Secret’s out… it’s still February… still cold, still windy… still pale, still dark-rooted…

Oh, the day that I can store my bulky winter coats and release the air around my spring dresses… “still a distant dream,” says the multiple {un-cahooted} Groundhogs…

How confusing, then, is it that pastels have snuck their mellow muted magnificent way onto the racks of our favorite clothing stores? How rude! Or is it?

US Weekly magazine

PASTELS FOR WINTERY~SPRING:

No rules in fashion! Start shopping for those sucklin’ sherbert pastels and get them on your bod pronto! Think…

Creamy Pink cotton cable knit crew neck sweater (hi and thank you, H&M!)…

Winter/NOW: Confident prep’ster never felt so right… With dark denim skinnies and a nude patent pump.

Spring/LATER: With blue tweed shorts and gold flats. The leggy look… fans? J’Lo to Rachel Bilson to Betty White. Ok, reaching…

Baby Blue denim-inspired button down shirt (true denim button downs?///so last year!)…

NOW: Your Baby Blue baby buttoned up tight, tucked in right, a dark denim skinny, and glow all night! Navy blue pumps to stomp.it.out.

LATER: Same outfit alert? Oh yes! Just switch up those dark denim skinnies for classic white jeans and an open toe platform sandal.

Buttery Yellow trousers (open embrace!!: wide, skinny, tall, short)…

NOW: Tough chick, big personality: E-f-f-o-r-t-l-e-s-s. Classic loose white tee. Black leather jacket. Buttery Yellow trouser. Plus, colorful bangle or necklace (orange, pink, or mustard). Did you just tone-on-tone a pastel? No you didn’t! Yes you did!

LATER: This one’s easy. Color block with another pastel on top, of course! Powder green silk tee, casually tucked. Gold gladiator flat. Major smile. Major memories.

Orange Sherbert shoes (do it like Brooklyn Decker and score a tennis-pro hubby, too!)…

NOW: I hear the promotion bellz-a-ringin’. Off to work in a black {Victoria Beckham} sheath dress and Orange Sherbert patent wedges. The shoes just paid for themselves…

LATER: Learn from a style star like Brooklyn Decker {or elshane…cough, cough}. To a dinner date, a wedding, a vacation, and beyond… pastels are born to go on blind dates with other pastels…

(Pastel combo shirt, pink studded pack, and pastel watch from Tokyo, Japan; JBrand jeans; Lenora Dame necklace; Kitson earrings; Robert Rose bangles; Chanel flats)

*****

Oh how I love a two-fer!

xoxo,

elshane

It’s been a long time since I’ve been skiing, so I was a little apprehensive about getting back on skis and hitting the slopes on our recent trip up to the mountains. I made a go of it, though, and did pretty well until it came time to actually go downhill, when I realized I had pretty much forgotten how to stop. The traditional “pizza slice” method just wasn’t working for me, and the fun of picking myself up out of the snow got old pretty quickly.

My wife on the other hand, acted like she’d never stopped skiing. She’s the athletic one in the family, and I’m the brainy, creative, and slightly uncoordinated one, so that pretty much came as no surprise to me. I gracefully bowed out of the skiing scene and contented myself in taking pictures of the kids at their ski lesson down on the lower part of the hill, (which actually was quite a lot of fun).

Yes, the kids did better at skiing than I did, too. I guess I need to take a lesson next time we’re up that way.

What we did do that we all loved—me included—was tubing. Tubing is a popular wintertime activity you can find in many ski areas that almost all ages can enjoy. Best of all, you need no skills whatsoever to have fun doing it. Now that’s my kind of snow sport. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a tubing hill with one of those neat “magic carpet” conveyor belts that carries you to the top of the hill or a cable tow that drags you and your tube up the slope, too, so all you have to do is have fun with minimal effort.

Tubing, simply put, consists of whizzing down a hill lying in a semi-supine position on an oversized inner tube-like thing. With a low center of gravity, there’s little chance you’ll fall off the thing, and you get moving pretty fast. Once you get over your initial terror and realize you’re not going to go flying out of control over the embankment and land in a big heap in the snow a few yards away, it’s a blast.

All in all, it’s a safe and fun winter activity. Just make sure your tubing hill is free from any obstacles that you could hit (ski resort and other organized tubing runs will most likely avoid this), hold on to the tube’s handles on your way down the run, and make sure you pay attention to any instructions that you’re given by the person supervising the tubing hill. Kids might also want to wear ski or bike helmets, although many places don’t require them. Most tubing hills require riders to be at least 42 inches tall, too.

In fact, we all voted tubing to be our favorite activity of our snow trip, except for my six-year-old daughter, who said she liked skiing the best. I’m not so sure I believe her, though, since she actually spent more time on the tubing hill than any of us. Several times we couldn’t find her, only to spot her and her distinctive pink hat at the top of hill ready to start another run. She’s the athletic and daring kid in the family, and yes, she probably takes after my wife.

When it’s cold and rainy and the kids can’t play outside, I get out my list of fun, creative, and inexpensive hands-on activities that I know are guaranteed to keep them occupied. This list is an ever-expanding roster of age-appropriate things for kids to do that I’ve collected over the years from school projects and things I’ve found in books, magazines, and online.

Whether they’re arts, crafts, or things to cook up in the kitchen, these projects really keep the kids busy for hours. They’re not just for rainy days, though—they’re great activities for playgroups and parties, too.

Here are three of my and my kids’ favorite rainy day activities:

Make (and play with) homemade playdough.

You probably have the ingredients in your pantry already.

• Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup salt, and 4 teaspoons cream of tartar in a large saucepan
• Add 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and food coloring of your choice.
• Cook over medium heat until the playdough pulls away from the sides of the pan
• Let dough rest on a floured cutting board until cool, then knead for a few minutes until smooth and elastic.

That’s it—now it’s play time! This playdough keeps for a long time in plastic zip-lock bags. Make several batches in different colors. You can even get creative and let kids mix their own unique colors.

Bake some homemade soft pretzels.

Everybody loves to make and eat these, and they’re really easy to make.

• Dissolve 1 envelope dry yeast in ½ cup warm water.
• Add 1 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon salt and mix thoroughly.
• Stir in 1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour until all ingredients are mixed.
• Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth.
• Cut pieces of dough and roll into long thin cylinders, then twist into shape (the traditional pretzel shape is the obvious choice, but use your imagination).
• Put pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Beat an egg with a little water to make an egg wash and brush tops of pretzels, then sprinkle with coarse salt.
• Bake at 425ºF for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before you eat them.

Plant an indoor garden in the winter months and watch it grow.

Let the kids get their hands dirty as they plant something indoors. Recycle an old jelly or mason jar and fill with potting soil and seeds or a flower bulb. Put it on a windowsill and watch it grow! The kids love to water their plants and nurture them and see how they change from day to day. A clear glass jar allows kids to see the plant’s root structure develop, too. Great ideas for plants include flowers like paperwhites and herbs like thyme and parsley. Beautiful flowers really brighten up the house on gloomy winter days.

Have fun, even if you can’t go outside!

On cold winter evenings, there’s seldom something better for dinner than a hearty savory long-simmered soup or stew. But who has that much time to spend in the kitchen? That’s where your slow cooker comes in. Put the ingredients in before work or school, set it to “low” and let it go all day. You’ll usually be rewarded with something tasty around dinnertime.

I love making meals in my slow cooker, and my family always enjoys the results. It comes in especially handy on those busy days when I know I’m not going to have time to spend in cooking in the evening.

One of the problems with many slow cooker recipes, however, is that they rely too much on using processed foods like canned soup that are high in fat and sodium. Here’s a recipe that I developed for easy slow cooker chicken and dumplings, a one-pot meal that’s a little bit more work (but not much) and really delicious.

If we make this at home my kids always ask for seconds, even my six-year-old daughter, who usually doesn’t like anything.

If you’re really in a hurry you can use two cans of condensed cream-of-chicken soup instead of the sauce called for in the recipe. It tastes great either way.

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks, or chicken tenders (frozen OK)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 medium waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold, diced
• ½ cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 32-ounce container low-sodium chicken broth (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 16-ounce package refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough (I use the kind from Trader Joe’s)

Directions

Put all ingredients except broth, butter, flour, peas, biscuit dough, and parsley into your slow cooker.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in flour to make a roux. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste, and then slowly whisk in the broth. If you whisk in the broth bit by bit until it’s all incorporated you’ll avoid lumps.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.

Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.

During the last half hour of cooking turn slow cooker temperature to high and stir in peas. Tear each biscuit into four pieces and add to the pot. Gently stir into the chicken and vegetable mixture, then cover and cook for 30 minutes or until biscuit dough dumplings are tender but cooked through.

Stir in chopped parsley just before you ladle the stew into soup bowls. Enjoy!