California Crafter

Marimekko purchases

2012-01-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

I had some $$ in burning a hole in my pocket. To be more specific, I had three gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. One from Crate and Barrel. And two (two!!) from Marimekko (Thank you Mom and Simone!).

This is what I picked up from Crate and Barrel (Marimekko store). Such a great piece for entertaining. Can't wait to use it.
And these are the two items that I used the Marimekko gift cards on:

A round table cloth for my round tulip table (remember there is a yellow wall behind it).

And this lovely dress set to arrive in the early Spring (I pre-ordered it).

More art supplies

2012-01-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

Crazy Baby enjoys her art.

If she were a bonafide artist, she would currently be in her "heart" period.

But, I like her to take advantage of using other media besides watercolors (her favorite, but incredibly messy). Recently, we got her some very special colored pencils. They are Lyra Furby pencils. They are triangular (better for little hands) and unlacquered. There colors are very bright and true and they are virtually unbreakable. A bit more expensive, but supposedly they last forever.

Found a nice way to store them in canning jars.

Also, found these lovely Stockmar crayons online. They are made from beeswax and they smell amazing. I can't believe how bright the colors are - makes me want to color again!

And they come in an attractive tin to boot.

Yes, we do a fair amount of drawing, crafting (pipe cleaners are a favorite), and pretending in our house. If I didn't know better, I would say that we were a Waldorf family. With one huge difference, we do embrace computers, iPads, iPhones, etc. How else is Crazy baby going to play several rounds of tangrams?

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

New rug!!

2012-01-14T21:59:00.000-08:00

I have been dreaming up ways of "warming up" our living room/dining room space. The first step was to get a dining room rug (I posted this a while back). Jamie the Cat seems to really enjoy this rug and he lays down on it in the sun when the shades are rolled up.

But, the living room needed some warmth as well (read: another rug). I credit Maitreya when she said that I light colored rug would really make the Noguchi table pop. She was totally right. Before, it just blended into the wood floor - now, you really see it. Now, the kiddos lay all over the rug (especially when the fireplace is on) and it makes the space much more inviting.

Meanwhile, the house is finally getting back to its non-holiday decor.

The tree is gone...and it's nice to have all the space back.

And I decided to have a collection of "winter whites" on the table. In fact, this vignette is triggering my yearning for a table runner that says winter - but not holiday. I'm thinking something made on a loom from radically different sized and textured yarn - all in winter whites and ecrus. something kind of Nordic. Where can I find such a piece? Let the hunt begin!

Paintings from Crazy Baby

2012-01-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

After about 6 months of disinterest in painting, Crazy baby is at it again - with new fervor.

I'm not quite sure what happened - but for the last few months, she didn't feel inspired. And she kept asking me for suggestions for what to paint (not a good sign).

So, we moved on to other mediums: pastels, colored pencils (I got the Furby ones - I need to devote a post just to these amazing pencils) and colored pens. Her interim favorite was pastels. Such bright colors. Fun to blend. But, ultimately they didn't blend easily enough for her. She likes to combine colors (at one point she was mixing every color with white, now it's black) - and pastels just were not allowing her to do this as easily as paint.

Recently, she felt reinvigorated and inspired to paint because she wanted to give each of her teachers a painting and give her Daddy a new painting for his office.

Wanted to show you two of these:

This one is for Daddy (aka Hubby):
This one is for one of her teachers. I really fell in love with this one. I think this one takes her love of rainbows to a sophisticated new level.

Resolutions 2012

2012-01-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

Every year I post resolutions - and this year is no exception. Except, this year, my resolutions will be easier to keep!

Here they are:

1. Spend more time with friends. Since having Sweet baby, I've been a bit of a hermit. It's been hard to get together with others when you're so dang tired. Well, things are getting better and I'm feeling more lighthearted these days. And, I realize that being with friends actually makes me more energetic. Spoken like a true extrovert, I guess.

2. Make more things! I really enjoy making things, but as I've outlined above, time has been tight and me energy has been down. But, once again, when I make things I actually feel more energetic.

3. And this one is about buying clothes. Only good quality. And only solid colors (exception to the solid color rule if it's a Marimekko). In my wardrobe, I have a mis-mash of stripes, florals, and various other patterns. It's ridiculous. But, morning after morning I reach for the solids, leaving the patterns behind. Frankly, I'm too tired to put together some creative, cute outfit with coordinating stripes and houndstooth in the morning. Not gonna happen. For the last 3 months I've adhered to this rule, and it's working! I have had no regrets over what I have purchased. And what I've found out is the general rule that the best quality clothing is usually not patterned (I know there are exceptions to this).

So, there they are. Good for the soul and fairly straightforward.

Happy 2012!

Gorgeous!

2011-12-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Loving these beautiful red glasses from Marimekko:

Wow - something that I like was actually designed in this century (2010 to be exact).

What Crazy baby wants, Crazy baby gets...

2011-12-22T21:34:00.001-08:00

Well, not really.

But, she wrote a Christmas wish list at school, and she only put 3 things on it:

1. A Doll

2. A Ducky

3. A new shirt

I have to admit that I was taken with how little she actually wanted. The other day, she actually told my Mom "Grandma, I have so many things, I don't really need anything."

She actually has quite a few bath duckies - so I'm probably not going to get her more of these.

Dolls - well she had a number of those as well. But, what she really wants is Barbie. Sigh - they grow up so fast.

Found out that her ultimate "new shirt" would be a "purple shirt with a heart on it".

I think this one from J Crew fits the bill, don't you?

Almost everything is ready for Christmas. We're hosting, so I think this year is going to be fun (and yummy too). No traveling over the break for us. It's going to be a real vacation!

Reorg: the broom closet

2011-12-15T21:31:00.000-08:00

We all have a broom closet that probably deserves some reorganization, right?

We did the first part of the reorg last year (tried to find the post, but failed), when we hung racks to neatly hang swifters, brooms and dustpans - and hung a convenient Simple Human plastic bag organizer.

But, the top part of the closet still looked like this a year later...

Obviously, it called for a shelf to be built. So Hubby took out the table saw and the nail gun and installed this shelf in under 5 mins. Thanks Hubby!

Doesn't it look better? I'm so relieved. I love opening this closet now.

And here is the whole closet - where everything has its place.

Getting things done

2011-12-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted in a while, because things have been busy, busy, busy. But I think about posting every day, as in ooooh, I should post that, or I've got to take a picture of that. But, alas, sometimes it just doesn't get done.

The goings-on:

1. The Christmas cards are finally out the door. We really need to feature Jamie the Cat in next year's card. I love this picture of him taken by our photographer-friend Annie Kayser...

2. Xmas packages have been sent. Yes, I took a trip to the post office and shipped everything off. So proud of myself.

3. I coordinated the Teachers' pool at Crazy Baby's school. We raised a lot of $ - and turned them into Target gift cards for each teacher. I kept having this anxiety that I was going to lose the money a la It's A Wonderful Life. I don't think that I'll be taking on this responsibility again any time in the near future - my poor heart can't take it!!

4. My program took a critical step forward at work. So happy with the latest news.

5. Sweet baby is moving to the next room in her school - which means potty training, yay!

Time to move from being Sweet Baby to Sweet Toddler...

But, laundry is calling...more to post soon!

Small business weekend

2011-11-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I'm so happy to say that Hubby and I supported small businesses, especially local ones. I know that Saturday was branded Small Business Saturday by Amex, but I turned it into a 4-day weekend experience. Visited the Ferry Building in SF on Friday. Ground zero for shopping local. I picked up locally-made chocolates and soaps, and Heath pottery as gifts.

And yes, we ended up getting these Heath house numbers for ourselves too:

Neutra font in black:
With the teak rail system:Some info on the tiles:Hubby mounted them next to the front door by the doorbell. Such a warm welcome for any guest.

Went to the Reading Bug in San Carlos - a local, fabulous childrens' book store for more gifts:

They have this huge fabulous space in back for parties. Thinking that when Crazy Baby and her friends are avid readers, this would be a perfect space for a b-day party:

Tonight I branched out by shopping my favorite brands. I started by online shopping with Textile Arts. Got my parents Marimekko pot holders in the Unikko pattern because my Mom uses hand towels to remove pots from the oven. Planning to shop at Crate and Barrel next. Not exactly small business - but at least it's not Walmart.

Have a good week!

A beautiful Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

My parents came over and we had a small Thannksgiving and a lovely spread. Dinner was followed by A Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. That never gets old. I especially love the ending with Snoopy sharing Thanksgiving dinner with Woodstock.

Exhibit A: Hubby's beautiful citrus-sage turkey.

Exhibit B: my chocolate-bourbon-pecan pie.

This year's pie came out the best that I've ever made it. I have no idea why. I posted a pic of it on FB, and my neighbor commented on it...so I walked the rest over to her the next day. First, I don't need the extra calories in the house - but second, and more importantly, I felt the overwhelming need to share this pie. It was just so damn good.

Getting ready for the holidays

2011-11-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

Tiny Christmas tree.

Check.

Stockings above the fireplace.

Check.

Mod Christmas tree pillow for sofa.

Check.

Large Christmas tree.

Check.

Marimekko holiday runner for table.

Check.

German Christmas pyramid.

Check.

Outdoor lights.

Check.

Large outdoor wreath above garage.

Check.

Front door wreath.

Check.

Oh yeah, I'm totally serious. I'm getting my holiday on. Actually the large (3 ft across) outdoor wreath was a new purchase this year. Every year we try to add a little something more to our decorating scheme.

You see, when I was a child, it was hit or miss whether or not we had a tree or if my Mom decorated or even if we baked cookies. Totally random. I definitely got presents every year, so it wasn't mean-spirited - just forgetful. And of course, as a form of rebellion, I've gone in the opposite direction. And so it goes.

I still need to take more pics...but here's a couple:

And I just have to show you this dress that Crazy Baby wore to the Nutcracker. I got it at a consignment shop for ten dollars. I know - totally over the top - but she looked like a living doll wearing it. I got her a pair of black patent leather Mary Janes to match. Crazy Baby actually wasn't so crazy during the performance. Actually, she was as quiet as a mouse because she was totally captivated by the dancing. If she continues to act like this at live shows, then there are many in her future...

I don't have any pics of the Christmas tree this year because it's actually kind of sad. You see, all the ornaments are bunched up at the top half of the tree, because Sweet Baby picks the ornaments like fruit and tries to eat them. It's pretty horrifying to see her gnawing on an ornament in the corner of the family room surrounded by a wasteland of other ornaments that have been carelessly picked and tossed on the ground. So, up, up, up out-of-reach went the ornaments. And now the tree looks a little unbalanced. Hopefully by next Christmas, Sweet baby will break her ornament-picking habit. But until then, out of reach.

Holiday posts: the beginning

2011-11-19T18:01:00.001-08:00

Getting ready (already) for the holidays. Started my Christmas shopping today! Went to a lovely local childrens' bookstore (will have a post about this store) and found some lovely presents including some new books for the girls and a lovely pen set for Crazy baby.

Just wanted to show you some letterpress gifttags that I found (and bought) off etsy.com from springolive:

Aren't they lovely? Can't wait to use them.

Also, I was able to find some more of the vintage ornament glass balls on wires for my tiny tree and our front door wreath (which definitely needs more bling):

I spent some time on the wreath today - but I'm planning to add more to it tomorrow. Earlier in the year, Hubby had spray-painted some pinecones gold and they are just sitting on a shelf in the garage. I think I'll add those too. Pictures soon.

And every year I find more ornaments for my tiny tree. The girls helped me decorate the tiny tree - which basically means that all the lower branches get overloaded with ornaments. It's pretty funny. However, I placed on the vintage wired balls myself (little ones should not play with glass wired balls). Over the years, I have found them in several different colors: silver, hot pink, ice blue, and now, gold. I rearranged the ornaments, afixed the wired balls and placed a gold bow on top. Then, I placed the tree by the fireplace and adorned the fireplace with personalized stockings. When the girls saw the finished tiny tree and stockings, they gasped. The little one shrieked. I swear I have never seen such a reception in my whole life. Utter glee. It was the sweetest thing.

More pictures soon!

Tiny Christmas

2011-11-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

I love our tiny Christmas tree. It's fake, pre-strung with lights and I drag it from the depths of the garage every year.

I have several tiny ornaments that I adorn it with every year.

This year, here's to new ornaments in addition to the old.

I found these on etsy...they are vintage (so, new to me) and were found at a florist going-out-of business sale. These golden glass balls (each about 3/4 inch across) are attached to a wire that you can wrap around individual tree branches. I thinking of integrating some into my front door wreath as well.

Can't wait to start decorating!

Warming up the dining room

2011-11-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

I'd like to file this post under: preparing for the winter...

Our dining room/living room combination really needs area rugs. First, rugs help define the space. Two, they cut down on the noise (and we have two very noisy little ones). And three, they give a space a warm feeling.

The dining room is first to get an area rug. When Maitreya was over, she agreed that a simple rug in a brown shade would do. I definitely think that this one fits the bill. And Jamie the Cat likes it too!

We got it at IKEA - it's very simple and two-tone brown.

And here's a close up on the rug (it matches our kitty!)

Next up: finding a rug for in front of the fireplace

Craft table follow-up

2011-11-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

I promised to keep you guys in the loop and post a pic when Hubby hung a lamp above Crazy baby's craft/homework table (yes, she's only 4 and is already getting homework).

I think he did a lovely job. Good choice on the lamp as well (he chose it). At first I was taken aback with the lamp, thinking, wow - that sure is red. But, then I realized how many other objects were the same shade of red in the room and that it all coordinated very nicely.

The lamp came with a cord that was too short (intended for ceiling mounting). So, Hubby had to wire it with a new cord, so that he could swag it and plug it directly into an outlet. Thank you Hubby!

Other updates:

- Hubby and I thoroughly cleaned/reorganized the pantry. Ugh - things were getting old in there. We had out-of-date baby formula (Sweet Baby hasn't taken formula in a long while) next to stale Saltines. Rancid nuts. Chocolate that was 7 years old. Need I say more? It's amazing how bad things can get when you don't stay on top of things. I used to walk in to the pantry and feel stressed out. Now I feel calm when I enter...

- Hubby and I went through our file cabinet and recycled/shredded a ton of paper. Literally about half of what we were storing was tossed.

- We got a carpet for underneath the dining room table. It's IKEA. It's very low pile (almost sisal-like) and brown with a darker brown border. It's a very unassuming carpet. Blends right in - but adds some much needed warmth to the room (and cuts down on the noise). I'll take a pic when I have good light.

- We had a family photo session with my good friend Annie. We do this once a year typically around Crazy baby's b-day in August. But, things got crazy this year and we did it much later. Just hoping to get the images back in time to make a Christmas card.

- Went to a consignment shop today and found two adorable (and rather fancy) holiday dresses for the girls. I would never have have paid full price for these, so it was really nice to find them so marked down. And, it's a form of recycling too!

Have a great weekend!

Tiny Christmas

2011-11-12T21:24:00.000-08:00

I'm already thinking about Christmas.

To be honest, this year I started thinking about Christmas back in October. A big part of it is that we're not traveling this year - so I'll be able to enjoy the cards that people send me day-by-day, and the tree and the decorations, etc.

So, speaking of trees...as you may know every year we like to have a mini tree and a big tree.

Could not pass these miniature ornaments up when I was in Germany. I already have a vintage collection of wooden ornaments, but I'm sure that they will not mind to share the tree with these lovelies...24 of them in all.

I also plan to find more vintage mini-balls (the ones that are fixed to a wire) for the mini-tree. I'll tell you if I find any...

Brick color follow-up

2011-11-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

Able to see Maitreya over last weekend - what fun! Hubby had collected about 25 paint strips from which to choose which color to paint the mottled, ugly brick on our house. M and I placed each strip against the house and carefully looked at how the colors changed when paired. In the end, it came down to three colors that complimented the sage color of our house. Now it's just a matter of painting the brick with different swatches of color and choosing one. However, this make take some time considering that rain is moving in tomorrow...

Stay tuned!

Painting the ugly brick

2011-10-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Right now, we're in the midst of collecting paint chips to decide on the color that we're going to paint the brick facade around our home. If the brick was a dark red, then I may suggest leaving it as is. But, it's a horribly mottled mis-mash of reds and whites. Honestly, it's just ugly.

A while ago, I went on an Eichler tour with my good friend Sarah (hi Sarah, if you're reading this!) and I was really inspired about the colors of a particular house. I love that the trim is a lovely dark green-grey. And that the underside of the eves is painted white.

Since our house is sage, I'm think about a similar color scheme, except maybe an industrial frosted glass door rather than a red door. It's not that I don't like the red door - I really do - but our door is not flat and to find one that is that actually fits and is made from really solid wood will take time and serious money. And for that, we might as well get something that might ultimately match our dream garage door.

Here are some of the darker greens that I'm toying with. Hubby just went to Home Depot this afternoon. Let's see what he comes home with...

I'm kind of liking the paint chip in the middle, but the darkest color is still not dark enough.

The one to the very left is too brown, and the ones on either side of the middle are too blue.

Craft table for kiddos

2011-10-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weekends, Hubby has been busy building a craft table for the girls.

Today, he moved it out of the garage and into a corner of our family room.

He painted the guides for the paper a bright orange to coordinate with the decor in that room.

And the paper comes from a roll that is suspended on a dowel held between the table legs.

And we placed our easel next to it so that our girls could "work" side-by-side.

However, there is more to do to complete the area. Hubby is going to hang a dome lamp over the area and I need to collect some pen/pencil holders for her collections. And a tray for paper. Thinking that clear leucite might be cool. And it could tie in nicely to the future leucite coffee table that I want from CB2....but that's a ways off.

So far, Crazy Baby loves the table. It gets great indirect light and is close enough to the kitchen so that she doesn't feel lonely.

I'll post another pic when the lamp is in...

All I can muster...

2011-10-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is about all I can do this Halloween...

Last year, I had big dreams about how I would decorate the house come this Halloween. But, last year I had no idea that the major decision on my program at work would come Halloween morning.

Sigh.

Wish me luck!

Hipstamatic Disneyland

2011-10-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Visited Disneyland for the first time with the family. Just came back. The weather was perfect and the lines were short. What more could I ask for?

Here's a few images of the trip through my Hipstamatic lens...

It's a Small World ride...the facade is very reminiscent of Alexander Girard, right? Turns out that the name of the artist is Mary Blair and it happens to be her 100th b-day today and Google celebrated it with a doodle. Mary Blair was a beloved artist employed by Walt Disney. She also designed two huge tile murals at the gates of Tomorrowland. Unfortunately, these murals were covered up during one of the many facelifts at Disneyland and were damaged in the process. Here's an article about it.

At the gate of Fairyland with Sleeping Beauty's castle in the background.

Flying Dumbos!

The nausea-inducing Alice's teacup ride:

I can see heading back down there in a couple of years. I still need to recuperate from this trip!

New fabrics from Lotta Jansdotter

2011-10-20T14:12:00.001-07:00

These are my favorites from her new collection:

They can be found at here at purlsoho.com.

And while you're there, check out this neat little kit for making felt birds for a Christmas tree. Very cute, and can probably be made easily without the kit. Something to attempt when I have the time...

Two sheets to the wind

2011-10-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a post about being snockered.

Actually, Hubby recently hung a clothesline across our side yard. A wonderful, cost-effective way to dry impossible sheets, like flannels. And the fact that the sheets smell nice when you bring them in is a big plus.

Score!

2011-10-15T16:17:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the Missoni items that Hubby has scored at Target...

A Sweet hat for Crazy Baby

Rain boots for Crazy baby

Some socks of her famous patterns for me

And a very cute outfit (probably not all worn at once) for Crazy baby...

New look

2011-10-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hi there - I was getting a bit tired of the old look and I came up with this one.

I'm thinking it's temporary, but you never know.

I have to admit that I've had feelings of sadness recently due my lack of posting. I've started to think things like should I even keep a blog if I'm not going to post 2-3 times a week? And what I've realized is that this year was the exception to the rule. It's been one of the hardest years at work and one of the hardest at home. It's been challenging with a (now) 16-month old and a 4 year old. The house is never how I want it to look and I'm always sick with some respiratory infection or another. This state is not conducive to spirited blogging. But, this too shall pass.

I know that it's not New Years' yet, but let me state some resolutions for the record.

1) Next year I will take more vacations. Or put another way, I will take vacation. We have not taken any vacation this year and no one has benefited from it. Not the kids, not Hubby and certainly not my work. Because I'm fried. I used to not need vacations. In grad school, I worked through holidays. Now, I require them for recharging and re-affirming what is truly important.

2) Next year I will make small but significant improvements on the house. Small but significant means large impact without spending a lot of money. Examples: a shag rug for the living room to make it more cosy near the fireplace. Or painting the brick facade to our house. Planting dwarf fruit trees in the side yard.

3) Spend more time with friends. We've been hermits lately and a big part of this is that we are chronically sick around here. But as our little, fat baby finally nears 2 years, there will be less illness and hopefully more socializing. Because being a hermit is depressing me.

And there you have it. My near-term key to happiness. And a new look to boot (for the blog, not me)

Enough of...fandangos

2011-09-28T23:26:00.000-07:00

From time to time, you'll notice a new blog post style titled "Enough of..." describing something that I've had enough of and I just wish it would go away. This is in stark contrast to my "In praise of" posts.

Now onto the subject of this post: fandagos. Fandangos, or ast least that's what my mother calls them, are needless embellishments on clothing. Lace, fringe, flowers, appliques, anything that is applied onto the fabric of the shirt, sweater skirt, etc. Frankly, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of lace crawling up the side of a sweater making it look like one got wound up in a spider web. I'm tired of asymmetric hemlines and sweaters that are 2 feet longer in the front than the back (Ella Moss - I'm putting you on notice). I'm tired of shirts that are so laden with beads, baubles and crystals that they sag from the weight. I'm tired (and I can't believe I'm saying this) of birds. Yes, songbirds and owls. And deer. And any other furry creature that can be appliqued onto an article of clothing. Honestly, what is going on here? You can't even properly wash most of this clothing.

And I would like to lay the blame squarely on Anthropologie. Yes, I, in the not-so-distant past have fallen for it's rustic French charms, heading for the sales racks and convincing myself that I actually look good in something that I in fact do not. Embellishments originally had a purpose and that was to put an individual spin on clothing - to customize it. But now, the edginess has worn off with embellishments being the norm. Frankly the look is just played out.

I for one do not look good in sweaters that look like this:

No, this is not embellished - but it's part of a related ugly trend to be cozy and to love the frump. It's the latest and greatest from the Anthro catalog. And I think that it will make the average woman look like an eggplant left out in the sun.

Here's another one that I think is hilarious:

The top of the dress is fine. The color is mildly offensive (does rust really look good on anyone?), but I'll accept that. It's the hemline that bothers me. Why would you want to look like they are melting??

And this is what I'm talking about when a top is overdone:

Here you have a busy pattern (what are those splotches? cows? abstract? rocks?), ruching, and a curtain-call hemline. Does this help anyone's stomach? I would look 6 mos pregnant if I wore this.

So, what's the antidote? Well, it's damned hard to find. When I think I've found a basic tee - I turn it around and it's encrusted in buttons or dripping with beading. Or a garment has an unfortunate age-inappropriate peek-a-boo cut out (or even worse, shredding).

here are few suggestions for basic, simple clothing with timeless shapes and patterns:

-Muji

-EmersonMade

-Boden

-Marimekko

Can anyone recommend any other company that sells basic, well-cut clothes? I'm all ears...

Goings on...

2011-09-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is going to be one of those posts in which I just list the stuff on my mind. Sorry - but this stuff has been accumulating for a while.

1) Aforementioned Sweet Baby has become a holy terror seemingly overnight. I have no idea what happened, but now she's been hitting her sister, myself and her teachers. In the face.

I know that it's just a phase, but honestly, I'm tired of the phases. Crazy Baby has become quite reasonable in the last few months and considering that Sweet baby is turning into Crazy Baby #2, there is no reprieve. I know. I did it to myself. I had another baby. Believe you me, you just don't think about getting hit in the face when you are fantasizing about having another baby.

2) Our veggie garden is on its way out. After producing hundreds of tomatoes and bag loads of beans, the party is over. Did we over-fertilize? Probably. And in doing so, we invited the aphids over for dinner. Anyone have any great solutions for getting rid of aphids? help!

3) I'm still seething about the Missoni collection for Target. I went today (again) and was able to find some socks. Socks. That was it. The girl (I say girl because she was about half my age) at the check-out counter said that when the mad-rush of customers came in that morning of the now-infamous Missoni for Target sale, that one guy literally shoved all the clothes off a rack and dumped them in his cart. All bound for ebay no doubt. Makes me sick.

4) I need a vacation. I have not taken one this year. We are bound for Disneyland in a couple of weeks. This is not a vacation. I plan to take the rest of that week off just to recover. I've been in a foul mood lately and I think I screwed myself this year by not going on vacation.

5) I got food poisoning last Friday. I have still not fully recovered. Bad yogurt. My energy has already been in the dumps - this took it one step lower. I need this year to end! I have had zero head space to think or create. It's just go, go, go. Any advice on how to carve out headspace? Or are there times that you just realize that you have to circle the wagons and go on autopilot?

6) and for my last rant...when will the freaking iPhone 5 come out?? I am dying with my crappy iPhone 3. It has a very slow connection, terrible camera and constantly drops calls. I never upgraded to the 4 because of the styling (too boxy for me), but now I'm hoping that relief is around the corner! The rumor was Sept, but we are already in mid-Sept...

Okay - some real posts real soon...have a good week!

Love this place

2011-09-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

Have to say that the girls' room is one of the happiest spaces in the house.

Who wouldn't love this room?

The light streams into the room for most of the day - yet is rarely unbearably hot. It has a HUGE closet and built in bookshelves.

As they get older, we will switch the girls to bunk beds. Been thinking what we would place against the opposite wall, where the crib is now. Maybe a place to sit or more storage - or both.

Always exciting to think about future design challenges...

Design Sponge's new book!

2011-09-07T23:40:00.000-07:00

Read about it here on Victoria's wonderful sfbybay.com blog.

400 pages.

700 photographs.

Pure design and DIY projects.

Can't wait.

BTW, Victoria is giving one away - register to win by leaving a comment on her blog post.

One of my favorite design pictures that is featured in the book:

Oh to have such a space...

Teacher Tote bags

2011-09-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

Crazy Baby recently transitioned in her pre-school to a true pre-kindergarden classroom. Academics, here we come. Every day last week she has come come describing something new. One day it was Aboriginal people, the next jellyfish ("it's not a fish! It doesn't have a backbone!"). Today, she told me about Elvis (I think some days will be more academic than others...).

During the transition, she left behind three wonderful teachers who dearly cared about her. To thank them for an entire year spent dealing with her, I made them all tote bags based on the Teacher Tote Bag Tutorial I found on the lovely House on the Hill blog here.

Here are the three tote bags. They came together in a straight-forward manner, but it was still a lot of work. They were made of a combination of vintage and new fabrics (recognize the Amy Butler fabric?).

I was careful to construct "box" bottoms...

And sturdy handles...Here they are individually...

And as a surprise, I placed inside each a photo album, capturing moments of Crazy Baby and her teachers.

I hope they liked them...

Rainbow b-day party

2011-09-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

It's not fun coming back from London and being immediately faced with having to throw your 4-year old's rainbow birthday party. Crazy baby said that although she likes princesses, that she did not want a princess birthday party. She wanted it rainbow. Sure, sounds easy. Well, it wasn't.

For starters, rainbow these days comes in two flavors: gay rainbow (rainbow stripes straight across) and hippie rainbow (swirls of psychedelic rainbow). Whatever happened to the classic 80s rainbow with clouds, like this?

So, that's when I realized that we had to create our own.

With several tubes of paint and a giant paintbrush, Crazy Baby and I painted rainbows all afternoon and let them dry in the sun. She had a great time doing it - and really tried hard to be as precise as possible.

I cut them out and hung them all over the windows. They made for happy (and inexpensive) decor.

But I was still perplexed what to do about plates/cups/utensils. Nothing with the appropriate rainbow design on it.

So, I decided to buy each piece in a different color: plates in red, napkins in orange, utensils in yellow and cups in green to dark blue, leaving the table draped in purple. Rainbow suckers were placed in a vintage yellow ice bucket in the center of the table for kids to take before leaving the party. Here is the table before all the food was placed on it. Notice the rainbow colored spiral bracelets.

But, in my estimation, the party still needed more rainbow (is that like more cowbell?)...so I painted a rainbow on a purple tablecloth and hung it on the wall as a backdrop for pictures. Wearing the rainbow feather boa was optional. I tired to take a picture of each child in front of the rainbow, but that is easier said than done. Think cats. Anyhow, when Hubby saw this, we was like, "That is so Napoleon Dynamite".

Oh lord, he's so right. But, that's what makes it sweet, right? (vote for Crazy Baby...)

The final incorporation of rainbow was in the dessert: rainbow decorated cupcakes. Wish I could claim I made them, but I opted to purchase from Sibby's.

The day went off really well and I think Crazy Baby had a lot of fun.

Luckily, she doesn't turn 5 for another year.

Hubby's chicken

2011-09-02T22:39:00.001-07:00

Just have to share this with you because Hubby makes the damned finest chicken East of the Zuni Cafe.

First, he finds a small, organic chicken. Then, he washes and dries it (drying is very important because otherwise you will never brown the skin). Then, he goes out into the garden and starts cutting herbs (sage, thyme, parsley) and picks a couple of Meyer lemons. Then, he aggressively seasons the chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper and adds chopped herbs, making sure to tuck whole sage leaves underneath the skin. He places lemon slides both inside and around the chicken, which is propped up on a bed of onions and carrots.

He pops it in the oven at 425, uncovered...and well, that's about it.

Very simple, but extraordinarily good.

Thank you Hubby!

London!

2011-08-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

I recently visited London for business, but tried to mix in some pleasure.

I wanted to take pictures - but frankly, most everyone's pics of London look the same. Here's the Millenium Wheel, here's Big Ben, blah, blah, blah...

So, I chose to take all my pics with the hipstamatic iPhone app. Yes, it's trendy. And it doesn't always work. Sometimes it just looks like a crappy, out-of-focus shot. But, sometimes it's a beautiful thing. And you can buy different filters and films - so I tried out a few different things. These were the ones that I felt worked.

Arriving at Heathrow

The hotel in which we stayed happened to have a Nobu inside. Dinner please.

I loved the look of this little plane and just had to take a picture of it.

Taking a taxi through the streets of London.

The chubby little red taxi that we took.
Here is the health authority that we visited for work. It was a ultra-modern building (very Terrance Conran) in the shell of a older, more traditional stone building. I was so impressed with the furniture - the British are not afraid of color! (Think Paul Smith) Pink and orange chairs against white desks. No beige here. I have to admit that I was thoroughly impressed.

From a moving taxi:

The Millenium bridge from a balcony at the Tate Modern:

Inside the Tate - a staircase to nowhere.
An installation that looked like post-its
Had to take a pic of a Wharhol self-portrait:

Phonebooth:

Millenium Wheel (as taken from moving taxi)

Big Ben (as taken from moving taxi):

Taxi with british flag of words listing all the London sites

Garden update

2011-08-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, it's been a banner year for our garden.

Honestly, it's almost too much to handle. When I come home early or happen to take a day off, I usually have to make a bee-line for the garden, lest the beans get too large and the tomatoes over-ripen and fall off.

Or this happens:

Yes, the gooseneck squash monster. This thing is like 18 inches long. A big sucker. Really didn't need to grow it that large. No need. Just happened because frankly I didn't notice it growing there until its presence could not be denied.

I wish I could say that we ate it and it was yummy, but truth be told, it was old and not good eats. It became compost. And I've realized that I'm not that into gooseneck squash. I like zucchini and summer squash, but I'm really not a fan of the gooseneck.

Meanwhile, the herbs are exploding. The bush on the left is cilantro - which I've allowed to go to seed to harvest coriander.

Reading about harvesting coriander, I've read that it's best to let it dry in situ. So, since it's still green, I'll let it sit on the plant until it gets brown.

And the purple cherry tomatoes are just starting to ripen.Here is our orange cherry tomato plant that has grown out of bounds and sagging despite the many stakes propping it up.

And our early girl plant which never really got very big. And despite the name, the tomatoes do not appear to ripen early.

And we picked a whole bag of blue lake beans! The bean plants have been doing better this year thanks to a lattice. Just want to point out that if we don't use our beans right away, we store them in "Green Bags" (as seen on TV) and they really work. Food stays fresh for a lot longer. No they don't sponsor me - but I wish they did because I love their product!

And I realized that I never wrote the post on making and canning blackberry jam...must do that soon!

It's been busy

2011-08-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Over the last two weeks, I've:

1) Flown to London to give a presentation for work

2) Threw a rainbow-themed b-day party for my now 4-year old (20+ kids???)

3) Made teacher memory albums and still-in-progress tote bags (will update you on this one).

4) Attended a neighborhood picnic

5) Had hair cut (fairly) short and pedi (refer to previous post for pic!).

So, blogging has taken a backseat while this madness was transpiring around me.

But, I'm back and I'm finally getting caught up on life.

I've leave you with this incredible pic of tomatoes from our garden. Yellows! Oranges! Reds! Oh My! (and quite recently the purple cherries have started to ripen). It's been a banner year for tomatoes...

I'm back!

2011-08-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

And with some new posts. And lots to talk about.

Stay tuned.

In the meanwhile, I'll show off my new pedi in this perfect shade of red-orange.

Minneapolis

2011-07-24T16:44:00.001-07:00

Just came back from Minneapolis last week. Went to a meeting for work. Took the trek with my lab and had a vey good time despite 99 degree+ weather and nearly 100% humidity. Yes, I took 3 showers a day. They were short ones but did the trick. When we were there, we saw a former colleague from work - who also happens to be a very good friend.

First night, I took out my lab to a lovely little restaurant called Lucia's. If your ever in

Minneapolis, you really should go. I wish I had a little neighborhood restaurant like this one. A very farm-to-the-table experience. Here's the Snack Board (appetizer platter):

One of the highlights was visiting the Walker Art Center. Finally got to see this in the sculpture garden - it was a sight to behold:

It's so huge, it's comical - but even so, I felt the strongest urge to run of the side of the spoon and hug the cherry with all my might. (Remember a miniature Daffy Duck doing this to a pearl while screaming "mine! mine!"?)

Of course, we had to take the obligate group pic in front of the spoon. That's definitely one for the lab photo album (yes, I do keep one of these...).

One part of the Walker Art Center is a sculpture garden and the other is an actual gallery. We arrived during the exhibit coined "Absentee Landlord", curated by John Waters. Truly excellent. Works from Wharhol, Currin, de Kooning, just to name a few. And the exhibit was peppered with some very entertaining videos (and some just plain weird). In his own words, "We've got pop art, sex art, and Op art - can they all live together?" Yep, I think so. Wonderful museum store too. Bought this. And this.

Here's more pics from the trip:

What a weekend

2011-07-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's finally Sunday night. What a weekend.

Friday night managed to stream a movie (and it was a good one): Michael Clayton.

Sat morning started out with a serious, let's-get-shit-done bang with a trip to the bank, gas station, post office (mailing a b-day present to a dear friend and some seriously awesome baby clothes that Sweet Baby has outgrown to my sister-in-law), a church rummage sale (more on that later), and some quality time with Crazy Baby at Starbucks (we love to hang out there and talk and snack).

First up, church rummage sale. Not as good as I had hoped. Part of the reason is because I actually didn't know ahead of time that it was this weekend. So, we got there kind of late. But we did find a giant bag of pop beads (from the 80s perhaps??) for a buck.

Crazy Baby loves to take apart the beads and *pop* them back together again.

In this bag were even pop rings, where the animal pops off the ring.

Then, Sat afternoon, Hubby extended the newly laid garden path to the entrance-ways. And he raised the girls' playhouse onto a composite tile floor. (pictures soon).

Sat night: streamed Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows, Part I. Finally caught up, so hopefully we'll catch the final chapter in the theater (last summer was a bit difficult to get to a theater considering that I just had Sweet Baby).

Sunday morning, drove down to Pescadero (near Half Moon Bay) to meet up with some friends to go berry picking. The weather was a little cold at first, but it warmed up after an hour. Plus, berry picking makes me break out into a sweat because if you're doing it right there's a lot of squatting involved (all the best berries were near the ground). Hubby, Crazy Baby and I set out with our pails...I dragged Sweet Baby behind me in the wagon (and she was more than happy to come along for the ride).

We ended up taking home 5 full buckets of berries...which translates roughly into 16 cups of berries.

So, what are we going to do with all these berries? Well, some will be eaten, some will be frozen - but most will be made into jam and canned. This is our first foray into canning so stay tuned...

Pardon the crappy, iPhone pics. My camera battery needs recharging...

A path through our garden

2011-07-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

Walked into the backyard this weekend, and this was the scene:

Hubby had flown off to Home Depot and returned with a car full of 12 x 12 paving stones.

He used a leveling string to line them up and placed them apart the width of a stone. Then, he buried the stones into the pea gravel so that just the tops are showing.

Here's the result:

So pleased with how this looks. Modern, but still earthy. Good choice on the paving stones Hubby!

And please remember that this yard looked this just a short year ago! Amazing, right?

Same stores, different year

2011-07-04T21:59:00.001-07:00

When I was a grad student, I would shop at Target, Old Navy, the Gap and sometimes, just sometimes at BR and Nordstroms. I thought to myself, one day, when I'm doing my fellowship, I'll have more money, and finally I'll be able to afford independent boutiques and Bloomies.

So, I started doing my fellowship in NYC, and wouldn't you know it, my rent doubled from what I was paying in CA. And where did I shop? Yep. Target, Old Navy, the Gap and sometimes BR (no Nordstroms in NYC).

So, then I did another fellowship. I thought to myself...okay, this is it, time to get a wardrobe that lasts. Wouldn't you know it, my rent stepped up again. Back to Target, Old Navy, the Gap and and BR. And this was 2003, so I added eBay to my list for all things vintage.

Then, I finally got a real job. Requires a real wardrobe, right? Wrong. Everyone that I work with typically wears polar fleece. And now instead of rent, I pay a mortgage and I have two kids. At this point, I'm not even shopping at BR anymore! (nothing to miss however, the clothes have been crap for the last two years - j. crew on the other hand is seriously stylin').

And now etsy has replaced ebay for all things vintage (does anyone even use ebay anymore??).

And I'm back to thrifting.

And I'm just fine with it. Expensive purchases are always riddled with guilt and mixed emotions for me. Frankly, the guilt takes the pleasure out of it. Plus, I find constraints appealing. No, I'm serious. Give me three colors to choose from, not 12. Let me get creative out of necessity. Let me envision the jacket if I put different buttons on it, or a dress if it's shorter. I've always been this way - but it's been only recently that I've appreciated this fact about myself. If you give me unlimited design choices, I will do the most boring, safe thing. Restrict me and there's a chance that something fresh will come of it.

To expand my wardrobe, I've changing the length of given items. I shorted some Citizens jeans of Hubby and turned them into perfect, slightly-baggy shorts for the weekend and a couple of tops that were too long and made me look too short.

Found this at Target recently - and made it my own after lopping 5 inches of the bottom. Now I can't wait to wear it.

And, the best thing? No guilt!

Requisite cat post

2011-07-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

Jamie the Cat is hot and just a tad peeved about it.

He's been lying in the path of our house fans, belly-up. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have his fur. Sometimes I take a wet washcloth and rub it over his fur. At first he hates it, but when he lies down in front of the fan, then he gets it.

When the weather is hot like this, we brush him more, hopefully lifting out some of his undercoat. Poor thing.

My exploding garden

2011-07-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

Okay folks, it is hot, hot, hot here.

After raining on Tuesday (really bizarre for N. California for this time of year), it's now blazing hot (90+) on the weekend. I'm wilting from the heat, but obviously the plants are not.

We got this lovely rainbow pinwheel from Crazy Baby BFF's b-day party - they were giving them away as favors. I was more than happy to take one home. Every time I see a rainbow anything, I feel like I'm 7 years old again - back when I loved rainbows, unicorns and pink and purple together. This pinwheel definitely brings me back and it looks cute in the herb box. And speaking of the herbs, they are growing like crazy - and the thyme and the cilantro have flowered.

The cilantro...

The yellow, gooseneck squash is blossoming...

And our yellow cherry tomatoes are the first of the 4 tomato plants to ripen.

And our beans have grown all the way up the trellis.

New Target dress for Crazy Baby

2011-07-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, the pattern is wanna-be Marimekko. For the price point, it's just fine.

With Mommy's gardening hat on collecting leaves in the garden...

Hubby, Dandelion Hunter

2011-07-02T22:51:00.001-07:00

Hubby takes great pride in his lawn. As shown by painstakingly hunting for dandelions with pry-tool in hand. I just had to show you a picture of Hubby on the hunt. It's too funny.

Hubby strikes again

2011-07-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

He did this on Father's Day, no less.

He put in the wood border. I just think that it's beautiful and lends some clean lines to the yard.

The wood border is secured by concrete screws - so, it's not going anywhere...

Thrifted

2011-07-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

Been meaning to take a picture of these...

I thrifted these while visiting Maitreya. One for Sweet Baby, one for Crazy Baby.

It seems that now I shop for them far more than myself, even when thrifting.

Teahouse dreams

2011-06-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

Oh how I dream of a teahouse in our backyard. Right here...

But, I know it's a lot of work to build one. And frankly the first step is to design one. And I haven't done that. The simpler the better.

Because it would be build on a triangle-shaped plot, Hubby informs me (with a stern face) that this would require a lot of cuts. As in, all the pieces of wood would have to be cut at an angle, which is a royal pain in the ass. But, that doesn't stop me from wanting one, right?

And perhaps the first thing to do would be to build the floor, so that we could use it as a deck and later, build the walls and the roof. Just an idea...

So, in the meanwhile I will leave you with some inspiration from Google images...

(this one below is the closest to the image in my mind)

I think this one is my favorite

2011-06-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Crazy Baby (really do need to think of a new moniker...) just painted this one for her BFF Ava's b-day.

Not sure if I posted this...

2011-06-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

But here is the final view of the entryway now that the offending door is gone. All painted a semi-gloss white and perfectly done. Thank you Hubby!

Believe it or not, there is another offending door. It's between the laundry area and the family room. Yet another metal surround and heavy, ugly door. Ugh.

It's not mine

2011-06-13T22:28:00.001-07:00

But I love it.

Spied it on craigslist a while ago.

Apron completed!

2011-06-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Sheesh! This took me a while.

Not because of the level of difficulty, only because I've been feeling a bit uninspired. But, something happened this weekend. I magically felt like sewing again. And it was a beautiful thing.

This little number is for Crazy Baby's BFF Ava who's b-day is coming up. But you can thank Crazy baby for doing a superb job modeling it for me.

And let's not forget the back of the apron:

The dark wine/purple fabric and the button are vintage. it has two buttonholes for an adjustable neck and it ties at the waist. Front pocket.

Happy, happy.

A Future Crafter?

2011-06-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Crazy Baby (whose moniker should be altered in the near future because she's not nearly so crazy anymore as she's nearing 4 - an era that my Mom calls "the Age of Reason") got up at 7am this morning and got to work on an art project to surprise Mommy and Daddy (as we slowly dragged our aching bones out of bed closer to 8).

She made this "card" by taking paper and folding it in half and taping up all the edges (this gives it thickness). Then she wrote "Daddy I love" and "Mommy I Loe [sic]" and added two mini-rainbows for flourish. Then she taped it to a larger piece of white paper and adorned it with blue post-it notes that she had cut in half (very carefully, I might add) and crimped by folding them back-and forth. And she used the sticky end of the note to stick it to the paper and create a "sun shine" effect.

Are we seeing signs of a future crafter?

On another note, it's finally bright and sunny today. At last. Why couldn't this have happened yesterday at the wedding shower that I attended? Sigh.

Marimekko crazy

2011-06-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hey - did you know that there is a Marimekko channel on youtube?

It's true and can find it right here.

My favorite video has to be the printing of the fabric. I think that process is so fascinating.

In addition, there is a Marimekko shop right in the C&B website here.

I feel so fortunate to have my lab surprise me with these mugs from the C&B collection for my birthday. Thank you ladies!! (Notice the Mari print in the background of my office?).

But, it doesn't stop here.

My sister-in-law gave me this Mari umbrella (it was the only good thing about the fact that it was still raining in the month of June).

And then, my Mom got me this Mari dress for my b-day. (Yes - it was quite a b-day!)

This dress is actually far more A-line than shown here. I wore it today and loosely belted it under a jean jacket - but I'm sure as it warms up, it will be nice to wear a dress that does not hug the body.

Long live Marimekko!

Opening doors - for good!

2011-06-08T22:44:00.001-07:00

Ah, Hubby did it again. he did something that made me so happy that I just have to share it with you.

Here's the before:

And here's the after:

See the difference? Yes! The door is gone. This change helps create that great room feel and frees up extra wall space at the same time.

But, this was not a simple task of removing a door off it's hinges. Oh no. This used to be a door to the outside. So, first the door weighs about 200 lbs. Second, Hubby had to remove the hinges and the latch face plate from the jam. And remove metal trim (yes, metal) that was painted white and chipping. Then, he filled in the holes left behind by the hinges and latch. Then, he sanded (and sanded again). Then, primed and painted. The picture above is pre-primed and painted. I'll show the finished product soon. It looks really good.

What to do with the blank wall, you say? I do have plans for that wall. I would like a small 2-door credenza. Teak in color, but with white doors (I could paint the doors white). Inside I would store all our vintage and new linens. Then on top, I would place the pear and a collection of all my white objects. And the three-legged chartreuse green planted beside it. But, this is going to take a while...first I have to find a suitable credenza...

I'll keep you posted.

The Green Mile

2011-06-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

Wholly smokes!

Maybe it's all this rain, but you just have to check out the current state of our garden:

This is the herb bed:

In the foreground are sage, parsley and thyme. Next to the thyme is oregano with strawberries behind that. Next to the sage is cilantro with peppermint behind that. By the way, the cilantro plant is now 5 ft tall. yeah - it's a bit crazy. We're going to top it after it goes to seed.

These are the four tomato plants. They're huge at this point. And on one plant there are teeny-tiny little green tomatoes.

And the beans are starting to climb the lattice.

Lessons from last year: Fewer tomato plants (4 instead of 8 in one bed). Give the beans at high quality climbing lattice instead of a stick - this way they will grow out in a sheet instead of a bush and it will be easier to locate and pick the beans. And keep all the herbs in one bed - and don't try and grow zucchini plants in the same bed. The zucchinis completely took over last year. Slowly learning over each season. Probably don't have it right just yet. It's really good to have this blog to put my thoughts down and to have a record of what I did this time last year.

Sweet Baby Cakes

2011-06-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Here's what was left after we devoured the cake that I made for Sweet Baby's first b-day.

Magnolia Bakery cupcake recipe. It just doesn't get better than this.

Long time, no blog

2011-05-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while - two weeks to be exact.

First, I had three major projects at work.

First I gave a talk in front of the entire Research Dept at our retreat (we are sequestered for 4 days every 18 mos). That went well. Then, I pitched a direction of future research to my VP. That didn't go as well - but I have a second chance at bat on that one. Then, I had a tremendous amount of writing to do for meeting with the European Health Authorities (it's like the EU FDA). The writing is done - now we wait to hear back.

Then my b-day happened. Last Saturday. The entire fam went Seattle to see Maitreya and Mark and Amy and her new husband, Adam. It was a lovely weekend. We stayed in Maitreya's beautiful Seattle-modern home (think Dwell mag) - where we got to craft in her awesome light-filled craft room! With my two kiddos in tow, we couldn't craft all that much - but I did make this bracelet for Crazy baby with Maitreya generously providing the vintage buttons. This bracelet is actually much cuter in person, but this was the best iPhone shot I could take:

Then, today was Sweet Baby's b-day! Happy Birthday Sweet Baby. You are One Years Old!! We went to my Mom's house and had some relatives over. I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and decorated it with purple flowers. I used the Magnolia Bakery cupcake recipe. I have to say that it turned out lovely. I can't believe that she's one already. And she has accomplished so much! She walks (no more crawling). She drinks milk (no more formula). She uses sign language when she's hungry. She can say her sister's name and Mommy and Daddy (and we think she can say Jamie, the cat's name, and ga-wa for water). She has 8 teeth (4 of them are still moving in). She eats all foods (except for lettuce). She has amazing focus and is pretty much always happy. She inherently knows how to pet a cat (the same cannot be said for Crazy Baby). I have to say it: she is a Wonder Baby.

I'll leave you with some random iPhone shots from Seattle.

Seattle is a city that is known for it's sculpture and public art. You can find it anywhere...

Wouldn't this raindrop pattern make for cool wallpaper??Maitreya and Mark's chicken peeking through the fence. Crazy baby LOVED feeding the chickens and helping out in the garden.

And by the way, I wanted to mention that my quest for a sisal bag is over - I found this one on etsy (shot from seller - not my saloon door).

Flowers for my program at work

2011-05-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Recently there was a part at work to celebrate two drugs in my department that got into Development. One of the programs was my own. These lovelies were at the celebration party and I just had to share them with you. The masterminds behind the party were my boss and my friend and colleague Daniele.

Don't you love how they interspersed the tulips in hydrangeas?? What a cool idea for an arrangement.

Teacher Appreciation week

2011-05-13T22:07:00.001-07:00

We recently had Teacher Appreciation Week at the school where both of my little ones attend. I volunteered to buy flowers for two classes of teachers - which turned out to be 8 teachers. But, I just didn't want to buy them flowers, jsut to have them die a few days later, so I decided to get them plants. I went to a nursey and shopped around for flowering plants - and there I found these beautiful read lillies. Then, I found 8 pots with an understated Asian feel.

So, I felt good about the decision - but how to personalize them?

Crazy baby helped me make these. They are little flowers made from thick paper cut from colored file folders. Each flower has the name of the teacher and a stick to place it into the plant.

That counts as a craft, right? :)

I'm obsessed

2011-05-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

I must admit it, I'm obsessed with these bags.

Vintage goodness. Been looking for one on etsy and ebay. This bag listed on etsy is perfect. Well, except for the giant water stain on the other side. Sigh. I love the rivets, the soft old strap and the round bottom. I remember taking English Lit and the woman that sat next to me. She was a bit older and pretty intense about her classes. She kept her paperbacks and all her paper drafts in this type of bag. Each draft had numerous comments and was held together by a paper clip. You could see all the paper clips stacked up against one another jauntily sticking out of the bag. To someone like myself that typically went through 1-2 drafts, she was a folk hero. And she would always get an A.

I'm going to keep on the lookout for one of these. It has to have the following dimensions: 16" wide, 12" deep, round bottom, leather straps, rivets. Broken in look, but not too worn. Wish me luck.

Happy Mothers' Day!

2011-05-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers' Day to all you out there in the blogosphere who are moms (and there are quite a few). It's a tough job, but hopefully days like this remind us of why we chose to become moms.

Today I had brunch with my parents and Hubby and the two little ones. Went to a restaurant in an old Queen Anne victorian. Had lovely Swedish oatmeal pancakes with lingonberry jam. Both little ones behaved surprisingly well. Despite being under 1 years old, Sweet Baby acted quite civilized. Never cried and ate every bite of pancake that was placed in front of her. Even Crazy Baby acted - well- not so crazy. It was a very nice start to a good day. Then went to Old Navy (yes, very pedestrian of me) and found 2 dresses for Crazy baby for $2.50 each. Wow. Unfortunately, I had to work on the computer for some time in the afternoon, but Hubby covered for me. Then he cooked steaks and corn for dinner.

Crazy Baby gave me this painting that she had made of flowers:

And I, in turn, painted her toenails purple.

Hope you had a good day!

Rethinking driveway pavers

2011-05-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

So, I've been thinking about pavers for our driveway and walk leading up to our front door. That is, until, I received an estimate of how much it would be. Can you believe that I was quoted $21,900??? I'm still in shock over it.

Pavers are attractive, but frankly, they are not that modern. So, I'm taking this estimate as a sign. And sign that I should go in another design direction. Yes - you might view it as sour grapes, but then again consider this: we originally wanted to refurbish the cabinets in our kitchen and were quoted $30K. Reeling from the amount, we went in a completely different direction and purchased the white, sleek modern (easy to clean!) cabinets from IKEA and have never regretted it (and can you believe that they are guaranteed for 20 years?).

So, in thinking about the driveway, I redesigned the front of our house using photoshop. I must say that our house looks very different from this image, but that we can get from here to there by some smart design decisions. Instead of pavers, we can stamp concrete. The way I've designed it, the right side becomes an obvious walkway to the gate. We paint the trim in a dark green-gray. And a new garage door would seal the deal (expensive, yes. But no where near as expensive as pavers).

Everything is growing!

2011-05-03T21:45:00.001-07:00

Building on my earlier post, we added more veggies to the boxes. In the 8' long box, we planted 4 pole bean plants (on the right) and a yellow gooseneck squash plant (foreground) in addition to the red bell pepper plants - of which I might replace 1-2 of them.

Lessons learned from last year.

Lesson 1: beans grow really, really high (think Jack and the beanstalk), so don't plant other veggies in their shadow.

Lesson 2: Squash grow really, really big, so give them plenty of room.

Lesson 3. 8 tomato plants is way too many for a 6' box. Tomato plants produce enough fruit that 4 will suffice.
Lesson 4. Herbs need their own box. So now we have our third box dedicated to herbs (notice the new basil plant at the right). Most herb plants don't get that big - and as a result, other plants can easily encroach on their territory. So give them room!

I'd like the next stage of planting to be fruit trees. Possibly dwarf trees in barrels. I still have to look into this...I'll report back when I get the info.

One of my favorites

2011-05-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through my iPhoto library the other day and came across this photo and just remembered how much I loved it t...just thought I would re-post it.

Finally sold. Whew.

2011-05-02T21:19:00.001-07:00

Finally sold the travel crib that has been sitting in our bedroom. One-by-one we're ridding ourselves of all the accumulated baby stuff.

I can't tell you how many times I whacked my hips into this thing.
Next on my hit list is the pile of donations gathering in our garage. Some baby items, some not. Also, I have some vintage things that we need to part with. I've been holding onto some of this stuff for way too long and I need to let go! In other words, if I haven't used it in a couple of years, I need to part with it.

A new friend

2011-05-01T21:07:00.001-07:00

I have a new friend to keep me company while I sew.

Meet my camel cup that I use for sewing tools. Purchased on etsy.

New craft project!

2011-05-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Been working on a children's apron for one of Crazy Baby's friends. This little girl just fell in love with the apron that I had made for Crazy baby last year. This little girl's b-day is coming up, so I thought that I would make one just for her.

It's not done yet...but it's coming along nicely.

Another Mothers' Club score

2011-05-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

A Rowenta Iron for $15. Yes.

The opening of a neighborhood park

2011-04-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

So excited about next weekend's opening of our neighborhood park. It may be small, but I predict that it will serve as a gathering place for many. It was constructed on an awkward triangular-shaped lot, in which the owners of the lot couldn't figure out how to construct a house there. As a result, the lot remained an empty eyesore for years. There were no trees on the lot and consequently it turned into a parking lot for the neighbors. Finally, the owners sold the property to our city for a nominal fee and the city got to work planning the park. Early on in the process some neighbors complained, saying that they didn't want to lose their parking spaces. What about using ones garage or a driveway? Or even the curb in front of ones house? How could they not they understand that having a well-manicured park across the street from their houses would raise their property values, not to mention be a way to bring the neighborhood together?

But, their complaints aside, the vast majority of neighbors truly supported the park and are excited as I am to see it finished.

Just received this invite to the park opening in the mail - I thought the sketch was sweet.

I'll bring you pictures from the event after next weekend.

Back to the bob

2011-04-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

I've been growing my hair out for a while now. Not with any particular hairstyle in mind, however. It's just that I lost A LOT of hair when Sweet Baby was born - and at that point I became too depressed to cut it. I had to style my hair in different ways to cover up the thinning areas (yes, the loss was really that dramatic). My preferred style to mask my hair loss has been a French Twist held together with clip or a high top-knot. After 8 months of loss, my hair started growing back. Currently, most of the hairs are about 1-2 inches long - long enough for my hair stylist to finally highlight them (they have to be long enough to be captured by foils).

So, in other words, I'm finally turning a corner.

So, what to do about the style. Long hair is really not my thing. I personally find it hard to make it look fresh and modern. I know other people can pull this off. I can't. So, after much deliberation, I'm going back to the bob. I first had a bob when I was 6 years old. Then again off and on when I was 15-29. Then, when I lived in NYC, I grew it out. Then, bobbed it again in when we moved to Princeton, NJ.

With this in mind, thought I would show you some of my favorite bobs:

Unknown model, beautiful Vidal Sassoon cut:Cameron Diaz in her There's-Something-About-Mary phase. For me and my heart-shaped face, and thinnish-hair, this is the perfect bob. Another pic from the interwebs:Posh and her ridiculously perfectly-tousseled bob. If hairs are out-of-place, that's because she put them there.Keira Knightly and a classic bob.Mia Farrow during the filming of Rosemary's baby. I'm not one for bangs, but it looks cute on her.But of course my favorite cut on Mia is this one. I love this picture so much - I believe that Roddy McDowall took it.

But, back to the bob...when I have a bob, I actually feel comfortable wearing cute stuff like this Marimekko dress (2011 collection). I know that they show it on the model sporting a topknot, but somehow this dress paired with this hair doesn't move me. And I would not feel polished.

So, this Friday I'm getting my hair cut. I'm definitely nervous because my hair is past my shoulders. But, hopefully the cut will make it appear fuller and more healthy. Pregnancy #2 was not kind to me looks-wise (hair thinning, hips thickening, etc), so at least this is one step in the right direction.

Going beyond maintenance

2011-04-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

The one thing that we do really well in our household is maintain. The floors are usually clean, the laundry is washed, the dishes are put away.

But, how do you go beyond the maintenance? Build something new, design something, etc. With two kiddos, it's really hard. But, two weekends ago, we did manage to plant new veggies and herbs. And last weekend, Hubby and Crazy Baby repainted the kitchen wall. This past weekend, Hubby washed and stained the deck.

Some would argue that those activities are still maintenance. Maybe. They take a lot of energy though - and they do go above and beyond the regular routine.

But still - it would be great to start a new project. We currently have a call out to a man who installs driveway pavers. He came highly recommended. I just wish that he would actually call us back. We can't replace the garage door without redoing the driveway first. So, right now, we're at a standstill. Maybe this is a sign to just let a little more time pass before starting something too disruptive. I'll try and be zen about this one.

Repainting the yellow wall

2011-04-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

I love our yellow wall in the kitchen. But it was starting to look a bit shabby. There had been an accumulation of scrapes and dings in the wall, not to mention some drips that have been there from the beginning that were silently driving me crazy.

So, last weekend, Crazy Baby helped Hubby repair the scrapes, prime the wall and paint it yellow. She did a fantastic job! Honestly, I can't tell where the old yellow meets the new yellow. And she was very proud to be able to help out Daddy.

Bringing it back: napkin rings

2011-04-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

This may sound silly, but I adore napkin rings. But, in the design and entertaining world, they apparently have fallen out of favor. They are impossible to find in stores and you certainly don't see them on the pages of Dwell mag. But, I still love them.

Recently, I found these lovely green ones online (etsy.com) and in their original box (bonus!):

They are from Japan and I just love their smooth, shiny resin.

And it doesn't hurt that they match my candle holders (also from Japan).

And that they look perfect with my new Marimekko napkins.

Maybe the design world will resurrect the humble napkin ring. Until then, please let me collect a few more!

Couldn't help myself

2011-04-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

I have a fascination with all things Marimekko and I have a penchant for collecting table linens (both vintage and new).

So when this Marimekko table cloth + napkins were recently sold on the Crate and Barrel website, I couldn't help myself. I had to buy a set for 8. I may not use the napkins with the tablecloth (I'll probably use chocolate brown ones instead), but it's always nice to buy a complete set. This might be maudlin to say, but I always think about handing things down to my two girls, and table linens are one of those things that I hope they appreciate as much as I do.
Image care of Crate and Barrel website

Gardening again!

2011-04-15T23:19:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, the family and I went to Half Moon Bay Nursery in lovely Half Moon Bay, CA. It's actually my childhood nursery. I remember going there with my Mom, looking at plants, but as a child being most excited about the cockatiels that were flying about in large cages.

But, I'm older now and the cockatiels are all gone. But, the lovely plants and the amazing selection remains. Here are some pictures of the nursery. You can see the hills of HMB in the background. And in the last photo, notice the nice selection of boxwoods - great for Japanese gardens.

Let the planting season begin! At the HMB nursery, we bought 4 tomato plants (early girl hybrid, purple cherry tomatoes, red cherry, and a yellow beefsteak). This year I'm NOT over-planting. Only 4 tomato plants in one raised bed - not 8 like last year (and what a mess that was). And to keep them growing in an organized manner, we placed wire tressles around them.

Here is a collection of the lovely plants that we got:

And we planted herbs in another bed: oregano, cilantro, thyme, peppermint and sage. We still need rosemary, basil and possibly tarragon (very good on roasted chicken).

This new planting required quite a bit of soil turning and well as some root-ball sifting. Thanks Hubby!

More planting planned in the weeks ahead.

Sweet Heart

2011-04-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

My Mom was going through the garage and found a treasure-trove of pictures.

This one is a chalk drawing of my Mom as a little girl when she was visiting Santa Cruz (she is probably 6 or 7 in the picture).
How wonderful, right? It's actually not as dark as the picture looks - it's still in really good condition. Oh - you should see all the pictures of my family. All frame-able, beautiful pictures. In my opinion, the quality of the black & white photos of the 20s-50s is still not paralleled by today's photography. And I love the portrait of my Mom as a baby in a fancy dress, where the photographer has lightly colored her dress light blue and her cheeks pink. (I will show this soon - but my parents are busy scanning all the old pictures).

I want to find someone who can do similar vintage photography for my two girls. In the meanwhile, this sketch is a welcomed edition to my future hallway of family pictures. Now, I just need to get it framed.

In other news, we still have not removed the door from its hinges - although I can't wait to do this. And we still haven't decided on pavers or concrete for our driveway (Our driveway has some unsightly cracks in it). It's a tough decision because whatever hardscape we use will be continued all the way up to our front door. (I'm leaning towards pavers because most of the updated houses in the neighborhood have pavers - and it's nice to have some cohesiveness in a neighborhood).

But, I did sell the ugly Jumperoo-thingy (refer to two posts ago) to another Mom who will happily use it for their baby. Bit-by-bit we're trying to sell/give away/donate all the things that we don't use. Just sent another box of baby clothes to my sister-in-law and gave another bag of baby clothing to a neighbor with a new baby. Next weekend, the old bathtubs and travel crib are on my hit list.

And exciting news on the neighborhood park - it's almost done!! I can't wait. There were delays because of the rain this season, but I hear it's going to be finished in two weeks. It's in walking distance from my house, so it will be great way to meet other parents and interact with other kids from the neighborhood.

Opening doors

2011-03-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

There is a glass door between our living room and family room and so far I haven't found a use for it. When do we ever close this door? Never. The door is just a menace. Crazy Baby likes to close it for no good reason and I end up running smack into it. blah.

Besides, it has this really ugly metal framing because it used to be a door to the outside (when the family room was a patio back in the 60s).

If we removed the door (and the framing), think of all the room we would have on that wall!

Maybe a small credenza would go there...(we do need more storage). Definitely some art (maybe a revolving display of Crazy Baby's paintings??). Plus, it would have a more modern, less traditional appearance with the door gone.

I've got to convince Hubby of this...Sweetie, are you reading this?? :)

U-G-L-Y

2011-03-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

Some baby stuff is just plain ugly. The plastic toys (which we usually avoid), the car seats, the various bottles, bottle warmers, etc. So much stuff! I never realized how much stuff one accumulates when you have a baby. Even more stuff when you have a baby and a toddler in the same house. And we have been pretty conscious of good design buying mostly wooden toys, etc.

But sometimes something like this slips through:

Ugh. It's a jumper, and Sweet Baby loves to jump. Now, she's getting to the weight in which she will exceed the maximum for this toy. (She's currently a whopping 27 lbs, the max for the jumper is 30). At that point, the toy will be recycled to the next baby via the Mothers' Club.

The last two weekends have been particularly fruitful in this area. Last weekend, we passed on our baby car seats + 3 bases + a stroller. What room in our garage! This weekend, we sold our old flat screen TV. I also gave away a bag full of white plastic children's hangers and a HUGE stuffed leopard toy (Crazy Baby simply ignored this thing and it's been sitting in our garage).

Still, there is a lot more to get rid of...the travel crib in our bedroom, the baby swing, a baby seat that converts into a rocker, bottles of different sizes, etc. Sometimes it's overwhelming, but at least we've made a dent. My hope is to have things in our house that we use. Not keep.

When you have lemons...

2011-03-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

The old adage goes when you have lemons, make lemonade.

But considering that it's still on the chilly side of Spring, I thought that I would at least squeeze the lemons, make lemon juice and then freeze the juice. Then, when it's hot, we can use the frozen lemon juice for lemonade - and the juice will already be icy cold.

I made this batch yesterday, and as you can see, it's frozen solid.

Still much more to go!

No more wire hangers, ever!

2011-03-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite lines from a movie...no more wire hangers ever! (Mommie Dearest).

Hubby and I really can't stand wire hangers - or plastic hangers for that matter.

I was wondering why Crazy Baby's closet, despite being clean and organized, still looked junky. And then I realized, the hangers! White, plastic, ugly hangers.

So, I went online and found lovely children's wooden hangers at a discount. They are stained a lovely teak shade. Crazy Baby and I spent a productive evening switching out all her plastic hangers for wooden ones. We placed all the plastic ones in a bag and I gave them away (posted them for free on my local Mothers' Club) this past weekend.

I think her closet looks a lot better now...so much cleaner and neater looking.

And Sweet Baby got a hanger exchange as well...

Such a little thing can make such a big difference!

A beautiful day in suburbia

2011-03-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Today (at last) was a beautiful day in suburbia. The sun was out (it's been non-stop rain) and so were we. We are currently all well (knock on wood). Hubby got a chance to clean up the garden (the wind and rain has had its way with our yard) and mow the lawn. Crazy Baby got a chance to play with our next door neighbor (she's 11) and they drew a hopscotch game and played a few rounds. I picked lemons and oranges from our trees (crazy amount of fruit this year) and did some laundry. Sweet Baby practiced climbing up and down steps over and over again. She clapped every time she made it to the top. At night the whole fam (including grandparents) went out to dinner at a local mexican restaurant. Crazy Baby had her first Shirley Temple and sang On the Good Ship Lollipop at the top of her lungs while standing on her chair (I think we have a future actress on our hands). Sweet Baby ate every bit of food that I gave her which included: tamales, plantains, black beans, green rice, avocado and mole chicken (possibly a future eating contest champion). All-in-all it was a peaceful day. Please let there be more like this!

Sick again??

2011-03-18T22:08:00.001-07:00

Can't believe that I'm sick again. I just go from one illness to the next. When I'm sick, I get so little done: nary a blog post, emails do not get returned, laundry piles up. Then I'm great for a few days and I try to pack everything in a fury. And then I get sick again. It's so predicable, it's laughable. And this crazy weather that we've been having doesn't help. Oh my goodness the sinus pressure. It's been storming to the point that a water spout touched down nearby. With the help of antibiotics, I'm finally coming out my latest illness. Still don't feel 100%, but all the clothes are folded and put away, the sheets are clean, and my hair has just been cut/highlighted, so I'm ready to start the week.

Go to GO International!

2011-03-14T21:38:00.001-07:00

Warning: this entry is chick-specific! I know that I have some male readers out there, so just thought I'd give you the heads-up!

I think the cat is out of the bag...but there is still a chance to get out to Target to pick up a couple of the re-released Go International dresses. Target has re-issued their GO international best-sellers at a fraction of the original cost. A big thank you to my trusty friend Sarah for bringing this to my attention!!

I picked up these two:

This one that was designed by Proenza Schouler:

And this one designed by Tara Jarmon:

Happy to get a jump-start on Spring!

Crazy Baby's closet

2011-03-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Crazy baby has one awesome walk-in closet. So big that we were able to fit in this lovely IKEA double dresser. It's birch (solid) wood, and the drawers are white with lovely cut-outs for opening the drawers. I think it's very modern and attractive.

Now her clothes are so neatly organized! Everything has its place.There is even a tutu drawer (god forbid).

And there is still room for Sweet Baby's things (out of my current dresser and into Crazy Baby's former dresser).
And still (!) room for books.

I swear that this closet is like Dr. Who's phone booth - doesn't look that big until you walk inside...

Vintage toys

2011-03-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

Okay - trying to get back to blogging again. I'll try my best to not have a haitus like that again!

Wow - life has just thrown me for a loop lately. But, I'm definitely getting back into it. I had a very productive work day today and that's always a good sign.

I wanted to share with you a few of my childhood toys. They are all wood. My Mom despised plastic and did her best to minimize the amount of it in our home. Obviously, I've ended up doing the same thing for my kids. I've never been one for toys that make a lot of noise (like whistles and beeps) and I can't imagine being a parent and having to hear that cacophony after a long day. No thank you. Plus, I would agree with my Mom that kids tend to play more creatively with toys that do less. It's one of those less is more arguments, I guess. And then, there is always the good design aspect to a well-made wooden toy.

So, speaking of good design...I just love my chicken and grasshopper, both made in Finland.

And these are three adorable vehicles (forgive the plastic wheels!). I believe that they were made in Korea.I love the little face on this one:And I love the moving hatch on this one's back...I also have a couple of Snoopy toys:

And a wind-up train (you wind it by turning the smokestack).

The train was made in '72 by Mattel. Even Mattel made some good stuff way back when.

Still alive.

2011-03-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

But just barely.

Finally beginning to feel better after a week of being sick. Started last week when the daycare called me to say that Sweet baby had thrown up. Uh oh. I picked her up from school and knew she was sick. The vomiting continued (thank goodness not in the car) and then when that stopped diarrhea picked up (sorry - I know that you don't exactly want to read about this). Then Crazy Baby started vomiting. It was only a matter of time until I caught the bug and started vomiting. Honestly, I have never felt such nausea in my life - not even while pregnant. Then, Sweet Baby started banging on her head, screaming, obviously uncomfortable. Took her to the Doctor - double ear infection. Poor, poor thing. We are just exhausted from all the illness.

So, what else is new?

Sweet Baby is self-feeding solids at 9 mos! This is unexpectedly early considering our older daughter and her early aversion to solids. To feed Sweet Baby, we place small bits of food on her tray with a sippy cup of water. She does the rest! It's amazing to watch. Sometimes it gets messy (think pasta with sauce) - but most of the time the food makes it into her mouth and she's getting more coordinated by the day. She's also walking with a walker (she uses the red wagon) and loves chasing Jamie the Cat (to his annoyance). Crazy Baby can now write her name (first and last), but writes the craziest looking 'y's (going to have to work on that letter). She also wrote 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' the other day - she was very proud and announced "See, I can write your names too!"

As Spring is getting closer, I'm feeling an urge to plant. We will definitely be doing a veggie garden this year, albeit fewer plants overall. The big addition this year will be fruit trees, possibly the dwarf varieties planted into planters rather than the ground. Planters will be helpful because our yard has really poor soil that is quite rocky. Planters are also convenient because they are portable, in case we need to rearrange the design. I would also like to put in a path in the side yard around the planters. Something free flowing - possibly made from flagstone. It's all going to depend on cost and availability.

Will post pics soon of some things that have been on my mind...

A room fit for a girl - or two girls

2011-02-26T23:56:00.000-08:00

Crazy Baby has been asking for more pink in her room.

Sigh.

I knew it would eventually come to this.

I don't necessarily mind more pink in her room (her room is largely green and yellow - with the walls being yellow). But how do you keep pink from looking too country, or too foofy, or too twee?

You have to keep the lines clean and modern. And you have to keep the shades way far away from dusty rose. And yes, Dusty rose was the color of my childhood (ages 10-15) room, with matching reversible comforter (light pink/dusty rose), available at Sears (didn't we all shop at Sears back-in-the-day??).

I created an idea board for her "new room" (hint: if you click on it, it will enlarge):

1. Bookends, Jonathan Adler, sold at barnes and Noble

2. Etsy seller pixelandpost

3. George Nelson toucan clock (sold at Vitra.com)

4. Book cart - Land of Nod (landofnod.com)

5. Apartment therapy (ohdeedoh.com)

6, 7, 8. Landofnod.com

9. Marimekko

Crazy Baby can NOT wait until Sweet Baby is old enough for bunk beds. She is chomping at the bit over this one. Today we walked in her room and found that the crib had been pulled into the middle of the room, with the bed pulled right along side it. We asked her what she was doing and she replied that she was trying to make a bunk bed. If we had entered the room in 5 mins later we probably would have walked in on her lifting the crib with the intension of placing it on top of her bed. I knew that it was too quiet in the house today...

Sweet baby blanket

2011-02-20T21:45:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to share with you a couple of pictures of a baby blanket that my good friend Julie made for Sweet Baby. It's so lovely. I really love this pattern and how the pieces appear interwoven. Thank you so much Julie!

Sweet Baby loves it (she cuddles it) and now the only trick is to keep Crazy baby from stealing it. Just one of the many times that I will probably have to settle a sibling dispute. Sigh.

Down a hole

2011-02-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've fallen down a hole again.

The sleep deprivation hole.

It's been over 2 months actually. And I really haven't felt like blogging, crafting, well, pretty much doing anything. Between ear infections from Sweet Baby (think she's finally recovered), to teething, to Crazy Baby's nightmares, I've been up several times a night. And if you ever want to know what that does to a person, well, let's just say it isn't too pretty. Post-baby weight loss? At a virtual standstill. Exercise regime? Non-existent. New crafts started? Not a chance.

Hopefully I will turn a corner soon. But until then, posting may be a bit scarce...

Best Regretsy Ever

2011-02-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

Here.

You have to watch the video.

OMG. That's just too damn funny.

Silhouette plaques: step 2

2011-02-09T21:26:00.001-08:00

Since I had a silhouette made for Sweet Baby, it was only fair to make one for Crazy Baby too.

The specifics about the artist are here.

I absolutely love this one as well!!

See this!

2011-02-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recommended this, and boy was he right.

This girl's voice is amazing...

Oh, and the guy conducting? That's Daniel Lanois - the producer of U2's Joshua Tree and Peter Gabriel's So.

Something is happening...

2011-01-31T21:36:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited...there's a park being built within walking distance from our house! And we didn't even know that this was going to happen when we bought the house.

This is what it looked like a couple of months ago. I took a bunch of pics, then strung them all together using a panorama app. Doesn't look great, but I wasn't really trying either.

Here is a more recent picture...someone who works for the city took this.

Supposedly construction will be wrapped up by the end of February!

Hipsta office

2011-01-31T21:06:00.000-08:00

If you love polaroids, then chances are good that you know about the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone.

I love the feeling of my office taken with this app.

Very serene. Unlike a typical work day!

Our vintage shag rug!

2011-01-29T22:19:00.000-08:00

Remember when I showed you the retail tag for our new vintage shag rug here?

Well, here is the lovely specimen after we took it to get professionally cleaned.

It fits in with our room style and color-wise and it adds a whole level of texture. A lovely gift from my Mother-in-law. She even shipped it out to us in a box. Thank you!

And it makes such a good companion to our other vintage shag rug, which is hanging on the wall (although currently hanging in the other orientation - this is an old pic of our family room). This one was a very generous gift from my friend Amy, whose parents wanted to part with the rug.

Turns out that the pattern of the one hanging on our wall is entitled Karelia.

This is one more step in the direction of my inspiration picture (see below), although our family room space is far more bright and colorful. However, I would like to eventually introduce other textures into the space such as chrome, mirror and glass (or leucite) - and plants.

My Mom gave me this wonderful chrome stand planter that was hers from the 60s. Unfortunately the pot that fit the chrome frame perfectly met an early demise...so I'm going to have to find a new one before I can use it. And I'm going to have to rehabilitate the chrome because there is some tarnishing (considerable in some areas).

The other near-future addition to the room will be a coffee table. Here's the one that Hubby and I are currently eyeing from the CB2 catalog - it's leucite. I think it's perfect for the space because it doesn't mask the rug. Here's a pic from CB2 online.

Stay tuned!

Silhoutte plaques: step I

2011-01-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Remember that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to make mounted silhouettes of each of my children to hang in the hallway as part of a greater family picture wall? Well, I completed the first step. That is to find a great person on etsy to convert my photo into a silhouette (much harder than it looks - it's very much an art).

The etsy seller that I found was http://etsy.com/shop/ashtinafayelou and I am very happy with the results. First up at bat was Sweet Baby:

For only ten dollars, this etsy artist was able to make an adorable silhouette. I absolutely love it!

I haven't taken the picture of Crazy Baby yet (hair will definitely be up in a pony tail) - but as soon as I do I'll submit it. And what's truly amazing is that this seller has a 48 hour turnaround. I'll show you the next one as soon as I get it!

Crazy Baby paints!

2011-01-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

Crazy baby loves painting. I'm glad that she truly enjoys doing something constructive where she sort of loses herself in the process. I think some might call it "flow".

Call it whatever you want, she really enjoys it.

On rare occassions she wants to paint an object, such as a cat, a rainbow, or (I swear) a dead body.

But most of the time, she likes abstract. Funny thing is, so do I.

Here's my favorite painting of hers. I could look at it for hours because it's so detailed.

Just thought I'd share it with all of you. Maybe we have a little crafter after all!

V-day clip

2011-01-22T17:48:00.001-08:00

Here it is!

That was easy and fun to make. Clip for Crazy baby for V-day. A while back, I purchased her some pink tights and a cotton dress for the spring...together with this clip, it's a nice Valentine's gift. Something that she can look forward to wearing when the weather is warmer...although given that it was 65 degrees and sunny today, she probably won't have to wait that long.

And here's how it looks in her hair. The red really pops against the blonde.

And fort hose of you who missed my earlier post, here is a tutorial on how to make some easy V-day clips from the Purl bee.

Can not wait to show you...

2011-01-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

...our new vintage shag rug!!

Purchased at an antique mall in Boston for 20% off the tag price. It's slightly larger than 4' x6'...very shagadelic indeed! It was a present from Hubby's Mom. She even shipped it out to us. As soon as we got it we dropped it off at a reputable rug cleaner and we get to pick it up this weekend!

Here's a picture of our other vintage shag rug that our friend Amy gave to us. It belonged to her parents and they wanted to pass it on to us because they knew that we would cherish it. And we do!

You'll notice that this is a pretty old pic of our family room - so many changes have been made since then! Anyhow, this is the general style of the new vintage rug, but the newly acquired rug is going to lay on the floor rather than displayed on the wall.

If you're curious to find out more about these vintage shags from Denmark, check out this webpage. Wonderful descriptions complete with beautiful pictures. There's even a description here about the rug that is on our wall!

So, as soon as we've picked it up from the rug cleaners, pics will be forthcoming.