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Off the Leash

January 5, 1985
Dear Diary,
Christmas came and went again. Barbie Dream House, Mall Madness, “Weird” Al Yankovic album. No drum set. And, again, no dog.

October 31, 1994
Dear Diary,
Sweet Sixteen. I awoke with visions of wagging tails ...

Variations on a Theme Park

The last time you gave Space Mountain a try, you were 9 — and not all that thrilled about the experience. (Neither was Mickey, after you barfed all over his shoes on the way out.)

Maybe it’s time to give ...

A Good Oman

Let’s brush up on some Middle Eastern geography: Amman is the capital of Jordan. Yemen is the one next to Djibouti. Oman, the sultanate next to the United Arab Emirates, is the Middle East as travelers would like it to be: ...

Epic Proportions

Good gifts can generally be gauged by their physical size.

For example, anything bigger than a bread box is bound to be bad news. (Read: Malibu Barbie Beach House, useless kitchen gadgets.)

Lena Wald knows that good things come in ...

Nature Versus Nurture

Fun in the sun can be very one-sided.

You’re the one layering on the lotion and zinc. It’s you who has to make sure all the hats are covering all the right places and lug all the umbrellas and toys — ...

A Matter of Fact

Eating Pop Rocks while drinking Coke has never killed anyone. Babies born in flight do not get free air travel for life. And Neiman Marcus never charged its customers $250 for a cookie recipe. All fiction.

But there is one ...

Wee Shall Overcome

Small is so the new big.

Just look at all the folks trading in their Hummers for sporty hybrids. Or replacing their double-D implants with B cups.

The next rung on the less-is-more ladder: Tumbleweed houses, tiny custom shelters perfectly suited ...

House of Style

These days, it’s no figure of speech to say that you shop till you drop.

The act of getting dressed (must impress snooty sales girls), driving from one boutique to another (intense road rage), rummaging for pieces you can afford ...