Scenes from The Weekend

Sunday afternoon = sunshine + french press coffee + Devo videos on YouTube with the girlies... a good day, no?

It was inspiring weekend.

Or rather, I was confronted with several inspiring moments, places and people, starting on Friday evening with our friends Lucia and Pete and their sweet girlies Ava and Felicity (actually it started a smidge earlier…more on that later.)

Lucia and Pete are immensely lovely and creative. This was our first visit to their home, and I was totally mesmerized. There was something fantastic and inspiring in every nook and corner – a piece of Lucia’s art, a perfect little vignette, a stack of great books... + They made us an amazingly yummy dinner (Bouillabaisse, salad, panna cotta + homemade pizza for the kids.) It was an altogether lovely way to kick off the weekend (and I was inspired to rethink my entire house ;-)

On Saturday we went to a birthday party at the Science museum, and I was inspired by my own, well… uptightness (yes, I realize that’s not a real word.) I was so tightly wound the entire time that I walked out to the car after the party vowing to lighten up. I’m realizing I’m not doing so well in my efforts in magical parenting and it took a mildly chaotic (but still very fun) 3-year old birthday party to remind me of that and re-inspire my efforts.

Late Sunday afternoon was spent watching Devo videos (we skipped over the racy content of course...) with the girlies on YouTube (man it's easy to get sucked into YouTube.) It occurred to me that I will have failed miserably as a parent if my girlies grow up thinking Mark Mothersbaug is just that goofy guy that draws pictures on Yo Gabba Gabba. The Devo viewing lead to Blondie and then to the Beatles (all roads inevitably lead to the Beatles with my girlies.) Their love for music inspires me endlessly.

And finally I was inspired by you guys…actually this started Friday afternoon (per my first paragraph) when I started reading your “6 Things” comments on my last post. Bryan had to come see what was going on as I was (apparently) gawaffing from my office. These were the best comments ever.

I am seriously amazed, impressed, in awe of, grateful for and fond of you guys. I’m just sayin…

6 Things + A Prize

I haven't done a tag in a while, so when Maria asked me to I decided to give it another whirl...

But as I was thinking about what I would share I kept drawing a blank. There isn't a lot about me that I haven't already told you. I'm a bit of an open book. Maybe I should occasionally consider cultivating a little mystery, no? ;-)

Here's what I (finally) came up with... It's not that exciting, but it's six random things nonetheless. (Sorry I couldn't pull off seven Maria.)

1. I’m obsessed with the space program. Anything about NASA is infinitely exciting to me.
   


2. I hate bell peppers…red, green, yellow – just not a fan (much to the dismay of my sweet hubby who loves them more than life itself.)
   


3. My two all-time favorite songs are “Police and Thieves” by the Clash and “This Must be the Place (Naïve Melody)” by the Talking Heads.
   


4. When I was 10 years old I met Pat Benatar in the bathroom at a recording studio in L.A. She told me she liked my outfit (turquoise capri pants and a Hawaiian print shirt tied at the waist -- remember I was 10.) It was the defining moment of my childhood.
   


5. I’m (a smidge) afraid of heights…let’s just say I have no desire to ever skydive, bungee jump, swing from a trapeze or participate in any other height required death defying activity.
   


6. I’m obsessed with notebooks. I have an embarrassing amount of them stashed away and am constantly jotting down little lists. I suppose it's my way of balancing the fact that between my day job and my blog I spend far, far too much time on a computer.

Rather than picking a few other bloggers to do this, I thought it would be more fun to hear from you guys + there's a little prize in it for you...

Just leave a comment with your six random things on this post by next Friday and in honor of #6 on my list, I’ll pick one of you to receive Joy’s gorgeous agate notebook above.

Happy weekend! Hope it's a splendid one.

A Few Random Bits... (+ A Winner)

I have a wee bit of a girl crush on her...(spotted on this blog, which I happen to have a wee bit of a crush on too.)

The Spring Small is out today, and I have to say, it's my favorite issue yet...so, so much goodness (+ I'm dying over that dress above.)

Is it odd that I long for the hair that this über sweet little girl is so expertly pulling off? Perfect messiness...love it. (Smallable ad also spotted via Small)

Urban Outfitters officially has the. very. best. marketing materials. I received the above book (!) in the mail previewing their Spring collection. Awesome...especially enamoured with the images from the book below.

I just realized I forgot to announce the winner of Danni's gift certificate giveaway. Congrats Ana! Get that peacock necklace so I can live vicariously through you ;-)

The Spending Hiatus – Week Three

My dwellstudio bedding is pretty much at the very tippy top of the things I love that I already own. I had a white duvet cover for years…this makes me happy every time I walk into our bedroom...

I failed this week. (Or slipped if I’m being nice to myself.)

Either way I bought something, and after all my, “I’m so strong, I didn’t buy that killer ring”, blah, blah, last week, I wish I had at least caved on something so cool that you guys would collectively applaud me and agree that it was essential that I purchase it, spending hiatus be damned. Or something like that ;-)

But alas, I can’t…the culprit was just a little tunicy top thing at the Gap for Audrey. It was cute and versatile and cheap, and she loved it (she insisted on wearing it out of the store and then wore it to school the very next day.) But still…

I almost considered not telling you. But we tell each other, that’s the whole point, that’s what we do, right?

Other than the tunic, it was a good week. It felt a little easier than last week. I’ve also been distracted, as emboldened by not purchasing anything for a whopping 24 days, I’m now completely obsessed with cleaning out drawers, closets, etc…and as such, I'm becoming even more familiar with what I do own and love and (maybe most important) don’t love.

To that end, I have a small pile of clothes set aside for Goodwill and a few other things I’m planning to put on ebay. I’m hoping this exercise also helps me hone in on the things I might actually “need” when the hiatus is over – i.e. a new black skirt for work (my current one is awfully long in the tooth) a black bag (I seem to have every color but black, which for me is odd), you get the idea…

image via the Sartorialist...

I do find myself daydreaming from time-to-time about buying altogether odd things…like a trench coat (which I’ve never wanted in my life, but now can’t get out of my head due to the awesome looking girl above) and a popsicle maker (!) Apparently not buying does odd things to me…

How did you do this week?

Loving...

Raven and Lamb's sweet kiddo birthday cards...

Mav's gorgeous portfolio (via Chelsea, of course ;-)

Pretty much perfect necklaces at Martin and Osa. Once the spending hiatus is over, one of these lovelies is at the top of my list for Spring...

Studio Choo's awesome new shop...makes me want to plan a trip to S.F. stat. (Although it doesn't take much to make me want to go to S.F.)

These covetable wedges. They would be seriously rockin with a smidge of a tan (not much mind you -- I'm a little nutso about the sun. Let's just say I should own stock in sunscreen.)

This print...Seriously, I can't get this thing out of my head.

My cards, created by the lovely and amazing Suann. I've been trying to snap a decent photo of these to share with you for weeks, but the sun is not cooperating. So I grabbed this one from Suann ;-) She also has a v. cool step-by-step of how she created them over on design*sponge today.

Is Anyone Else as Excited as I Am

About The Selby book. Can't wait to get my hands on this bad boy...

Scenes from (A Mildly Frantic) Weekend

This weekend felt full and went by fast…I woke up this morning longing for another day.

There was dinner with our dearest friends, ballet, a birthday party, a dinner date with hubby (which involved champagne and prosciutto wrapped figs stuffed with walnuts and blue cheese and), lunch with lovely cousin Erin (back from China, finally!) and an attempt to squeeze in as much Olympics viewing as humanly possible. (Seriously how amazing are the aerials?)

Whew.

We're starting to get occasional glimpses of weekend “laziness”, but it’s so fleeting that it might be better if I wasn’t even tempted by the possibility. For example, Saturday morning Audrey seemed a bit sluggish and suggested that she and I get back into my bed and, in her words, “she would just rest while I read my new magazine” (the exceptionally good March Vogue… I have multiple articles dog-eared for re-reading, but I digress.) It was gloomy outside, making her suggestion even more brilliant, so we hopped in, smoothed out the covers and clicked on the little bedside lamp. It was perfection... for a whole 7 minutes. I read a few paragraphs, she closed her eyes and feigned peaceful resting and then popped up, declared she was “bored”, and it was wheels-off for the rest of the weekend.

Hope your weekend was lovely (and mellow…I’ll just live vicariously though you.)

Blogger's Favorites -- Danni of Oh Hello Friend + A Giveaway!

When I met Danni at Alt last month, my first thought was that she was the complete embodiment of her blog -- lovely, creative, incredibly nice...

In fact, I might go as far as to say, she sort of looked like her blog...(the outfit she was wearing when we first met perfectly matched her blog banner, it was really quite fantastic.)

Not only has Danni kindly agreed to share her favorite things with us this week, but she's also offering up a $30 gift certificate to her immensely lovely shop, which would more than cover one of the perfect little necklaces below (I should note that I'm coveting that peacock one in an altogether unnatural way...)

Just leave a comment on this post by midnight CT on Tuesday, February 23rd for a chance to win, and I'll announce the lucky reader on Wednesday!

So without further ado, Herewith Danni's favorites, enjoy and have a lovely weekend!

***

hi friends! it was so fun searching around, finding images of some of my favorites to share with you. i have certain things that are definitely favorites of mine. thanks joslyn for letting me share on your lovely blog this week! here is a list of my top 10 favorites:

my fiance - he's without a doubt my number one favorite. he's my best friend. (image by oh, hello friend.)

flea markets - i may have a teeny tiny problem: i am a hoarder! somehow i always find myself at a flea market, swap meet, or a thrift store. whenever i walk into a thrift store, i get such an excited feeling about the treasures i'll discover. i told my fiancee that one time and he thought i was so silly. (image by photphobia)

traveling - if i had all the money in the world, i would travel. i would take my man and go around the world.. starting with the places we most want to go. (first on our list: israel, egypt, and italy) (image by christian cruz)

skeleton keys - maybe i watched cinderella one too many times when i was a kid but the scene where the evil stepmother locks cinderella in her room when the prince comes: i LOVE the key!!!! and just the whole locking a door with an old skeleton key is one of my absolute favorites. when i went to denmark a few years ago, one of the houses we visited had an old lock in the door and i remember just sitting there for 20 minutes locking and unlocking the door ;) (image by MAOJ)

jane austen - what can i say, i'm a romantic at heart. i love this era. i love the fashion. i love the customs and the simple times. i love the characters of jane austen's stories. this image doesn't exactly say jane but it reminds me of a beautiful scene from one of her books. (image by adebⓞnd)

packages - i love a pretty package all wrapped up with lots of thought and care and loveliness.(image by oh, hello friend.)

rain - crazy. that is the usual response i get when i tell people i love the rain. it isn't depressing, i LOVE it! i could just sit and watch it rain all day long. i would LOVE for it to rain on my wedding day! (love this wedding shot) (image by braedon photography)

anthropologie - before i go traveling with all the money in the world, i would stop at anthropologie and purchase.. everything! i love everything about this store from the goods they carry down to the design of the clothing tags. (image by anthropologie)

pms 124 - i love this shade, and really any shade of goldenrod yellow. i definitely plan to use this color in my wedding ;) (image by ruche)

collecting - going back to number 2 and my issue with hoarding things, a better way to put it is that i 'collect' things! i love collecting treasures and special finds that i come across at thrift stores. lately i've been collecting clocks, old books, and pretty plates! (image by oh, hello friend.)

Where Would You Go...

Vietnam photos courtesy of my friend Katie from her relative's recent trip...

If you could go anywhere?

That was the question Bryan, the girlies (well Audrey) and I pondered over pizza at our favorite local spot last week. Bryan is more well-traveled than me, having toured Europe pretty extensively after college and living in Turkey for a couple of years, so his dream trips veer to the slightly more exotic... Think Vietnam, Easter Island and Palau.

My sweet francophile Audrey picked Paris. Full stop. She's dying to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and I'm dying to take her there. In fact, so much so that (despite having already been to Paris) it's at the top of my list too. Perhaps I'm just not as adventurous as Bryan. (Although those photos above do have me quite intrigued by Vietnam...)

the bungalow at the Hotel Saint Cecilia

But really at this point, I'd happily settle for a quick Austin getaway.

I've had a crummy past couple of days, including (but not limited to) an über graceful fall up the stairs at work yesterday. Seriously, who falls up the stairs?? Not only was it mildly humiliating, but it was incredibly painful, and now I'm limping around with a goose egg on my left knee. So yes, a little getaway would be pretty nice right about now.

Specifically I'm dreaming of a respite involving a couple of nights at the amazingly cool Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin... My first love will always be the Saint Cecilia's sister property, the San Jose, but I've been dying to give this place a spin for a while, and after some hotel research with my friend Christine for the Renegade Craft Festival in Austin later this spring, I'm obsessing over it again.

more fab pics from the Saint Cecilia...admit it, these make you want to go there too ;-)