Category: Living

Advent Calendar Grab Bags

adventkit2

I know Halloween hasn’t even happened yet, but this is just a heads up. I’m making advent calendar grab bags again this year. So you finish glue-gunning your costume together while I stock up on rocket balloons and mini airplane gliders.

Twenty percent of the proceeds will go to a global health charity, I’ll let you know who when I have specifics. Unless there’s unexpectedly bonkers demand, I’m only planning to make a hundred or so, so mark your calendars for Monday November 2 and I’ll meet you back here.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. If you haven’t decided on a costume yet, allow me to suggest sexy ghost.

Gender Neutral Diaper Bag

topo_designs_mini_mountain_bag_navy_leather_grande

Brad wanted a cool diaper bag when Ozzy was born, but I wasn’t willing to give up the ease of a bag that hooks onto the stroller handle. We were using Hank’s old Skip Hop Diaper Duo bag, until we came across Topo Design’s Mini Mountain Bag.

It’s not built as a diaper bag, obviously, but we’ve been using it for a few months and it’s perfect. The strap has a clasp near the bag that makes it adjustable, so we’re able to tighten it most of the way and hang it across the stroller handles. It looks small, but it accommodates everything we need, even when we’re traveling.

Ask Brad About His Kids Onstage!

How does he balance work and family life? Are all his kids by the same mother?

Brad is speaking at AdobeMAX, and I’ll be there too. Are you going? If so, hooray! We’ll see you there.

Brad has two labs, if you’d like to sign up. One is Monday at 5 p.m. If that’s full, the other is Weds at 1:30 p.m. He also made the Target Mobile app, so he’s doing a case study on that Tues at 8 a.m. I’ll arrange for donuts, because ooof. There should be around ten of us. I mean, come on.

Anyway, if you’re going, please come say hi. And remember to ask Brad how he finds time for it all.

Bradley. How do you do it?

Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, You Should Go

We headed up to Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville yesterday, and had a great day.

The Russian River beach has been in operation for nearly a century, and it feels exactly that quaint. They have everything you need for a day by the river, so you can just show up in with your suit and a towel for a day of swimming. We’ve been going for years.

There’s no charge for admission, but we rent a beach umbrella, chairs, and a couple of tubes for $5 each. You can also get paddle boats, canoes, and kayaks by the hour. The beach is rocky, so one of the guys comes out with a mallet and pounds the umbrella in for you. They also dredge out a shallow area where the tiny kids can wade.

You can bring a cooler, or visit the snack bar for lunch. It’s so chill, and easy, and Hank always finds kids to play with when we bring a little collection of squirt guns. If you’re a river person, it doesn’t get any more perfect.

Johnson’s Beach
Open Mid-May Until the End of September
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Parking is available ($5/car on weekends and special events).
Directions