Little Magpie

chasing shiny objects

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Why Google Home is Great For Kids

I joke occasionally with my sister that Google is raising my children... but the punch line is only partial exaggeration. . Yes, there are a million reasons to despise technology, and it is 100% accurate to say that kids born since Y2K - as a general rule - are all too addicted to glowing screens (in fact, there was a great article in the New York Times last week on why we should let kids get bored again). . However, stick with me for a minute: I think many parents are quick to blame ... View Post

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#SundayShelfie: Sea & Smoke

I’ve written before about a very special place in the Pacific Northwest where I spent my junior high and high school years: it’s called Wenatchee (Two Rivers Run Through It). It’s a place of apple and pear orchards, chinook and sockeye salmon and rolling Columbia River Valley vineyards. It’s also a place of sunshine, to the disbelief of many: it has often been boasted that Wenatchee gets “300 days of sunshine” annually. The north central Washington city is on the arid (eastern) side of the ... View Post

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#SundayShelfie: The Forest Feast

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a #SundayShelfie - partly because left unchecked, I could easily allow cookbooks to overrun my life. I’ve worked to edit my cookbooks down to a smaller collection that I truly love and enjoy flipping through several times a year. And by “smaller collection,” I mean they take up just one small cabinet next to my pantry rather than the whole pantry! That doesn’t mean I don’t wildly covet new releases, but I do work to occasionally borrow or digitally ... View Post

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How To Tackle #19For2019

Please prepare yourself, because I am GIDDY. . Down time and dreary days in January are some of my very favorites of the entire year, because they represent that lovely sense of carefully opening a brand new book, gently cracking the binding and preparing to dive in headfirst. . I remember learning the term tabula rasa in high school, and it always bounces around my head this time of year in a promising way: . Tabula rasa noun, Latin. An absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined ... View Post

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All The Tech

Last week I attended CES - the Consumer Electronics Show - for the first time. This hub for all things tech attracts 180,000 attendees and nearly 5,000 exhibitors to Las Vegas each January, and it's been going strong since 1967. Check out my review of #CES2019, including my 4 Trend Takeaways (for Non-Techies).  I first heard about the show years ago from one of my very favorite tech bloggers, Carley Knobloch (definitely worth a follow). While she's a great writer, reviewer and ... View Post

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Back Of House

Well, hello there fellow food lovers! I know, it’s been a hot minute since you’ve heard a peep from The Food Adventuress, but I’ve been nesting and cooking and casually entertaining. In fact, I’ve started thinking about this season of life (nearly a year since I’ve posted anything food-focused) in restaurant terms: back of house. That’s the part of the restaurant that isn’t open to the public… or thought of as “not fit to be seen.” In 2016, we left our 111-year old home of 12 years ... View Post