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Lifestyle

In The Deep

Amazing whale watching for orcas in Monterey Bay

Chris' Whale Watching | Monterey Bay, California

A couple of weeks ago, when I was in New York, Erin and I were walking down the street after lunch and a pigeon landed on my head.

Pigeons do not typically land on people's heads. And despite the fact that I screamed like the little girl in The Ring had just come walking out of my television screen during JoJo's one-on-one date, once we - and the other people on the block who had borne witness to my attack-by-bird - recovered, Erin said, "I'm not even surprised. Of COURSE a pigeon just landed on your head." And honestly, I wasn't surprised either.

Style

DIY “Mega-Shredded” Denim Jacket

how to make your own shredded distressed denim jacket

I LOVE it when I find things like this on the internet. And by "things like this" I mean super, super expensive things that I really like but can totally just go ahead and make myself for free.

 Click here for tons and tons of my DIYs! 

This denim jacket, discovered on a random British shop's website, actually isn't insaaaaanely expensive - about $145, if my pounds-to-dollars calculations serve me correctly - but it's still more than I want to pay for something that I could simply...not pay for. Also, I have a little grandmother living inside my head who yells why would you pay extra for something that looks like trash?! whenever I contemplate purchasing something with rips in it (which is frequently).

Lifestyle

Melting

tiny piece of string

Here is a piece of string. I want to wear it.

See that string? If I could get away with wearing that and nothing else for the remainder of the week, that would be great.

My phone says that it is 102F outside, and our air conditioning just broke. (I mean, of course it did. Because that's how life works.) It is so hot that when we sat down for dinner last night (at 6:30PM, which is not an hour during which one typically melts), the silverware that had been sitting on the table for all of ten minutes was too hot to pick up.

Eat

Experiments In KitchenLand

Ramshackle Glam very first post ever

Look! She's wearing an apron; she must know what she's doing! (Spoiler: she did not.)

The other night, I made grilled pizzas for dinner - one with tomato sauce, mozzarella and fresh basil (FROM MY GARDEN, #bam), and the other with arugula, peaches, prosciutto and goat cheese (and both with store-bought dough, obviously, because dough-making is not my thing). We were sitting outside eating dinner and Kendrick said something about the peach pizza being good, and then he said, "Remember when you didn't know how to cook?"

To be clear: I still don't consider myself an especially proficient cook. I make things that are easy and that I think taste good, I cut corners virtually everywhere, and I never met a package of pre-marinated Trader Joe's anything that I didn't like. But what Kendrick was referring to was the fact that when I started this website six years ago, my idea of "making dinner" was boiling some ravioli and throwing a bit of Prego over it that I'd tarted up with diced onions and mushrooms (I still make this sometimes when I'm alone, because it may not be elevated cuisine, but it is GOOD).

The original idea behind Ramshackle Glam was that it would be a food and entertaining blog written by a person who didn't know a whole lot about either. I figured hey, I just got married and moved into a (massive-for-us, at 800 square feet) new apartment, I'm interested in spending time at home and cultivating a cozy home life (as opposed to spending as many nights as possible out at some bar or another) for the first time ever...I might as well try to figure out this whole "cooking and entertaining and decorating" thing. And I might as well write about it on the internet while I do it, because there are a hell of a lot of sites that explore cooking from an expert perspective...but I always think it's fun to watch someone figure things out as they go.

Lifestyle

Good Times, Except For Ikea

Family-friendly bar Jack Rose in Los Gatos, California

Jack Rose | Los Gatos, California

Emu Australia Boots | Stripes Boutique Dress

My parents came into town for Memorial Day Weekend so we could all be together on my 35th birthday, and our weekend was a mix of day trips to fun places with the kids, hanging by the pool, and taking care of stuff around the house (wildly exciting projects like fixing closet door tracks and replacing fluorescents; all things that my dad cares about and I care much less about but do anyway when he's there because he makes me and because whining doesn't work on my father).

Entertaining

Want Your Own Summer Tablescape Refresh?

Noritake china sandefjord scandinavian serving platter with a cake

My birthday cake, about to be frosted in my daughter's favorite color ("peeeenk").

Sandefjord Platter |

If you've liked the tablescape shots I've been posting lately - mostly featuring Noritake China's Cher Blanc and Sandefjord patterns - I am about to make your first day back at work after a long weekend (ugggg) way better. We're giving away a $350 gift card to Noritake China (plus signed copies of both of my books, Ramshackle Glam and Carrying On), which you can use to pick up some of the items you've seen featured here...or anything else on the site that you're into.

Lifestyle

Time To Yell

Jordan Reid and son at the beach in California

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California | Memorial Day Weekend

My son's middle name, Henry, comes from his grandfather. He was a veteran of the second World War, and a union organizer and civil rights worker during the McCarthy era (and beyond). I think about my grandpa a lot; he was a thoughtful, passionate, and mostly very kind man. He was the type of person who didn't just say he believed in things; he fought for them, and made sacrifices for them. I think about him even more lately: I picture him sitting at his dining room table, eating a mango and watching the news. He'd be so disappointed - so saddened - by what's happening in our country right now.

The point of today, of course, is to remember the thousands and thousands of men and women who have given their lives in an effort to help make our country what it is. It's a day to think about our country's past, and honor those who have helped to shape it, but I think that it's also a day when we should think about its future - because that's what all those countless servicemen and women were fighting for.

Decor

Kid Room Redux

Indy's Tiny Room (with Tiny Bed)

OK, I need your help. I've been brainstorming ideas for what to do about our kids' bedroom situation, and could use any suggestions you might have - because my parents are here this weekend, which means that I have the ability to make a child-free trip to Ikea. And we all know how child-inclusive trips to Ikea go, so I'm thinking I should take advantage of this.

Here's the present setup:

Lifestyle

Smile, We’re Like ThisClose

glam camp blanket sale featuring bonfire blanket

Bonfire Blanket |

In celebration of the fact that everyone in the world is happy on Memorial Day Weekend because we're like thisclose to summer, here's one more thing to be pumped about: if you've been eyeing one of the glam | camp blankets, we're offering 20% off everything in the Spring Blanket Collection through Sunday with code MEMORIALDAY at checkout.

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Eat

Cedar-Wrapped Salmon (And Me Turning 35)

cedar-wrapped asian salmon recipe for the grill

I turn 35 tomorrow. (And the day after that, my son graduates from preschool, which is even more perplexing. ...How did this happen? Am I happy about it? Am I going to cry massive crocodile tears? The answers: I have no freaking idea, yes with qualifications, and ohhhmygoodness yes.)

The fact that it's my birthday has nothing to do with the photos of salmon in this post (other than the fact that I suppose I should be ingesting more omega-3s...?). It's just on my mind.

The thing is, I've never been into New Year's resolutions; New Year's is a holiday that I'm not especially fond of because it stresses me out (HAVE FUN! NOW!), but beyond that, I've never gotten that grand "Hooray! This is my chance to start afresh!" burst that apparently motivates dedicated resolution-makers. This birthday, though, I'm sort of getting that feeling: the desire to hit the refresh button in certain ways. I don't think it's any mystery that I've been going through some searching with regards to how I can live better, feel better, and mostly be better, as a partner and mother and daughter and person. These are obviously things that I've always thought about to some extent, like everyone, but something about this particular moment in my life seems different.