Organization, here I come!

I always want to be organized but my secret is out, I'm totally NOT. A lot of my life is a series of disarray much to the dismay of the hubs. I wouldn't say every portion of my life is a disaster just the parts that are not usually seen by the outside world (office + closet). I have been salivating over the goodies at Russell + Hazel, they have all sorts of pretties to keep you organized.

I really want these mini-binders probably more because they're cute than the hope that they might turn me away from what I like to call organized chaos. Really though, who am I fooling?

Vacation is officially over.

So starting tomorrow I will be drinking only this

and eating only this.

Don't you hate that about vacation?

Ken Fulk

I know most of us design junkies get a lot of the same magazines but when I saw the ranch of Ken Fulk in House Beautiful I thought that I'd died and gone to heaven. Ken Fulk is one of those designers that I always think, "I love that" and then when I look to see who designed the room I'm not surprised.

Hello, nice to meet you.

This kitchen is to die for, and those stools...swoon!

Oh I'd love to join you on the patio for dinner.

Thanks for the invitation a swim sounds great.

Oh Ken, can we please, please, please be friends?

I'm back!

I'm back and very tired. We had a wonderful time at the beach and the boys are just loving it now so it was hard to leave. I took my 4 year old to Legoland, it was his first experience with a theme park and he was great, he waited pretty patiently for the rides and was thrilled with his pirate's booty. I thought that we should start a little smaller before we hit Disneyland and I'm so glad we did.

My little matey

We go to San Diego every year but this was the first time since having children that it seemed a little easier, not all of the diapers, naps and well just littles being littles. I certainly didn't wish those times away but having the boys laugh and loving the waves was certainly a lot of fun. We didn't do Sea World or the Zoo this year but honestly I think my beach babies would tell you that the sandy beach and cool breezes are where it's at!

Happy Weekend!

We are headed off to the beach for some R&R and I will be gone all next week. Hopefully I will have some time to check in, but if not I will be back on the 30th. Have a wonderful weekend!

{Image via Conde Nast}

What's your style?

For those of you that are thinking you might want to try Pilates but are a little hesitant to take the plunge check it out the post on the different styles by Heads Up On Your Body. It's very informative and might help you decide on what would be best for you.

{Image via Balanced Body}

Paula Hamilton

The platter by Paula Hamilton is gorgeous and sadly she doesn't have a website (yet) but good ole' HB did have a photo I could share.

Mahar Drygoods

This is one of those websites that I find and I wonder, "Why haven't I see this?" I had such a wonderful time browsing Mahar Drygoods, they have fab vintage and artesian crafted toys and an equally as fun blog.

These crocheted party hats are too cute for words!

This the The Yeti and the Tooth Fairy Shadow Puppet set, this could make for for one spooky family night.

Last but not least a Toadstool Tea Set, perfect for tea party set in an enchanted forest. I love that it's red so if your little lady has some friends that are boys they will feel equally welcome at this table.

{via Cool Mom Picks}

Looks good

Watermelon Ginger Limeade = Yum! Looks super refreshing and summery not to mention the color is fab.

Shoe Tales

You know when you go to the shoe department and have something very specific in mind then they bring out your shoes and they decide you might like a few other pairs too? I find this so irritating, only because I'm not a wishy-washy person I usually know what I want and honestly usually I tell the salesperson not to bother bringing out any extra pairs, but on this occasion I forgot and he brought these.


Of course the shoe I wanted had to be ordered because they didn't have my size and I tried on these for fun now I just keep wishing that I would have bought them too. They totally got me!

Deco Deluxe

I'm totally diggin' this Linen Deco Deluxe Pendant.

Vacay

I've been a little slow on the draw lately with the blogging because we are getting ready to go on vacation. We are headed to San Diego next Thursday for a week and a half and getting everything ready is always a lot of work. There loads of laundry, packing, getting everything ready for the housesitter, it always seems as though I'm going nuts until the last minute.

Although the boys are still small enough that vacation seems more like life in another city, it's a heck of a lot cooler which makes for one happy mom.

IKE Watches

I have a huge crush on these IKE Dynamic Rubber watches. They do have some gorgeous traditional ones but these are much more fun!

{Image via Style.com}

Esther Coombs

Tea cups and coffee mugs, love 'em! So I've seen Esther Coombs work on a couple of blogs and it's so special that I just keep going back to take one more peek.

{via Poppytalk and Print & Pattern}

Yes I know, spelling starts with s

So for all of you out there that read my comments on your blogs, please do not think I'm illiterate.

Honestly I'm usually just in a big, fat hurry and don't really proofread my comments until it's too late, oops.

{Image via Flickr}

Prancer Party

I've already confessed my love for So You Think You Can Dance and now it's starting to get good. I've just been waiting for the Top 20 to be chosen so we can finally watch something juicy. First I'll just give you a little back story, one of my closest friends Jenn and I, (we both have hubbies that work late) last season we would always get together to watch SYTYCD. It was like a well-oiled machine, she would keep me company with the kids and once they went to bed we would eat dinner, drink some vino and watch our show. We had our personal faves and the ones we thought we losers, mind you they weren't always the same so there was some good natured teasing going on. Last season I couldn't stand Lauren and I called her Prancer (and would do imitations), so in honor of last season tonight we are having our first Prancer Party. These are my thoughts so far:

Courtney G - Totally adorable personality.

Kherington P. - Already completely bugs me and it isn't even the real show yet. Not to mention what the hell with the spelling, seriously why?

Kourtni L. - Again the name why, but I think she's sooo good.

My verdict is still out for the boys, no one really wowed me yet.

Wisteria

Lately out in blogland there has been much ado about Wisteria, so I had to check it out. Lucky me, I found a couple things that would be perfect for my abode.

Chinese Willow Planter

Brass Doorknob Bookends

Domino Box

Arugula and Bresaola Salad

This look right up my alley except I'll have to make it when the hubs is away because he isn't a big fan of arugula. I'll take it though, yum!

{Recipe from Martha Stewart}

One lucky girl

This past weekend is was of those times I wish I could bottle up and keep forever. My four year old son planned the perfect Harry Potter birthday party for me (I think because I have a couple of Harry Potter books and he thought that I would like it) since he has to have a theme party he thought I should have one too.

My little is finally starting to talk a little more and nothing melts my heart more than hearing his, "Oh Mommy". At the same time his older brother has started calling everyone "dude" which totally makes me laugh because I have no idea where he came up with that. My family rocked the party with their thoughtful gifts (many of which came straight from this blog). So basically I'm just feeling super lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.

William Hodgins

I love the foyer designed by William Hodgins, it's truly lovely.

{Images via House Beautiful}

Happy Weekend!

{Image via Conde Nast}

Love Dip

We're grilling this weekend so I'm going to try this yummy Love Dip from Cutie at I *Heart* You, it looks to die for!

{Image via Homesick Texan}

Buffy 101

During my daily online news briefing an article caught my eye, "Buffy goes to college (again)". I have a confession to make, I totally like science fiction and I do love Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I had the opportunity to watch the whole series during my 4 1/2 month stint on bedrest with my first pregnancy. There are several books and series in popular culture that have enough of a cult following for people to actually look deeply into the mythology and themes to make up some crazy classes. Don't get me wrong as a humanities major I have read texts and dug deep in there to make an argument for it's feminist, homoerotic, post-colonial or some other equally obscure theme. I was a humanities major more by default than anything but seriously where were these classes when I was in college? I want to take a class about Harry Potter, Buffy or even Star Wars rather than spending a whole semester on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Pardonez moi, the nerd in me just needed a moment to escape!

Shot through the heart

Lately it seems as though I'm totally pimping Jonathan Adler but I assure you this table completely caught my eye just because it's so fun. Not only are the arrows gorg, the top is mirrored and that makes me love it even more.

{Image via House Beautiful}

New window art

I need something new for my back doors and I would love for it to be children's art. I would love this in different size circles or diamonds.

{Image via Martha Stewart}

I can't believe I'm talking about this

Honestly what I'm going to talk about maybe a little weird but it's something that I really feel I need to share. Now that I'm not working at a 40 hour a week job things around here changed a bit. My bi-weekly pedi's that were a necessity have now become a quarterly luxury. I have become a beauty do-it-yourselfer and my new favorite beauty item is, tada!

Yes, I'm actually in love with the Ped Egg so run out to your local drugstore and buy one. I know I saw it to on the infomercial and thought, nah. But I bought one at the advice of my mother-in-law and am now a convert. So ladies if you live somewhere hot where sandals are pretty much a year round thing, give it a whirl you won't be sorry.

I heart these

I adore this Ruffle Trim dress
and would like to carry this Groovy Clutch with it.

{both from Intuition}

Cheers!

I just wanted to take a moment to send a little cheer out to my friend Rikki, The Invitation Lady. I actually write for TIL's blog every Tuesday and Thursday (I was a client first), so I'm extra excited about this. Because of her gorgeous work she was invited to be part of Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book of Vendors.

Those of us who look at wedding blogs know that Abby from Style Me Pretty is one of the best out there, a great resource for Brides-to-be and for those of us that love to look at pretty things.

{Image from Style Me Pretty}

Isn't life grand?

Arrggghhh!!! OK that's over with, it has been one of those crazy days where nothing gets done at my house. My older son is masquerading as a little tyrant and my little is a non-napper, these things make for one long day.

So I share with you this lovely image of House & Garden with a fantasy house and a sweet family picnic. With my luck though I'm thinking this kid is probably feeling like a pill too!

{Image via Conde Nast}

Silhouettes - played?

I saw these darling silhouettes on Oh Joy and loved that they were colorful and the dog for me was the icing on the cake. I would love to make some of the boys and our two doggie daughters Chloe and Stella but first I need to pose two questions to you.

{Carter Kustera silhouettes}

1. Where do you think a grouping of family silhouettes would look good? 2. Before I hop on this train do you think they're played out? I know on the second question is more an issue of if I like it or not, but I'm interested to hear your feedback.

Raspberry-Lime Swirl Pops

Mmmm, make something super cool for these hot summer days.

{image via Cookie Magazine}

Am I Born to Stitch?

So while looking Print & Pattern's eye candy blog I found the coolest thing ever, a website with kitchy, fun embroidery patterns. If you ever gander at my favorite things you will see that I love embroidered linens. Sublime Stitching sells patterns for some pretty cool embroidery projects.

So I'm beginning to wonder if I could do this, a nice little project for me to embark on.

My only real problem is deciding what patterns to use, because they are so cute I want to do them all!

So check it out and report back. I can totally picture my kitchen stocked with tea towels that I can proudly say I embroidered myself.

Happy Monday!

My favorite part of this classic white kitchen is the children's artwork taped to the cupboards.

{Image via Southern Accents}