When I was a little girl, my parents and I rode the motorcycles up to Bear Mountain all the time, but I haven't been in years and years (other than for a wedding at the Overlook Lodge a couple of years ago, memorable both because it was a beautiful wedding and because it was the site of my terrible, horrible eye incident). I have all sorts of memories of my dad and I rolling down the big hill like logs and playing Aerobie (remember those?!) on the lawn, and have been wanting to take Kendrick and Indy there for awhile now.

If you're in the NYC area, I highly recommend giving Bear Mountain a try for a day trip: it's only about 45 minutes outside the city, is an absolutely spectacular drive in the fall, and is right next to Cold Spring (another of my favorite day trip towns), so you can hit up both in one go.

{ A super-affordable statement necklace ... }

{ ... A preview of an upcoming collaboration with InStyle and Pandora ... }

A few weeks ago, Kendrick was telling me how he was working on a group project at school and the question of who would present the project in front of their entire class came up, and - without even thinking - he said "I will." And I thought that was the coolest thing, to have your default setting when it comes to public speaking be "Sure, I can handle that," to just have faith in your ability...and then go get it done.

I used to struggle - a lot - with stage fright. When I was working as an actress, the problem became so bad that it was actually crippling - I had to tailor my wardrobe to cover up shaking knees or a flushed neck, and once had an anxiety attack so extreme that I had to physically walk out of an audition with Jada Pinkett Smith, saying "I can't do this" - and was a big part of why, after awhile, acting stopped being something that made me happy. When you have an enormous physical response that frequently stands smack in between you and your ability to get hired for a job and make a living, you eventually start thinking that maybe you need to do something different.

So when I say that it's "exciting" to be able to speak on panels, give presentations, stand up in front of a really lot of people and just talk, I mean much more than "Oh, what a cool experience." I mean that too, of course - it is cool, very cool - but even more I mean that there was this thing that used to be so much a part of my world that it cast huge shadows over my career, my future, my life...and the discovery that getting up on a stage wasn't just something that I could learn how to "handle," but something I could actually learn how to enjoy...

I suppose I just find that kind of incredible. The fact that, in time, we can move past even those things that feel impossible. Evolve.

Alright, this is it: your official last weekend to get into the Halloween spirit. If you've been procrastinating on the whole "pumpkin" thing...well, I hear you: I haven't carved one this year either, mostly because I hate carving pumpkins. But I have been to a pumpkin patch - that's one part of the season that I refuse to miss out on.

If you're in the NYC area, you have to check out Harvest Moon Orchard - it's about an hour outside Manhattan, in North Salem N.Y., and totally worth a Zipcar rental. They have a big pumpkin field with lots of heirloom varieties, live music, bouncy castles, farm animals, an adorable country store, and turkey legs (which are obviously worth the trip alone).

It's so much fun.

Two years already.

I can hardly believe it.

I was going to get crazy with this birthday - I actually phoned up and reserved a petting zoo before coming to my senses and remembering that my son is two - but decided to keep it simple: close friends and family members, store-bought cupcakes and delivery pizza and homemade angel food cake with chocolate icing (the exact same cake that my mom made for me every birthday when I was a little girl).