For You Crafters Out There

I just found this amazing travel 'desk', which would be perfect for road trips, provided your kids aren't prone to car sickness. The blog I found it on, Mer Mag, is fantastic, so warning, you may get sucked into a blackhole and not return for at least 30 minutes.

Route 17 New Jersey

It's probably the ugliest stretch of highway, and one of the most difficult to navigate, but for lots of us, it's the only way to get to where you're going. And once you get used to it, you start to find some gems. Okay, some of them are certainly not secrets--like Trader Joe's, if you're northbound. (That's the weird thing about 17--it's so hard to get to whatever is on the other side, that you pretty much only do what is on your side of the highway.) Then there's the Fireside Restaurant, which is a good place if you're not a vegetarian. Burgers, hot dogs, fries, and onion rings. I like that they have a condiment table with these amazing lightly pickled cucumbers, and huge slices of onions. If you need to pick up any alcohol (or cheese) for wherever you're headed, Bottle King is a great stop (also northbound). They have great wines for great deals. And they have cheese samples, always a plus for Clara.

(That's a button for kids to press that makes the train go around on the elevated track at the Fireplace.)

LA Drive-by

Over Easter weekend, we were in Santa Barbara for a dear friend's birthday, and for a photo shoot (for my new job at Martha Stewart Living). But on our way from LAX to Santa Barbara, we had to see our cousins, if only for a very fast lunch, at one of our favorite places, Huckleberry Cafe. I love this place--it has the perfect farmers market fresh food, simply prepared...just perfect. Clara had the world's best turkey meatballs, and I had a BLT-A, which is just a BLT with avocado. Everyone from California would know what that is, because practically every place makes them, just like everyone out there makes great breakfast burritos, but you'd be hard-pressed to find that here.  One thing to know--they want you to order before you take a seat at Huckleberry, which is a drag if you are with a lot of kids, and you don't want to commit to eating there if there isn't a table. It wasn't a problem for us, but I could see this could have been one if I was with several friends and their kids, and we needed a table for 8. I would say Huckleberry, Tavern, Gjelina, and Shima, are my favorite westside spots (. Now I just have to get to LA for more than 5 minutes.

That is probably the best donut we've ever tasted.

We didn't get one of these, but we sure wanted to.