Meredith Towbin's Blog

It’s been a while since I made a cake, so I decided that since I had a few free hours this morning, I’d bake one up (and try a new gluten-free white cake recipe) and decorate it.

About four hours later, I had this:

I also had this:

And this:

After it was all done, I remembered why I hadn’t made a cake in a while: The photos above are just a portion of the shit I have to clean up after the whole rigmarole. Because after meticulously coloring icing and piping buttercream flowers for several...

I’ve been doing a solid for my kid over the last few weeks. The bus stops at our house super early in the morning, and if I drive him to school instead, he can sleep a whole extra half an hour. That’s great for him. It’s not so great for me. Let’s just say I don’t get my jollies rolling out of bed at 6:30 am and, half awake, driving through insane amounts school traffic in my pajamas. But I do it because THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

Today, Friday, I was really excited because I wasn’t going to...

Unfortunately, one of my worst fears came true this weekend. Fortunately, I lived. And now you get to hear me tell my tale of woe.

One of the major highways I use all the time has been under construction for quite a while. Currently, the highway splits at a certain point–two lanes continue to the right, while one lane veers to the left and is surrounded by concrete dividers on either side. Every time I drive this stretch of highway, I notice that the single left lane moves faster than the...

I’m usually on top of most things in my life. I like to plan ahead and make lists and, if I’m unprepared for anything, I tend to start dry heaving. There is one exception to this rule, however, and I’ve never been able to get my act together in this particular area: my kids’ concert band attire.

For six years now, my kids have had to wear the same outfit combo for every band concert — all black....

Happy Halloween! In honor of today, and because I am stumped and need help figuring out what the hell is going on in my house, I’m going to relate what happened to me a few days ago.

So house construction is still going on and that means there is dust EVERYWHERE — on tables, floors, windows, you name it. I walked into our dining room/makeshift kitchen a few days ago, and saw this:

No, I did not see a giant highlighted yellow square on the window. I saw what was inside, which is the letter A surrounde...

We’re having our wood floors refinished so, over the last few days, we had to stay at a hotel. I’d been dreading this. Like for weeks. Why? Four people, one hotel room, and ONE BATHROOM. This was no freaking joke. I think you get more privacy in prison. And although these few days weren’t the best time I’ve ever had, at least they weren’t the worst.

First, breakfast was included in the price of our room, so every morning my kids cou...

The house is a construction zone right now. We’re doing some work on our kitchen and somehow that has snowballed (as these things tend to do) into most of the first floor, so everywhere I look is a disaster. It’s going to be great once it’s all done, but right now, my eye twitches on a regular basis because THE MESS. There’s dust and clutter and craziness everywhere. I thrive on order and cleanliness and surfaces free from a two-inch layer of dus...

I have been on a roller coaster of emotions over the last few weeks thanks to Ikea. It all started when we decided to add some extra storage to our laundry room, and I figured a few cabinets from Ikea would be an affordable yet stylish way of achieving just that.

If you’ve ever been to an Ikea, you know how it goes down. You walk into the showroom and weave your way through beautifully arranged living rooms and kitchens and...

Last week we said goodbye to our sweet cat Cleo. She’d been slowly declining from renal failure for several months, and we made the agonizing decision to euthanize her. Together with my husband, I brought her to the vet, laid my hand over her head, and said a thousand I love you’s as she left us.

I haven’t been blogging much these last few weeks and this is why. It’s just that the loss (and everything that led up to it) has hit me hard. In fact, it keeps hitting me hard a dozen times a day. M...

Every member of my family puts in a special birthday cake request each year. Some years’ cakes are harder to make than others, and this year was a doozy for my youngest. He’s super into comics and requested a Venom cake.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, this is Venom:

Two things: 1. Effing terrifying, am I right? 2. Venom doesn’t lend himself very well to making a beautiful birthday cake. And that’s an understatement.

I wasn’t really sure how I was going to pull this one off. I searched...