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I have a really phenomenal mom. Mother’s Day always reminds me of this, but I have lots of reminders all the time. Here are a few of the biggies. One: This: We are living in the time of graduations and senior photos, and can I just mention that everything is better now? The parties are …
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One of my favorite questions that keeps popping up after people read Sugar is this: “Kim, have you ever studied at a culinary school ?” I get a little shiver of happiness whenever this question is posed, first because I want to look like Giada and cook like Ina. I’m not exactly batting 300 for either of …
You people. Honestly. You have made this the absolute most fun and wild and raucous book release ever. That’s right: Sugar‘s release has been raucous. As in, Can’t-Stop-The-Feeling raucous. And people-are-stopping-me-in-Target raucous (probably because I’m always there, but let’s not dwell on that). I’m talking party-with-Prince raucous. OK, fine. That’s an exaggeration. But I …
I just returned from Africa. I went to Kenya. It was beautiful. The land is beautiful. Photo by kerdowney.com The food is beautiful. The wildlife is beautiful. Some of us felt this beauty more strongly than others. Ew. And actually, when I think about it, not every member of the wildlife crew is beautiful. …
You guys. I met Amy Grant. Here is proof. Amy Grant is my pretend-friend-famous-person. Do you have one of those? The famous person you find approachable and authentic and who you think you would totally be fast friends with if only the person wasn’t so busy being famous and could instead move to Des Moines? …
You guys! I wrote another book! And you can buy it today! I may or may not be really giddy right now, which is nothing short of miraculous because I’m battling a serious cold and my voice sounds a lot like I’ve been a two-packs-a-day kind of girl for a really long time. Think Barry …
All this political ridiculousness has got me thinking. I’ve gotten VERY JUDGEY in the last year with regards to politicians and all their talky-talk. You need to have a little pity for me with this because I live in Iowa, which means we were getting mailers, phone calls, and television ads voiced over by men …
Readers. Friends. Countrymen and women. Lend me your ear and let’s chat about youth sports. Youth sports. THE LAND OF THE INSANE. Marc and I are receiving an education this fall in youth sports. Up until this time, for the first fourteen years of our parenting life, we have been entirely naive. We have done …
Listen, I know I’ve been out for awhile. I’ve missed you. But now that we’re all back together again, can we talk about summer beauty? I don’t believe in it any more. And not only because the summer’s almost over and I’m jaded and sun damagaed. I don’t believe in because it doesn’t exist in …
Meet Karley. Karley is Thea’s best friend. They are two peas of the very same pod. They giggle about things no one else understands. They talk at each other for hours, hardly pausing to take a breath and seeming to understand each other, even though they talk at the same time. Their goodbyes last for …
Look at this website! It’s new! It’s super cool! It makes me look HIP! Not to be confused with hip-py. I will tell you right here and now that I had a boyfriend in high school that told me I had “child-bearing hips.” The romance seemed to lose all its spark after that comment. Those …
Thanks, everyone, for entering and for reading and for admitting you all need you some Jan. I have to say, your entry emails were hilarious. I even received some photos of the most challenging of your spaces, just to emphasize how badly Jan was needed. Photo by Slate.com This was not one of those photos, …
YOU GUYS. I’m so excited for you. Because I’m about to change your lives. We have just skidded into the end of the school year around here, and this giveaway is going to perk up that part of you that is secretly groaning with that news. Oh, just admit it. Even if you love your …
Today is field day at our elementary school. So I feel this is the time you should know these two things about me: One: In first grade, I jumped the farthest in the long jump competition. I jumped six feet. I can feel through the Interweb your respect for me. And let’s face it: I …
I used to have lots of interests. I used to be well-rounded and interesting at parties. I used to be nuanced. OK, that’s not true. I was never nuanced. And I’ve never been much for parties. But I DID used to have a life that did not revolve around wildlife. Remember Chuckles? And Da Poss? …
Marc and I went to New York a couple of weeks ago. I have security clearance to talk about this now because we are no longer out of town and you can’t come rob our house. When you live with a conspiracy theorist, you have rules. But he’s a very cute conspiracy theorist, so I …
We are in show choir season around here. You heard me. Show choir season. Kind of like lacrosse season or volleyball season only with lots of sparkles and jazz hands. I used to be in show choir, before the turn of the century. I loved it. We sang, we danced, we ratted our hair, we …
Let’s talk about Prince. He was a genius. Also, the hair. (Please note: This is Prince’s most recent passport photo. MY most recent passport photo was taken when I was pregnant. I’m so happy I get to use it for a decade!) But Prince. And the high heels. And the fact that for awhile he …
Spring has sprung! The buds on my viburnum smell delicious, my daffodils are in full bloom, and this sentence sounds like I know what to do in a yard. That’s the prerogative of a blog writer. You get to lie at will. To help you get the most out of your life, I here offer …
It’s that time of year again. The time of new shoots pushing through the dirt, the time of blue skies (if you don’t live in Iowa this week), and the time of the woodchuck. That’s right. The woodchuck. That disgusting, weirdo animal that follows me wherever I go. I even moved houses a few years …
Good gravy, I’m tired. Why am I so tired? Are you tired? You know this means we are old. We never used to be tired. Old people are exhausted. Probably because they have been walking and talking and processing and thinking and parenting for so long. And probably also because just seeing famous people gets …
Today is Good Friday. This term, “Good Friday,” has caused no shortage of consternation at our dinner table over the years. “What is good about Good Friday?” Thea has a particular issue with the terminology. “Jesus died! A horrible, mean, painful death! He died and He didn’t even do anything wrong! It should be called …
I visited my sister this week. The kids and I got in the car to drive from Des Moines to Denver and 2765 hours later, we arrived. We had a lovely time. We hiked a mountain. Some of us got courier service down the rough patches. We saw some beautiful views and tried out avant …
Most of my life is raising a family with Marc. And by that I mean most of my life is making messes and then cleaning up the messes, both literal and figurative. And then sometimes I write novels, usually while wearing a bathrobe and a furrowed brow, which is only adding to The Wrinkle Issue. …
Ana is reading Operation Bonnet. So is our mini Schnauzer, but I think Ana is getting more out of it. Or at least I hope she is. I’m trying to act natural, like it’s no biggie. Whatever, man! That’s cool. Go ahead, read it. Hope you like it. Or not. Or whatever. Of course I’m …
A thousand years ago, when I was young and carefree, I used to watch movies. Moving pictures, as we called them. It was a grand time, a glamorous time, a time when I could eat an entire bag of Cheetos and not feel anything but happiness. It was a time when I could sleep in …
I had my first manicure last week. Actually, it wasn’t a real manicure. It was a fake one, lasting only about ten minutes. And it was free. And I was in an airport lounge where the “manicurist” might also have been the “janitor.” I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Because it was FANTASTIC. My nails …
Dear Me in 1996, Happy Valentine’s Day. Don’t roll your eyes. You’re not above Valentine’s Day. I know, I know, it’s so commercialized and such an obvious ploy by stores to make money on sentiment. You’ll totally torch your final in Feminist Messages in the Postmodern Media this semester. Also, you’re getting a little annoying. …
Marc and I have been married seventeen years. I married a good man, which is fortunate for me since I was completely clueless and about ten years old. One thing we know after all these years together is that Marc knows best what clothes look good on me. Please don’t send me letters and try …
Oh, baby, is it ever cold outside. If you are reading this from a warm locale, please do not speak. I can’t bear it. You are dead to me, along with every living thing in my backyard. If, however, you are among the hearty and seasonally depressed in the Midwest, this post is for you. …