Stephanie Klein's Greek Tragedy - Latest Comments

Re: christmas overdose

Stephanie Klein — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:54:06 -0000

Many of you have emailed asking where comments have gone. Apparently not everyone can access Disqus commenting. I'm working to correct this... and by "working" I mean, "I surrender" to the old-school comment section, hoping this works itself out.

Re: hello kitty dinosaur party

Stephanie Klein — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:38:58 -0000

Thank you, Mara. Basically, you use a curling iron and pretend it's one without a clamp (you never open the clip part). Instead, starting at the root of your hair, sectioned, you grab the end of your hair section with one hand. With the iron in the other hand, slip the iron closest to the roots of your hair, then using the hand that holds the end of the hair, wrap wrap wrap all the hair around the barrel (the iron tip is usually facing the floor)... sounds way more complicated than it actually is.

Re: hello kitty dinosaur party

mara — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:38:53 -0000

Hi Stephanie, how did you style your hair in these pictures? It looks great!! Please share some tips!

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Stephanie Klein — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:32:46 -0000

Eddie Murphy in Trading Places (also Coming to America feels very Christmas, too)

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Stephanie Klein — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:31:42 -0000

Also Sleepless in Seattle, driving to his family's house to spend Christmas day.

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Stephanie Klein — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:29:19 -0000

Scent of a Woman. Just thought of it. Also, Dead Poets' Society. And, Meet The Parents (I feel like that happens over Christmas time, but I might be wrong--still it's got a lot of red and green in it)

Re: christmas in connecticut

Cathy Gorgens-Meyer — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:15:08 -0000

I agree Stephanie, very well said. You put my feelings into words. I grew up not ten minutes from Newtown in Trumbull and a good friend of mine from highschool is Vicky Soto's aunt. 3 1/2 hours to wait in line to get into her service today..this is such a shock. Thanks for such a wonderful blog in general, all the time, and this time...

Re: christmas in connecticut

Stephanie Klein — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:48:17 -0000

Thank you, Mary. For reading, for reaching out, for sharing.

Re: christmas in connecticut

mary — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:48:05 -0000

Stephanie, this made me cry. I am not a parent but I can only imagine how parents must feel at this time. I know how I feel. This is one of the best things you have written. So spare but so powerful. I will be sharing with friends. Thank you so much.

Re: hello kitty dinosaur party

joan — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:07:25 -0000

Looks like a wonderful party. You may have been unhappy with the cakes, but I'm sure the kids were happy. Kids just like CAKE. And costco makes great ones. Don't know how they do it, but I'm always taken aback by how much better they do it than most of the small bakeries near me.

Re: hello kitty dinosaur party

Victoria Fedden — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:46:29 -0000

I'm with you. Most bakery cakes cause me rage, wedding cakes especially. They always look so pretty and end up tasting like cardboard. Cake needs to taste good!! I'm so fanatical about this that I just made my daughter's birthday cake this year. She's two anyway, so she didn't care that it was absolutely hideous, which it was, although it tasted great. A beautiful and delicious cake is like the holy grail, I swear. This week I've also applied this rage to Chanukah doughnuts. I absolutely hate that they are always filled with that horrendous, red, cough syrup tasting goo that you can just imagine being slopped out of a huge, white, plastic bucket and which contains not even a hint of real fruit. How hard is it to use real fruit??

Re: kid birthdays: rationalize this

Cynda — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 06:07:47 -0000

How did this resolve? Going forward withe the pink dinosaur mash up?? I think maybe your son is wanting some individuality....is it possible to say, this year L gets to choose the theme or venue, and next year is A's turn? Or maybe, we'll have your birthday party on the Friday before, and yours on the Friday after, separate the parties?

When my kids were little, (birthdays are a 2 yrs and a week apart) I would schedule one party at the house, and the other got to have an away venue, then the next year we'd switch. It worked much smoother than trying the combined party idea.

Biggest hit party theme ever, was at the house, a backwards birthday party. The invitations we made on the computer, and they had to hold them up to a mirror to read the reverse image message...and they were told to arrive with whatever interpretation of 'backwards' they came up with. Little girls had pony tails hanging down over their noses, shirts on backwards, and gifts wrapped inside out. We gave them all name tags with their names spelled backwards, and of course, we had cake FIRST!

Re: hotel bars + death

Stephanie Klein — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:34:38 -0000

I have been to the Ace Hotel, several times. I actually always run into people I know there. I don't go there at night but during the day, with my computer. I meet my nerd friends there (I need more of them, nerd friends). I do like that hotel for that very reason, not for the trendy hipster vibe but for reconnecting with friends from advertising. It's a really great world, and I miss it.

Re: kingsmont, colang & shane

helaine — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 02:09:46 -0000

My daughter was 10 years old when she went to Camp Colang, owned and operated by Weight Watchers. She as well as many other female campers were molested by one of their female counselors. I took this bitch to court because I could not find any attorney willing to touch this case.
SHAME ON WEIGHT WATCHERS FOR NOT DOING BACKGROUND CHECKS ON THEIR COUNSELORS!!! SHAME!!!!SHAME!!!!!!
I have emailed Weight Watchers several times and have not recieved any response. The fact that WEIGHT WATCHERS IS ON THE NYSE AND DID NOT HAVE THE TIME TO DO BACKGROUND CHECKS ON THEIR COUNSELORS IS SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET OR FORGIVE!!!!
I WILL NEVER GIVE UP THIS FIGHT WITH THEM AND INTEND TO EXPOSE THEM FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!!!!!!

Re: kid birthdays: rationalize this

laurairvinsmith — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:18:28 -0000

I have some real pet peeves about kids having big birthday parties every single year. It is my own issue, so I don't begrudge those who choose to do that, but I do feel resentful of having to spend my Saturday afternoon at birthday parties. I know it sounds so scrooge-ish, but I do. Where I am, at least, parents always STAY at the parties, so I can't just do the drop-off and go do my own thing (I did drop my 8 year off at a party at a non-crowded public park and ran some errands this summer and when I got back the dad made a funny crack about me running off and them watching my kid during that time. I don't think he really meant it as a big insult, but he obviously took note that I didn't sit through the whole 2 hour party in the HOT SUN. Here I was thinking that my kid was finally old enough to handle himself, there were parents/grandparents around that I trusted, and it was a safe environment and I was STILL expected to just sit through somebody else's kid's party). And, even if I could drop them off, the party might be 30 minutes from my house and therefore I can't just drop off.

When I was a kid (80's) nobody had birthday parties every year. I'll bet I didn't have any friends that had more than 1-2 in their whole childhood. I had 1 big one and I remember it well because it was SPECIAL, not something that happened every year. Now it seems to be considered a default that every kid have one every year. I just think it is a bit nuts -- but I'm just not that kind of mom who gets into party planning. If you are, then you can let it be an entertainment opportunity that you enjoy. I prefer a family dinner with balloons, cake and a few gifts.

Sorry to rant. I think if those party particulars make you happy and don't stress you out too much, then go for it. But, I don't think the details matter to the kids very much at all. In fact, in my experience, I don't really see the birthday boy/girl necessarily being that 'honored' or 'special' (it just seems like a group playtime) except for gift opening time and that always seems so rushed because we've been there for and hour and half and parents are ready to get on with their day and get out of there.

Good luck with the party - it looks like you will host an awesome event!

Laura

Re: hotel bars + death

eccola, la lei — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:07:26 -0000

Have you checked out the scene at the Ace Hotel? It's a little different, but interesting what they're trying to achieve

Re: the triple jump: holiday hopscotch

Kristen — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 10:32:04 -0000

Although I am not a Christian, and only take part in the secular part of Christmas...and very little of that...if I were to have children, I would explain to them that the Christ Child received three gifts - albeit good ones - and if three gifts were good enough for him, then three gifts would be good enough for them. Even the story of the real St. Nicolas talks about giving three gifts over three nights. Of course, if you do Hanukkah gifts (eight more), plus birthday gifts....OMG, nevermind. You're sunk. Drink up, sister.

Re: the triple jump: holiday hopscotch

Sarah LeBlanc Cundiff — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:03:52 -0000

Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read. Saw this on Pinterest and think it's great. Of course, I think I'd add Santa gifts and stockings because those are family traditions.

Re: plumbing friendship

Ulrike Klein — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:17:38 -0000

High expectations you have for yourself. Sending you some hugs!

Re: thanksgiving menu planning

Dana — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:13:55 -0000

Sent my mom your recipe for corn pudding (she was looking for something to bring to Thanksgiving). It was a huge hit and everyone asked for your recipe!

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Sean Falvey — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:05:37 -0000

The Lion in Winter is a great movie with an awesome cast. Just the sparring between Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn is worth the price of admission.

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

erose — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:53:46 -0000

Did you intentionally leave of A Christmas Story? No Christmas is complete without Ralphie!

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Andrea — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 03:33:51 -0000

The Family Man! The Christmas part is minor, but it's a great holiday movie nonetheless.

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Sarah Ruskow — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 01:01:12 -0000

I love this idea and think I might make this My Mission this Holiday. I meant to last year, but failed miserably. Who knew that a million hour flight to the UK would leave me too restless to watch movies on my computer?? Thank you for the list with explanations or quotes of ones you've seen!

Re: non-traditional holiday movie list

Stephanie Klein — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 23:22:31 -0000

* I think this was "The Scout"?