Shop Update! Shoes!

Here's a look at the shoes I just added to the Etsy shop! They're all so cute, and not one of them is my size.

Brown Knee Boots

Black Suede Lace-up Pumps

Metallic Studded Flats

Brown Western Ankle Boots

We're counting down til Christmas. I've got two gifts left to buy, and all of them to wrap. But am looking forward to it! My theme this year is black/white/green. Very exciting times here.

And for me...

This might be the longest gift guide I make, but, hey - this is my blog.

We'll start off with two of these. My bedside tables are too small - every time I try to put something on them while in bed, I end up dropping it (phone, glasses, book).

From West Elm

A couple of things from the Rodarte for Target Collection. The navy and white striped tee and that leopard bow belt for now. Can't tell for sure what else I like!

I've been looking for something like this for a while, and this piece from the Lake and Stars/Urban Outfitters collaboration is gorgeous.

From Urban Oufitters

I really want a pair of clogs, and I don't think they get any better than these in Bordeaux.

From Hasbeens

I haven't gotten a new coat for a few years, and I adore this one.

From Orla Kiley

Aaaaaand, lets see...all the time in the world to spend with my family and friends! Not too much to ask, right?

Rabbit Ears

I finally found some rabbit fur ear muffs. And I do love them.

Even though the headband is strangely shaped as a result of being coiled up for 20+ years, and they're are shedding. And no - I didn't wear them at work all day, though I kinda wanted to. Dang - make up anyone?! At least I'm a little more put together than this by the time anyone else arrives at my office. I'm the early bird!

L-o-l-a

For my darling lil gal, a roundup of things I think she'd love, or at least I'd love giving her...

They Might Be Giants, Here Come the 123s - SO this might be a little old for her, but I've been looking for kid-friendly music that doesn't suck, and I think this would be fun for the car!


From Barnes and Noble


There are 3 dogs that live next door to us, and as soon as she hears them bark, she points and sort of grunts and then says something that sounds like "dog". Since there's not a chance in hell we'll ever get a real dog, I thought this one would do for now. So cute!

From the Land of Nod


Given her penchant for knocking things over - blocks seem like a no-brainer, these organic handmade ones are beautiful.

From Little Sapling Toys


Already have these - they're totally nuts. I love them. Now we can both rock our gold shoes....

From Robeez


In non-Holiday news, there's a blog dedicated entirely to discussing the Glee character Emma Pillsbury's wardrobe, check it - http://wwepw.blogspot.com/ (love the name!)

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I not only took a Facebook quiz to determine which Glee character I am, but also that I choose answers that would ensure I was Emma.

And - big sale in my Etsy shop!

Brrrr!

My snack for the afternoon - cookies (made by mother-in-law) and coffee. I know it should be cocoa - but frankly, if I'm going to drink something hot, I want it to be caffeinated, or alcoholic - ohh - bonus if it's both!

Anyway, it's freezing here and I'm enjoying arranging this gift guide for my 5 year old nephew. He's spirited young man, and always, always, up for a game, but HATES to loose. Such is life little man, such is life.

I think he'd like this his 3 in 1 Chess/Checkers/Chinese Checkers game. No doubt something that would keep him entertained.

From Board Games.com

This hat from J Crew's Crewcuts, it's so old-school and functional, plus it's got attitude, and his nickname is "Mr. Cool" afterall.

From J Crew

A couple of Hardy Boys books - he may be a little young, but I think he'd dig these stories!



And finally, this is really more for me than him, but isn't this kite cool!

From Fun With Wind

Next up - Little Miss Lola!

We're baaaack

Technically, we got back yesterday from our trip up north, but spent the day reordering things and catching up on sleep. We had a great time with friends!

Lola's sleeping issues were sort of ok - she never woke anyone (but me) up at 3:00 am - so I considered that success. I did a little shopping - checked one person off my x-mas list. Only 17 more to go... It's fixin to snow like a foot and a half here and we're home. And not leaving. Perfect time to start my gift lists.

The first person on my list is my mom. She's an interior designer, grandmother, and girl about town. While she is practical in many ways, she enjoys luxury and appreciates production quality and strong design equally.



From Anthropologie

My mom's drawn to prints - but generally prefers to wear solids, so this scarf will be perfect for her, and it'll look smashing with her red vintage coat!



From Moroccan Bazaar

These Moroccan tea glasses are so beautiful, perfect for her iced raspberry green tea each afternoon, and perhaps for her evening Grey Goose and tonic as well.






From Amazon

A book about Wabi-Sabi, which I'm still trying to wrap my head around, but as I understand it is a Japanese aesthetic theory that centers around finding and creating beauty that is imperfect and incomplete. I thought it would offer her a different perspective and approach to her work.





From My Teresa

And, even though she loses gloves like a madwoman, I think she'd be a little more careful with these lovely cashmere Missoni ones. I think they'd look great with that scarf. I'll take a pair too, thanks. Next up on the gift list - my 5 year old nephew!

Paper Whites!

I was excited to see this post on Design Sponge just now because I totally have plans to give Paper Whites as gifts this Christmas. I actually was inspired by an old Domino magazine to do so, but this feature looks awesome as well.


Design Sponge

I love the containers they use here, they collect them all year long from thrift shops and such. I'm thinking of going w/ a clear glass look. We'll see how that progresses.

They're gorgeous. Think I might need some for maself. I also notice that many blogs are featuring Gift Guides. I'm thinking of doing one as well - it will give me the nudge in the rear to gift shopping moving along. I'm a total last minute shopper, which always results in me spending way more than I wanted to. Every year I vow not to let it happen again, but then there I am, every Christmas Eve buying a $15 bar of soap for my aunt, because the place is OPEN and close to my work. I won't let it happen again!

Sleepy Time

Shhh, it's sleepy time, close your eyes - I say this at least 15 times a day right now. Somehow these are the "sleep signal" words that come out of my mouth most easily. I have no idea why. Using them is one of the tactics in the No Cry Sleep Solution, known around here as Getting Lola To Go To Sleep By Herself and Stay Asleep For Longer Than 5 Hours. Last night she woke up at 10:30, 2:30 and 5:30 - did you notice?! That's 4 hours! And 3 hours! More consecutive hours of sleep than we've had in a long time. It's a relief. She's just down for the night now. We'll see how we do.



Headed to MPLS tomorrow for friends and fun. Here's hoping we don't wake everyone up all weeknend.

Day 2

So we're back to the No Cry Sleep Solution with Lola. She woke up last night at 10:30, 12:45 and 3:15 - then up for the day at 6:30. We're both totally exhausted, but I think somehow are alternating days of sheer insanity due to sleep deprivation, cause I don't feel nearly as tired as Kirk sounds today. I just put her down for her nap, which she fought against, all while rubbing her eyes (one of her "tired") signs.

A friend of mine who had a baby just after me last January is due with another in June! And another gal I know who had a baby boy last November has got one coming in February. IT seems like a lot to handle to me. But, maybe their babies sleep through the night. Dang.

Well, I should be cleaning, but I'm having too much fun making my x-mas lists (for myself, and other people).

OW!

Well, since I had to get 3, yes, 3 fillings today, I thought I'd treat myself to a little something. I've been after a striped long sleeve shirt for a while now, and my dentists office is right near a Gap, I thought I'd pop in and see if they had one. NOPE. Instead I walked out with this clearance dress...



This shirt in grey...



And like 3 pair of tights - which seems slightly extreme, but I had some buy two get one free coupon floating around in my bag. Anyway - I didn't try the shirt on, it was an add on - I couldn't resist that bow (you should see my wedding dress!). So, now that I've tried it on, I remember why I rarely shop at Gap. Their sizing is whack! I bought the shirt in a small, worrying that I might need to return it for a medium, but it's insanely loose and long. I'm not a small person at all, so I don't know what's up. This means a trip back to the Gap. Oh, I tell you, my trials and tribulations.

I also encountered these...









Aren't they darling?! And don't they seem totally mom-appropriate and practical?! Just say yes.

Nap Time?

My god, I am tired. Since Lola was sick all last week - her sleep has gone to hell. She is harder than ever to get down for a nap, and has been waking every 2 hours for the last week or so. We went through this a while back and it got ugly. Then it got better, I think once a few teeth cut through and we established a better bedtime routine - things were easier. She was sleeping 3-4 hour stretches - which isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but better than 2! So now it feels like we're back to square one.


My question is this - do other moms really follow that "sleep while the baby is sleeping" adage? I for one can think of 3 thousand things that I should do before I take a nap - clean my house, update my etsy shop, stalk all of my favorite websites - just to name a few. I am dead-ass tired, but somehow can't get myself to lay down and close my eyes.

Whew!

Thanksgiving came and went, it was wonderful. Lovely food, drink and family.





Everything turned out great. The turkey was really yummy - even though we ended up with someone else's bird. Of course we didn't realize until 8:30 Thankgiving morning, when we removed the packaging and saw someone else's name (same first initial and similar last name to mine). I was supposed to get a 12 pound, the one got we was 16. It kinda ticks me off, and I think I'll call the store because ours was supposed to be free range, and I have no idea if this one was - plus, at $3.99 a pound, I would have much rather had the 12 pounder. Anyway - I hope the other person had enough for her meal. We certainly did, and have an insane amount leftover. Kirk made turkey stock so I'm searching for a spicy turkey soup recipe.



After meal activities included hide and go seek (I'm a terrible seeker), "crackers" (which is really the card game spoons, but, you know - with crackers instead of spoons) and playing with Lola who pretty much slept through lunch. Oh, and due to the current American Girl Doll hysteria of my 7 year old niece, taking this quiz.

I'm Rebecca.



Back to work tomorrow...

Getting Ready!

We are jazzed about Thanksgiving around here..we're hosting for the 2nd time. This year, I think we'll be a little more prepared, last year we'd just moved, I was pg and our house was slightly in shambles, but we enjoyed it anyway. Only downside is that Miss Lola has her first real fever. Hoping she's all better for tomorrow's festivities.




I am SO looking forward to our food tomorrow - we're making the turkey, but with a different stuffing, mashed potatoes (sort of boring, but I guess some people like them) Kirk's making a pie (something chocolate from the Joy of Cooking - uh, yum) and maybe a wild rice/brown rice thing. Other dishes will include mango/pear/goat cheese bruschetta, pumpkin mousse, roasted root veggies, and a late addition request from Natalie (niece) "something jello". Oh, and wine. Can't wait!

On their way...

Just hunted down these two skirts from an Anthropologie store in Washington, I think they'll both be really cute for the rest of fall and early winter.




I LOVE the print on the first skirt - so 60s! The yellow seems like it will be super easy to wear, though I'm a bit worried about the color. I just hope it reads the same in person as it does online, they really can vary so much! I sort of hated to pay full price - but I was in dire need of a wardrobe update. I've purged SO much from my closet, I barely have anything left, so I felt like it was a justified indulgance. Since having Lola, I've found separates much easier to wear than dresses - breastfeeding in a dress is, well it's challenging, as you can imagine. Yay skirts!

Ahhh

Finally found the perfect chair for Lola's room!

Thanks to this cute little green number - I am no longer sitting in the red kid chair. Baby's first piece of mid century furniture - what a milestone. It fit our requirements - no arms, small, non-distracting for curious 10 month old and I think it's something she can keep in her room for a long time. I think it makes her room a little less "precious" which is a good thing. So now when I'm up at four am - at least I'm comfortable.

I miss Domino

It was truly the best! I still look back over my old issues all the time, they're so full of ideas and really did a fantastic job of presenting design that appealed to so many styles. This was my favorite issue:

The home featured on the cover is like my dream home. But there's a new online publication called Lonny Mag, which was created by some of the Domino people. It's as full of design and tips as Domino was and it's online. In the first issue they featured Grace Bonney the creator of Design Sponge, which is another fantastic resource for all design related things, my favorite section is the Sneak Peeks. If the first issue is any indication, Lonny sure is picking up where Domino left off. Hooray!

OUT! Damn Spot.

Ever have a realization that seems so basic you're embarrassed to admit it? Yeah - me too. I've realized that when I don't address stains on Lola's clothes immediately, I usually forget about them and wash and dry the clothes setting the stains. So it dawned on me today that I should keep some stain remover in the hall closet just outside her room, this way, it's easy just to grab and spray. That way - you can put off the laundry even longer, and since you'd forget about them by the time you did it anyway, this makes things much easier! My girl gets MESSSSSY.

yum

late afternoon snack - goat cheese, hummus and spicy red wine...good way to transition from a day off to a night out.

friday shoppin

My relationship with shopping malls isn't really love/hate it's more like reallly dislike/hate, but living in a pretty small city, it's a necessary evil. So today I made the trip because I had something to return (jeans - good color, wayyyy to low) , which thanks my procrastination and Forever 21's sweet return policy, I will be keeping. It serves me right for shopping there, Lola looks catatonic after we leave that place.

One bright spot was these cute courdory pants at J Crew....

When I saw them I remembered that Joelle from, The Owls Are Not What They Seem wore these in a recent post (several reasons I love their blog - Twin Peaks reference title, numerous Thomas Pynchon references, Joelle shares my love for the color seafoam green and I just think they seem like cool girls). I think they actually seem quite versitale, which is a real requirement for me these days.  We'll see how often I'm able to work them in.

I also got a fake gold chain to use with these gifts from my husband, the donkey (mother of pearl!) was a birthday gift last year and the big agate oval is from his most recent trip to China.  The chain works great with the agate, but not so much with the donkey - it's too wide.  Foiled again!