My two sons, in their 20s now, loved toy trains when they were young. So this Smithsonian videoof a father and son sending a toy train named Stanley 18 miles into the sky with a weather balloon not only amazed me, it brought back sweet memories. I love everything about it -- the music, the quick shot of the little boy clutching his toy (my guys held their trains the same… Read More >>

Despite many nay-saying friends, I stand firm in my belief that French Bulldogs are absolutely adorable. Fortunately for me—since the idea of owning one is still a very distant possibility—Frenchies are ubiquitous around New York City. Plus, they're internet and Instagram darlings. My latest Frenchie fixation is Trotter, an extremely patient… Read More >>

For all that I love a good novel, sometimes there's nothing more engaging than a brilliantly rendered life story.  I'm not talking about celebrity memoirs (though those can be delightful), or about those books intent on expressing grievances with awful exes, parents, you-name-it.  I'm talking about books that thoughtfully illuminate a life and a… Read More >>

Not-so-fun-fact: 40 billion plastic forks, knives and spoons are thrown in the garbage each year. And I'm pretty sure about one million of those come directly from me using new plastic utensils every time I sit down to lunch at work. That's why I was thrilled when the Youtensilappeared in my mailbox. This combined fork and spoon offers a serrated edge to… Read More >>

“If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there,” sang George Harrison. And should you find yourself lost in America, chances are that road will take you someplace wonderful and bizarre. If you’re lucky, the skies might open up while you’re in Leroy, New York, forcing you to take refuge in the Jell-O Museum. Ever thought about visiting… Read More >>

I can't stop snacking on concord grapes. I received a basket as a parting gift from a recent dinner that celebrated the fall harvest of concords, a uniquely American fruit born in—you guessed it—Concord, Massachusetts that's now grown in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. The dinner was hosted by Welch's, a family-farm-owned… Read More >>

I use a basic spaghetti measure when I don't want to make a full box of spaghetti—how else do I know how much pasta is going to cook up the right serving size? I stick some strands of uncooked spaghetti through the right-sized hole, then drop that amount in the pot. Simple! This fun take on that standard kitchen tool made me smile. The horse-sized slot… Read More >>

The next big thing in smart phone photography could be Cinemagram, a free iPhone app (the Android version is coming soon) that allows you to easily combine photo and video to create a new kind of hybrid image. Shoot a 2-to-3-second video of, say, kids playing in a fountain, then use the app to mark the portion of the video you want to be in motion. The rest will… Read More >>

The first thing I noticed when I spoke with Grace Potter at Farm Aid was her down-to-earth demeanor. It was like talking to a neighbor in a cozy coffee shop—not a star singer at a crammed amphitheater where 30,000-plus fans had just seen her set the stage ablaze. The tough road to her new album, "The Lion The Beast The Beat," is described strikingly on the band's…: "Potter… Read More >>

Picking out the perfect pumpkin for my jack-o-lantern was always a task I took very seriously as a kid: It couldn't be too large because I hated scooping out the goopy innards, and it always had to be smooth and bright orange. If I could have had a pink pumpkin, though, I would have been all over that. Now, I can. Pink pumpkins are available across the Read More >>