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Style

Life Hack: You’ll Never Guess Where These Prescription Glasses Came From

August 5, 2019

Illesteva sunglasses-turned-prescription glasses

It's always funny to me when this site suddenly becomes a little digital hub for something completely and totally random. For example: At present, a solid 5% of Ramshackle Glam's daily traffic comes from people in search of information on the glasses that Ali Wong wears in Baby Cobra. This makes sense to me both because they are fantastic glasses, and also because they're not actually glasses. They're sunglasses. That either Ali Wong or her stylist had made into prescription glasses. Which means that searching for them online is a bit trickier than you might imagine (enter: Ramshackle Glam!).

Which brings me to this little life hack.

Lifestyle

Cracking Up: A No-Longer-Anonymous Story Of Divorce

August 2, 2019

I've been writing Ramshackle Glam for nearly ten whole years - which means that there is a LOT of good stuff hanging out in my archives. So each Friday, we'll be doing a little throwback to one of my personal favorites. This week's is a searing three-part post on a marriage torn apart by faith and politics - you may recall that it was originally written anonymously by a woman named "EB." In the years since she wrote these words, EB has published a memoir on the topic, and has given me permission to post her story here.

Lyz Lenz is the author of God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America. She is also one of my personal heroes.

PART ONE: THROW PILLOWS FOR THE CAGE

Lifestyle

Haters Gonna Hate, But The Rest Is Up To You

August 2, 2019

(Not actually Plato, but no matter; this is a good thing to remember.)

I've been writing Ramshackle Glam for nearly ten whole years - which means that there is a LOT of good stuff hanging out in my archives. So each Friday, we'll be doing a little throwback to one of my personal favorites. This week's is a post is one I wrote in 2015, about the challenges of handling Internet commenters with less-than-pleasant things to say...and contains a few little bits of wisdom that - nearly five years later - I could use a refresher on myself.

Q. What advice would you give someone on how to handle the mean-spirited comments people feel free to fling around [on the Internet]?

Makeup & Beauty

The Perfect Summer Perfume…Is Made By Malibu’s Most Adorable Candy Shop

July 31, 2019

This is Sweet Bu: a shoebox-sized candy shop tucked into a corner of Trancas County Market, within throwing distance of Malibu Beach. It's maybe 200 square feet, but you can easily lose an hour in there, as I did yesterday when I stopped in in search of some gummy sushi (yes) for my daughter's fifth birthday.

The shop is a full-on Wonka paradise, packed from floor to ceiling with everything from sweet retro favorites (Bubble Tape! Abba Zabba!) to candy-themed toys and gifts to bespoke, surfboard-shaped dog biscuits packed into mason jars and tied with jaunty ribbons (this is Malibu, remember). In the weeks before she opened the doors last year, the owner (and my friend), Melissa Smith, took her two children around to local antique shops, stocking up on vintage signs and old-school gumball machines to give the store the vibe of the beloved neighborhood hangout that it's since become.

Lifestyle

My Definitive “Best Family Movies Of All Time” List

July 29, 2019

Me + cheeks on our very first movie outing, 2013. It went great.

We watch a lot of movies as a family, both in the theater and at home. It's kind of our thing - not to mention a really lovely way for us to get in all-four-of-us time, since a new animated release that will make neither parent fall asleep is one activity we're all virtually guaranteed to be on board with.

What this means, however, is that I'm constantly searching for suggestions for amazing movies that I haven't thought of yet. So I thought I'd put together a list of my all-time favorite family-friendly movies*, and see if you guys would do me the solid of adding your suggestions below.

Lifestyle

How to Take Your Toddler to the Amusement Park: A Mother’s Guide

July 26, 2019

how to take your toddler to the amusement park funny

Wherefore art thou, Monk-Monk?

I've been writing Ramshackle Glam for nearly ten whole years - which means that there is a LOT of good stuff hanging out in my archives. So each Friday, we'll be doing a little throwback to one of my personal favorites. This week's is by Erin Williams, the coauthor of The Big Activity Book For Anxious People, and the author of a stunning new graphic memoir, Commute.

by Erin Williams

Lifestyle

Links & Love & Stuff

July 25, 2019

I'm going to do one of Paintillio's custom paint-by-numbers pieces as a form of art therapy, and am considering this as the pic to use. I posted a few other contenders - plus some thoughts on the pure vanity/pure awesomeness of painting yourself - over on IG, and would be curious to hear your thoughts.

This article about Al Franken's exit from the Senate is an essential read - not to mention an extraordinary work of journalism. (The Case Of Al Franken, via The New Yorker.)

Oh excuse me GUESS WHAT IS AVAILABLE AT URBAN OUTFITTERS?

Entertaining

Let’s Do This: Cave Of Wonders Fifth Birthday Party

July 24, 2019

OK, so I know I literally just - like, just - wrote about how I'm *over* entertaining. But one of the great joys in my life these past few years has been going all-in with the kids' birthday parties. Last year we moved to LA only a couple of weeks before my son's birthday, so I gave myself a pass with that one...but my daughter is about to turn five and all the girl wants in life is a ridiculously cool birthday cake.

And so a ridiculously cool birthday cake is what she's (hopefully) going to get.

A ridiculously cool birthday cake, however, requires a theme. So far we've done mermaids, Moana, and rainbows, all of which my daughter suggested doing again...but come on. This is an OPPORTUNITY.

Anxiety

On Breakdowns, Breakups, And Breakthroughs: Podcast

July 23, 2019

I recorded this interview with Leo Flowers for his mental health podcast on the same day that I published the post about my breakup...and to say it got interesting would be an understatement.

He - meaning the host of the podcast - did this. To a woman he was dating. Like, RECENTLY. So I think it's safe to say that I had a few questions to ask him.

Go ahead and give it a listen.

Entertaining

Come On Over

July 22, 2019

I’ve been writing recently about how my attitude towards entertaining has chilled out in the extreme these past few months. I’m sure I still have a fancy hors d’oeuvre recipe or two in me, but what I’ve discovered since removing virtually all of the fuss from my get-togethers with friends and neighbors is that that’s all it is: fuss. The point is to be with each other, and - especially when lots and lots of young children are involved - the easier we can make it to do that, the more we…do it.

Take the other night, for example: My neighbor Margo spontaneously invited us over to swim. I hesitated for a moment, because it was 4:30 PM, so not quite dinnertime, but also right in that sweet spot where I’d have to start making dinner soon or risk the kids being awake into the hour when Mom really needs to commence the bath-taking and watching of Handmaid’s Tale, which is - let’s be honest - unacceptable.

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