Last week, I wrote pretty candidly about the stress in my life and how it's been affecting me both emotionally and physically, so it's probably no surprise that one of my New Year's resolutions (yes, I really do make them!) is to do some…
You won’t hear us talking much about hangover remedies because, well, even those of us who enjoy drinking don’t do much of it. Pesky children, early mornings, and things like school lunch duty get in the way. But every once and a while, …
We admittedly get a little nostalgic looking back through our entire calendar year worth of posts each December to see which ones most resonated with our readers. All we can say is, looking at the top ten posts of the year? You all have …
Hi, I'm Kristen and I'm stressed out. Why is it hard to admit that? As if I'm somehow not as competent or together as I'm supposed to be, whatever that means. Yes, I'm a single mom with four kids and my own business, so you might say, we…
We had the best time over the past month, partnering with Amazon Free Time to throw a couple of fun press and blogger holiday cocktail parties in Philly and Atlanta. Our aim was to give parents a little more me time (Get it? Free Time fo…
We are all for Christmas cookie gifts around here! Whether you want to bring a tasty treat as a hostess gift or plan to make a giant batch of your famous sugar cookies to give out to all your friends and your kids' teachers, I've found s…
As busy parent with Christmas right around the corner (ten days as of today, to be exact), I am thankful for places that make it easy to get all the last-minute stuff that I forgot to get but really, really need, in one handy place, like…
Homemade pie crust: Three simple words that strike fear into the hearts of many home cooks, including myself until 2 weeks ago. I must confess that I have always been a firm believer in store-bought pie crusts. They are easy and taste, w…
As a busy parent, I greatly appreciate the idea of a one-stop shop for, well...everything. But as a busy parent during the holidays, I really appreciate it. This is why we've all been huge CVS fans around here, and we're so happy they're…
There's still plenty of time to get ahead of your holiday cooking (our Thanksgiving cooking schedule can help!) but, let's be honest, no matter how well you prep, cooking a Thanksgiving meal can be stressful the day of. The more you can …
Gravy. It’s pretty much the best part of Thanksgiving or, at least, the best parts aren't the best without it. Since gravy is so beloved, there’s a lot of pressure to make it good and in quantity. Of course, making good gravy can get a l…
It's mid-November. Yeah. We can't believe it either. We only just got over our summer s'mores obsession a few weeks ago and now here comes Thanksgiving, with all its trimmings, staring us right in the face. It's time to talk turkey -- li…
( This post has been updated, August 2017 ) It's been a somber mood around here lately, as it surely been for many of you. When I first wrote this post, our hearts were going out to the people of Paris. We each have been hoping and prayi…
Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means the task of cooking a turkey is looming ahead for many of us. Roasting is almost always the best option for cooking a Thanksgiving bird because it's easy to do even if you don't cook often (…
Cooking a Thanksgiving meal is intimidating, but unless you're set on showing off, cooking Thanksgiving meal staples can be pretty straightforward business. The thing most likely to trip you up is bad planning. With a solid prep schedule…
It's about this time every year that we need to ramp up our efforts to get our homes organized and looking awesome for holiday guests. It's like, what the heck happened to all that spring cleaning I did six months ago? Yeah, well, welcom…
You may be aware of last week's bombshell report from the World Health Organization (WHO) linking bacon and other processed red meats to cancer . Well, they've issued a statement of clarification . (i.e. You can calm down, Internet.) I l…
If you spend many hours of the day sitting at a desk or working in front of a computer like we do, then you know how tough it can be on your back, your neck, and uh...even your waistline. But there are actually things -- really easy thin…
I was in college the first time I tried roasted garlic at an Italian restaurant famous for serving whole roasted bulbs with crusty bread. I was skeptical at first, but decided to give it a try. One bite of warm Italian bread spread with …
With cold weather pretty much here for lots of us, and on the way for the rest of us (wah!), this is the time of year we start getting more reader questions about baby and kids' skincare. I know it's hard to weed through all the info; I'…
The house is decorated, there's candy in the pantry for trick-or-treaters, and your children's Halloween costumes have been planned for a month. Think you're set for October 31? Well, have you considered what your kids will use for Hallo…
When my kids' father was deployed for a few months to Afghanistan, I put together several military care packages filled with fairly typical items. Don't get me wrong, they were definitely very appreciated by his unit! But it wasn't until…
Celebrating an allergy free Halloween used to be a chore, but with growing awareness of food allergies and cool initiatives like The Teal Pumpkin Project , it’s getting easier to host an allergy-friendly holiday. Most of these tips and r…
A very cool thing is happening this Halloween: Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) has launched their 2nd annual Teal Pumpkin Project to help families with special diets easily identify homes where it is safe for them to trick-or-…