About

 

Since I have no idea how to introduce this blog, I’ll start with this story.

When I was an editor at Harper’s Bazaar, my much-loved assistant resigned, telling me that the job was bad for her soul. My response? “Duh.” Working for a fashion magazine is anything but a life-affirming experience. I won’t get all ‘Devil Wears Prada’ about it, because the years I spent in New York on staff at magazines were amazing, surprisingly fun and challenging. But soul food it was not. So I told her to join a church, volunteer, adopt a pet, visit her grandmother but please, please don’t quit. She did. I heard she was a substitute teacher for a while (which isn’t soul-crushing?) and then I lost contact.

Not long after that, I did my own disappearing act. I quit to go freelance in 2001, write more, travel more, branch out and explore other interests beyond the fashion/beauty beat (if you’ve got absolutely nothing else to do, you can check out my credentials at www.christinelennon.com). A couple of years later in 2003, that exploration brought me to Los Angeles. The plan was to come out for a few months, get a couple of assignments and learn about a new city. Five years later, I’m still here. But now I’m married with 18-month-old twins, Millie and Lou. I still write, mostly for fashion magazines, about interiors, food, beauty, entertainment, etc. And I’ve written several stories about how my once-stylish life has changed so dramatically. 

I didn’t think much about that exchange I had with Jennifer until last year. I was sleep deprived to the point of dementia and just busting ass trying to take care of my then-infant twins, call a friend every 11 or 12 days, keep food in the fridge, not ignore my husband and write for a living. Then one day, the Barneys accessories catalogue arrived and I flipped through it, bleary eyed, some time around a 2 a.m. feeding. Typically, this was something I’d consider entertainment. But this time, it pissed me off. I don’t remember a single shoe in it for under $800. Eight HUNDRED dollars. And many of them were closer to the $1500 mark. (Is it just me, or does it seem like just yesterday when the most perfect Manolos would only set you back 400 and change?  Incidentally, this blog is NOT about shoes.)

But instead of feeling any angsty yearning, I was calculating how many hours of childcare that money could buy.

Then beyond that, how many people it would feed.

It occurred to me that at one point I might have really, really wanted a $1500 shoe, and that those days were sort of over. My job, however much I loved writing about beautiful, interesting people and things, wasn’t necessarily good for my soul. Now I still don’t think that people should count on their work to fill that kind of void. But if I was going to spend time away from my kids, hammering away at my laptop, I’d like for at least a small portion of that time to be spent on work that I felt really good about.

And that’s where the recent election comes in. I don’t think that even my Republican friends could argue that the groundswell of political interest and passion that President-elect Obama’s [EDITOR'S NOTE: 1/20/09 Make that PRESIDENT Obama. Ecstatico!] campaign inspired wasn’t incredibly cool. What left the biggest impression on me was how my fellow mom friends felt about it. They all wanted their kids to be a part of this history-making event, whether they were voting for the first real female Presidential contender Hillary Clinton in the primary, making phone calls and t-shirts for Obama, or even (God help us) supporting working mom Governor Sarah Palin as a potential VP. What this election taught us was that if you had even $5 to donate, some extra cell phone minutes, or a little free time to talk to your neighbors you could be a part of things. I made some calls. I gave some money. And I was left with the feeling of wanting more.

So now I’m blogging, something I swore I’d never do, in an attempt to keep this feeling of being part of a community of activists alive a little longer. That’s not to say I’ve gone to the earnest dark side, friends.

Goodeedle was conceived to help my friends who are parents (or aunts and uncles, related or otherwise) weed through the treacly “Earth Day”-ness of it all and find real ways to teach kids about the pressing issues in the world today. Whether it’s alternative energy education, climate issues, animal rights, endangered wildlife, the organic food movement, feeding the hungry, protecting other children who are less fortunate—the list is depressingly endless—there are so many worthwhile causes competing for our interest that it’s hard to know how to focus our time and energy

. What I intend to do is put the things that I read about and learn through the filter of parenthood and come up with some fun, creative low or no-cost ways for us to help children change the world. And with the time I have remaining I’ll write about furniture and spas.

Thanks for reading.

Christine

millie & me (see lou and his dad, above)

 

 

 

p.s. Please, please send ideas! christinelennon@mac.com