northern life
I didn’t realize the depth of my unmet need for outdoor adventure until I hastily concocted a winter tent camping trip over lunch one day with a co-worker. While I love exploring with my family, I read Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail thru-hiking memoirs all winter, and I am consumed by a longing to hike to […]
When Beatrice was little, people said to us all of the time, “She’ll sleep well tonight!” And we always laughed, but inside we thought, “Nope, she’s going to sleep the same as she does every night, because she’s always this active.” Since then I love to ask other parents what comment they hear most […]
Like we often do, because great minds think alike, Jen and I decided independently to get standing desks this year. If you’ve read any of the research, they are calling sitting the new smoking, and saying that even if you exercise regularly you cannot overcome the adverse affects of sitting at your work all day. I’ve […]
Forget filling your car with hand warmers and signal flares, true winter survival is about keeping your spirits up and your eyes on the prize (i.e. spring). Here’s a foolproof recipe to help you survive winter a.k.a. enjoy our fourth season. First, get comfortable. Head to your favorite pharmacy/co-op/Amazon and fill your cart with Vitamin D, a […]
It just one week, it will officially be SUMMER. Adam and the girls will be home all day, every day — no work, no school, no daycare. I will still work of course but a heady vacation joy de vivre will rule our daily life. The fridge will also automatically refill itself. And a host […]
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I’m fairly handy with the tooth-whitening function of Picmonkey and similar photo editing tools, and maybe I should have just left it at that. But I didn’t. I did this instead: paid my dentist a lot of money to whiten my teeth. I didn’t expect it to be fun, really, but neither was I prepared […]
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There are about two hours left of my 30s, and while my husband has been gleefully rubbing it in all day long, I wasn’t thinking much about it until I had some alone time in the car tonight (running errands and dropping off/picking up kids, natch). And mostly I was thinking about what I will […]
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Beatrice at her third birthday party It started innocently enough. Adam and I were sleeping in our second-floor bedroom when we woke to the sound of Beatrice creeping up our creaky wooden stairs. I could barely see her in the dark as she shuffled over to our bed clutching her stuffed guys and pillow. She […]
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Last year we took our first vacation as a family of four — to Lutsen, over spring break. We had tons of fun, but it was tons of work, too. Blythe was 10 weeks old and getting up every three-to-four hours, and Bee, who had just turned two, had a hard time falling asleep at […]
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Do you love handmade jewelry, gorgeous bags, cheeky letterpress cards, chocolate, beauty bars, beeswax, Minnesota-pride icons, beer, and tater tots? Of course you do. Love the idea of supporting Minnesota artists, designers, and makers even more? Of course you do. That’s why you are definitely going to want to check out the HAMMS Event on […]
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I asked my friend Christine if she’d share the story of Hannah, her second daughter, with us. When she was pregnant with Hannah I wasn’t even thinking of kids yet and didn’t have a clue. Over the years (and especially when I was carrying my own pregnancies) I’ve thought a lot about what she went […]
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About six months into life with two kids, I felt overwhelmed, and felt overwhelmed about feeling overwhelmed. “Really?!” I berated myself. “It’s just two kids. Why is it so hard?” I’d done my research putting together Baby makes four: Advice for having your second child, but now that I’d survived the first few months, I […]
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