A couple of weeks ago I hosted my mom's birthday party and asked my siblings to bring dishes for potluck. Since my family is so large, it's always fun to see what people bring, and for this event, they did not disappoint; to accommodate my mom's food preferences we prepared mostly vegetarian and the array of colors and flavors was fantastic. There was a lot of great food that day, but the dish I went back for seconds (and, admittedly, thirds) on was my sister-in-law Estelle's quinoa and black bean salad. I've heard a lot of talk about quinoa this year (it's a good source of protein and is high in fiber, among other things) but hadn't gotten around to trying it yet. Now I'm a total convert.

Continue reading "Estelle's Quinoa and Black Bean Salad" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 2 Sep 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Home; Recipes
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For help with back to school transitions, consider these book recommendations from parent educator Hetti Wohlgemuth of Alphabet Soup 4 Parents:

In realizing that the first weeks of school are fast approaching (or have already started for some), and as a firm believer in bibliotherapy, I recently headed to the Lincoln Library children's section to ask about back to school books. I expect to browse through a half dozen titles and instead the librarians handed me a list of over 75 books! I perused the shelves and wanted to recommend four books as superb reading with your elementary school aged child during those trying back to school moments.

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Posted by Christine Koh on 1 Sep 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Family Issues
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As a designer, it feels like a huge gift to have a daughter who digs crafts; we're always working on something, be it in my studio (when the sitter bailed yesterday, I taught Laurel to screen print!) or the kitchen (Laurel wants to be the next Ace of Cakes). This summer I thought it would be fun to have a creative project to chip away at once school was out. Check out my how to quilt with kids guest tutorial at Craft, which includes photos of what Laurel and I have come up with so far.

Posted by Christine Koh on 31 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (3) | Filed in Arts & Crafts; Home
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Hello friends! I hope you had a fantastic week while I was away. Other than dealing with a pesky head cold, I had a wonderful, reflective week off; I'm excited to be back sharing all sorts of useful and clever awesomeness with you, and I'm also feeling very happy about a new perspective I developed on parenting, work, and balance this past week. It only seems fitting to share these thoughts with you in my first post back. Enjoy!

Continue reading "I'm Back" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 30 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Family Issues; Mama in the Workplace; Web (Admin)
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Friends, if this summer has been to you what it has been to me, it's sort of been like the summer that never was; full of awesome visits and events and projects but also crazy, crazy busy. As an independent businessperson with an endless number of ideas, it's always hard for me to step away from work (my model was my parents who never, ever took a vacation), but for the good of my body and soul, I'm going to take a break from the internet this week. I want to enjoy time with loved ones, make and eat delicious food, exercise, enjoy growing the baby, and allow some creative ideas proper percolation. Meanwhile, if you need your Boston Mamas fix, scroll down in the left column to peruse over 2000 posts in the archives. And of course, feel free to write in if you have ideas for content you want to see, or to share any other thoughts about the site. I've so enjoyed answering questions via Dear Boston Mamas, and also seeing what other readers share. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Posted by Christine Koh on 23 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Web (Admin)
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Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Liz via e-mail:

Hey Christine! A friend and I are celebrating our "friendship anniversary" and wanted some new ideas of things to do. What's a friendship anniversary? My best friend and I wanted to make sure we took the time each year to celebrate what a fantastic and rewarding friendship we have -- we've been friends for 29 years! Think about it -- we never really think about the close relationships we have with our friends... a lot of the time we have relationships with friends longer than we've been with our significant others. Though thick & thin (waists), good times and bad, celebrations and memorials -- our friendship has always been there for us -- why not celebrate it!? On our anniversary "night out" (day/night) we try to do something other than just going out for drinks and dinner (which is nice, but not as special as we'd like). One year we did indoor skydiving, which was a blast, and we're looking for new, fun ideas (that don't cost an arm and a leg). Any ideas?

Continue reading "Dear Boston Mamas: Friendship Anniversaries" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 22 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Dear Boston Mamas; Web (Admin)
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Today, Heather recommends a fantastic ocean adventure for the whole family:

No visit to Cape Cod would be complete without some type of water excursion. And OceanQuest -- a non-profit marine education program out of Woods Hole -- was one of the highlights of our vacation. The 90-minute cruise is a hands-on, marine educational experience for kids and parents of all ages and truly has something for everyone. Passengers are introduced to the major disciplines within oceanography and are actively involved in manipulating equipment, collecting data, and discovering the wonder of ocean sciences.

Continue reading "OceanQuest" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 21 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Childcare & Education; Fun Outdoors; Local
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We've got an utterly perfect forecast on tap for this weekend, so why not get out and enjoy one (or more) of these family friendly events? Check out: Boston GreenFest, the West End Children's Festival (Boston), the Southeast Asian Water Festival (Lowell), the Marshfield Fair, and (a little further afield but I can't resist craft festivals) the Cotuit Arts & Crafts Festival.

Image credit: Cotuit Arts & Crafts Festival

Posted by Christine Koh on 20 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Fun Outdoors; Local
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Today, Jennifer recommends George's Island for a little island fun:

With my husband on vacation for a few weeks in July, we took advantage of the many wonderful sites and day trips around Beantown. One of our favorites? A trip out to Georges lsland. My husband (a native of the area) loved going there all the time as a kid and was anxious to show our kiddos how fun an old fort on an island can be!

Continue reading "Island Fun" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 19 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (2) | Filed in Fun Indoors; Fun Outdoors; Local
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Now, the second of two Dear Boston Mamas questions from Susan via e-mail:

Dear Christine, My mother-in-law is obsessed with feeding everyone, and apparently this includes the baby! She keeps pressuring me to use formula even though I keep telling her that I am breastfeeding. She will not relent and got to the point where she actually did bring me formula. It makes me feel incredibly unsupported with breastfeeding and I am going to lose my cool soon. She knows I go back to work soon and now asks every week what kind of formula we plan to use. This is just one item that I really do not want her to provide and she won't lay off. Any advice on how to handle a formula obsessed MIL?

Continue reading "Dear Boston Mamas: Handling Formula Obsessed Relatives" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 18 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (15) | Filed in Dear Boston Mamas; Family Issues; Feeding & Nursing; Mama in the Workplace; Web (Admin)
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Today I'll be fielding two Dear Boston Mamas questions -- from Susan via e-mail -- in separate posts:

Dear Christine, I am returning to work from maternity leave next month and I am really nervous about being able to handle everything when I get home at night. So I am trying to make a bunch of dinners to freeze and microwave when I get home for hubby and me. Seems like there is other stuff I could be doing now to make things easier for later. Do you have ideas on how to make the transition back to work easier?

Continue reading "Dear Boston Mamas: Return to Work Strategies" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 18 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Filed in Dear Boston Mamas; Family Issues; Mama in the Workplace; Web (Admin)
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Since Laurel is academically oriented by nature, this summer I've been all about simply playing and getting her outside and active. However, she loves activity books and they are my go-to item to bring to restaurants and when we travel, and we also use them for quiet time at home. And whether you want to use activity books to warm your child up before the school year starts, or simply want to use them on the go or at home as we do, check out Carson-Dellosa's Summer Bridge Activities. Though these activity books are marketed as a tool to prevent summer learning loss, you really can use them any time of year. The workbooks cover language arts, math, science, and social studies for Pre-K through 8th grade via colorful illustrations and activities. My one recommendation is to consider adjusting the level depending on your child; since Laurel is very good at reading and math, the K-1 book was too easy for her, but the 1st-2nd grade book has proven fun yet challenging.

Now, want to be one of three winners to receive a Summer Bridge book? Here's how:

Continue reading "Activity Books For Summer & Beyond" »

Posted by Christine Koh on 17 Aug 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Filed in Books & Entertainment; Development & Behavior; For Babies & Kids; Travel
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