Photo: Thinkstock

Food editor Lynn Andriani recently came over to my desk with her favorite lipstick in hand (or at least what was left of it). The label was entirely rubbed off and the bullet worn down to a nub. Desperate for a replacement, she asked if I recognized this not too bright, not too sheer shade of pearly pink. Without any visible clues—aside from the stub of remaining color—I was on the verge of breaking the news that not even a beauty junky like myself could point her down the right aisle at Sephora or the drugstore. That is until I came across Giella, a company that custom blends everything from lipstick to nail polish to foundation [via Birchbox.com]. All you have to do is mail in your discontinued or mystery makeup and they'll send back an exact match. (It's essentially the cosmetic version of cloning). No more cursing those limited edition shades. No more pleading with the salesperson at the makeup counter. No more disappointment. Now, if only replacing all beloved things in life was this easy.



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5 products beauty editors wear down to a nub
This month's best beauty buys

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To paraphrase Tolstoy, happy family vacations are alike; every unhappy family vacation is unhappy in its own way. My in-laws love to talk about their much-scrimped-and-saved-for trip to Hawaii, which my brother-in-law allegedly spent scowling in the backseat of the rental car, reading "Dungeons & Dragons" books and refusing to look at anything. My parents often memorialize the infamous Boundary Waters camping trip when days of unceasing rain turned canoeing into Xtreme drudgery and sent my brother and I to the tent to read aloud to each other in a kind of REI-sponsored radio show. I could go on and on — after all, everyone loves to recount their bad vacations, like veterans slinging war stories.

After all, there's more to tell if everything went wrong. Holly Robinson writes of this phenomenon in her Huffington Post piece called, fittingly enough, "Cherishing the Memory of Bad Vacations." (Read the whole piece for some hilarious descriptions of family fun gone very wrong.) She writes: "Here's the thing: bad vacations are the real family keepsakes, because you survive them together (ideally). You have to play games or tell jokes, you have to get each other through the hail or the flat tire or the flu. Surviving a bad vacation as a family requires everyone to step up and show determination, loyalty, and yes, even courage. Blue skies, sunshine, and a white beach are all pleasant, but what fun is that kind of vacation to reminisce about later?" It's true—what I fondly recall about our disastrous canoeing trip is how my brother and I made our own fun, in a time of our lives when at home we mostly ignored each other.

A good thing to remember as we plan our own family vacations. Every time I organize even the smallest of weekend getaways, I am struck by an urge to make it perfect, as if each botched meal or tantrum-punctuated outing were a major parenting failure. But nothing ruins vacation fun faster than a stressed-out, crabby parent. Robinson's story of beloved, terrible trips seems to me a call to be easy on ourselves, to remember that the most disastrous family dinner or, ahem, holiday gathering might end up being the one you all cherish the most.

In the immortal words of Clark Griswold, "I'm just trying to treat my family to a little fun."

Give yourself a break:
A reformed perfectionist on setting yourself free
3 ways to focus on the positive

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Low in calories and fat, high in fiber, and mouth-puckeringly tart, these berries have become a mainstay in granola, oatmeal and salad. But we've found their sweetness lends just the right kick to many other foods, too. Try adding them to...

1. Couscous, quinoa or pilafs
2. Thanksgiving stuffing
3. Roasted apples, sweet potatoes or winter squash
4. Teriyaki (really!)
5. Tuna or chicken salad
6. Turkey wraps
7. Brie wrapped up in crescent roll dough and baked
8. Cookie batter (they go especially well with white chocolate)
9. Banana bread
10. Apple pie

Keep Reading
Tyler Florence's recipe for Broccoli Slaw with Cranberries
7 ways to cook with fresh cranberries
November's must-try food guide

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

Photo: Salon

* Salon releases its counter-list to to People's annual Sexiest Man Alive issue, full of guys "whose appeal comes from something other than rock-hard abs, blessed bone structure and blindingly white teeth."  We dare you not to be charmed by their number one pick.  (Salon, People)

* For the Parks and Recreation fan who is also observing Movember, Nick Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson, has hand crafted these limited-edition mustache combs in his woodshop. (Nick Offerman Woodshop)

* Aspiring Hollywood celebrities can learn something from this essay on Paul Newman and how he proved there was "a second path to enduring stardom, one characterized by decency, fidelity, and philanthropy." (The Hairpin)

* "Practically everything I know about writing, then, I learned from music. It may sound paradoxical to say so, but if I had not been so obsessed with music, I might not have become a novelist."—IQ84 author Haruki Murakami. (NYTimes)

Photo: Thinkstock

In a world where 18-month-olds nonchalantly scroll through photos on smartphones, it's no wonder we're hearing about the Inevitable Death of the Picture Book. Last year the New York Times published a story about how more and more parents were forgoing picture books in favor of chapter books, in the hopes of helping their children get further faster in school.

Good thing it's the inaugural Picture Book Month for a few more weeks yet. Started by a group of authors, storytellers, and illustrators, Picture Book Month works to remind us of the value of actual, paper picture books, and how key they are in children's lives. Every day the site features a different children's book writer or illustrator, talking about why these books are so important. Some highlights:

Jane Yolen, author of more than 300 picture books: "I have always believed that literature begins in the cradle— the poems we say to the babies, the stories we tell them—prepare them to become part of the great human storytelling community."

Librarian and folklorist Margaret Read MacDonald: "This sense of owning a book—of having a book belong to them—sets the path to a love of books and learning."

Illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba: "People need three things to survive—food, shelter, and wonder."

The official Picture Book Month site has lots of ideas for ways to celebrate (even if you don't have a kid to read to), as well as information on the benefits of picture books. Personally, this is shaping up to be my favorite thing to celebrate this month. Let's see, I don't have to cook or clean or buy anything. All I have to do is pick a favorite picture book —I think we'll start with Oh What a Busy Day, or wait no, Knuffle Bunny, or wait no, Henry In Love—snuggle up next to my daughter, and read. 

More about books:
Picture books for grownups
A book for strong girls
Make reading fun for kids

Photo: Thinkstock

Lately there's been a lot of talk on the theme of failure and how integral it is to success. In a world where peoples' value is all too often determined by lists of accomplishments and tangible success, failing feels dangerous. Who has time to fail? We're all supposed to have started our own businesses/earned our first million/won American Idol by the time we're about twenty, right?

Fear of failure is the theme of the Stockholm Berghs School of Communication's student work exhibition, and in honor of this some respected creative types have shared their thoughts on the value of failure. Brainpickings has a wonderful roundup of videos of these writers, artists, and designers talking about the nobility of failure and what they have learned from their own various failings. I love this one, in which designer Milton Glaser says, "Genius occurs very rarely. So the real embarrassing issue about failure is your own acknowledgement that you’re not a genius, that you’re not as good as you thought you were. [...] There’s only one solution: You must embrace failure. You must admit what is. You must find out what you’re capable of doing, and what you’re not capable of doing." When you're trying to be creative, when you're trying to do anything at all, it's easy to say, "Well, I'm just not good at that so I won't even try," but as we're always telling our kids, how do you know if you don't at least try?

(Watch the entire video, and many more, over at Brainpickings and the exhibition site.)

More on the upside of failure:
3 successes in life only failure can give you
Turn a failure into a success

Photo: Cristina Ferrare

For years in my family, every Thanksgiving, a petty argument among the dark meat lovers would start about 20 minutes before dinner. It was always about who was going to get a wing, leg, or thigh, since there are only two of those per bird. The thighs were the easiest to deal with, since I could get two to three servings from each. The wings and legs, not so much. So I decided to make life easier for myself by preparing extra wings, legs and thighs. I also realized by doing this I didn’t have to deal with people who would gather around the dinner table way before it was time to eat so they could be the first to grab the dark meat. Preparing extra turkey parts (I make more than I need) ensured everyone would get what they wanted and it made me feel less anxious since I always play chef as well as referee!

Yes, it's a flipbook, and yes, it will probably make you cry a little. The sweetest birthday video ever.

Spicy Sausage Dressing. Cranberry Carrot Chutney. Thanksgiving side dishes from the world's best chefs.

How this world-famous photographer reconnected with her creativity (and took some gorgeous photographs along the way).

"Loving the land you live in, while still celebrating your heritage:" A thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be an American.

The Life-Lifter: A  heroic 9 year-old girl stays calm while trapped in a wrecked car for 2 days, and survives to tell the tale.