The Creative Family

I'm starting to stock up on craft projects for winter and Amanda Blake Soule has written this very sweet book. Here's her inspiring blog. The fabrics remind me of my grandmom's house and there's just such simplicity and comfort in her work. Great photos too!

Bouquets of Sharpened Pencils

"Don't you love New York in the Fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would buy you a bouquet of sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms" Tom Hanks as Joe Fox in You've Got Mail. Or me, to you.

And on that note, check out See Jane Work.

What more can be said? I mean, stylish organization tools? It's like crack rock for the compulsive. I love every product and have already put the 8 day planner to use from Bob's Your Uncle and I love it.

Reader Poll

This month's Working Mother magazine focuses on balancing parenting and practicing law.

GREAT! It's definitely worth the cover price. But, when I reached the end of the articles, once again, I felt like they just scratched the surface of the conversation and only touched on one type of practice with little variation in the size of firm. The magazine repeatedly mentions "outrageous salaries" that statistically, most lawyers just aren't making. Several of my classmates work at firms listed in the magazine's 50 Best Law Firms for Women. What do you think? Has anyone else read this? Thoughts?

This Week's Good Chi

Photo by the talented and inspiring artist Ali Edwards

MaterniTV

We were incredibly blessed that for the first 4 weeks of our daughter's life, my husband and I were both home. Our daughter was very colicky (we now know because of a milk protein allergy) and it was a very sleepless time. I remember needing to laugh a lot. We watched Jimmy Fallon do impressions of Barry Gibb and the Sklar twins stand-up routine.

After chatting with girlfriends who are moms, it seems all of us had at least one show that for 6-8 weeks, was a source of comfort during the isolating first few weeks of parenthood, overwhelming responsibility and deep fatigue. One friend watched Judging Amy re-runs. Another Dawson's Creek. Thank God none of us watched these shows when they were first-run so that we would have years of seasons to catch up on out of order.

I became particularly attached to Gilmore Girls re-runs. My husband, to Food Network. Comforting, safe, good energy tv.

I wanted to move to Stars Hollow (the fictional Connecticut town where Gilmore Girls is set) where the diner has twinkle lights, all the homes have porches and built-in bookshelves, and everything I adore -books, learning, music, food, coffee- is celebrated. The entire town had a sense of an unconditional connectedness -something I still look for in communities. Even the town's strangest citizens were loved. And it's a show about mothers and daughters...a topic of endless fascination and anxiety for me. I was re-reading my tattered copy of Reviving Ophelia the day after the ultrasound told us that she was on her way.

This Fall there will be no more episodes of Gilmore Girls and I am so disappointed. The plot had sort of died. It was time for them to cancel the show. I just want to visit Stars Hollow, have a cheeseburger, get some new music recommendations from Lane (or Carol King who works at the instruments shop) buy some books and spend Thanksgiving on Suki's lawn with a deep fried turkey.