I’m so excited that my friend, Nicole, is coming in from Napa this weekend for a major shopping trip. I don’t mind shopping by myself, but it is way better with a friend. With between 3-5 hours of trekking around Union Square ahead, it makes sense to plan the perfect shopping outfit: Shirt – A…

Clementine posted a must-read dissertation yesterday on the prevalence of “perfect” people on the blogosphere. You know the ones: the people with important careers, wonderfully decorated homes, tons of friends, fabulous clothes, ideal husbands, etc. The ones who make you feel maybe a little bit bad about yourself? I just wanted to say – in…

The Moroccans and Chinese have it right. There is nothing better than serving a gigantic plate of fresh fruit and tea at the end of dinner. All that delicious fruit stimulates conversation, balances out a heavy meal and keeps everyone engaged at the table a while longer. After our hearty squash enchilada dinner last night,…

What is it about color that is so fascinating? I can’t be the only one fixated with with the new MSNBC “Fuller Spectrum of News” ads and paint chip displays at the hardware store. Pretty soon I’ll have the ultimate color book. I am so, so excited to be getting my very own Pantone formula…

We’re having some friends over for dinner tonight and I made a favorite recipe for the occasion. The Chronicle’s recipe for roasted squash and poblano chile enchiladas is so delicious! I prepared the filing last night, replacing a couple cubed chicken breasts for one squash. It’s easy to roast the peppers on a gas stove…

So many people have emailed me over the last few months about how to start their own Ladies Activity Club. How wonderful! I’ve answered them individually, but I’ll share some tips here for everyone else: Step 1: PlanFind someone to be a co-founder with you. Ideally, this is someone with a different set of friends.…

The marriage of Craigslist and Google Maps is a tremendously beautiful thing. HousingMaps.com has got to be one my all-time favorite websites. One click shows you where all the available apartments are in the city and one more click gives you a quick preview of the ad. Plus, you can sort by price and it’s…

Last night’s Ladies Activity Club party was one of our best so far! Hostess, Victorianna, came up with the idea of making bookmarks and having a book exchange for April. Each guest brought a wrapped copy of one of their favorites and we had a “white elephant” style switch. You would have thought we invented…

This shopping challenge was one of the toughest I’ve done so far! Lucy* is going to Paris in May and needs one dress for two big nights: Ok, so it’s always been a dream of mine to catch an opera and a great show in Paris. And I have convinced my hubby to go along…

Anne wrote in with a good question about visiting San Francisco: I was wondering if you could recommend some cheap (but nice) hotels or b&b’s for me. My husband and I would like to take a trip in mid June to San Fran. We would be coming into the the Oakland Airport. Not renting a…