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.

An Aha! Moment and A Minted Giveaway...

This year's holiday cards (yep, there are two of them) via Minted.

When we did our family photo session with the lovely Kelly a couple of weeks ago, my goal was to procure a snap to use for our holiday card. I did not have high hopes.

My consternation had nothing to do with the photographic prowess of Kelly -- she's an immensely talented gal that one. No, it was solely due to the fact that, well...my family sucks at taking family photos. Truly. Oh and when we're in the act of sucking at taking them, I have the tendency to drop the f-bomb. A lot. It's not a good scene.

I won't bore you guys with ruminations over why this particular seemingly innocuous act sends the Taylor crew into such a tizzy, but I will say that I'm dealing with the reality by taking a decidedly more mellow approach about the whole enterprise. Basically I've stopped caring if we end up looking crazy (reasoning that looking crazy in a family photo adds to its charm). I'm just going to go with that and move on, ok?

Family photos complete, now it's time to select one for the card... Enter more consternation. I want to go with the crazy photo with the girlies wearing masks. It feels fun, irreverent, real. The rest of my family (i.e. Bryan and my mother who I've called in for opinions) thinks recipients of our holiday card will actually want to see the girlies faces. Hours of waffling ensue: do I go with the photo that bucks convention, or do I go the more traditional (but less fun) route and opt for the standard family photo? Ah the agony, the indecision.

Then on the way to work this morning, like magic (magic, that is, to a completely obtuse person like myself), I have the aha! moment. Why don't I order some of each... I'll send the "zany" version to folks we see all the time under the assumption that they know what the girlies look like and reserve the more traditional version for relatives and friends afar. A no brainer, yes??

So now it's your turn (and there's something in this for you). Give me your thoughts on the whole holiday card enterprise. Do you agonize over this as much as I do?

In return for sharing your tales, I'll pick two of you to get 50 free personalized holiday cards courtesy of Minted*. Just leave your comment by end of day next Tuesday the 22nd and I'll announce a winner on the 23rd...

Good Luck!

* A note on Minted -- This is the third consecutive year I've used Minted for our holiday cards, and I have to say they manage to make it an altogether amazingly easy process (quite a feat given my holiday card travails). Suffice to say, I'm a fan.

A Few Random Bits...

First up, a couple of snaps from a rather stellar "Mod Men" party that lovely cousin Erin masterminded a several of months ago. (I'm finally sharing photos...better late than never, yes?) Every detail of the night was so perfectly thought out, starting with the killer mid-century house where it was held. In fact, had I not partaken in one two many French 75s (French 75s are evil...trust me on this friends) thus resulting in a monumental hangover the next morning, it would have been an altogether perfect evening... ;-)



Ok next I wanted to share the little blurb about 40 Years of Chez Panisse that I wrote for the November FD Luxe. I love this book. Love. It. Would highly recommend you plop it on your Christmas list... But I am a bit of an Alice Waters fanatic.



I also wanted to give a shout out to Michelle as she's gearing up for another Pretty Mommy pop-up shop but this time in Minneapolis at Spruce. You Minneapolis peeps should definitely plan on attending, as Michelle is not only completely and utterly awesome, but she is a master at culling together the a perfect assemblage of goods. The woman just has crazy good taste. (And I promise I'm not just saying that because she's including some of the necklaces the girlies and I made at the pop-up shop...)



Last but not least, for the locals, my friend Kelly Christine (she took our family photos last weekend) is doing a "small shoot" on Saturday, November 26th... This is a perfect way to get a family pic for your holiday cards. Kelly is incredibly cool and lovely and talented. She takes great photos friends. Grab a spot before they're all gone!

Thinking Back...

All photos above taken by Abby via her genius blog Abby Try Again...


Nostalgia is a funny thing.

For me at least, it never strikes when I expect it to. I’m rarely overcome with memories on milestone birthdays, my high school reunion didn’t faze me, heck, I wasn’t even mildly shaken by the fact that I now have a daughter who is seven-years-old.

No it’s always something small and seemingly innocuous that brings on a wave of nostalgia (and longing and what-ifs) so strong I find myself walking around unmoored for a few days.

In this case, it was Abby’s lovely and poignant photographs of the Clarksville neighborhood in Austin -- specifically the ones above of Nau’s and Fresh Plus. This was my neighborhood when I lived in Austin a little over a decade ago; I had just met Bryan, and a typical day might have involved leisurely ambling over to Nau’s for grilled cheese sandwiches, hitting a garage sale, and puttering around at Sled’s Nursery (maybe toting home a small plant if I was feeling especially flush). I was just finishing college and working as a grocery checker at Fresh Plus, entering pound after pound of coffee beans and endless tubs of homemade hummus into the register by hand (no scanners natch) and wondering if I would ever have enough money to actually buy the groceries they sold there.

And while I had no idea what my future life would look like, I thought (for sure) it would somehow always be conducted there…in Austin, wrapped up in those same places (and I somehow knew I’d be with Bryan… that was always the constant). Instead we ended up in a city I never thought I’d live in (but have grown to love deeply for wholly unexpected reasons), working in jobs we never thought we’d have (but appreciate and enjoy immensely, again for surprising reasons), with these two amazing daughters that I couldn’t have even fathomed in my wildest dreams. Our life is altogether different than I thought it would be. Better but different.

Despite the fact that Bryan, the girlies and I were in Austin just a few months ago visiting all our old haunts, there was something about Abby’s photos that transported me to that time and place in a way that made me catch my breath… Maybe it was the description of her discovery of the neighborhood, the feeling that her love affair with this city that is so special and beloved to me is just beginning while mine is decidedly in the past.

Or maybe it was (tamped down into my subconscious… is this getting too “therapy-speak” for you?) Audrey turning seven and my upcoming milestone wedding anniversary (Bryan and I have been married for 10 years next month) that had the nostalgia bubbling just below the surface… Maybe Abby’s photos were just the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and pushed me squarely into nostalgia-land.

Either way I’m here, reveling in it and a bit surprise by the melancholy of it all…

Loving...

Etten Eller's swoon worthy pieces...this green one is at the tippy top of my list...

This incredibly sweet "sugar cookie" dress...

Traci's always gorgeous photos...but this one, well this one is especially dreamy, no?

This infinitely chic mother/daughter duo... My girlies and I never look quite this pulled together. Let's just say we thrive on our disheveledness... (photo via Jak and Jil, spotted over on Pretty Mommy too)

Linea Carta's seriously fantastic egret napkins...

Clare Rojas' lovely work for Chronicle Books.

Babette's leather feather necklace...I'd love this to layer this with the Etten Eller beauty above...I'm all about the necklaces these days!

Rifle Paper Company's perfect monogrammed flat cards...


And last but (definitely) not least, sweet, brave, lovely Liam...per his equally sweet, brave and lovely (and immensely talented) mom Lynn:

"Liam is a happy bright, charming five year old. He also happens to have a rare neuromuscular disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2.

We are currently raising money to provide Liam with a fully accessible bathroom at our house this summer.

If you can help by donating funds to Liam's Trust or by passing the word along - via email, your blog, twitter. Every bit - small or large - will make a difference. Thank you."

Learn more here.

Loving...

This fun kit & lili pouch...(particularly because it gets me in the mood for our impending beach trip...)

The sweet kid's clothes (especially this playsuit) from hucklebones... I'm a sucker for appropriate kid's clothes. Call me crazy, but I like it when kids look like, well...kids. I know, I know, crazy.

These engagement photos. Now let me just say, normally I'm not so much a fan of "the engagement photo", but I kinda dig these...

Her hair...specifically the blond tips. Love. (photo via wikstenmade)

This gorgeous agate bib necklace. If I owned this I would wear it every. single. day.

An utterly perfect Vena Cava dress...(but all their stuff is perfection, no?)

Quite possibly the loveliest photo series ever from Our Labor of Love -- little ones with their lovies. (+ how fantastic is that skull and crossbones dress!!?)

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 ;-)

Looking Back

All images via Roland Bello.

Do you ever go back and re-read old posts on your blog?

Every few months, I go back and pour through all the posts from a particular month to see what I was thinking, loving, doing, etc...at that moment in time. It's fun to see how I've evolved, (how the girlies have evolved!), but I'm usually most struck by how much I'm still enamored of the same things... Maybe I'm a smidge boring? Or at least consistent, no ;-)

The images above are from one of my favorite December 2008 posts... Roland Bello still makes me swoon.

Have a splendid weekend friends!

Team Cooking...

images via the selby

I love these images of photographer Dan Martensen and his girlfriend Shannan Click’s home over on The Selby, especially the shots of the two of them in the kitchen together...

I am a lone baker. It’s therapeutic. One of my favorite parts of the book Alice Waters and Chez Panisse was the description of the restaurant’s first pastry chef (and partner), Lindsey Shere, creating all of the desserts in a little shed behind the restaurant. Right before dinner she would run her creations across a path to the restaurant, sometimes under an umbrella in the pouring rain… I love that image. Total bliss that job, no?

But when I cook a meal, I love nothing more than the camaraderie and mild chaos of cooking with a few other people. I can’t wait to spend Thursday in the kitchen with my family turning out a huge meal.

Total bliss that job too…

Good Mail

Some of the lovely mail I've received of late -- Holiday lookbooks from UO

When Bryan and I first started dating, we were long distance for several months (him in Austin, me in Boulder), regularly sending each other epic, fat love letters. Mail was a huge deal then, as I didn't have a computer so we couldn't send e-mail and we couldn't afford daily long distance phone calls. I literally waited for (stalked) the mail lady every day to see what would arrive from my love.

A few years later we're e-mailing and texting like mad... and all of the sudden mail is a total drag -- all bills and junky catalogs. Don't get me wrong, I like technology (it's how I make my living in fact, so I like it a lot), but deep down I'm a closet Luddite -- we have an ancient TV, regularly use a record player and no, I don't have an iPhone (yikes!) + I like paper... a lot.

But ironically, one of the interesting and happy side effects of having a blog (which is essentially all about using technology to share ideas, inspiration, etc...) is my snail mail has gotten infinitely more exciting. I occasionally get sweet notes and fun treats from blogging friends, nice books and really cool, creative PR materials... I have to say I'm kinda stalking the mailman again.

I'm also constantly inspired by all the gorgeous paper products out there...they just make you want to send mail, no??

Yet more recent mail loveliness... Frankie's Photo Book and Afternoon Tea cookbook, which are both incredibly, incredibly cool.