Lovely Sprinkles

Weekly Goals.

2010-03-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I did pretty well with last weeks weekly goal of blogging every day. Unfortunately I fell off that wagon the moment last Sunday came around. The point of my weekly goals is to set up positive behaviors (for lack of a better word) for myself. Doesn't do as much good as intended if I quit the first day I'm allowed. But I'm still proud of keeping up with the goal for a week.

This week hasn't gone so well. I kind of shot the original goal down the first night, so I ended up changing it. First goal was to go to bed by midnight every night this week. Got in bed about 12:15 the first night and then totally ran that one into the ground by staying up to watch a movie with my hubby until 1 in the morning another night. So I changed the goal for this week into getting small things done that I'd been putting off. Baking- check. Put away hubby's clothes that have been sitting around for a week- check. Vacuum my sons room- check (eek!). Clean my car- check. Pick up my wedding dress from the cleaners- check (finally!! But now what do I do with it?). Vacuum my room-... uh working on that one as well as the next one: make my hubby chocolate chip cookies. Think I'll go get started on that one right now...

Have a good weekend!

Spending Hiatus

2010-03-04T22:30:00.001-08:00

the challenge is to not spend money on this little guy.

So I have unofficially enrolled myself in the Simple Lovely Spending Hiatus. I say "unofficially" because, let's face it, I suck at not shopping. I think it'll be good though, especially since all the (necessary) super spending that was involved with the wedding last year and Christmas are over. So the idea is not no purchasing at all, but just not unnecessary purchases. So I'm still allowed to buy stuff for my son's birthday party coming up next month and I do have a gift card from Janie and Jack that I'm sure will scream my name if I find something I'm in love with there (went there last week and didn't buy anything!).

But I've surprised myself since deciding to hop on the wagon two weeks ago. Today I went to Nordstrom Rack and bought NOTHING. I surprised myself. I even had a return which has granted, get this... a negative balance on my Nordstrom account (squee!!). I can't tell you how long it's been since I had a $0 balance on that card. Heck, I can't remember the last time the balance was less than $100, not since before their big sale last summer, that's for sure. So other then slipping up last weekend and getting two tops from Gap (buy one get one free + an extra 20% off- seriously, you can't beat that) I think I've actually been doing pretty well. I even tried to look for something to buy at Nordstrom Rack today and just couldn't get myself to purchase something I didn't need.

So it's not entirely my strong will power that's keeping this spending hiatus thing going, I think it's party because I haven't found things that I get that "must have" feeling over. Maybe part of it's just because I've changed my mind set and am looking around my room at all the unnecessary (and some necessary) things that I have no room for. We'll see how it fares for the rest of the month.

I'm moving to North Carolina (not really).

2010-03-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

I know that the housing costs are ridiculous in California but browsing a real estate page for Huntersville, North Carolina is making me want to pack up and move there right now. It's crazy for me to imagine that for the same cost of a teenie tiny two bedroom house in the area that we're looking to live in here in California, could also afford us this house in North Carolina. Isn't it gorgeous? Check out the cute little white picket fence on the side! They've got beach over there too- I'm going to start packing ;)

Children and Snacking.

2010-03-02T23:47:00.001-08:00

I was reading this post and article over on the Ohdeedoh and all the comments about children and snacking and it got me thinking. Is it really so bad to take a snack out with you if you know it's going to keep your child happy and quiet(er) while you're out running around?

Granted, I don't think it's the best idea to continually bribe my son with cookies and candy every time we run out, but we usually take some cheerios (usually the multi-grain, his fave) or crackers or a banana with us because he tends to get hungry when we're out. Though, he does usually get a treat at the candy store when we go to the mall, but I've finally limited his intake of the dark molasses chips he get's from See's Candy from 3 to 1 for a day.

I did notice a huge difference in my son's mood and ability to keep himself from "falling apart" one day when I realized that I hadn't given him any sugar that morning. It took me a while to figure out that although he might be screaming over that piece of candy that he wants at the moment, he'll probably be over it in 5 minutes and he'll be just fine. Giving him too much sugar to keep him quiet in the car for an extra minute usually come back and kicks me- hard.

So I do see the problem with offering children too many sugary and non-nutritional snacks (especially if they're kindergarten and elementary school children eating Twinkies and Doritos as a snack every day), but I think it's healthy to eat something healthy in between meals, though maybe not every 20 minutes. I'm not going to stop with his healthy snacks, but once he turns 4 he's not eating at Church anymore, even if it means having to take him out because he won't be quiet.

New Music.

2010-03-02T22:41:00.000-08:00

I really need new music. I'm debating over Lifehouse's new album or some Brad Paisley album, since I still own none of his.

Weekly Goal.

2010-03-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I haven't been great with keeping up to date with my weekly goals, so here goes. I just figured out the goal for this week and it's to blog EVERY DAY. Not necessarily on this blog, but one of mine. And even though it's technically 1 in the morning on Tuesday, I'm still counting this as Monday, since I just figured out that this is going to be my goal for the week. I've done ok so far, but I need to be more committed.

One week my goal was to take a shower every night before bed, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but a lot of the time I just end up falling asleep with a book in bed or in front of the laptop, and occasionally in the middle of SNL. So that was a hard one to keep up with, but once I did, I just felt so much better and relaxed by the time I was in bed. Another week was to drink more water and well, that one didn't go so well. But it's also the week I got sick, so I sort of threw it out the window, although I probably should have been drinking more fluids, not less. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the results of this week and if I can keep up with this one.

To keep the head Warm.

2010-02-18T00:20:00.000-08:00

I'm in love with this little Aviator hat! Isn't it so adorable and retro-vintage? They've also got a superhero one with wings but I like the aviator one the best. Cute kids site that sells vintage-inspired kids items. I so wish I was back in the 40's/50's! The Baby Gardner via The violet Hours.

New Music.

2010-02-13T19:48:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I really felt compelled to run to the record store and buy a new cd. I used to LOVE music. It wasn't just an accessory or something going on in the background, music was my life. A song or an album could completely turn my mood around (for better or worse, but usually better) and I always, always turned to music when I was in a bad mood. It was the one thing I knew would always help.

Not that I think music's not important anymore, but I'm not sure that people really appreciate it as much as it used to be appreciated. In the days of iTunes and Shazaam where you can download a song instantly or look up a song and find out the artist and title before it's even over, people aren't forced to think of music as much anymore.

I remember multiple times when I was so excited beyond belief about a new cd coming out. One time in high school I had to cry and beg my mom to take me to the music store to go buy a new cd the day it came out. I refused to wait until the next day and almost ended up taking a bus (instead, I'm sure I racked up an extra week or chores- but well worth it for brand new music).

Another time a friend and I ditched our first class and waited outside Target for them to open so we could buy 'N Sync's album No Strings Attached (yep, the one that sold over 2 million copies the first week) not only for ourselves but for about 5 other friends. Once I raced all over town to find a new album that came out that day but wasn't very well distributed, and since I refused to take the hour and a half drive back to school without it, I think I missed the majority of my classes that day. Another time some friends and I raced over to Tower Records to get there before they closed at midnight, to buy an album by a new band we'd just seen in concert. Then there was the time I missed an entire day of school to wait outside Tower Records when Hanson's new album finally came out after 3 years.

So, in conclusion, I've fallen off of the music bandwagon. But not so hard that I've stopped buying cd's all together, as the actual cd is as much a part of the whole music experience as the music itself. It's still hard for me to purchase just one song off of iTunes. I figure that when an artist comes out with a single that's good enough for me to consider purchasing, then they probably have more good songs on the album. I think a lot of people loose out on good music because they don't give non-single songs a chance. Why pay for a whole album when you can purchase a single song off iTunes? But some of the best, life-changing songs aren't always released as a single.

So this year one of my goals is to get back on the music wagon (I was a music major for goodness sakes!). There's still one or two artists that I'll run to to music store the day their music is released for, but other then that I haven't gotten much the past couple years. My goal is new music at least every two weeks. So far this year I've gotten Lady Antebellum's new cd (the day it came out!) and The Valentine's Day soundtrack (courtesy of my wonderful hubby!). Then today I was at Best Buy picking up a cd for my husband for Valentine's Day and I heard that Cobra Starship song that's so infectious, "Good Girls Go Bad." I really like that song (and the music video's pretty entertaining) and I'd been considering downloading the song but since I was there and have been in the mood for some new music I grabbed their cd.

So I pop the cd in (there's nothing like the feeling of new music in the car) and start off with song #3 "Good Girls Go Bad." If it's an artist I already like then I always start with the first song and listen all the way though, as an album is something that needs to be listened to as a whole. If it's a new artist, I usually listed to the song I already like and know and then start at the beginning. Let me say, I got through 4 songs and this is the kind of album that is dangerous to listen to in the car because it makes me want to drive fast. It'll be hard to listen to while typing away at the computer because I'll just want to get up and dance around the room or go run around the block or something. Maybe it'll be some new motivational jogging music :)

If you haven't seen the Cobra Starship music video check it out, you'll smile...

New Year.

2010-01-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

I'm setting a new goal for myself and this blog that I dove headfirst into and then abruptly neglected once I got busy. Post at least once a week. Here's post 1, by the end of the year I hope to have at least 52 posts, hopefully more. Another of my goals is to spend less time on the computer and more time on scrapbooking/crafting. I know, that seems kind of counter-productive to the blogging thing, so I guess it's really just less time on facebook and more time being creative.

A friend of mine just recently started blogging and with the new year she posted a list of things she's proud that she accomplished last year. I think it's a good idea to not only look at our goals but also our accomplishments, weather or not they were goals, so here I go.

Things I'm proud of or accomplished in 2009:

I got married! This one had been a long time coming, but once it was decided we were able to pull it off in under 4 months, which was pretty impressive to me (and totally stressful, I don't recommend it if you've got more time, haha).
I found some new music to LOVE. I'm really into music (to me it's as essential as air) and it'd been a while since I'd found a new album that I'd been able to really get. You know where you know every word to every song and you can recite the whole things forwards and backwards. This year it was Taylor Swift's "Fearless" which is now one of my all-time favorite albums.
My son. I'm so proud of him and amazed everyday. He loves to tell stories with really complicated plots and lots of characters.
My son started preschool last year! It was a great parent participation preschool that we went to for 2 semesters, but are taking a break this coming semester.

As for the new year, I'm not very good at year-long goals. Most of the time I'm good at delayed gratification, but for goals I'm all about instant gratification, I like to see results pronto. So what I like to do is create a different daily goal for myself each week. So I get a week of a particular goal for each day. Usually it's random things, like going to bed early every night for a week (not easy for me), drinking enough water each day (something I'm really bad at), not shopping at all (ok, that might be impossible), or cleaning up a particular room over the period of a week so it all gets done. This works for me because by the end of the week I'm bored with the goal and ready to move on.

I'd forgotten that I loved Valentine's Day so much and I'm getting into the spirit early this year by making a "Happy Valentine's Day" sign.

Flower Girls

2009-10-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

Cute little flower girl shots, all from the knot, except the last one from the US Angels website.

Reception Look.

2009-10-22T01:01:00.001-07:00

So our main colors are chocolate brown, bright pink and ivory. I want a gorgeous vintage/glam feel to the day and it's nice that the place where our reception is being held has huge tall ceilings with marble flooring, tall columns and beautiful molding all around.

image via theknot.com

I love the look of the pearls and the gold detailing on these plates!
Image from About Weddings.

image via theknot.com

Beautiful, sophisticated pink hues.
image via theknot.com

For a cleaner look I've thought of going with light blue tablecloths, like in this picture. We'll just have to wait and see! I think we'll probably stick with pink or bown to keep with our color scheme.
image via The Memory Journalists.

Cake Inspiration.

2009-10-22T00:57:00.001-07:00

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Do you see a theme here? Round, white cake, bright pink flowers. That's what we're going for and we've come up with a design that puts a damask-type design along the top edge of each tier. so 14" 10" and 6" rounds to keep a good amount of sizing difference between each tier. I'm so excited to see our cake!

Vintage Wedding Inspiration.

2009-10-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

Is it ok to change the theme of a blog? I guess if I'm just doing it for myself and don't really figure that anyone else actually reads it, then why not? Ok, I'm switching my "whatever inspiration" over to "wedding inspiration" because that's what I'm in now: wedding mode! I'll probably go back to the whole "whatever" mode in a couple months after our wedding.

First off: engagement photos! We haven't had any taken and I didn't really think we were, but I've been pouring through wedding blogs all over and now I want to do a vintage type photo shoot! I don't really like balloons at weddings (I used to think they were cheesy and should be reserved for birthday parties) but I've seen some pictures lately that I'm loving! I love the balloons in this picture (from the Sophia Coppola-directed Dior commercial) because they aren't typical balloon shape (they're totally spheres- so cool!) and the colors! So gorgeous with matte colors instead of blaring red, yellow and blue birthday balloons.

Nordstrom = Love

2009-10-22T00:48:00.001-07:00

How awesomely glamorous does this new Nordstrom shop window look? I'm in wedding-mode now so anything shiny/pretty/detailed/glamorous/vintage has been catching my eye lately.

I love the jewel-toned dresses and background, the hanging bubbles and the shoes in their own bubbles. Sigh.

SF Girl by Bay

2009-09-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

In other news, this photo collage by SF Girl by Bay is totally inspirational to me and now I just want to go spend hours browse through flickr! Scratch that, I want to go take photos! Isn't it just so vintage chic?

Mystery Record Player Photo

2009-09-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I have been seriously slacking on this blog, but I've been wrapped up with wedding planning for the past couple months!

Anyway, I was browsing through some pictures I'd saved on my computer in the "Inspiration" folder and came across this awesome Record Player photo and thought that it'd be a great print to hang up on a wall somewhere. Then I realized that I was seriously not thinking when I saved it, and didn't tag it or anything with the info as to where I got it. So if anyone's seen this pic around, will you shoot me an e-mail so I can find the photographer?

Thank you!

See Mom Shop

2009-08-12T01:14:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I'm obsessed with little kids clothes. Even girl's and so far I've only got a boy. Ok, well especially girls since their clothes are so much cuter and have so many more options than boys. So I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was to randomly stumble across this mom's blog all about her toddler daughter's outfits: Confessions from a Daughter's Closet. I'm sure it helps that her daughter is super adorable but Bekki is hilarious and I just love checking out all her daughter's beautiful dresses and matching hair accessories!

*Photo from Bekki's Blog.

Fun Inside

2009-08-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

We babysat my cousin's son a couple weekends ago and she's got this little play structure in her son's room that I thought was such a great idea! What a neat way to let your kids run around and play like they're outside while keeping them contained in the nice air conditioned (or dry, if it's raining) house. Christopher had a blast playing with his little cousin Connor.

Oh, and we caught a frog!

Red Wine Cupcakes (!)

2009-08-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

Check out these gorgeous wine cupcakes made by my friend over at Occasional Sugar. They've actually got red wine in the cake and frosting recipes! That's so unique- I never knew you could make cupcakes with wine. Doesn't it look like you'd just want to drink it up!?

Peek-a-Sku

2009-07-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted to know what baby Gap or Janie and Jack's new lines are going to be before they're released? Peek-a-Sku.
You're welcome :)

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-07-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, I must say that I have mixed feelings about this moving coming out in October. But for a different reason than one might think. First, I can't wait to see it! All the wild things look awesome and I love the trailer for the movie, plus what kid didn't love this book? But the only opposition I have to it, is that it's coming out in October... October 16th... right before Halloween....

Now, ever since Christopher was a baby I've had the idea for one of his Halloween costumes to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are because I thought it'd be totally cute and original and there wouldn't really be any kids out there with the Max costume (I've never seen one anyway). Either this year or next year would be a perfect year for Christopher to be Max, because he's 3 now and might actually be excited and enjoy Halloween this year. Plus I've got this aversion to letting him wear a boring, store-bought, out-of-the-package Halloween costume now that he's old enough to have an opinion. I think Halloween is a time for creativity! In 4th grade I was actually a calendar for Halloween... don't ask I have no idea how I came up with it either, one side was October and the other was November.

So anyway, my problem with this movie coming out this October is that I really want Christopher to be Max for Halloween and I actually want to try and make his costume (eek!). But now that the movie's coming out my idea isn't going to be so original anymore and I'm worried that there's going to be a bunch of Max's running around on Halloween night.

I'm only hoping that if I can get his costume made this year, it won't look all crummy and generic and hopefully there won't be a lot of Max's yet, since the movie is only coming out 2 weeks before Halloween and most kids will already have their Halloween costumes picked out by then... right? Or does everyone else but me wait until right before Halloween to decide what they're going to be?

Disneyland at Dusk.

2009-07-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts! The family and I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Southern California, which included lots of sun, beach, family and Disneyland! Hopefully now I'll be able to get back into the swing of things and start posting again. Here's a few of my favorite pictures from our trip to Disneyland...

The Small Stakes

2009-06-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

If we had our own house and I had a room where I could put all my music/concert memorabilia, I'd totally want this poster to put in there. Not because I love The Walkmen or anything, I just love the artwork! It's by a company called The Small Stakes and their artwork for concert promotion is so original, I love it! I'm thinking an entertainment room is in order with a pool table, mini fridge, big old flat screen tv and one of those cool U-shaped couches. I also like this She & Him poster.

Ok, I was looking around and found another cool one. Death Cab Hurricane Katrina benefit concert poster.

First Giveaway: Peek!

2009-06-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited... it's my first giveaway! Not anything big, just a few really cute buttons.

On Saturday we made our way out to Roseville to visit a few stores that we don't have close to us. One of the said stores we randomly happened to go into was Peek... Aren't You Curious, a children's store (because I can't pass a new kids store and not go in!). I hadn't ever been in one and didn't even realize that I'd already heard of this store on a Design Mom blog post until I saw the Battleship shirt that I'd had my eye on online.

Anyway, we ended up getting Christopher 2 shirts and I grabbed a few buttons on the way out. And Christopher had a blast playing in the store! They had these little bikes that he rode around on and then he got to pick out a bouncy ball and lollipop. That is awesome marketing, to have fun stuff for the kids to play with while mom shops (they also had granola bars and little toy animals the kids could have). Plus the 2 girls working were super nice and played with Christopher while we were in there.

So if you'd like to win 4 Peek buttons, simply leave a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner this Friday 6/5. Good luck!

According to random.org the winner is... Calligraphy Girl, congratulations!

Madsen Cycles

2009-05-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

How neat is this new Madsen cargo bike? It totally takes care of the need for something separate to put your kid in for a bike ride with you. Click the picture and go to their site- they're giving away 2 bikes next month!

Famille Summerbelle

2009-05-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

The sweet little children's accessories and decorations store Famille Summerbelle is celebrating their 1st anniversary with free shipping worldwide- WOW! And the cool thing is that even though they are located in France you can pay in UK Sterling, Euros, and US Dollars. I've got my eye on the Count the Sweets print. Too bad the Paper Cut Paris Map isn't done yet.

Anthropologie at Last

2009-05-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to avoid it all these years (ok, well for the past year anyway) because I've heard about how great it is. It hasn't been too hard so far since we don't have one close to us, but I finally made it into an Anthropologie store this past weekend when we stopped in Berkeley... and again in San Francisco. Great store but a mistake to go in when you're trying to save money! I'd been in one years ago one time but didn't care much about it then. This time I actually wanted stuff! I made out with a pair of capris for the summer and two tops plus some bubble bath for my sister's birthday present.

But I love this Musing Moon dress! It just makes me want to throw a dinner party... in the 50's, lol. Unfortunately they didn't have it in my size in San Francisco where I saw it. But that was probably a good thing though since until I win the lottery, I'm not about to pay full price for anything there. Right up there next to Sur La Table and William's Sonoma, I think I've found my new store to visit every time we're in the area.

Also next to the Anthropologie in Berkeley was this great paper store which carries stuff from the Cavallini paper line, which I just so happen to love. I almost bought the Paris stamp set but decided to wait... maybe we'll have to stop by again on our next trip to SF in a couple weeks.

Sunday

2009-05-11T23:23:00.001-07:00

Hope all the moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. We took a lazy Sunday and after church we picked up some breakfast to take back home since the wait was too long (an hour and 40 mins!). French toast for me and a breakfast burrito for Gregory and time to play trains for Christopher since he'd already eaten. Gregory and I also split a hazelnut iced mocha- yummmmmm! After that we decided to go for a drive and visited a couple of cities just outside of ours, browsing around and checking out a couple stores. We then drove back home and spent the afternoon at the park letting Christopher run around. A nice and relaxing day with my family! Oh, and did I mention that Gregory got me the beautiful Kate Spade wallet I'd been craving? How great is he!?

Wish List

2009-05-09T16:09:00.001-07:00

Since it's Mother's Day tomorrow and I just happen to be a mother myself, I figured I'm allowed to make a wish list. Not that I'm actually expecting to get anything from this list, but I can dream!

1. Report Ilana Ruffle Ballet Flats. Ok, this one is cheating since I've already ordered these online, but still, here they are. I live in flip flops and Uggs, so I think it's time I branch out my shoewear but since my feet are so wide, these are the only cute one's that I've tried on this past week that aren't too narrow since they're all leather and streatch. Plus they're pink and SO cute!

2. Kate Spade Thompson St. - Noel Remy Slim Wallet. This one is actually at the top of my list because I need a new wallet. I figured that the bright pink color (actually "geranium," how cute!) would be easy to spot in the bottom of my purse, which tends to be a black hole for whatever I stick in there.

3. Kate Spade Mariachi Rickrack Bracelet. I couldn't do with just one color of these bracelets! I know I'll never actually get these but love how they look stacked.

4. Kate Spade Thompson St. - Noel Stevie Tote. Might as well since it matches the wallet! No, I was browsing around at Nordstrom the other day and was actually looking for an emerald green purse, but came across the pink sale section and found this one (at least I think it's this one, if not it's very similar). It's a tie between this purse and another pink leather one.

5. Lucky Brand Sequin Embroidered Top. As you can tell, I'm trying to update my wardrobe with more bright colors for the summer and apparently pink is my color of choice. I like breezy tops with pretty details around the top, so this one is perfect. It was either this pink color or in black, but really I have enough black tops in my wardrobe.

6. This white sundress by Suzi Chin just screams summertime to me! Gorgeous.

Inspiration from Millalove Paper Creations

2009-05-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous paper flowers look from the etsy show Millalove. Also check out the lovely custom banners she makes too!

Rainbow Cupcakes

2009-04-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

Like everyone else who's seen this Rainbow Cake, I've wanted to try to make one. Christopher's Birthday cupcakes seemed like the perfect opportunity so I did all of the Sesame Street cupcakes rainbow on the inside. I didn't want them to be a perfect upside-down rainbow inside, so I tried to spread around the blogs of color in each cupcake. I thought it'd be a nice little surprise for the kids when they ate them but they didn't seem to think it was as cool as the adults did. I thought they looked neat and the inside of the cupcake wrappers looked pretty too!

Sesame Street Cupcakes

2009-04-29T14:56:00.001-07:00

For Elmo I used a red cupcake wrapper and did his fur with red frosting using the Wilton decorating tip #22 (from what I remember, but it may have been a little smaller of the same shape). I started on the outside of the cupcake and worked my way in, kind of in circles, pulling the frosting up as I went. I used a dab of black frosting and 1/2 marshmallows for his eyes and stuck a little frosting as well as cutting a little bit of the marshmallow off each side in the middle where they touched each other to keep them together. His mouth was 1/2 of the chocolate part of an Oreo cookie (cut in half carefully with a serrated bread knife) and his nose is an orange peanut butter m&m.

Cookie monster had a blue cupcake wrapper and blue frosting and I used Wilton decorating tip #134 to make his fur. I started on the outside with his fur and worked in, adding a little more after I stuck the Oreo on to cover it at the top. His eyes & mouth were done the same way as Elmo but I offset his eyes to make him look kooky :)

Oscar's fur was done the same way as Cookie Monster's but with green frosting. I was originally going to use a green cupcake wrapper for him but came up with the idea to use silver, so it would look like his trash can! His eyes are white m&m's with black frosting dots and a black frosting squiggle for his eyebrow (Wilton tip #1 for both). His mouth is the same Oreo cookie as Elmo & Cookie Monster.

Grover also got a blue cupcake wrapper and his fur was done the same way as Elmo's. His eyes are white m&m's with a dot of black frosting using Wilton decorating tip #1. His nose is a pink gobstopper, his mouth is 1/2 a chocolate Oreo cookie with some red frosting to accent it with Wilton decorating tip #1. If I'd had time I think I would have tried to look for some other candy to use for Grover's eyes, since they're not perfectly round but slightly oval.

For Ernie I used a red cupcake wrapper because he has red stripes on his shirt. I frosted his face smooth with orange icing. He's got the Oreo cookie mouth, white m&m's with a dot of black icing for his eyes, orange m&m's for his ears, a red peanut butter m&m for his nose and some squiggly black frosting for his hair (Wilton tip #2).

Here is Bert pre-mouth & nose. For him I kept the tops of the cupcakes mostly yellow and I used a green cupcake wrapper because he wears green pants. I frosted an oval for his face in yellow frosting and used white m&m's with black frosting dots for his eyes, yellow m&m's for his ears, an orange peanut m&m for his nose and the smile, hair and unibrow were done with black frosting (Wilton tip #2).

The Count got a green cupcake wrapper because his clothes are green. I frosted the whole top of the cupcake smooth with purple/dark lavender frosting. I used little pieces of marshmallows for his eyes, and Oreo cookie for his mouth, more purple frosting for his ears, nose and around his eyes (Wilton tip #3), white frosting for his fangs (I just frosted those by hand, but they would have looked better if I used tip #1), and black frosting for his hair, eyes, and goatee (Wilton tip #1). The Count took the most time to decorate because of all his small details.

I saved him for last because I thought Big Bird was going to be really really hard since I had never done frosting like his feathers but these actually weren't too bad. I used a pink wrapper because of the pink stripes Big Bird has on his legs and yellow frosting for his feathers. I used Wilton decorating tip #102, fanning each feather out from left to right as I worked around the whole cupcake. I started from the outside with circles of feathers and worked my way in. I made the feathers pretty big, so it only took about 4 rows all together. His eyes are white m&m's with a black frosting dot and a bright blue strip for his eyelids (I used Wilton tip #1 for those).

I made the top feathers and his beak out of candy melts tinted yellow. Because I didn't need much of the candy melts for this, I found it was easiest to use a zip lock bag with a (small!) hole cut in the corner for the melted candy melts instead of a decorating tip with a coupler. I used two pieces for his beak, with the top one being bigger than the bottom party. His tongue is red frosting.

Kid's Bathroom

2009-04-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

My cousin has got the cutest bathroom for her kids. Bright yellow walls with sea creatures all over it just makes you happy being in there! I especially love the sea horse toothbrush holder. And she decorated the whole room with accessories from Target and Ikea- what a steal!

Fancy Muffin Liners

2009-04-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

I recently bought these beautiful cupcake liners from Bake It Pretty. Hmmm... what should I bake in them? I'm leaning towards some fancy muffins with a huge dollop of cream cheese frosting up on top. What do you think?

Wish Lists

2009-04-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

I'm constantly taking pictures of thing I would like to buy but aren't necessarily going to buy right then or even at all. Just pictures for future reference or ideas as to what I'd like to have. Here are some of the most recent pictures I pulled off my phone.

Starting at the top left (1) square plate from Crate & Barrel (2) pretty duvet cover & bed from Crate & Barrel, (3) adorable star bowl things again from Crate & Barrel (4) SO cute Belle Ballerina costume dress from the Disney Store- I'm in love with that little dress! (5) bright & fun patterned fabric fro IKEA (6) Beautiful Chloe Chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids (7)Thomas book for Christopher from Borders because he has one Thomas book now but it's really long, especially for bedtime (8) Pumpkin Patch girls top for (way) future daughter, I love that little street lamp (9) cute farm plates and bowls from Joann's Fabrics, who knew they'd have such cute plates? Christopher ended up getting a tractor bowl (10) Nice Mirror display at Crate & Barrel (11) brown & blue fabric at Joann's Fabrics to use to cover my photo storage boxes since I can't sew.

Tinted Windows

2009-04-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot this cd was coming out today but here it is and I'm excited. Check out the debut album of Tinted Windows, the new "super group" comprised of James Iha (of Smashing Pumpkins), Adam Schlesinger (from Fountains of Wayne), Taylor Hanson (from Hanson), and Bun E. Carlos (of Cheap Trick). From the reviews I've read it sounds like pretty good quality music!

Christopher's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-04-20T23:52:00.001-07:00

most photos courtesy o f Rudy Calpo Photography.

Well, now that all the crazyness that has been my life for the past 12 days has died down, I can (hopefully) get back to posting on a regular basis. I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know we did.

Christopher had his first real birthday party and luckily both his Gregory & I survived- yay! I know I should have just relaxed and not made everything so complicated, but I get these visions in my head as to how things should look and be and all and then I have to carry them out perfectly. I had this very detailed picture of what one of the tables at Christopher's party would look like, so I had to be the one there to set it up to make sure it looked exactly like it did in my head (it did, thanks much in part to Gregory's patience with me). I'm not usually one to go for a character-themed party, but Elaine, Gregory's sister, sent me a picture of some cute Sesame Street cupcakes and said that Christopher had to have Sesame Street birthday party. Luckily everything turned out perfectly, the weather was great at the park and Christopher as well as his friends and their parents all had a great time.

We did bright colored invites with removable Sesame Street stickers. I made the Sesame Street character cupcakes and we ordered Christopher's birthday cake with a Sesame Street theme. We decorated the tables with red, yellow & blue table cloths, balloons, Sesame Street confetti and random Sesame Street toys that Christopher had including an Elmo Live. The favors were mini sand buckets decorated with Sesame Street stickers and filled with bubbles, Elmo lollypops, C and 3 cookies, crazy straws, and a couple of other Sesame Street-themed things.

Luckily the cupcakes I did turned out way better than I was expecting and were a great WOW factor! And despite only wanting to play in the sandbox, Christopher had a great time which was the most important thing.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a good Easter. Gregory & I were super tired after having been traveling for almost the past 24 straight. It was nice to see family though, especially since Christopher and all his little second cousins are growing up so fast! C & Austin (yellow shirt) had both just turned 3 a few days before Easter and they really enjoyed the egg hunt, looking at worms, and just running around together. C also enjoyed ALL the candy he got and his still working through it!

lots to do

2009-04-09T13:54:00.001-07:00

Ok, since I am a firm believer of list making and right now seems to be a particularly hectic next few days, I can't promise any new posts. But here is my current to do list/notes on life to do
today and tomorrow:

Need to Do:
-today is Christopher's 3rd birthday (!).
-I need to make out treasure hunt cards for his birthday gift hunt
-put together his cake (already baked- whew!)
-go to the grocery store to get cherries to put in the middle of his cake (his request)
-make sure we have strawberries for the top of his cake (also his request), if not- buy strawberries.
-hide his birthday gifts for his birthday present hunt.
-Church at 7 pm tonight because it's Holy Thursday
-book plane tickets for a flight to Las Vegas, to and back on Saturday for a family emergency- :(
-look into renting a car in Las Vegas. Gregory wants to spring and get a luxury car.
-look into parking fees for San Francisco Airport
-look into fees for renting a car in San Francisco and dropping it off in Sacramento.
-bake cookies for Easter
-eat lunch today?
-finish painting my toes
-call for waxing appt. for tomorrow
-pack for Las Vegas
-call my cousin about plans for Easter
-clean my & C's room
-stop by Best Buy & Toys R Us
-drop off invitations to 2 people for Christopher's birthday party next week

Things I probably won't get done:
-get over the fact that we have to leave C for the very first time overnight (*sob*)
-get over the fact that I won't be here to decorate Easter Eggs with C this year
-decorate cookies for Easter (might have to ask my decorating assistant, Elaine, to do that, haha jk, she's my future sister in law, not assistant, but she's great with the decorating!)
-make cupcakes for Easter using pretty new cupcake wrappers
-cleaning my & C's room
-cleaning the bathroom
-cleaning out my car
-finding time to breathe
-blog (It'll be a miracle if I even get this up!)

.... ok I'm sure there's more to add, but I've got to get off this computer and grab some cookies out of the oven. Wish me luck!

I hope everyone has a nice Easter!

One for One

2009-04-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know about this company, please please check them out. Toms Shoes has a simple premise: for every pair of shoes sold, they will give away a pair of shoes to a needy child. One for one. So simple, but so powerful and wonderful for those children receiving shoes.

The company was started by Blake Mycoskie in 2006 when he was on a trip to Argentina and took notice of many young children without shoes. He took the simple design of some traditional Argentinean shoes and redesigned it to work for American consumers (Christopher's got the green camo ones!). So far they've given away over 130,000 pairs of shoes in Argentina, Africa and more recently the United States.

Images via TOMSshoes.com, hanson.net & freshpeel.com.

I recently saw an episode of "The Entreprenuers" on CNBC that featured Blake Mycoskie and Toms Shoes. You can catch a rerun of the episode on Friday, April 10th at 1 pm. Also be sure to check out TOMSshoes.com or Blake Mycoskie's blog.

High Expectations

2009-04-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) the ideas I come up with in my head don't always match up with the abilities or resources I have. And when I come up with an idea, I usually know exactly what I want it to look like, down to the very last detail. And I'm hard to convince to take any exceptions- usually. I think that's why it takes me forever to finish something. It's not necessarily putting it together, it's deciding on what I want and trying to get it to look prefect.

For example, take the bridesmaids dress I've picked out for my & Gregroy's wedding (date tba). That (above) is the picture of the Ann Taylor dresses that have already been bought (on sale!). Our colors are going to be dark brown and light pink (not too light, but just not like, BRIGHT pink). So the dresses are espresso. Fine. But my idea is inspired by this picture below (courtsey of the Knot):

So I want the brown dresses, with a cream/ivory top over them (for our church wedding) with a pink sash. So the dresses and the sash aren't a problem, it's the ivory top. Those ones in the pictures were from Banana Republic, but of course they don't make anything close them anymore. But I love those tops! Anyone got any ideas as to where to look for cream/ivory tops to go over the brown dresses?

I've also got the flower girl dress picked out and already purchased. I knew that I wanted this exact satin Us Angels dress in ivory (not white) with a dark brown sash. Well I found one that is the exact right size (I hope) of the ivory satin dress at Nordstrom last year. And guess what the best part was? It was on sale! Plus I didn't have to pay for shipping, which is one thing that irks me to have to pay for. The only thing is that the sash is purple instead of brown, but a brown sash won't be hard to find. I just hope if fits her by the time we come up with a date!

California Academy of Science

2009-04-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took a little trip to San Francisco to take Christopher to the California Academy of Science. Gregory and I had been there once before, so we'd seen most everything but Christopher had a wonderful time. He especially liked the fish down in the aquarium. He saw some long ones and asked if they were "limousine fish" and then there was another fish that looked like it was frowning and he asked if the fish was sad. So cute! He liked seeing the animals in the African exhibit, but was disappointed that they weren't alive.

They have a little petting pool downstairs in the aquarium and I was surprised that Christopher wanted to touch things. We took him to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last year and he refused to touch anything in the touch pond, but this time that was his favorite exhibit.

Oddly enough, of all the things in the museum what Christopher really wanted to see was people playing music outside in front of the museum. We could hear the music while we ate lunch on the patio and the whole time he wanted to go out and find who was playing the music we could hear. Unfortunately it was only a sound system :(

I really wanted to see the Planetarium show, but all the tickets had already been given out by the time we got there.

Elephant Escapade

2009-04-02T00:32:00.000-07:00

I love the picture of my son baking in the kitchen. Flour streaked across his hair and nose, his little chubby hands squishing around some cookie dough in a big blue bowl, and an apron that's so big on him it has to be tied twice around his waist and goes all the way down to his feet.

Not only is the thought of him in a little apron so adorable to me but I've learned that the apron is a necessity in the kitchen! Since Christopher's got so many cute clothes I don't always mind changing them, but it's the stains I'm trying to avoid here. Plus you never know what you're going to find in that little front pocket! I've found chocolate chips and goldfish crackers in C's (at the same time). If you've got kids who love to help out in the kitchen an apron is pretty indispensable.

One apron I like is at Now Designs where they offer different pattern sets for children's kitchen accessories. I like the colorful Elephant Escapade line- anything that brings bright colors into the kitchen is fine with me! Plus the aprons are vinyl which makes them super easy to clean. The little elephants just look like they're ready to party in your kitchen!

Easter Eggs

2009-04-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

William's Sonoma has these gorgeously bright Italian Alabaster Eggs. I especially like the smooth marbled surface and the deep hues. Plus they were made in Italy- always a plus! Is alabaster heavy?

I like the blue colors and tiny details of these Lace Eggs from Martha Stewart, but some of the flowers look kind of like snowflakes to me. Beautiful though! Hmmm, Christmas eggs anyone? I'd love to try these, but I wonder how she keeps the dye from getting under the lace when dyeing.

Anything with glitter instantly calls my name and I've especially wanted to work with those clear double-sided stickers that you can add your own glitter to. I'm constantly drooling over all the beautiful glitter colors Martha Stewart has to offer at Michael's. These Glittered Sticker Eggs are also by Martha Stewart - they look so perfect! I also like these fully Glittered Eggs.

Ok, again with Martha Stewart, but this time they're Decoupaged Eggs made with paper napkins! How clever! I've never actually decoupaged anything, but I think these might be the ones to do for our anual blown-out Easter Egg.

Has anyone out there come across some pretty egg ideas?

Sprig Toys

2009-03-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

At Pottery Barn Kids story time Christopher has recently been playing with the adorable Sprig Adventure Series toys. He loves pushing around the Discover Rig and he pretends that it's a lawnmower.

Each little guy, er Adventure Guide, comes already named with a little background story plus they feature battery-free (did you hear that battery-free!) lights that really work! And the best part is that they're made out of Sprigwood, a 100% recycled bio-composite material- don't you just love helping the environment? The Discover Rig tells a different story for each Adventure Guide and I think these will work equally well outside as well as in. I'm thinking Christopher's upcoming birthday is the perfect excuse to get these!

You can find these at Pottery Barn Kids as well as on Amazon.

Ask Design Mom Week

2009-03-30T15:42:00.001-07:00

Head over to Design Mom for "Ask Design Mom Week!" Gabrielle Blair, aka Design Mom, will be answering reader questions all week long! You know her, she's the one that posts all about design and motherhood in such an oh-so-stylish way! Hmmmm... what question should I submit?

English Tea Scones

2009-03-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I buy scones they can be a little too dry for me. But, lucky for me, I found a recipe from The New Baking Book that comes out nice and moist every time! The first time I made these was with Christopher and we put currants in them and called them "Peter Rabbit Buns" because Peter Rabbit ate currant buns. He loved them! This last time that I made them was for a play date snack. I served them with lemon curd that I found through Stephmodo via Design Mom, and some fresh whipped cream. Yummy! I think maybe I'll make some scones with fresh Lemon Curd to give out as Easter presents!

2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoons salt
1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup dried currants or raisins

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2. In a medium mixing bowl combine eggs, whipping cream, and currants/raisins. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture and stir with a fork until moistened.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quickly knead the dough by folding and fently pressing dough for 10-12 strockes or until the dough is nearly smooth. Pat or lightly roll the dough into and 8-inch square. Cut into 16 squares.

4. Place scones 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. You can brush the scones with some milk and sprinkle them with a little sugar. Bake in a 400º oven for 12-14 minutes (mine usually only take about 10-11) or until golden. Remove the scones from the baking sheet and serve warm.

Janie & Jack: Friends & Family

2009-03-27T15:58:00.001-07:00

The Janie & Jack Friends and Family sale starts today- and the best thing is that the 25% off works for stuff that's already on sale! I'm so excited, but since I gave up shopping (partially, anyway) for Lent, my stuff is still on hold at our local store until tomorrow.

Here's some of the pieces Christopher's going to be adding to his wardrobe. And since he's mostly set for the summer, I've gotten the cute little scooter sweatshirt & rugby top in a larger size for next year. I love that the little beige hat is reversible and it's got the same pattern as the sorts on the inside. Can't you tell I'm just loving that Vintage Wheels line?

Have a great weekend and fun shopping!
-Jenelle

Blue Walk

2009-03-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a post by Katie Schlutz and the cool little Idee color thingie, I decided to try our own little color scavenger hunt when Christopher, Gregory and I went for a walk to our local market the other day. Christopher picked the color blue, so I photographed all things blue along the way. Since Gregory was getting antsy with my frequent stopping every 5 feet, I didn't take as many pictures on the way back. But Christopher had a lot of fun pointing out blue things and I enjoyed taking the pictures. Maybe C and I will try a different color each week. This is a great fun little project to play with your kids, especially if they're just starting to learn their colors!

If you haven't checked out the Idee Multicolor Search Lab you're missing out- it's so awesome! This links to my favorite color search: pink & purple. But you can do whatever color combination you want, up to 10 colors!

Cavallini

2009-03-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

I've given up on using a planner. I used to use them religiously when I was in school and I loved the layouts of those cheap ones I got from both my high school and college. I loved the monthly calendar that was followed by each week (as opposed to all the monthly calendars being grouped together at the beginning) and the fact that they were spiral-bound, so you could fold them all the way around. I used to go all out in decorating them and I know I can go back to my high school planners and browse through my old social life and pictures of all the bands and celebrities I admired back then, complete with magic marker and glitter.

But as I can't seem to find that perfect layout these days, I've redirected my search and I'm now on the lookout for the prefect sketch notebook or just something to jot down ideas, plans, and random such things. How gorgeous are these Cavallini & Co. notebooks though? They're the prefect size to stash in my purse (6x8) and the whimsical designs are just so inspiring! I'm especially loving the Pink Paris Collage Notebook- vintage stamps, Paris, and pink? Oui s'il vous plaît!

I'm also loving this Ephemera Labels tin available at Kate's Paperie (the above notebooks are also available there).

Heather Bailey Fabric

2009-03-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

image credit to Heather Bailey

I have no idea how to sew but the bright flowery fabrics designed by Heather Bailey make me want to learn! I'm thinking of ordering some or finding out where they sell her fabric locally to cover some storage boxes or line a couple shelves in my son's room. I especially love the Wallpaper Roses and the different colors of the Swirlybuds fabric from her newest Pop Garden & Bijoux lines.

Fonts for Peas

2009-03-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

I love having different fonts to choose from, so when I came across this website I knew I had to keep it bookmarked. The website is Fonts for Peas and it's got tons, and I mean TONS of handwriting fonts to download. And the best part? They're totally free! Amanda over there at Kevin & Amanda takes peoples handwriting and turns it into fonts. You can even submit your handwriting for her to turn into a font. Since I don't always like my handwriting, I check out her site when I want handwritten journaling for a scrapbook or something. and she's even got a section of doodle fonts to choose from.

Vintage Apothecary Bottles

2009-03-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

If you love vintage things like I do you'll love these Vintage Apothecary Bottles from Cathe Holden. She's got a few different listings in her store including some with tiny birds nests tucked away inside them. I especially love the ones with the antique rhinestones on them. How lovely would these look all lined up in a kitchen window? Also check out her amazingly detailed blog.

In My Monday.

2009-03-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a new feature called "In My Monday." Each Monday I'll post something of mine and what's in or on it. If you'd like to play along e-mail me or leave a comment and I'll post your link here!

First week: In My Jewelery Box. In my jewelry box here you can see some of my most recent jewelry. I've got a green bracelet in the back that my Mom got me in Italy, a silver bracelet under that from my Dad, the pearls are from my Grandmother on my Dad's side, there's a "C" necklace that stands for my son Christopher, I made the blue beaded ankle bracelet, the gold cross on the left was another gift from my Mom from Italy, the pink beaded necklace is just something to go with a lot of what I wear, the swirly silver earrings on the left were a gift from my fiancee's sister for Christmas two years ago, the bright red, green, and gold beaded necklace was a gift from my Dad from Italy two years ago, my Holy Mother necklace that I got from my fiancee's parents a few years ago, and my favorite is the tiny Mickey Mouse pendant with my birthstone that Gregory picked out for me when we went to Disneyland on Valentine's Day last year. There you go, that's what's in my Jewelry box, at least one drawer!

Friday Night Dinner

2009-03-20T23:02:00.001-07:00

Because Friday's mean no meat for us, we sometimes have to be a little creative with dinner. But no meat doesn't mean no taste! This week we made a simple but very delicious dinner of gnocchi with a pesto cream sauce, some of my dad's garlic bread, and a little white wine. We made it as easy as possible and used store bought gnocchi (an Italian potato like dumpling) which we tossed with a sauce that was a mixture of pesto and heavy cream. For the garlic bread we spread with a little homemade butter & garlic mixture and broiled for a few minutes. Pour some wine and we were ready. Very yummy and we didn't even miss the meat (much)!

New Hairbow!

2009-03-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have this habit of buying cute baby clothes and accessories for my future daughter. I've got a son now but I just know some day I'm going to have a daughter, so whenever I find baby girl clothes that I love I just have to get them! My collection isn't super big or anything, just a few choice pieces, mostly from Janie and Jack. My most recent purchase was from Laura over at Blue Monster Bows. I saw her baby headbands and just had to order one. They were the best priced ones I found and the shipping was free! This was my first etsy purchase and I was impressed! The pink and white headband is even cuter in person than in the pictures and looks so well made. Laura is so nice and she'll even make custom bows if you don't see the color you want on her site. Luckily I've got a friend with a little girl who was willing to model the headband for me because it was just too cute to not wear.

And little Katie loved wearing it, which was surprising because she usually doesn't like things in her hair!

Have a great weekend!
-Jenelle

baby fun.

2009-03-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Need inspiration for a child's room? I turn to ohdeedoh. This website inspired me to spruce up the bedroom I share with my son. I love all the colors in this bright pink room found here and the flag banner inspired me to make a star garland for my son's room.

Easter Dress.

2009-03-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

I can always count on Janie and Jack to have little girl's dresses that I immeditely fall in love with. If I had a little girl in need of an Easter dress, this Hand-Smocked Pintuck Dress from their Dozen Roses line would be it. It's my new favorite dress of theirs, right up there with the Little Paris dress from the '07 collection. This dress just looks so sweet! I love the smocking across the front with the little flowers and the color combination is right up my alley. This one is definitely going into the future baby file.

Bonjour Bonpoint!

2009-03-18T16:18:00.001-07:00

I recently discovered the French children's clothing line Bonpoint. As well as having simply adorable girl's clothes they've got a really great line for boys, which is not always the easiest thing to find. I love how crisp and clean all the outfits look. If I could afford to dress my son in boutique clothes all the time, he'd have the whole spring line! Also check out the fun world and graphics on the shops section of their website under The World of Bonpoint. Unfortunately I've only been able to check out their clothes online, but they are definitely going to be on my list of places to visit the next time I make it down to LA!

Giraffe in a Bottle

2009-03-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was getting ready for the day when my son walked into the bathroom and said something about putting his giraffe in a water bottle. He has a stuffed animal giraffe and I prayed that he wasn't talking about that one. Luckily, he'd found a little plastic giraffe and stuck it in a jar that had been in our room. The jar only had 1 flower in it and apparently he thought it was missing something... his giraffe.

Stephanie Rausser's gorgeous pictures

2009-03-17T00:35:00.001-07:00

A couple months ago I was enamored with some pictures in Parenting magazine that were paired with an article called Objects of affection. The story was cute (especially the wild and crazy things the author's young daughter made up about her green pillow, like surviving on spoiled bananas for 20 days) but what really caught my attention were the pictures. At first glance they seemed a little posed and set up, but by reading the little blurbs that went with the pictures I discovered that they were pictures of the daughter of this woman, Stephanie Rausser, and her doll Coco. The pictures are so bright and fun but have a twist of elegance to them. I remember thinking that I wanted to tear the pictures out of the magazine to stick up on my board of mishmashed articles, pictures, and inspiration.

Fast forward to this past week when I was cruising through the Design Mom blog and came across some pictures of dolls by Jess Brown Design. The dolls looked not only interesting, but somehow familiar to me. I love that their clothing and accessories are all vintage finds! It wasn't until I happened to be going through magazines in our bathroom that I came across the affection article. After looking through the photographs again I thought about looking up the photographer online but decided to first go back and check out the blog with the doll pictures. Upon searching around the Jess Brown Design site I found a link to a slide show of pictures by Stephanie Rausser titled Kiki & Coco in Paris which documents her pictures of her daughter and her beautiful doll all around the city, including all the pictures from the Parenting article. The picture from the Eiffel Tower is the one I loved most from the magazine, but I think the one of her daughter with the Eiffel Tower in the background at dusk is by far my favorite. Check out the slide show and Stephanie Rausser's website to see her beautiful pictures.

I also love this picture from Stephanie Rausser's Website. Just look at the adorable print on the little girl's shirt!

Belle of the Ball

2009-03-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

When I find something that I love but am not going to buy right away I usually take a picture of it with my phone. Check out this adorable Belle costume. I sometimes find the Disney princess a little cheesy and cheesy looking, especially with the little picture of that particular princess on the front. If you want to look like the princess by wearing her dress wouldn't you want the same one that she had? She didn't have her picture on her dress. But when I saw this little ballet tutu type Bell dress in the Disney store I had to take a picture. Couldn't you just imagine a little girl dancing around in it? I love all the glitter and tulle and I'm a sucker for those corset-style ribbons! And check out the matching flower headband! And I don't even mind the Belle picture thing on the front. I'm trying to think of a way to justify this gorgeous outfit when I don't even have a girl!

Waiting for spring.

2009-03-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Despite loving winter, I'm so excited that spring is on the way with summer not far behind! I love that it's still light outside right now at 7:30 in the evening. Last week we had a few great days that were really sunny but then this weekend it got a little cloudy and even a little rainy. But we managed to get a few hours of weather that was nice enough to play outside and I couldn't but help admiring all the beautiful flowers that are blooming in our backyard. There's a little peach tree that just started blossoming the most beautiful pink flowers. I snapped a couple pictures while my son was playing outside.