McQueen as Birthday Inspiration...

image via the sweetest occasion

image via le dans la



Making things with your hands is essential to well-being... It feeds you, grounds you.

That's what I told Bryan this morning at 7:00 a.m. when he walked into the breakfast room and asked me why I was (in his words) "trying to re-create the set of The Lord of The Rings out of string and twigs". In his defense, he did find me sitting all crazy-eyed in the midst of a massive pile of brass wire and yarn and bells and gold spray painted twigs and other assorted ethereal detritus.

I was in the craft "bell jar". Just sayin'.

Yes, it's that time again friends. It's birthday madness, and in an attempt to get some of that aforementioned grounding and well-being, I've gone in, deep.

There are fairy crowns and wands to make, tiny plastic woodland animals to spray paint, a giant tree branch to decorate (it's GIANT), burlap to drape and moss to spread. I'm going for that crazy gorgeous Alexander McQueen creation above meets Pixie Hollow vibe. We'll see where I end up.

Have a fantastic, festive (and safe) New Years... I'll be back next week with tales of our woodland fairy adventure.

Scenes from A Holiday + Some Immense Gratitude

It goes without saying that losing a loved one during the holidays makes every meal shared, every gift exchanged and cookie baked and candlelight church service attended feel more poignant and imbued with a sort of solemn specialness. I expected that. I was prepared for it.

What did throw me a bit was how completely bowled over I was by the huge outpouring of love and support from friends yesterday as we honored Bryan's father at his memorial service. I am in awe. We are just so lucky and blessed to have such amazing, thoughtful, loving people in our lives. It's all sorts of goodness.

Now we're regrouping a bit... and shifting gears so we can celebrate sweet Millie's fifth birthday (tomorrow!) Friends, truly I can't believe she's five. I know it's a massive cliché , but it really does just go so fast. We'll be marking the occasion with a little woodland fairy party in her honor this weekend... stay tuned.

Working on "The List"

my friend jessica's pretty blue velvet flats...I loved the way they looked with the rug ;-)
















There is progress on the list...we've made snowflake garlands and fireplace s'mores and gingerbread houses and a nice sampling of baked goods (the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were the stand outs). We've seen The Muppets at the movies (so cute) and are in the midst of "game day".

Next up a viewing of Little Women and some drive-by Christmas light ogling.

Have a lovely and magical Christmas friends. Thank you for all your kindness and support. It means the world to us, truly. You guys are amazing.

Through Her Eyes...

Audrey's been a little snap happy the past few days, so I thought I'd share a few "moments" from her perspective... It's always refreshing for me to get a glimpse of how she sees things.

Bob...

Bryan's dad Bob passed away over the weekend...

Bob was a hugely brave, smart, fiercely loyal... oh and he 100%, unequivocally believed Bryan and the girlies hung the moon. He was for sure the guy you wanted in your corner, and he will be missed...greatly.

He was also my blog's #1 fan, which was incredibly sweet given the fact that "loving" lists and outfits and random musings were decidedly not his thing.

So Bob, this one's for you.

Forget Yourself...

For any number of assorted reasons, I'm in the midst of some serious navel-gazing of late. There's analyzing and over thinking and all sorts of "getting in my head" action. It's a little mentally exhausting, I'm not going to lie.

It's also creatively draining, all this looking-inward. I'm a big believer that to be inspired you have to take-in everything (and everyone) happening around you. You have to really observe and process, which is hard to do when your busy not paying attention.

That quote above by Henry Miller is the perfect reminder. I'm going to recite it like my mantra and use it as my re-set as as I strive to take in all the rich treasures and beautiful souls and interesting people.

Have a lovely weekend friends...

An Outfit Deconstructed...Shoe Edition

So in full disclosure, this entire outfit was about showing you "the shoes"...

Typically I don't get so swoony over a pair of shoes. Don't get me wrong, I like a good shoe, I do, but I usually reserve my sartorial fawning for a necklaces and bags. Necklaces and bags are, without a doubt, my thing.

But these particular shoes are serious happy-makers... Every time I open my closet door and see them perched there amidst a sea of black shoes I smile. (Yes I smile. At my shoes. Is that strange?)

When wearing shoes like this, I think everything else has to sort of fade into the background... They are major (major for me at least -- leopard print! and really high heels) and a little transformative, like the red lipstick of shoes. So to balance things out, I've been sporting them with simple jeans and sweaters or dark tights and conservative dresses...just letting the shoes do their thing.





The Details:

Shoes -- J.Crew
Sweater -- Anthropologie
Jeans -- Gap
Necklace -- Vintage

The List...

a few of the items on our "list": homemade grapefruit gumdrops, paint-dipped pine cones, paper snowflakes...

I am a planner to the core.

It's a blessing and a curse, as for all the times I've been perfectly prepared, there are an equal number of occasions when I've lamented my lack of inherent spontaneity. But it can't be helped (as a wildly successful female pop star once said); I was born this way. I've been tapping my inner girl scout since I was a kid.

I have gotten pretty adept over the years at tamping down my over-planning impulses in an effort to be perceived as more mellow (it's working I *think*), but all bets are off when I'm faced with even a modicum of stress or uncertainty (both of which have been floating around the Taylor household with unwelcome frequency of late).

Audrey is clearly a kindred, as last night, out of the blue, she announced that she wanted to make a comprehensive list of all the items she wanted to bake with me during the month of December. There are 19 items on the list. There are only 17 days left in the month... Wow. But I was so seduced by her planning that I decided to jump in and raise the stakes. After all, we have two full weeks of vacation from school and work to fill with festive goodness, why not go crazy and make a list of everything we want to do for the rest of the month??

The list ended up being a funny mishmash of items, and who knows if we'll actually do them all, but at least we have a plan.

You gotta have a plan.

Herewith a few things on our "December List"(just in case you were wondering):

make a gingerbread house/watch Little Women/make paint-dipped pine cones/bake something new every day (Audrey is focused on baked goods; I'd like to tackle toffee and grapefruit gumdrops)/watch It's a Wonderful Life/make a snowflake garland/go to the museums in Ft. Worth/drive around and look at Christmas lights/make flower crowns for Millie's birthday party/clean out the game closet (me)/play games for an entire day (audrey)/make fireplace s'mores/go to the movies

So...what's on your December list?

Loving...

Michelle's genius "Operation January"... I'm with ya sister, let's take December down a notch! + I'm thinking January needs a little love too, yes? (Image via Mia Linnman.)


Jim Drain's chain scarf...the color, awesome.


The artful prismatic terrariums from Halona glass...


An epically awesome inspiration wall via Le Dans La. (An inspiration wall pretty much blows a measly inspiration board out of the water...just sayin'.)



Artist Cybèle Finely in the latest Covet Garden -- her home, her workspace, her family and what she bought on her recent trip to Paris. I love how Covet Garden goes "all-in" on a subject...it's thoughtful and sort of quiet, a nice respite from the frenetic feel of most publications.


Kari Herer's Rabbit no 0031... Wholly unique and lovely.


Lisa Golightly's watercolors... I've long loved her other paintings but am especially enamoured with the pieces in her series"the floodline".


Odette's magical open studio party ... just so many perfect little details, but it's those sweet flower crowns (made by Nicolette) that I can't get out of my head. I need to figure out a way to work these out for Millie's upcoming woodland fairy b-day party.

Some Scenes From The Weekend (+ A Winner)

Millie getting in some mandolin time in her new (gifted) Polarn O. Pyret striped cozies... She's obsessed with these bad boys.











My friend Sarah's magical ornament exchange...

Millie with her beloved Charlie...

We partook in a plethora-o-festive this weekend including a cozy double date on Friday with our besties Julie and Tim, a sweet ornament exchange/craft party at my immensely talented friend Sarah's house and two fun kiddo birthday parties.

We also took-in Millie's class singing carols in the middle of our toniest shopping mall. It was a pretty cute enterprise, 40 or so four-year-olds belting out holiday tunes in their sparkly duds. But the best part was during the finale when Millie decided she might need to, well...pick her nose. After the deed was done, she spent the rest of the performance in alternating states of disgust and confusion while pondering how to dispose of her "bounty". Oh and did I mention that she was in the front row...center??!

Friends, I realize I am veering from my typical content here and have landed firmly in "mommy" territory. Suffice to say, it's not very glamorous, but here's the thing, "Boogergate 2011" made me laugh...until my stomach hurt. I spend a bulk of my days organizing and planning and shepherding and trying to get things just right...every once in a while I need a good reminder that no matter what I do my kids are going to occasionally pick their noses (in front of 300+ people, in the middle of a really nice shopping mall). It's just going to happen. You just have to go with it.

And in some weird way, that makes me happy.

Ok now for the winner of the World's Smallest Post Kit giveaway... Congrats Kristen!