I never know what to get my husband for anything. I used to try to dress him up with my holiday gifts, buying jeans and rugbies from the Gap and Banana Republic, but once he realized I was living some ’80s-Chicago-preppy dream and attempting to Jake Ryanize him, clothes as presents were off limits. [...]

If you’re a friend or family member, you know that my search for good skincare products is legend. I’ve really and truly tried almost everything, but find that only a small portion of potions I’ve applied to my face don’t make me break out or manage my skin conditions (i.e. oiliness but dryness, clogged pores, [...]

{{I’m just about there. Almost done. This holds me accountable. Next? Revisions. Oy gevalt.}}   The map fell with a clap from the front door and then all went quiet, except for the crackling of the fire. Annie tuned to look and in the flames saw the outline of someone familiar.   “Is that?” Coriander [...]

Do you remember this poem? My friend Ellen gave me a burnt-edged copy of it in high school, and I’ve loved its simple profundity ever since.   Today’s a good day to read it again.   Comes The Dawn by Veronica A. Shoffstall   After a while you learn the subtle difference Between holding a [...]

I am writing this for Auds’ beautiful daughter, Meg.   For some reason, I never expected to have children, despite Kathy King’s mumbo-jumbo “yarn” trick sophomore year that told me I’d be a mother to 16. I didn’t think I’d be married, either. I will admit that for awhile there, I DID wonder if maybe [...]

{{Originally posted in 2008… Here again, because it’s that kind of day…}}   electric fingers, worn by silver move me forward, will I hear a whisper   spent as light in near dawn, spirals hesitation limps, then settles   sits in blonde wood acclimated to cold peeks through the porthole, spider glass   pipes of [...]

Most days, I choose not to look inside and close “the room” to general viewing. If someone forgets to pull the door shut, I, unprepared for the vicious assault on my senses, cringe as I walk past, and pretend it doesn’t exist. Just doesn’t exist. It’s a figment of my imagination, a portal to another, [...]

First in a series…     Dear Sandie Go Momma:   You seem zippy! Always going somewhere, are we right? It says so right in your name, Sandie!   Would you like to review our tornado car? It is built to withstand winds up to 300 miles per hour! We’re pretty confident that you will [...]

  It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an experiential overview!   I’m still not sure how to incorporate product reviews (henceforth referred to as “experiental overview” into my blog yet, or if I even want to, but I have found that I’m game if the following four bullet points are addressed:   1) The [...]

So among my other stellar personality characteristics, two stand out: impatience and laziness.   And when I found myself facing my mother-in-law’s birthday yet again without a present or card in sight (don’t EVEN get me started on my husband’s lack of preparation), I panicked. Because last year, we didn’t get her anything and boy, [...]

I can’t even think of one sarcastic or funny thing to say here, as love struck as I am over my new notecards.   Check it:     I actually put my family name here, as in “The San Diego Mommasons.” Original, eh?   Here’s the back of the card:     Myra from Moon [...]

Normally this post would go in the Momma Love section, but I’m busy making beans, so this must suffice as my post today. Meanwhile, please transmit fart death ray thoughts into the universe and pray that I don’t gas anyone to death with my super-farticious beans. I don’t know why, but my beans are always [...]

  My friend, Farrah, gave this to Toots for her 4th birthday, and can I just say, “thank you“? And for a proper re-enactment of how I might say that, please shout it using all your lung capacity.   Because this entertains Toots (and Booger, who as you probably will guess, promptly shoved some of [...]

  I am bonkers for this stuff. I believe that I associate the smell of it with childhood, which brings good tidings. It’s got a beautiful eucalyptus smell that reminds me of the Vick’s VapoRub my dad used to use on us kids. For everything. Seriously. Loose tooth? Vicks. First period? Vicks. Herpes Simplex A? [...]

  I don’t know, I kind of have a licensed character aversion. My brother has it, too, and refuses to dress his son in clothes with any trace of Bob the Builder or Thomas, preferring instead those drab, uniformy-looking kid’s clothes you get when you shop in Asia.   Not that there’s anything wrong with [...]

  Can I just tell you how many kick ass things I’ve found here? A brand new Lilly Pulitzer jacket for my one-year-old ($2), Gymboree dresses ($3.99), Banana Republic totally awesome jacket ($8.99), the best purse in the universe ($9.99). And more!   Usually, I don’t buy unless the item is new or drycleaned (and [...]

I have a lot of kid’s books. This one is my favorite of all time. It’s silly (as the title so helpfully suggests) but not in that annoying way, maybe like, say, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? read 100 times at breakneck speed. I could read The Seven Silly Eaters again and again and [...]