Last weekend, Aron and I drove outside of Davis for a particularly pretty afternoon in Sonoma—the occasion was a pick-up party at Scribe; I shared some more pictures on Facebook. This weekend will take us out of town as well: we’re going to drive into San Francisco to check out West Coast Craft at Fort Mason. Anybody going? Do you have fun plans for the weekend?
Some things of note…
My friend Natalie, an SF-based floral designer, always has the best travel suggestions. She routinely goes to some of the most beautiful places in the world to work with people on (the most incredible) weddings and then extends her stay to play tourist! Today she takes us with her to Big Sur.
Big Sur
by Natalie Bowen Brookshire of Natalie Bowen Designs
Big Sur is one of my favorite places on this earth. Maybe it is the serene landscape with sweeping views of the ocean and turquoise blue water, or maybe it is that there is no cell coverage: either way, my energy balances and I just feel so at peace when I am in this little stretch along the California coastline. It’s no wonder writers and artists have called this area home for years. Sharing my tips on where to go, stay, and what to see in this special little corner of California has made me yearn for another trip back. Perhaps I’ll be packing my bags and heading there sooner than expected.
We have a few specific shows we tend to watch with Hudson. And these are usually on Netflix or iTunes, so it’s not uncommon for him to spot pictures of other options available for streaming or purchase and ask to see them. Fortunately, I can usually get away with a simple “we don’t have that one,” and just press play on Mr. Rogers or Octonauts. All too often, when I have said yes, maybe to a show featuring a character we like in books, I’ve been disappointed: the pacing of the images is too fast, the story too simple, the villain too scary.
I’m not familiar with many kids shows these days. I know some of the old Disney movies really well (and can sing along to Little Mermaid just like it were 1989). I’ve seen most of the new Pixar cartoons in the theatre, and tend to trust PBS shows like Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow to be good. But even with the ones I’ve seen many times over I can be surprised: ‘Did Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin always have so many uses of the word “stupid”?!’ ‘Was the snow monster in Rudolph always so scary?!’ And it’s not realistic to think we can review each movie by ourselves first.
The issue tends to come up more around the holidays, when one wants to have cozy family movie nights, take someone to a new movie at the theatre (hello Star Wars, Peanuts), show a video on a long drive, or let the kids get up from the table and watch something in the other room with friends or cousins… Which is all to say that we needed a reliable place to seek out reviews about age-appropriate media.
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