From The Desk Of…

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I just love the Desk Collection stationery from Dear Hancock!






But I don’t know that any of these specifically apply to me…

So I may have to opt for the CUSTOM DESK:


They will design a desk that reflects your own work, hobbies and interests. Isn’t that brilliant? It would make a great gift too.

Of course my custom desk would have to be theoretical since my laptop sits on a dining room table littered with various and sundry family debris… Maybe I’d just call it “my dream desk.”

Wishing really, really hard for that (desk AND matching stationery).

Jacaranda Color

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I just discovered a lovely blog, Lilly’s Notebook. One of the first posts I read featured gorgeous pictures of otomi fabrics from an online store: Jacaranda.


Drawing inspiration from the jacaranda tree as “a reminder of nature’s perfect design,” this company champions natural and handmade goods by importing unique, indigenous items from Mexico, Central and South America.

My favorites were the pillows…




…ceramic plates…




…and of course, the textiles:


And wouldn’t it be fun to frame some of these swatches?


Then on the blog (which only has a few entries at the moment), I found this fantastic before and after of a reupholstered chair:



Love it!

They hope that as the jacaranda tree’s falling petals leave “their design imprinted on the world,” their own products will leave their own imprint in our homes.

See more HERE.

Semi-Custom Lamps

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I saw the line, Mottega on Material Girls recently, and thought it was pretty clever. The vision of Mark Moussa, best known for his company, Arteriors Home, Mottega, allows you to design your own lamp, so to speak.


My friend, Kathlin does semi-custom dresses and this is very much the same concept. Pick from a series of options…

color

shape

shade, etc.

…for a (semi) customized look!

Here are some that I (and my four year old son, George – see the dark blue one) designed:






Pretty cool! The best part is the turn around time: less than two weeks. The downside? They’re pretty pricey, ranging from $500 to $700. Definitely not an option for those on a budget. But there is a mailing list for sales. So it couldn’t hurt to sign up for that.

Sound Byte: WTF Eleanor?

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Last week, the day before I left for AZ, I decided that I needed to perform an emergency pedicure.

Since Eleanor is my constant sidekick, I set it up in the bathtub instead of my own little pedi tub (i.e. the old baby bathtub). As usual, the water was a tad more hot than I intended and we could barely dip in our toes without wincing.

Here is the conversation that followed:

Me: [in my best mommy, aren’t we having a fun time voice] Ooooh! It’s hot. Too hot. Ouch – my toes! It’s really hot – isn’t it?

Eleanor: Yeah – it’s really fucking hot.

Me: I’m sorry – what did you just say?

Eleanor: [smirking since she can tell I’m more amused (bemused?) than mad] I said, “it’s really fucking hot.”

Me: Eleanor. That is NOT a nice word and you know it. Where did you hear that? [As if I didn’t already know the answer…]

Eleanor: Daddy.

Me: Mmm Hmm. Let’s give him a call…

Then later in the day when I was in the car with George and Eleanor:

George: Rowan says, “stupid TV!”

Me: Well – we all say things like that when we’re frustrated. But we really shouldn’t say “stupid” since it’s not a nice word.

George: No! We shouldn’t say “stupid” – it’s not nice!

Me: That’s right.

Eleanor: No. We shouldn’t say stupid. And we also shouldn’t say “really fucking hot.” “Really fucking hot” isn’t nice either.

Me: [resigned] No Eleanor, “really fucking hot” isn’t nice either.

It’s all about learning opportunities our our house. Raisin’ ’em right!

Monday Links (on Tuesday)

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My weekend (which I’ll have to tell you about later) and a blogging e-course I’m taking have put me a tad behind on my blogging schedule. And yes – I realize that intimation implies that I have some sort of a schedule…but you know what I mean.

So I’m a day late on my links. But I really do have some good ones:

The five stages of death and dying – hamster style

The funniest take on dieting that I’ve read in a while

The devil horns are in the details (or the viking horns – or whatever)

The best Black Swan review I’ve read yet (though I haven’t actually seen Natalie’s award winning performance…this makes a cause for not bothering)

The teacher tells it like it is!

And Chinese New Year pictures so amazing I can’t stop looking at them. In fact – I’ll wrap up with two:



Look for more must see/reads next week!

*Images from Hither and Thither

I Want to Be Her!

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Or at least I would like to be the one who came up with this idea…

(visit the site to see larger/clearer images – this is as big I can get them)


I want to be her! is a blog written by Andrea Linett, co-founder/former creative director of Lucky Magazine and current creative director of eBay Fashion AND illustrated by fashion designer Anne Johnston Albert.

Andrea says that she sees women whom she “wants to be” all the time. And a few times a week, she and Anne capture them, their style and some of their vital stats through illustrations or photography. The graphics are paired with captions and links to their fashion sources.

Genius.

Here are some more “hers” to be (again – my images aren’t that big, so go to the blog for a better view!):




See more HERE!

Sandra Suy Illustrations

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I love these illustrations by Barcelona artist Sandra Suy. The combination of both bold and light, ethereal lines creates really interesting movement and emotion.







She claims to “love drawing people, especially beautiful women with beautiful dresses.” As a fashion illustrator, she gets to do both. But these images convey so much more than fine feathers on models. They have personality, intrigue and an old world glamor that goes beyond the two dimensional page.

See more of her work on on her website and in her (yeah!) Etsy shop.

Julia Denos and Audrey Hepburn

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Have you heard about the children’s book, Just Being Audrey?






I looked up the illustrator, Julia Denos and I LOVE her work. Just those few images really capture the character and spirit of the iconic film star.

Apparently the book follows her life from Nazi-occupied Europe through her years as an Ambassador for UNICEF.


I would love to buy this book for my own little girl (okay – it would really be for me). And I fully intend to keep an eye out for more Julia Denos illustrations. First step? Follow her blog, The Cinnamon Rabbit.

I’m skipping town early for a long weekend in sunny (or apparently rainy) AZ. So I’ll see you next week!

Okay – so maybe it’s kind of cute…

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On Tuesday, Oliver got off the bus missing – you guessed it – a front tooth.

He looks pretty adorable:

Of course we have no idea what happened to the tooth since he won’t actually pull them out himself. He lets them literally fall out of his mouth. It’s quite possible that he swallowed it during lunch. The only reason that we were able to retrieve the first tooth to fall out was that Chris was standing next to Oliver when it hit the floor. HE was the one to say, “hey Oliver – is that your tooth?!” No such luck at school. The tooth fairy got a note.

Even if he does look sweet with his new pumpkin face – it still hurts my heart a little…


I’m leaving today for Phoenix and won’t be back until Sunday night. I’m going to my sister in law’s baby shower ALONE. As in I-can-sleep-on-the flight-alone. Torn between grinning and pouting…While I love my alone time, I will miss those little boogers.

Anyway – no posting until Monday – so have a great weekend!