This morning, I got a little slap on the hand from BlogHer for hosting a giveaway above a certain price point on a page displaying their ads (seems I’m not so good at reading the fine print on contracts). So I had to take a break from my blogging black out week to move that post HERE.
I’ll be taking entry comments both here and on the new post, so no need to comment a second time if you’ve already done so. Sorry for the confusion.
Okay – back to my vacation!
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post this, but Chris was out of town when they arrived. Then, as you know (if you’ve been reading), it’s been a rough couple of weeks.
But the day has finally arrived – the Womily Touch cuff links are here!
And they are so cool. Chris was thrilled.
If you read the “how to” post, you will remember that due to challenging conditions (i.e. having children), we were unable to get both twins to cooperate at the same time. So only Eleanor’s fingerprints were used for the links.
Here is an action shot (or what a cuff link considers “action”).
Very sharp!
And just because I’m at artist at heart (with limited photography skills), Here are some additional images with an edgy sidewalk chalk backdrop:
Here is a better shot of that:
While I’m here – I may as well throw in a few more visuals of the Hoods.
This is a picture of my daughter with a pig kite.
This is a picture of Oliver playing out back with the hose.
This is a picture of what George likes to call “R2 – time for nap!”
I had so many questions about WHERE to get this amazing toy, that I finally looked it up online.
Chris’ grandfather bought it. And while I suppose I could just ask him, the idea of trying to explain to an 80-somthing guy that I want to post about it on my blog…well it seemed easier to just Google it.
But I’m so glad I did, because look what I found!
Now that are saying you MUST have this – here is a link to where you can purchase it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E95SQ2.
It’s not cheap – but SO worth it when your friend in another room demands a beverage. Once you go “interactive astromech droid” you never go back…
As I may have mentioned before, we watch far too much television at my house – kid DVDs to be specific. I have become a regular connoisseur of pre-school entertainment. Love The Wiggles, love to hate Barney and for the love of god, someone turn the volume down when Dora is on!
I have favorite quotes from Clifford (John Ritter did a mean big red dog), shed copious tears at the end of Homeward Bound, and can pretty much learn to find some enjoyment in any of these shows that I am subjected to in my rather aggressive viewing schedule. What do they call this…the Patty Hearst Syndrome?
When my kids find a DVD they like, I can expect to watch it non-stop for weeks. We’ve almost destroyed the aforementioned Homeward Bound DVD with wear (Oliver calls that one “dogs and cat” which cracks me up since it sounds like “moose and squirrel”). If I watch Thomas and Friends one more time I think I’ll scream. And I won’t even get into the whole Milo and Otis reign of terror…
But I’m constantly surprised by how creative and dare I say it, “hip” some of this programming can be. Case in point: Yo Gabba Gabba.
We discovered Yo Gabba Gabba on Noggin a while ago and I have enjoyed many a quiet 30 minutes while DJ Lance and his unusual friends brainwash my children into drooling silence.
I have often thought that people on drugs would enjoy this show. Here is the Party in My Tummy clip (guaranteed to get stuck in your head for days on end…but you will LIKE it):
Did you watch it? For the rest of the day you’ll be singing, “so yummy – so yummy!” That was Brobee. The full cast is as follows:
DJ Lance Rock, in the orange jumpsuit
Muno, “the red cyclops”
Foofa, “the pink flower bubble”
Brobee, “a little green monster”
Toodee, “the blue cat-dragon”
Plex, “the yellow robot”
The whole premise is that DJ Lance shows up on set with his giant 80s “boom box,” then opens it to pull out these creatures and place them in some kind of diorama. Once he sprinkles a little magic dust on them, they come to life and the dance party begins.
This is trippy stuff.
The weirdest character by far is Muno:
Chris calls him “the big red dildo.” And in my search for some pictures, I discovered that this is a common observation. But I give Chris full credit since I heard it from him first.
The other characters, of course, have their own “themes” (I mean other than “sex toy character”), but the point of this post isn’t to map out the world of Yo Gabba Gabba Wikepedia-style for you.
Oh yeah – right. I actually DO have a point to all of this (don’t I always?) Which is…that I was recently asked to review Yo Gabba Gabba – New Friends. Of course I said yes. That’s a no brainer in this house. A new DVD? Send it now so I can get them off of this painful Milo and Otis kick! Plus the New Friends episode features Jack Black – so I needed no further encouragement.
Chris and I are known Jack Black fans and closet Yo Gabba Gabba fans – so we were pretty excited when the DVD arrived in the mail. This particular episode is about being thrown into a new environment with new people (or big red dildos, or whatever) and how it’s not that scary once you open up and give them a chance.
Highlights include Jack’s “dancy dance” which involves a kick ass John Travolta-Saturday Night Fever move, a montage of Jack’s good times with his new friends, and of course a magical wardrobe change into DJ Lance Rock’s orange jumpsuit and fuzzy hat. His classic line: “I can’t believe it fits!”
Here is a clip I found on YouTube:
Yo Gabba Gabba also has some animated sketches from indie cartoonists. My favorite is “sometimes you win – sometimes you lose.” Chris is less impressed by the message this one tries to convey as he is of the opinion that second place means “first loser.” Maybe my kids really need Yo Gabba Gabba for some balance…
Not surprisingly, I found this quote on Wikipedia: “The show has also become popular among young adults, with some watching under the effects of cannabis.[6]” NO – really? And they never thought anyone could surpass the stoner appeal of the Teletubbies… Yo Gabba Gabba speaks to people on so many levels…(and drugs).
But hey this is a family blog! And I can smugly say that none of my children (ages 2-4) have EVER done drugs. So no worries here.
All in all, I give Yo Gabba Gabba – New Friends a big thumbs up. It manages to appeal to both children and parents, which is a big plus in our “all kids’ programming – all the time” house.
And seriously – how could you ever go wrong with Jack Black in an orange jump suit…
So yummy – so yummy…
A while ago, a good friend of mine forwarded me a Daily Candy Philadelphia e-mail spotlighting her cousin’s super cool “touch” jewelry. Womily Touch Jewelry is basically fingerprints cast in silver or gold and then made into necklaces, earrings and cuff links. I thought I’d give Chris some silver cuff links for his birthday.
The original plan was to have each of the twins put a fingerprint on one of the two cuff links. There was some talk of how Oliver would be represented, and a gold pinkie ring was discussed…but in the end, we decided that Oliver had top billing on plenty of other occasions. This could be something for just the twins (plus – gold pinkie rings are a bit pricey for us in this economy).
We were all set to break out the kit last weekend, but in reading the directions, we realized that we were missing an important ingredient: baby oil. Now, one would think that a woman with three very young children would have some left over baby oil lying around. But I never used baby oil for anything. And we had to wonder – what ARE you supposed to use baby oil for – and are people really using it? It’s always stocked at the grocery store and pharmacy…so one would think so… But as it turned out, NO ONE in our baby-infested neighborhood had any baby oil on hand. Makes you wonder…
SO first lesson learned in the Touch Jewelry making experience: own or buy baby oil.
We finally got our act together the following evening after the kids did their version of “eating dinner.” I swept crumbs off the table and moved as much playroom debris as possible out of the area where I’d be taking pictures (I don’t mind telling you that we live in chaos – but it’s another thing to flaunt it on film).
I’m not sure why I thought that I’d have a different photography experience than I usually do – but I didn’t. Everyone moved when I wanted them to stay still and faced in the wrong direction. They arranged limbs so that it was impossible to see the product and insisted on closing their eyes for 90% of the pictures I took. I think it’s safe to say that while I think my children are movie star beautiful, I have no hopes for their future in the modeling industry.
In fact – George refused to participate at all. He was too busy ripping off his pants and chasing Oliver around. I don’t care how that may sound – it’s what happened.
The directions were pretty simple and the kit just involved two brass “tools” (which looked somewhat like little caps), two thin discs of wax and two plastic eggs.
I should say at this point that during these tasks we were expending about 95% of our energy on trying to keep the kids from playing with the baby oil and “tools” and overturning the table in the mad rush to see what was going on, as well as putting underwear back on Oliver who had just finished up on the potty. So TRULY the procedure was as easy as it gets.
Once the wax was softened we inserted it in the tools and had Eleanor make an imprint in each. We did try to grab George – but he was having none of it.
We let the wax cool for a few minutes, removed it from the tools, placed each one in an egg and then packed everything up to ship to Womily. All so simple and easy! I’m not particularly crafty – so this is my kind of project. There was only one problem:
It will take several weeks to get the cuff links back, but when we do, I’ll post pictures. Until then, I will leave you with this:
Anyway – back to my semi-nude son… You know it’s Spring when the Hood kids start running around outside in their underwear. We’re a pretty classy group… But at least George put on some shoes. And look at those skinny white legs! I may need to break out the self tanner for that poor pasty little guy…
I was trying to come up with a title that would combine three separate things… It was supposed to sound like a fortune cookie with that “in bed” ending – but I have to admit…it’s pretty pathetic.
So I’ll get to the point.
First – one of my Materialistic Monday posts on beds is featured on myilive’s Local Days blog today. So go check it out!
Second – I thought I’d let you know that myilive is currently running a $1,200 DC shopping contest. You just have to write about your worst shopping experience in 200 words or less. This is open to anyone – so you don’t need a blog (and I don’t think you have to be a DC resident – but living in the area would probably facilitate the shopping spree…) Visit myilive for details!
Third – I’m having blogger’s remorse over my Underdogs Unite website. It was supposed to be ironic (Hang on! I’m being ironic and featuring pictures of an old school cartoon character…does this make me a hipster? What do you think Prada?), but I was also serious about hearing from other Underdogs and featuring them. Since no one has sent me any requests in 24 hours, I’m probably just going to take it offline and file it under, “we will never speak of this again.” So if I don’t hear from anyone in a week, Underdog will officially leave the building. No idea what I’m talking about? Read this.
Other than that, my week is off to a lovely start with a birthday (Oliver turned four yesterday) and a lot of vomit. Eleanor is sick. So I’ll report more on that tomorrow. Which means there will be a token picture of Oliver in his birthday crown, and 1,000+ words devoted to puke. Because seriously – I know what the people want.
Isn’t this lovely?
This is where I will be (in my head) for the next week. Things are not going well at Big Piece of Cake Headquarters, and I need a vacation. The vacation will only be in my head of course, and I will still have to go to work and deal with the source of my need for escape… But I’m going to invest all of my free mind space in holding my light floral skirt back against the warm Summer breeze and gazing at my new strappy white shoes (I SAID it was Summer in my head – so white shoes are allowed).
Instead of turning off the lights and pulling down my pink shade though, I’ve asked a few friends to guest post in my absence. A couple of moms, a couple of young ladies…all people I love to read. I hope that you will enjoy them as well.
In the meantime, I will be enjoying warm weather and new footwear in the painting above. OR…
I may be here enjoying a late afternoon cocktail and rethinking that zebra head (it seemed like a good idea at the time…). OR…
See you in a week!
Sources:
1. Janet Hill Studio – The Evening Picture
2. ANNECHOVIE – ART BY ANNE HARWELL
I need a little pretty today. I’m sick. And not pretty. And still rather directionless – which could be cute if I was pretty, but I’m not, so it’s just kind of sad. So bring on the pretty!
Did you get your March Anthropologie catalog? No one does pretty like Anthropologie. I think that I Enjoy Being a Girl could be their theme song.
Initially, the ruffles and flowers caught my eye:
I love the ruffled neckline of the Helium Moon Blouse.
The Galaxy-of-Dots Dress also achieves a “girly but not too girly” look in simple white on white polka dots and eyelet lace trim.
The Tamarindo Blouse may be my favorite though with those frothy layers of neckline ruffles. “I enjoy being a girl” indeed!
This simple Carambola Shift could look good on the beach or out to dinner. Or both (soooo looking forward to our beach vacation this Summer – even if it does conflict with BlogHer).
And what girly girl could resist the chiffon Breadfruit Blouse with it’s ruffles and floral appliques?
Here’s a closer look.
I can’t decide if I like the Meridian Blouse better in navy (which IS nautical) or…
…in yellow. Which IS Summer.
While not technically a sailor dress, those big buttons on the Wight’s Sago Dress are reminiscent of sailor pants and the crisp print looks like it would fit right in at a boating party.I could go on and on about Anthropologie, but those items would be at the top of my fantasy shopping spree list.
Additionally, I’m kind of obsessed with a dress I saw on Grosgrain. Have you seen this?
No? Here it is again.
I don’t run out for anything but milk or batteries these days. Or maybe to capture an escaped toddler or two. It’s a very glamorous life I lead – one that requires some ruffles I think.
Have a great weekend!
Chris’ parents were here this weekend, so there wasn’t much time for writing. I did want to get in a quick Materialistic Monday post though.
I’ve had Vintage Rehab on my Etsy favorites list for a long time. I think my friend Ainsley first introduced me to Stacey Samuel’s work.
1800s Fan Necklace
Here is a short description of Vintage Rehab that I pilfered from an old press release:
Vintage Rehab is creating a tradition of providing life and rejuvenation to heirloom pieces, transforming them into modern every day wearables. Stacey Samuels, an accomplished Interior Furniture Designer and experienced Marketing Veteran, started her jewelry business as an Estate Sale addict.
“I was looking for my niche within the custom jewelry business, so I began to attend estate sales and auctions. One thing that I noticed was that estate jewelry had lots of personality but there was something missing. Each piece I purchased seemed to scream out at me… please fix me up and give me life! So I did just that. Each piece I have created has great history, presence and has a distinctive heirloom quality. I give it even more life by choosing only the great pieces and doing a lot of work giving it layers and using only the highest quality resources.”
My long standing love affair with antique jewelry is one of the defining elements of my current design preferences. When I was a little girl, I was too young to appreciate the bigger picture of fashion and home design, but I could find beauty in one single object.
1900’s Embellished Locket Necklace
Whether it was a beautifully embroidered pillow, an ornately painted Limoges box or a filigreed gold locket – I was drawn to it. As a child, I wouldn’t have been able to explain what caught my eye beyond the fact that it was “pretty,” but I now know that it all came down to detail.
1900’s Scenic Locket Necklace
Of course, this love of detail and flourish dictated that I would inevitably become enamored with any number of over the top monstrosities during those formative years… I have a distinct memory of studying an image of Princess Diana’s wedding shoes and asking my mother she would make me a wedding dress “exactly like hers” when I got married. My genius mother said, “of course honey,” knowing full well that it was just a young girl’s daydream and not a binding agreement to spend every night for a year sewing seed pearls on lace hearts.
One of a kind design featured on the Vintage Rehab blog.
But at the core of this preference for all things “fancy” was an appreciation for detail and the workmanship involved. Most of the jewelry I received as a young girl came from antique stores and flea markets. Back in the 70s and 80s, it was possible to buy an old enamel pin for a fraction of what people now pay for “estate jewelry.” Stacey’s pieces remind me so much of my childhood and the contents of my beloved jewelry box.
1920’s Etched Circular Locket Necklace
Even now when I think about the way I want a room or an outfit to look, I start and end with the details. And vintage jewelry epitomizes this perspective.
The fan pin necklace pictured at the top of this post brought back waves of nostalgia, and I wanted to feature some images of these lovely old pieces that have been recently brought back to life by Vintage Rehab. So add this to your own Esty favorites, personal wish list, life inspiration list or any old list that seems appropriate. Stacey and Vintage Rehab are on every single one of mine.
I am ready for Spring.
I’m always cold. I’m over sweaters. And I’m tired of looking like a sad housewife who’s finally thrown in the towel and committed to college sweatshirts as a part of her daily uniform. The only time I don’t look like I’m wearing jammies is when I go to work. And even there, I’m rotating my few turtleneck sweaters so rapidly that they will be threadbare by the end of this month.
So when I heard that that hack groundhog predicted another six weeks of winter, I felt a bit deflated. Six weeks sounds like a really long time right now. Even as I type this my fingers feel like ice and I’m hunched over like an old crone. Damn you fickle groundhog! Who died and made you boss of the Spring season?
Further feeding my cravings for warm breezes and sandals are the sun filled Spring catalogs that are delivered to my door each day. The models look so relaxed (and warm) as they frolic across those beaches and meadows… I know, I know – it was probably 30 degrees outside when they shot those layouts – but still! I want to wear flip flops and halter tops and eat ice cream on my front steps. I want to hear birds chirping when I walk out my front door. I’ll even fend off a few mosquitoes. I just want Winter to be over!
Since it seems that I’ll have to wait six more torturous weeks, I’ll have to make do with perusing catalogs of Spring clothing. And right now, I’m in love with J. Crew’s delicate colors, fabrics and detailing. Many of their featured pieces even look to be inspired by Spring flowers.
This is the first one that caught my eye:
I’m in love with the intricate neckline of “petals.”
I want one in every color.
New Hudson shell fresco-print top
It also comes in a sweet little cardigan.
Shoes even!
At first I thought this was just a beautifully cut shirt. Then I saw a close up view of the Liberty Art fabric wildflower pattern. A simple cut + an intricate fabric = a perfect shirt for Kate’s Spring wardrobe fantasies.
I don’t even know where to start with the Crocodile cocktail jacket. The three quarter sleeves, the ruffle collar – I’m literally breathless. “Currently seeking to fill the position of Personal Fairy Godmother. Retail experience required. Ability to conjure this jacket a plus.”
Did you know that chartreuse is my signature color? Okay – not really, but I love saying “signature color.” Very Steel Magnolias.
It’s even available in my size which is unheard of for sale items… Sigh. It’s criminal really. Or at least a real bummer.
Why am I so poor right now? It’s just not right when there are so many Materialistic Monday worthy Spring fashions hitting the shops. Makes me feel like shaking my first and shouting, “I’ll get you Recession! And your little groundhog too.”
*Contrary to the Steel Magnolias and Wizard of Oz quotes – I am not in fact a gay man. Just wanted to clarify.
