A guide for a quick trip to Memphis with your family!

When my husband and I were deciding to move our family to the West Coast (best coast), one of the things we were looking most forward to was never having to shovel snow again. We lived in a house with 15 steps up to our porch so when the snow came, and boy, did it come, we had to shovel all of those steps, over and over again. Needless to say, we were pretty excited about leaving that behind. Our kids, on the other hand, were less excited to leave the snow. I mean, who doesn'

This week has been a tough one, for me and for our country. I have found it hard to write, to know what to say, to comprehend what was happening in the world. I had planned on writing a post about camping for the last week or so, even had my catchy little title ready, "To Camp or Not to Camp, That is the Question." But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It felt trivial compared to the news being made around me. How do I write about camping with your family when people are

Those four little words above are my absolute least favorite to hear on a road-trip. In fact, I have banned them from my car! My son has this down but my daughter is still working on it. This may sound harsh but I feel like it is actually teaching my kids some valuable lessons. You know, things like slowing down and enjoying the ride, experiencing where you at that exact moment, taking in the beauty around you. All things I am reminding myself constantly to employ in my own l

We have family in Washington DC and Kentucky so we tend to visit both of these places a lot. We've done the National Air and Space Museum and the Capital in DC, the Louisville Slugger Museum and the Kentucky Derby Museum in Kentucky. And, honestly, most of our time gets spent just hanging with the grandparents around the pool, which is exactly what the kids want to do for the most part! But this summer I wanted to try something different. I wanted to find a subject we could e

Hi, y'all! I know, where have I been, right? It's been two weeks since I posted! But I have a good excuse, I promise. I just got back from sitting around a gorgeous pool in Palm Springs, drink in hand, with seven of my best friends for three whole days. And the weekend before I was in Chicago with my best friend since second grade laughing, working, shopping, and rocking out to Pearl Jam. Two weekends away from my kids and husband in a row?! You better believe it! Now, I full

In many ways, going to New York City is like going home for us. My husband lived there for almost 15 years with me joining him for the last 5. My son was born in Brooklyn, spent his first 4 years there, and still has vivid memories of me pushing him around in the stroller on the sidewalks of Cobble Hill, visiting the playgrounds and pointing out the colors of each car parked on the street. We have many good friends living there still and lots of places that have special memor

I get told a lot "You're so lucky to be an actress" or "You're so lucky to travel so much." And I agree, I am. My husband and I have been very blessed to see so much of this world and to do so with our kids and, many times, while working. But there is the always the flip side. We work very hard, take a lot of chances, and, quite often, have nothing to show for it. I decided to move to LA to pursue an acting career in 1998, after visiting a friend of mine that lived in LA. "If

When you think about going to wine country, you usually don't imagine going there with your kids, right? You think about a girls weekend or a romantic getaway with your husband (who even gets those?!). But I am here to tell you that not only can it be done but that it can be fun! Yes, you too can explore California's wine country with your kids and not lose your mind. We first got the idea to visit Sonoma when a film I was in was playing at their film festival, the Sonoma Int

Big Sur is one of my favorite places to go, with it's rocky coastline, sandy beaches and giant redwoods. I've been there several times but had never taken my kids. So we decided to pack up the car and venture out on one the best drives in the country, up the Pacific Coast Highway. We left LA later than anticipated (I sometimes wonder how we ever make it out of the house!), and hit the road, driving north on the 101, determined to make it our campsite before dark so that we di