Great idea

In honor of the baby shower tomorrow and also my girl I wanted to post about See Kai Run

They will match the cost of each pair of shoes with a donation to Soles 4 Souls which gives shoes to people in need. What a great idea.
I had a pair of See Kai Run shoes for my girl and let me tell you there were the best. They are extremely well made and easy to get on little feet. And who wouldn't want to sport these super cute styles?

Thursday...right?

Did I get the day right? I think I'm finally back on track.

It's time to talk about bathing suits...again. Still haven't decided on the perfect one. Each day it gets hotter and each day I think...just gotta do it. Buy one already.

Two sites for today. The first is Divine Modestee (which I think is a bit of an odd name). They have a bunch of different tops and bottoms and you design your own suit. Sounds like a plan to me. The designs are nice and seem like they would be flatter. All suits are two peices (tankini style) but the bottoms come up pretty high so they would cover bellies if you don't feel like showing that off.


The second site is Layers Clothing. I like the Reese and the Presley.



Also...let's talk beach towels. Pottery Barn has my most favorite ones.
Not so sure I can imagine my husband with the first two...might have to get him the multicolored stripe. And I can get them monogrammed so that my brother's won't steal my towel at the beach.

What day is it?

Why do holiday weekends always mess with my head? I can't seem to remember what day it is all week. This week was even more confusing because I switched days at work with someone. Up until a few minutes ago I was pretty sure today was Tuesday. Oops. Good thing I had nothing big scheduled that I was missing. Guess this will be a wednesday-less week for me.

Today I wanted to talk about Dwell Studio. There items are classic and beautiful.
Growing up my grandmother had a sewing box with birds on top of it. I love that box. I was also terrified of it because my mom (to keep us from messing with it) told us we would get hurt if we touched it (which we might have because of all the needles inside). I wouldn't even open the lid for fear of needles attacking me. My imagination got the better of me sometimes. This pillow reminds me of my grandmother's sewing box

This is called a fat boy! Who doesn't need a fat boy if this is what it means? I could snuggle this pillow and be so content.

Beautiful placemats just make your plate and food look even better. Not so much for dinner club because the boys are so busy eating they would never notice but if I ever have a dinner club with couples these would be perfect.
I don't usually post kids/baby stuff (we all know why) but since I'm hosting a baby shower this weekend I may just post a few kid related things this week. I thought this bedding set from Dwell was beautiful. I think it could be for a boy or girl. The blue is just right to cross over but still blue enough to be manly.

Chalkboard paint

I have wanted a wall size chalkboard for ages. I want one in the kitchen to write grocery lists on and to allow kids to color on and I want on in our attic/future play room. I found a great recipe to make your own and I plan on trying it very soon. I'll post pictures of my results.

1. Pour 1 cup of acrylic latex paint, in the color of your choice, into a clean, 1-gallon bucket.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of dry, unsanded tile grout mix into the paint, and mix until the paint is smooth and clump-free. (Use plain grout mix without added pigments to prevent color shifts. We used a kitchen whisk to mix our paint.) Repeat the mixing process until you have enough paint to complete your entire project.

3. If necessary, prepare the wall with a light sanding or priming. Apply the chalkboard mixture to any paintable surface with a roller or brush. (We used two coats of our chalkboard paint to build up a thick surface.)

4. Allow the paint to completely dry, then sand the surface with fine sandpaper until you achieve a texture that accepts chalk. Next, "color the surface with the wide part of a piece of white chalk to get a chalkboard-like patina.

5. Wipe away excess chalk with a damp cloth.

Clothes

I can't afford half...okay most... of the things on this page and they probably don't come in my size either but LOOK at these clothes! Stunning.

I'm always trying to find THE hat. This might be it. I have a black and white coat and wouldn't this look perfect!?

This shirt, jeans and heels and I'm ready to go


They are made by Liza Rietz and you can shop for them online here. She has a store in Portland and I think it would be amazing to visit. Happy Memorial Day

Giveaway

From time to time I will share info on giveaways other websites are having. Here is the first. Simple Mom is giving away some pretty cool jewelry from Lisa Leonard Design. Entering is super easy so visit her site and see if you win.

Bottled water and my soap box

American's drink way to much bottled water. And most of us don't recycle. Yikes. We are going to drown in a sea of plastic bottles one of these days. For some reason this is one of my biggest pet peeves. Why don't we all get a filter or a filter pitcher and a nice bottle we can use over and over, instead of plastic throw away bottles? I found some great bottles just for this purpose. Sigg is a fitness company. They sell the greatest looking bottles.



They are aluminum so they are super light weight and they can hold 4 cups of water. They also have great accessories to go with. Why don't we change the tread from plastic water bottles to these? They are way more stylish than a plastic bottle anyway.



Climbing down off my soap box now. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

Stationary

I love stationary. I collect it in a way. I buy it with every intention of using it but then I like it so much I end up hoarding it. Silly I know. I have a friend in Alaska now so I should start writing letters with some of it. There is just something about a clean sheet of lovely stationary that I don't want to ruin but putting my sloppy handwriting on. Get over it, right?!

Verde Paperie is stationary I would love to collect. They have greeting cards, boxed notes, stationary, journals, calendars and gift wrap (we've already touched on my love of gift wrap).

These are blank inside and would be pretty framed.

My recipes are on scraps of paper and graph paper. I need about 100 of these to get more orgnaized.

One can never have to many journals! I have one for ideas, one for notes, one for quotes, one for actual journaling and few just cause I couldn't resist buying them.

I would almost feel bad ripping into this wrapping paper. Notice I said almost.

Did I mention they also do custom stationary? Genius.

Aprons

I used to think aprons were just for old ladies. I thought they were old fashioned and instead would get flour all over myself when I was cooking. But I have changed my toon. I now LOVE aprons. I have 2 and want more. We always get great one's at work. My current favorite is the pink striped one. I like that the waist ties one long peice of fabric that loops around the neck and they are easy to tighten.


Today I stumbled across this site called BonBon Atelier. Aprons aren't all they have. I was enjoying looking around and found this great vintage apron.

Etsy is always a great place to find fun handmade items. If you haven't spent a few hours looking through Etsy yet you are missing out. I found this super cute apron on Dapperduds
Then there is always my favorite store Anthropologie. Some of their aprons are pretty enough to be dresses. Check out the Georgia , the Crap Apple and the Maude Half Apron. Swoon.

Beautiful

I like things that are organized...although if you saw my house right now you could say "really!?!". I'm spending a big part of this week cleaning so then you'll say "Really!"

Where was I? Oh yes, I like things that are organized. So when I found this site I got really excited. Seacloth is a beautifully organized site. By color no less. What could be better. Just pick a color you love and you have numerous things to choose from.

I picked red and found this amazing pillow that would be a great accent on our new navy bed.
Then I picked mushroom and found this spectacular bowl for our dining room table.
Did I mention they also carry fabrics?



Lovely, aren't they? Enjoy.

Flowers

Yesterday I completed the bouquet for Jenny's wedding. I only took one photo so maybe when Jenny gets some wedding pictures back I'll ask if I can post one or two. I also forgot to take a picture of boutonniere

Congratulations Jenny and Rod!

I-Pods and such

Laptops, I-pods, phones all seem to look pretty much the same. You can get different colors (sometimes) but if you set all the i-pods on a table you'll have a hard time telling which one is yours. That's why todays site is so cool. It's called Unique Skins. You just enter the type of electronic device you have and then start the designing. They provide some options but you can upload pictures which is way better. The ideas are limitless. I can't wait to get one. Oh and the prices are very reasonable. Start designing and send me a picture when you get yours. Can't wait to see the creativity.

Short but sweet

I am so into color right now. I love that Pottery Barn is jumping on the band wagon. They usually stay in the neutral, navy, black and white land. But they have introduced hot pink and lime green to their collection. I bought a new duvet today. It's navy, but the pattern makes me crazy. I can't wait till it gets here.

This I have no place for in my house and yet I drool over it. If I repaint the living room, throw away my current furniture and completely redesign it would be perfect.

And since I'm in a dream world...when I win the lottery this is what will be on our new screened porch. I'll never have to come inside again. At least as long as the weather stays nice. You can all come lounge with me.

Home-y

I love antique or antique-looking things for my home. I collect glass bottles that my husband unearths behind his shop (the hill behind his shop was a garbage dump in the 20's so all that is left is the glass and metal). I have old tools, doorknobs, grates and mirrors. I walk through antique stores and drool over all the amazing things. Well Three Potato Four is a store right up my alley. Everything looks antique. Some of the items are restored antiques and some are new. I just love the feel of all their items.
I like sending "snail" mail. I like getting it too. What would be greater than a typewriten letter. The color would light up a room and look gorgeous even when not being used.

These are not antique. Perfect for a pitcher or a vase.

Isn't this cute bottle opener so much better than the new modern ones?!


Keep in mind if you really like something and you really want it you might was to get it now not later. Most, if not all, the antique items are one of a kind so once it's gone...it's gone. Hope you find great things for your home.

Fabric again

Maybe you are tired of fabric ideas but I'm not. There is something about the idea that I could actually make something from fabric that draws me in. Granted I've never sewed anything besides in 7th and 8th grade Home Ec. I still think I could at least make curtians if I tried. A quilt would be the ultimate in my mind. I would love to make a mismatched, no pattern, crazy quilt. A girl can dream. So here is the site for today...It's called Duckcloth (by the way, MOM, if you click on the word in gray you will go to the site)

I have a mini-addiction to paisley and this would be absolutly perfect for my guest room curtians.

Not sure what I would use this for I just love it.

I'm thinking if I get the bedding I love for my bedroom then these would make cool, funky curtians or accent pillows.

This is just sweet. Something for a kids room. Maybe a pillow or a super cute little girls skirt.


They also sell fabric by the bunch. MMMMMM...bunches of fabric. Sign me up.

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends who are moms.

Crafty-craftness

I get wrapped up in craft projects often. For weeks my coffee table or dining room table will be covered in paper, glue, wire, ribbon, paint, whatever supplies I need for this particular craft explosion. Right now it's paper, glue, scissors and hole punches. I'll show you what I'm working on sometime soon. But for now I want to share about a great craft supply website. See I can't go to craft stores because I always end up spending more than I want to. I browse around and think I'll use this or that and before I know it I'm way over budget. That's why I like Papier Valise. First, they have amazing thing. Second, I can edit myself a little better on-line. Here are some things I could use for my most recent project

I know they make no sense together but in my craft they totally do. They also have lockets, which I love to wear.


The crafty ideas from this page are endless. Hope you feel inspired.

Wallpaper

Recently someone asked me if I knew of any sites that sold cool wallpaper. All I could imagine was floral boarders and designs that didn't match up. But I searched anyway and found some really cool options. For now I will talk about 2 sites I found and if I find more then I will most definetly share them.

The first is called ferm Living. They not only carry cool wallpaper but also my new favorite thing...wall stickers! Little less permanent than wallpaper and then you can paint the wall any color you want. Check it out.

The second is Brewer's wallpaper. They have every kind of wallpaper imaginable, from the truly horrible to great stuff. Only problem is it's British so everything is in Pounds not dollars.

Now I mentioned I like wall stickers so I thought I would share some of the sites that have great stickers. Blik is probably my favorite place to look for wall stickers. You pick the color and the design and then lay them out on the wall however you want. They are removable too! They also will take your favorite poem, saying, verse, etc and make it into a wall decal. I want some for our attic. Take a look and see what great ideas hit you.

Sorry no pictures today my computer is being slow and frustrating.

Warm

The warmer it gets the more I want to be outside. Strange how that gets. I want to cook outside, take long walks and just enjoy the flowers and all the green. Yesterday I even volunteered to wash the car just to be outside. Sadly, it was covered in pollen again a half hour after I washed it. Oh well just another excuse to be outside.

We had dinner club last night and said good-bye to Jeremy (he moves to Alaska tomorrow!!). I completely forgot to take pictures of the food but here is the menu and you'll have to imagine what it looked like.
Spinach Salad with Bacon and brown-sugar walnuts
Crusty Bread
Filet of Beef Bourguignon
Mixed Berry Trifle with a Champagne Toast

Then we hit to movies and saw Iron Man. I liked it...minus the people who brought their 2 year old and the guys in front of us who laughed, loudly at everything...and I mean EVERYTHING. If you want a good action flick with some funny moments thrown in this is a good one. All 6 of us liked it which is borderline amazing.

I am working on your request Hollis and hope to have some ideas later this week.

I'll leave you with a quote I found that I really think is true.

"Many women look for a bargain in something they wear a lot- be it a skirt for work or a pair of jeans- and then go off and spend the equivalent of the GNP of a small Sounth American country on a ball gown to be worn only once. Better to look great everyday, in expensive jeans or expensive work suits. And let's face it, you can't tell whether cocktail dresses are cheap because who drinks cocktails with the lights up?"

Have a great Monday.

Dreaming

In my dreams I am the most organized person alive. I have cute little boxes and folders and such for each area of my life. In reality that isn't exactly true. I have clutter and I get disorganized. But I still dream of the day when I'll have a craft room with everything in it's place or my laundry area will be organized to within an inch of it's life. Needless to say I have a slight love affair going on with The Container Store. I mean their title explains it all. They sell CONTAINERS. What more could a wanna-be organizer need? I browse their page and drool over all the little containers.
Wouldn't all of my shoes be so happy to have their own little homes?
My seven year collection of Martha Stewart's Living would be right at home in these.

I've already started transfering everything in my pantry into glass jars and these would be great for some smaller items.

These would be great for storing neccasary things that I don't to look at all the time. Maybe in the guest room.

The ideas are endless and they really have a container for everything you can think of. And they have the strongest little magnets around. I have some and love them because they can hold anything on the fridge. Even 2 or 3 pages on top of each other.