Manuel and I were lucky enough squeeze in a date last week. The only thing playing was “Amanecer.” Some Indy Argentine film? Nope. Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I.

It was a teen dream. We ate fast food, ordered popcorn, sat in the back row, and laughed every time the tweens screamed at a shirtless Taylor Lautner.

Soundtrack favorites: Turning Page, Flightless Bird, From Now On

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I’ve been thinking a lot about family traditions. How to combine the right amount of magic and celebration in the kids lives without falling into frivolity.

I loved hearing about my friend Jen’s Thanksgiving. It was a sweet alternative to an often melancholy day of cooking and eating. Early morning parade, turkey sandwiches with friends, long nap, followed by an afternoon of baking for local firemen.

Perfect.

I am thankful for kids playing like cats, not-so-urban foraging, art projects, and sharing my husband’s childhood memories with our children

past photos: october and home.

My sister is a rock star pre-k teach in Saint Louis. The local news crew made an impromptu visit to her classroom. Check it out.

I love stews. I made this one today.

Even though it lacked flavor (my culinary trademark) it was quite satisfying. Definitely to be repeated.

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I am on day two of my “$1 fourteen day trial” of Travel Hacking Cartel. It is basically extreme couponing for travel.

They guarantee 1 plane ticket for every 3 months you are a member, but I haven’t looked at all the fine print. It is mostly a summary of deals to get frequent flyer miles.

From the site I was able to get 2000 km on LAN Chile for signing up for LAN Pass and motivation to be smart about my miles. Like any couponing it takes time, but might be worth, we’ll see.

fyi:  If you link to travel hacking cartel from my blog I get 500 miles!

Warning: I am about to recommend an exercise video.

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It is seriously effective. I’ve been doing it off and on for 30 days and it was definitely worth the $8.49 on Amazon. It’s great if you just was to do something. If I had more time it would be great to pair with a run or get super nuts and do two levels back to back.

Why I like it:

1)Twenty minutes is so short you can almost always talk yourself into doing it

2) You don’t HAVE to put on exercise garb (or shower for that matter, if the rest of your day is low key).

3) All you need are hand weights (I used rocks when we went to the mountains : )

(HUGE thanks to Sandhya for recommending it to me before the trip)

p.s. TED talk about 30 Day Projects

I avoided pintrest initially because I found it super irritating that you HAD to sign in with a facebook or twitter account.

Now I am officially on the bandwagon. It never occurred to me that it could be a great resource for kids crafts and activities. It is way more organized than my labyrinth of bookmarks.

I am hooked. Trying the “fruit loop sort” tomorrow.

This album has been carrying me through potentially tedious moments.

Thanks to the ever lovely Lauren.