What Ana Does

With the holidays fast approaching, I'm of course doing some online shopping, as I do every year (although with a lot less vigor considering our nomadic state and not seeing my siblings, boo). So, for your clicking pleasure, here's a round-up of really worthy gifts for the people on your list. Tentree is a company that plants 10 trees with every item you order. And my lucky number is 10. So. Win-win. Last year I ordered this sweatshirt from Wholesome Culture , another eco brand, and have it on steady rotation. 4Ocean sells bracelets for $20 and for each sold, they pull a pound of plastic out of the ocean. I got them for everyone in my family to thank them for putting up with my plastic reduction efforts this year and the sacrifices they make because "Mom won't buy it because it's wrapped in too much plastic." I love the journals from this small business called Letterfolk . They have pretty letterboards, too but the journals are beautifully made and you ...

For Christmas/Hanukkah, our dear friends gave us a gift certificate to have our family portraits drawn by an artist through Etsy. It took me three months to finally reach out to the artist but I did and it's been a fun process. I had to send over a bunch of images of the family. Shots of our faces and some information like eye color and clothing preferences. Want to know what I sent?

My Echo in its New Home, My Island Don't you just love new tech? For Hanukkah, on the fifth night, I asked for, and received, the Amazon Echo from my hubby. What is it? In a nutshell, you can give voice commands to the Echo from anywhere in the room and it listens and obeys. It can add items to a shopping list and to do list. It can add things to your Amazon cart. It can report the weather, or what's on your Google calendar. It can answer questions about common facts and math equations. It doesn't wash your dishes or put your kids to bed. But I have a hunch there's someone at Amazon headquarters working on it. Here's an example of why this thing is so cool: While I was washing dishes last night, everyone left for frozen yogurt. So, while hands still soapy, I asked Echo to turn on my favorite playlist. ( "Alexa, play my Pandora playlist." ) She did. I asked her to turn up the volume. And then I had her skip a song. All while doing the dishes....

A few years ago I listened to the Julie Julia audiobook and was really drawn into the story and the idea of cooking French food. But, I didn't have the book (or time or inspiration). I always thought that I'd stumble upon Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a used bookstore -- stained and dog-eared. Well-loved by its last owner. But this is so much better! My birthday gift from my beautiful big sister. LOVE!

The Circus Tent Don't you just love this time of year?! At our house, it's definitely crazier than usual. Way more shopping, more spending, more planning, more cleaning, more company, more big dinners -- just more of everything! (I know, we're not the only ones.) I especially like celebrating Hanukkah with my little family; the few minutes we take each night to gather around the menorah, light the candles and say the blessing. Not being a very religious person, I'm more drawn to the togetherness created by this little ceremony. And I'm a sucker for annual traditions. PLUS, it ends with opening presents. But just one! Which means the girls really savor what they get. They play with it, share it and run around with it. Because it's just one. I didn't celebrate Hanukkah growing up, so it's a little unique and still new to me. I just really like it! This year we skipped the expensive electronic gifts and put the money into "imaginative" pl...

For Christmas, our ever-thoughtful friends Demi and Jeff gave us a gift certificate to a paella demo class at Cafe BaBaReeba, a yummy tapas place in Lincoln Park. I'm on a quest to perfect my paella skills -- a dish I've made several times to varying degrees of success. Today's class not only have some useful tips (saffron tea - genius!) but came with a three course lunch with wine pairings. We walked out a little tipsy and ready to make a great paella next time. Ole! The Finished Paella

My baby is FOUR today!! What a big girl! The Sisters She got a tennis-player Barbie and pink convertible for doll to drive around in. Leah picked out a Blueberry Muffin doll (which was her Halloween costume last year) and Dave picked out a microphone for her to play with. It was a happy morning. Relate posts: More more and more Alice