After 30 years, the annual Governor’s Cup competition, which pits Virginia wine against Virginia wine, got an overhaul, making it what the Virginia Wineries Association calls “one of the most stringent competitions in the U.S.” Improvements were made on every front—from the quality of the entries to the quality of the judges—and in February at […]
After 30 years, the annual Governor’s Cup competition, which pits Virginia wine against Virginia wine, got an overhaul, making it what the Virginia Wineries Association calls “one of the most stringent competitions in the U.S.” Improvements were made on every front—from the quality of the entries to the quality of the judges—and in February at […]
Here’s a familiar scenario: Preschool-aged girl walks into a room sporting a pink tutu, butterfly wings, and a plastic tiara. She’s wielding a fairy wand and spinning on child-sized high heels emblazoned with the cameo of a Disney princess. She seems delighted with both herself and her appearance, and you can’t help but notice she […]
Marie’s Butterfly Trail is filled with plants to attract the winged creatures. (Photo by Ash Daniel) At its core, life with small children is a series of regular practices. They almost always wake-up, eat, watch, and play at similar times and with the same things. Even outings with them are most likely a variation on […]
Among my parenting “I’ll never dos” (pronounced before actually becoming a parent), was this list of inanities I swore I’d never say. I call these the “BISSOs” after that pinnacle of parenting parlance: Because. I. Said. So. Unfortunately, like most of my pre-parenting parenting pronouncements, I have violated this one early and often. Deep down […]
In 2010, I was seeing Duane*. My 10-year-old daughter knew I had gone out with him a few times, but she hadn’t met him. He and I had had a late lunch date and were getting into a little afternoon necking at home on my couch when I heard the mailbox open outside the front […]
(File photo) We mamas are awfully hard on ourselves. But guess what? Most of us are doing O.K. (Well, you might be one of those monsters who feeds her preschooler uncut grapes, but the rest of us are doing O.K.) I usually offer mom-to-mom advice over mid-playdate cocktails (don’t judge), so consider this the print […]
If I’m being completely honest, I had no idea what I was doing four years ago. I still vividly remember my baby son’s mother walking out the front door for her first day back at work and as she drove off, thinking, “O.K., now what?” If it were a movie, the camera would have started […]
(Photo by Jen Fariello) Five-and-a-half-year-old Jackson Sneathern received his stomp rocket—an outdoor toy that relies on forced air to launch a plastic missile—as a gift a couple years ago, but his interest in it has only started to, er, take off in the last six months, providing hours (“seriously—hours at a time,” said his mom, Larissa) […]
(Photo by Cramer Photo) Ask 6-year-old Alani Green her favorite song and she won’t answer “Yellow Submarine” or “I Like to Move It.” She likes “Piggy Piggy Piggy,” a song her dad, Clarence Green, made up for his kids, Alani and Tashi, 3, to dance to. Music plays a big role in the Green […]
(Photo by Meredith Montague) As you head to the beach (or the backyard) this summer, camera in tow, arm yourself with these tips from local photog Jen Fariello, whom we asked to share a few shooting secrets. Keep your background simple. Choose a pretty spot with open space and then let your kids play. If […]