Paula Greif...

images via Remodelista

I'm not quite sure what to do about the issue of Paula Greif, but I am completely obsessed... Her work alone is enough to spawn a full-on girl crush, but then there's this via Remodelista:

"Brooklyn-based Renaissance woman Paula Greif set herself a creative goal: to make everything in her kitchen by hand. Greif views her working life as a horizontal line—she started as a graphic designer for magazines; later, she directed music videos and commercials; more recently, she's turned her attention to ceramics. Greif's house in Brooklyn is a project on that continuum; filled with her own hand-hooked rugs and distinctive pottery. Her inspiration? Alexander Calder (specifically, the book Calder at Home), who "extended his creativity to every corner of his existence." After reading about Calder, Greif began to make things for her own home; rug hooking led her to pottery, and ultimately, a desire to remake everything in her kitchen by hand."

Oh and then this from her site:

I'm at a loss.

Thanks a lot Michelle ;-)

The Process of Falling in Love in Five Steps

1. Spot a cluster of lovely ceramics on Pinterest.

2. Click through to Design*Sponge (the source of that ceramics image) from Pinterest to discover that said ceramics were created by Angela Hodgkinson (one of my faves).

3. Click over to Angela's blog, Various Projects, and catch up.

4. While catching up, become obsessed with photo of Solange Knowles at The Louve.

5. Click over to Solange's "Damn Blog" and proceed to obsess over everything before falling... Hard.

The interwebs is a magical place, yes?

Ship and Shape Goodness...And a Giveaway

I am a huge fan of pretty much everything about Ship & Shape -- the aesthetic sensibility, the design, the carefully considered goods...

The ladies behind all this goodness, Erin Smith, Maddy Nye, and Annika Kaplan, are designers and makers that wanted to create an online space to showcase quality, handmade goods. Each season, the ladies carefully curate a mix of their own works alongside unique handmade products made by their favorite artists.

It is seriously good stuff.


And because they are so lovely and kind, they've offered up the little trifecta of goodness above to one of you, including:

Annika's SHIP & SHAPE Studs: Sterling silver studs inspired by the SHIP & SHAPE logo. Hand made. Easy everyday studs or second piercing accents.

Erin's Mini Plant Hanger: Hand built stoneware slab pot with hand painted detail, hanging from a knotted waxed cotton cord. Perfect for air plants and tiny succulents.

Maddy's Yeah! Notecard Set: Lively notecard set, digitally printed on recycled paper. Brighten up your friend's day with a note written on one of these.

(Is it bad to say that I want to win my own giveaway?!)

Just pop over to Ship & Shape to check things out and then leave a comment here telling me what your favorite item is from their new Spring Collection by Sunday, April 8th at midnight CT. I'll announce the winner on Monday. Good luck!

Some Scenes From The Office...

I'm am the nerd that (literally) loves nothing more than getting a peek inside a person's house/workspace/closet. In the off chance that you also enjoy these types of things (friends, I know you do, admit it...), I thought you *might* like to see a few snaps of my desk at the new gig.

When I left my old job, I bequeathed almost everything from my office to co-workers, friends, strangers on the street... I really wanted my surroundings to embody the fact that I was starting a new chapter in my work life -- all fresh and shiny and new (a lot to expect from office decor, I realize).

And I have to say, I love my new little space. Despite the fact that all the editors sit in a wide-open bullpen set-up, it feels oddly cozy; it inspires productivity (always a good thing at work; and there's a kickin' coffee maker just around the corner, which, really, might be the best part of all.

Blog Tour: World's Smallest Post Service + A Giveaway

I'm so excited to be kicking off the official "blog tour" for Lea Redmond's genius World’s Smallest Post Service stationery kit...


The project, a collaboration between Lea and Chronicle Books, is artful, thoughtful and exceedingly clever. It feels like the ultimate reflection of Lea's childhood passion for creating whimsical things combined with her interest in "the ways that artifacts and words can catch our attention and invite us to have life-changing insights". I think ultimately what makes Lea's art so unique and special is her insatiable curiosity and her highly diverse background (among other endeavors, she's worked at Alice Water's The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, served an AmeriCorps stint on the Oregon coast at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, and assisted a scent alchemist.

The kit is little box packed neatly with all the supplies you need to create insanely cute diminutive letters and gift boxes, including a fine-tipped micron writing pen, mini writing sheets + envelopes, seals, mini gift boxes, Kraft wrapper paper, a (brilliant) miniature "newspaper", twine, postage stamps and special delivery stickers.

It's sweet, small perfection.

To celebrate the blog tour, Chronicle books is giving away a kit to one of my readers. Just leave a comment on this post by Sunday, December 11th, and I'll announce a winner next Monday.

*For those of you who can't wait, you can buy the kit here...And be sure to take a peek at day two of the blog tour tomorrow on Refinery 29!

Our Dining Room (+ A Winner)

I show you guys snippets of our house pretty frequently in "scenes from the weekend" and the like, but somehow I never get around to posting full rooms... But that's about to change (for one room at least). FD Luxe featured three dining rooms in their November "Feast" themed issue, and ours was one of them, which, needless to say, was pretty exciting. And it conveniently gives me the chance to share a peek at the entire room with you guys.

I loved being at the shoot with the amazingly talented photographer Mei-Chun Jau and writer (and friend) Jessica Elliot...The photos above are from the issue which is out in print now, and the snaps below are some of Mei-Chun's outtakes from the shoot. It was just such a fun and cozy day with those ladies...sort of magical even. I love it when that happens.


















And now for the winner of Jenn's awesome ring giveaway...congrats Mary Beth!

A Few Random Bits...

It's possible that this is my most random "random bits" post of all-time, but in my defense I had some minor dental surgery this morning and am typing this post while under the influence of the pain medication that the surgeon so kindly prescribed me... Not sure how wise it is to blog while on pain meds, but I'm throwing caution to the wind a bit.

So first up, that quote above by Thomas Moore (spotted over on the lovely Aubrey Road). I especially like Moore's use of the phrase "ordinary arts, as it's just such a poetic and meaningful way to think about the seemingly mundane tasks you do everyday to care for your home. After reading this, I have a whole new take on making the bed each morning or carefully washing a sink-full of glasses...sort of a domestic game changer if you will.

Thank you Thomas Moore.



Ok next, I wanted to share the exciting news that Babble included Simple Lovely as one of their Top 50 Design Blogs for Mom. The list contains so many blogs that I admire immensely, so I was hugely honored to be among them. (Of course, it's altogether possible that Babble might completely re-think my place on their list after reading this post.)



Now on to train travel (see, random). I loved this article by designer David Netto in The Wall Street Journal Magazine. An overnight train trip is on my list of things I want to one day do with the girlies, and after reading this article, I'm officially obsessed. I can't stop researching possible routes. It just seems like such a cool and memorable way to take a trip in this age of super-shoddy air travel.

Have any of you guys ever done an overnight train trip? If so, what did you think?



Last but not least, on the off chance that any of you out there are in the market for a wedding planner, may I suggest Audrey. She has taken on that very role for lovely cousin Erin and fiancé Ben, and, based on her initial planning document above, I'd say she's doing a pretty stellar job, yes?

One Kings Lane Design Blogger Tag Sale...

For the past couple of weeks, I've been spending evenings and weekends working on a fun project that I'm so excited to share with you guys... I'm part of One Kings Lane's inaugural "Design-Blogger Tag Sale" launching tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. CST.







Nine design bloggers are participating in the sale by offering up items from their personal collections that represent their aesthetic sensibility. It was so fun (and maybe a wee bit intense ;-) coming up with my selections (the collage, the brass candlesticks and the metal bird sculpture above are a few of the items included in my sale).

I am truly honored to be included in this group of hugely inspiring ladies... I can't wait to check out their picks tomorrow night!

Some Random Bits on a Friday...

Just a few things to take us into the weekend...

First up, I posted a few photos of my amazingly talented friends Alica and Adam Rico's house over on tinyDallas today. It's definitely worth a peek!


Next, after last weekend's malaise, I keep coming back to this quote I spotted on Pinterest, and I think it's officially my new mantra. Now the key is figuring out what falls into the "anything" category-- in another words I need to prioritize my time and decide what not to do -- always the tricky part, yes?



And finally, I just had to share how much I'm digging watching the girlies together of late. Sure they bicker, sometimes they even partake in epic "throw-downs" (I reason this is an essential part of learning how communicate and work out differences, right?, right?) but mostly they are besties. It's just a really lovely thing to watch them play and plan and create, all heads together and partners in crime. It's blissing me out big time.

Ok that's it friends...Have a splendid weekend! I'll be back Monday with tales from my (hopefully more laid back) one.

Sorting Through the Muchness -- August Edition...

salad image via sunday suppers

A while back I read a post on Even Cleveland that discussed the idea of sorting through "the muchness", and it just stuck with me...

Between all the lovely blogs and pinterest and twitter and magazines and catalogs I feel like I process an insane amount of stuff each month -- images, pretty things, thought-provoking things, information, snippets of information. So I thought it might be a good exercise if I regularly took the time to think about what's really resonating out of the muchness...what I'm really loving, using, thinking about endlessly.

It's not intended to be a lofty exercise (as underscored by the fact that one of the things I'm thinking about this month is lip balm), but I'm hoping it'll sort of force me to sort through all the clutter and settle in a bit on the things that, well...stuck.

And because you know how I love "the sharing", I thought it would be fun to create a little monthly series based on the 3-5 things that bubbled to the surface.

Here are my "August Things":

Simple Greens:
I am all about salad...I could eat it at every. single. meal. and usually prefer it jammed with nuts and cheese and any number of other sundry tasty bits. But in August, on three separate occasions, I was served a perfect salad that consisted of essentially just really good greens and some herbs (dill was key) tossed with a little homemade dressing (usually some combo of high quality balsamic vinegar, a little oil and some salt and pepper). The salads were game changers. And as such, I've been consuming lightly dressed greens non-stop (occasionally even at breakfast).

Clare Vivier Messenger:
Bryan bought me a navy CV messenger bag a few years ago for my birthday, but it had been out of rotation for a while... It resurfaced during the recent "great closet clean-out", and I proceeded to carry it exclusively the entire month of August... (It was equally at home on the streets of Manhattan and in Marfa's dusty dessert, which I think says something about a bag, yes?) I love this purse. I do.

Burt's Bees Lip Balm in Honeysuckle:
It's not lipstick or lip gloss. It's not fancy or goopy or shimmery or shiny. It's just a sort of simple, beigey lip balm. But I'm addicted to it.

Magazines:
After the folding of all the (seemingly) great ones (i.e. Gourmet, Cookie, Domino, Blueprint...), I was feeling pretty meh about magazines. They were just not doing it for me. But with all the flying I did this month, I ended up giving in and reading almost every single one on the newsstand, and friends... I think magazines are roaring back. Of specific note are Martha Stewart Living now helmed by former Cookie editor Pilar Guzmán (Cookie and Momfilter co-founder Yolanda Edwards is also at MSL now, so double bonus), Stefano Tonchi's W, Partners & Spade's re-branded Lucky, and Bon Appétit, which, under new editor Adam Rapoport, is starting to (almost) fill the void that the closing of Gourmet left in my heart (not to be overly dramatic of course ;-)

I'd love to know...was there anything that stood out for you guys in August? Any favorites you'd like to share?

Embracing our "Inner Hippies" -- A Peek at The Planning

Some evidence of the obsession -- my Pinterest inspiration board for Audrey's party...


image from Australian Harpers Bazzar/jmireps via Table Tonic

In between our trip to Marfa, my work trip to Chicago and the start of the new school year, Audrey and I have busily planning for her 8th (!) birthday party next weekend…

My “obsession” with planning the girlie’s birthday parties, tends to elicit a little, well... joshing from my buddies. I get it; the whole deal can seem a little nutty for what is essentially a couple of hours of sugar-fueled kiddos raging against the machine. But I love a good birthday party, I love all the planning and dreaming up the fun details… It’s my thing, and I think it might be Audrey’s thing too, as the two of us can happily wile away the better part of an afternoon dreaming up ( in grand detail) future parties we want to throw.

But beyond the pure creative aspect, I love how the process of creating a special “event” for the girls honors their birthday in a memorable way. Birthdays are important -- I think they deserve a little pomp and circumstance and effort. For me, it’s never about material extravagance or being excessive, rather it’s about lavishing creativity and time and effort on my girlies to mark the day they entered our lives…


Audrey's invites in progress...


dreamcatcher via Creature Comforts...


the "stretch goal" cupcakes via Lori Hernadez

To that end (after much joint brainstorming), we collectively decided to celebrate her special day this year with a sweet, mellow hippie/boho themed shindig. It’ll be a “girls only” affair at a little art studio where the guests will make dream catchers and beaded necklaces while listening to Joni Mitchell… kidding about the Joni Mitchell part, sort of ;-)

We’re also planning to use our teepee and IKEA sheepskins and (stretch goal #1) some homemade streamers modeled after Casey’s to create a little photo backdrop/hang-out space for the girlies. And, since it’s an afternoon party, we’re just serving lemonade and cupcakes, so I want the cupcakes to feel especially festive, thus stretch goal #2: attempting to somewhat replicate goodies that look like the ones above…I’ll let you know how that goes. ;-)

Perfume, A Pop-up Shop and Fun Press (a.k.a The Random Bits)

First up, an update on the shopping front (specifically the "shopping while in NYC" front)... In addition to the dress mentioned yesterday and the goodies I posted over on Operation Simplicity, I also bought another lovely dress (which I'll disclose soon) and MCMC's Maui perfume oil during my trip last week.


I've had a bottle of MCMC perfume oil on my wish list for a while, based solely on the thoughtful, artisanal approach that creator Anne McClain takes in creating each scent (for example that image above is one of the inspiration photos that Anne took while in Hawaii conjuring her perfume "Maui"). There are no shops in Dallas that sell the line (!), so I've hesitated, as I really like to wear perfume a bit to see how it works with my chemistry before I commit.

So when I came across the little vials in a shop in Nolita, I took my time sampling them all. Maui was the clear winner...it's crazy lovely and interesting, unlike anything I've worn before. If you have a chance to try it out, I would highly recommend.



Next, (and I'm so excited to share this one) Christine and I have joined forces with the lovely Michelle to create a Pretty Mommy pop-up shop at Little Bean on Friday, September 9th. Michelle will be here in person and is bringing along loads of amazing things like Clare Vivier bags, Laura Lombardi necklaces, John Robshaw bedding... (it'll pretty much be her entire online shop brought to life).

Mark your calendar for 6:00-9:00 on September 9th to check out all the lovely goods and have a glass of wine and some snacks!


photograph by Mei Chun Jau for The Dallas Morning News

Ok and finally I wanted to share some fun press stuff happening of late. tinyDallas was featured in FD Luxe's August "Hot List" (that's us with our kiddos above)...We were so honored to be included!


photograph by Mei Chun Jau for The Dallas Morning News

In that same issue of FD Luxe, I was also a contributor, writing a little piece on the amazing potter (and friend) Jonathan Cross and one about creative kid's parties. The team at FD Luxe is is so smart and creative and cool; it was fantastic to work with them...


My "On Our Radar" picks for Dallas Child...


Millie's rainbow party in Dallas Child...

Last by not least, in addition to my monthly "On Our Radar" picks for Dallas Child, I also contributed a piece on packing a "foolproof" school lunch for their August issue. And as an added bonus, they featured Millie's last birthday as their "party of the month".

Whew...Sorry for the press overload, but I thought you guys might enjoy taking a peek some of the stuff happening in my "offline" world ;-)

I'm be taking a little blog break for the rest of the week to spend some concentrated time with Bryan and the girlies before the craziness of the new school year kicks-in next week! I'll be back on Monday with tales of our adventures.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend friends!