Something for the weekend

Miss Gwen takes every opportunity to get into trouble while mom is out of commission. 

It's Friday! Do you have anything good planned for the weekend? And how was your week? I was knocked off my feet last week by a massive cold with a side of ear infection, and eight days later it is STILL going strong. I'm not sure I can ever remember being this sick for this long! (Although, honestly, if that's my worst illness that I can remember, that puts me in pretty good health, don't you think?) So there's nothing fun to report from our house, other than my kids getting pretty much unlimited access to the TV and iPads while I have flopped pathetically on various soft surfaces. 

I have spent a lot of time online, though, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite finds this week with you, in no particular order:

• Lauren Bacall passed away this week, and I came across this footage of her wedding to Humphrey Bogart in 1945. They really seemed to be in love, don't you think? (Even if he was 25 years older than her!) And she was just stunningly beautiful. Gwen liked their dog. 
• It's a good thing to have a book to curl up with when you're sick, and I was lucky enough to have a really great one waiting for me on my nightstand. Per my request, Nick usually gets me a book for my birthday, and this time (my birthday was last month) he had found All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It's set during World War 2, and tells the story of a blind French girl whose father builds her scale models of the places they live to help her learn get around. At the same time we also learn about the life of a German boy whose intelligence gets him sent to a state school for boys training to be soldiers. I don't want to give anything away, but I do recommend it. 
• Mildly obsessed with this dress* (in grey) from Boden for Gwen. If only I lived in a world where I could justify spending  $48 on a dress for a toddler! 
• Similarly besotted with these space t-shirts for Espen, also from Boden. Actually, most of their t-shirts for boys are pretty great. Espen sat beside me on the couch and picked out cool Boden tees for about $300. I wish, Buddy! Maybe Santa will be more generous? (But not THAT generous.)
• Robin Williams' sad passing, of course. I think we were all hit a little harder than we expected to be by that one. Jimmy Fallon's tribute was spot on: see it here. 
• And as heart breaking as it was to lose a legend like Robin Williams, at least it has caused us all to stop and think and talk about mental health, depression and suicide. For an excellent, articulate, candid and and clear first hand account of what it is like to live with those struggles, watch this TED talk by Silja Björk Björns∂ottir. It's 16 minutes long, but it's 16 minutes that will stay with you. 
• This NPR article about parenting practices around the world. Some of them sound wonderful, and some of them can stay right where they came from, thank you ever so much. 
• This toy car garage, made from toilet paper rolls. I know someone who would love to make and play with that! Time to start saving toilet paper rolls. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

PS: I'll draw a winner for the party planning giveaway on Sunday night, so hurry and enter if you would like to plan a party with me!


*Link removed due to dead link.