammer, clamp, saw and paint your own wooden creations. (Salem)
18. An interactive journey around the globe using stories, music, dance and poetry. (South Boston)
19. Celebrate spring and prep the fields the old fashioned way. (Sturbridge)
20. So much to do outdoors this weekend. (Various locations)
21. Contemporary artists explore samurai in popular culture. (Worcester)
Image credit: Old Sturbridge Village
I recently shared about Gabrielle Blair's brilliant new book Design Mom: How to Live With Kids: A Room-by-Room Guide (which, by the way, is the #1 best seller in Home Design & Construction on Amazon!). And now I'm cordially inviting you to Gabby's Boston book tour stop at Trident Booksellers & Cafe Tuesday, April 21, 7pm. I'll be leading a Q&A with Gabby and there will be goody bags, treats, mingling, and you can get your book signed by (and no doubt snap a selfie with!) Gabby. Come join us for a fun evening!
Image credit: Seth & Kendra Smoot
Hey y'all. A cool company in Missouri sent me a wooden watch. I reviewed it on Surrender, Dorothy: Reviews here. It's less than $150 and totally cool. You should check them out.
Fun with Photoshop!
Happy Monday everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend! It was insanely wonderful to spend so much time outdoors this weekend -- going for a long run without 20 layers on, buying flowers and mulch at the garden store, helping with our school's spring spruce up, and enjoying our first grilling and outdoor dinner of the season. Yay for simple pleasures! Meanwhile, it's time to kick off the week. Enjoy this roundup of events via the Weekly Blueprint:
April 13: Navigate your way from diapers to diploma. (Acton)
April 13 - 17: It’s the Week of the Young Child so brain building is in progress. (Boston)
April 13 - 18: Take an interactive journey around the globe using stories, music, dance and poetry. (Boston)
April 15: Toddler story time on the farm. (Waltham)
April 15: Even adults love to play with Legos. (Somerville)
April 16: Get outdoors with baby on board. (Natick)
April 16: Get your your bangles and legwarmers, it’s art and the 80’s. (Salem)
April 17: Special night at the museum for families with children on the Autism spectrum. (Easton)
April 17: The Art of Baseball exhibit opens. (Concord)
Image credit: Gore Place
Happy Saturday everyone, I hope you're having a great week! I have some great reads and visuals to share for this week's edition of Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome. Also, on this site, be sure to check out how the Red Sox are working to make Fenway more family-friendly, my thoughts on alcohol consumption, social media, and kids, a roundup of rad, neutral shoes, great stuff to do this weekend, and the ride that made me cry! See you back here on Monday!
- Michelle Obama's got the moves.
- The real roots of midlife crisis.
- Stupid things people ask you when you are pregnant over 40.
- Nothing beats that new baby jaguar smell.
- Transgender kids: 'Everyone was calling me Sebastian, but I knew I was a girl.'
- What happens when students boycott a standardized test?
- The double-standard of making the poor prove they're worthy of government benefits.
- Why I wear the exact same thing to work every day.
- Raising your successful 35-year-old.
- Sign this petition to ask President Obama to commit to giving 50% of global poverty-fighting aid to the world’s least developed countries.
Image credit: creamy mushroom tart via Pinterest
I have only owned two bicycles in my life, and I owned them 20 years apart. No joke. I bought my first bike when I was in college, enjoyed one glorious ride, and then it was stolen two days later (CUE SAD TROMBONE). Over the last decade, despite Jon's repeated encouragement, I have since (rather stubbornly) resisted owning another bike, both due to my bike theft trauma and also because of cost. And then I learned about Priority Bicycles.
Priority Bicycles reached out to me late last fall about trying out their bike, and I know it sounds crazy, but I was still somewhat resistant because I didn’t want to own another bike and have it get stolen two days later (ridiculous, I know, but still!). However, after some contemplation -- and a really lovely exchange with founder David Weiner, who personally helped with product recommendations -- I decided to get over myself and try their (super adorable) ladies’ step-through bike.
And I’m not exaggerating when I say this bike is a total game changer. Here are 5 reasons why:
1. Empowerment. I will admit that I’ve fallen into a pattern of having Jon handle anything requiring fixing and assembling. My brain typically isn’t suited to processing instructions. But when the bike arrived, I decided I wanted to try putting it together. And while the instructions do advise you to have a professional review your bike assembly, I found the instructions to be straightforward and simple, and I'm not sure I can begin to convey how empowering it was to assemble the bike then take it for a ride. The bike rides well and comfortably and it was easy to get used to the internal (reverse pedal) braking system.
2. Active togetherness time. My bike arrived about a week before the onslaught of snow, and during that week I went bike riding with Laurel twice. Biking has been her and Jon’s activity and to be able to do something new and physical with Laurel was amazing. I actually had tears in my eyes as I rode behind her that first time, with Laurel leading the way and showing me the loop she usually does with Jon. I'm the kind of person who needs some kind of physical activity every day (or else I go crazy and cranky) and I love that biking now offers a way Laurel and I can do something active together.
3. Less car time. Now that the weather is finally warming up, I am seriously excited about being able to bike to do errands when I don’t want to use the car, but don’t quite have the time to walk.
4. Easy add-ons. Priority’s bicycles are pre-drilled to accommodate a bunch of different accessories. After enjoying my pre-snowpocalypse rides, I ordered their U-lock, back rack, and cargo net. I am ready to do all the errands! Also cool for parents who want to ride with little ones, they have a Peg Perego rear mounted seat.
5. Price. As I mentioned earlier, in addition to my bike theft trauma, a related bike barrier for me was cost. On the couple of occasions I have visited bike stores (to get gear for Laurel), I’ve looked at the price tags and been completely overwhelmed by the idea of spending close to $1,000 (or way more!) on a bicycle that, well, might get stolen in my urban neighborhood. Priority Bicycles run just under $400, which I didn’t even know was possible for an adult bike. So, basically, though I will do all I can to protect my ride, even if it got stolen tomorrow, I know I could order a new one at a reasonable price.
So, if you’re looking for a bicycle, definitely check out Priority! Given that the forecast is calling for a string of 60+ degree days starting Sunday, my bicycle is coming out of hibernation this weekend. And you can be sure I’ll be locking it up at every turn.
Image credits: 1) Christine Koh; 2) Priority Bicycles
Disclosure: Priority Bicycles kindly sent me a bicycle to test out for editorial consideration. All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.