Leaving  Children Unattended in a Vehicle This third most read post based on traffic from search engines is...more

My girlfriends express surprise when I tell them that one of our favorite annual family outings each November is a visit to the Los Angeles Auto Show.I know where they're coming from. For years, I dismissed this kind of event as a macho affair, where overgrown boys can play out their Hot Wheels fantasies by ogling scantily-clad models draped across shiny muscle cars. I changed my mind half a dozen years ago, when we needed to replace my husband's aging SUV. An auto show is the perfect place to research a vehicle purchase, as you can scope out every model offered by every car company, without driving from lot to lot or enduring a hard sales pitch. And while the show still is still mostly a bastion of men, powerful vehicles and pretty models, it's actually FUN  -- even for women. This is why I keep going back, even when we're NOT actively shopping for a car. Auto makers now know that women make 60% of all auto buying decisions, and they are designing their products accordingly. This was apparent during press preview days at the LA Auto Show, running now through November 28 at the Los Angeles Convention Center....more

I have a veritable cornucopia of things to be thankful for this year. Sometimes I forget that. It's easy to see the things I don't have; the places we can't afford to go on vacation; the stores I can't afford to shop in....more

Last week my inbox was bombarded with messages from people sending me a link to this story: Carmakers cover up sexy models to win over women. I was confused, because at face value the article seemed about 15-20 years behind -- until I saw it was about Europe. They are finally putting some clothes on their auto show models! That's nice. They're only about 20 years behind US auto shows in respecting women as a viable automotive marketing demographic. ...more