McQueen

I know this may sound completely silly to some of you but when I heard that Alexander McQueen had died I was very sad.

He was truly an artist and when the world loses a creative spirit of such greatness we all are a bit less because of it. Couple that with the fact that he took his own life, it literally broke my heart.

I know that I obviously didn't know him or even wear his clothing for that matter (too pricey for moi) but that didn't stop me from always waiting to see what he would come up with next. His clothing was perfectly tailored and full of fantasy, that combination is heady stuff.

Girls like me who love to pore over the fashion shows online or on streaming video will surely be missing him in the coming seasons.

{images from style.com and Fashionably Independent}

Read it :: Blonde Designs

During a blog surfing sesh I happened upon Blonde Designs (via Design Crush), I was looking for something for Big to give as a Valentine that was unique and fun. These easy Lip & Mustache Lollipop Valentine's fit the bill perfectly. So cute right? Made them and didn't trim the tags yet(which you can download on Blonde Designs) that say, "Happy Valentine's Day Love, Big" but you get the idea. My models found my stash of lollipops so I had to get a few snaps of them in payment for their treat. As you can see my niece is happy as can be with her glittery pink lips and well Little...he's his usual self. He wanted the lollipop sans moustache.

If you want some great party ideas and fun downloads this is your place. Oh yeah, and let's not forget their gorgeous invitations. So go now and check them out!

Take a trip

I feel like going on a trip but until then I'll just have to contain my wanderlust to a few trip worthy items.

No trip to Paris in the near future? Don't despair you can wear the Eiffel Tower instead.

Wrap a package in a map, maybe it'll give your honey a hint.

Find the perfect swimsuit that will accompany you to the nearest warm beach.

If all else fails head to your nearest boulangerie, nothing a few croissants can't cure.

Make it :: Candy Buttons

One of my girlfriend's did a Cute as a Button party for her daughter's first birthday and I know if she would have seen these molds to make candy buttons she would have done it in a heart beat. Bake It Pretty has the molds and some pretty cool pdfs to make your buttons the perfect favor.

So cute.

Try it?

We are finally buying a new TV to replace the old one in our bedroom, thank goodness. For you naysayers I used to be one of you, adamant about no TV in the bedroom but once I got married it was one of those move in together compromises. Now I love it, for those nights when you just want to wind down in your own bed, when your kids are sick and the afternoon is spent watching Sponge Bob or the other TV is tied up with the latest game.

Basically we're going round and round about what size and what would look best. I'm pretty ambivalent I just want something better than what we have and well truthfully nothing too big. So stumbling upon this little image of a TV sort of hidden in a gallery wall has me thinking, I likey.

{image from Style at Home}

Mommy moment

Sometimes when you're a mom you just have to shake your head and move on. Case in point, yesterday morning the boys wanted to play fetch with the dogs but they were outside eating their breakfast so they decided to play themselves. Big was the thrower and Little was the dog. Fine right?

{Stella waiting to play}

Until I catch Little licking the dogs' tennis ball. Ewww. I ask, "Did Little just lick the tennis ball?" Big shrugs and says, "Yep." I shake my head and keep walking. No point in saying anything because I know they couldn't miss my shocked delivery when asking the question. Would this be a move on moment for you? I guess it could also be one of those 2nd child moments too..or maybe a combo?

In moderation

Boo to all you spammers out there! After tons of time spent deleting unsavory links in my comments (on more than one occasion) my comment moderation is going on. I love the spontaneity that commenting brings and I'll do my best to moderate quickly. Hopefully this little spell will only last for a bit.

Bad, bad spammers, I just want to give you a quick 1, 2 in the gut.

Monogram Mugs

I know that we're all obsessed with the Monogram mugs from Anthro, so look at this adorable floral display using them. How cute would this be on a Valentine's Day table or any table for that matter?

{Ariella Chezar floral, photography by Meg Smith via Snippet & Ink}

BRB...

Friends believe me I'm not ignoring you I've just been a busy girl lately and today is nuts. So while I'm hard at work I hope you're doing something really, really fun.

Oh and I did watch Kell on Earth last night and loved it. I always really liked Kelly Cutrone on The Hills and The City, she was like a big scary bad a*& with a heart of gold. Can't beat that. Casey Hagerty said it best on Twitter, "Also, I appreciate that her office isn't full of Whitney, LC and Olivia wannabes. They're little fashion gremlins, I love it!" Doesn't that just sum it up perfectly? I will be thinking of them that way now every time I watch it.

Kell on Earth

Can you believe I haven't watched it yet? It was on too late and I was tired, hopefully I can squeeze it in sometime this afternoon.

How was it??

love brights

I know this image is from July but I can't help myself. This is how you wear brights and rock a pair of heart shaped sunnies.

Just in case you wondering how to wear them this Valentine's Day...

{photograph from the insanely talented Garance Dore}

We're home

Yesterday I hit the Zoo with the Kindy's and it was chilly and it rained on us. At first I was cold and annoyed then I decided that it rarely is cold and rainy in AZ so I should just enjoy it. We got to see all of the animals they were all out parading in the gray weather. Crisis averted.

Today Big is home sick from school, thankfully with nothing too tragic so he should be back in class tomorrow. Whew. I think that we'll have to make some vanilla scones today to give us all something to do, now I just need to find a recipe.

**Sidenote: Just googled Starbucks Vanilla Bean Scone recipe because the kids love them. Happily just found that King Arthur Flour has a blog and a scone recipe too. I love using King Arthur flour especially the Unbleached Whole White Wheat Flour.

{room by Ryan Korban via Remodelista}

A bit unexpected

A tiny kitchen and a small bathroom get a huge impact with gallery style art.

The cool lighting doesn't hurt either.

{via Desire to Inspire and Steven Gambrel via Elle Decor}

Love it :: Sweet Love Valentines

My friend Kim of TomKat Studio sent me an early Valentine's Day presey, her printable Valentine's Day goodies. I'm so using these for Big's Valentine's Day party at school. I used TomKat's printable holiday labels over and over at Christmas. You just print as many as you need, so easy.

Collection includes six printable PDF files including:
Sweet Love Party Circles {4 designs}Perfect for cupcake toppers, favor tags, napkin rings & more!
3"x3" Mini Foldover Notecards {3 designs}
Blank Fancy Labels with White Backgrounds. Use for candy jar labels, gift labels & place cards!
Blank Fancy Labels with Black Backgrounds
Sweet Treats Fancy Labels
Goodie Bag Foldover Labels (to fit 6.5" ziploc bags)

Find it HERE!

I heart you

I actually made this set about a year ago for The Invitation Lady and thought it needed one more go round. It is almost Valentine's Day after all.

Items in this set:
fredflare.com hard candy heart sunnies#, $11
fredflare.com you warm my heart hot cocoa mix, $8
Blue Ribbon General Store: A Modern General Store: Secret Love Letter...
Sprinkles Cupcake Mixes Williams-Sonoma, $14
wheel o' wisdom: i love you

It's a day like that

Some days it's just hard finding the fabulous and I'm tired. Insomnia, yuck.

{photography by max wanger}

Yes please

Some mornings I just adore my Google reader, it's like a big present filled to the top with lots and lots of pretties. My favorite item in there today were these looks by Vanessa Bruno found on This is Glamorous & A Glamorous Little Side Project (same person, 2 awesome blogs). I would wear every single one of these looks, {sigh} they're gorge.

{Vanessa Bruno Spring 10 precollection}

Breakfast Quinoa

This looks so yummy I think I'll have to make it in the morning.

In case you've been missing me I'm at my parents house doing laundry because our washing machine died this morning. Be back soon lovelies.

{recipe via Martha Stewart}

Happy Monday

Morning friends, how was your weekend? Mine was a good one. I officially have a Big who's six and now is missing his two front teeth. Although I'm ecstatic for him (he's thrilled) I'm kinda sad. I can't believe it goes by so quickly. Nothing a little makeup, pretty rooms and glittery goodness can't cheer up.

{images via Desire to Inspire and F*$k Yeah Fashion}

Wear it :: Cherry Tart

Every now and then when I'm killing time I browse the makeup at the groc (when you have two littles sometimes this is all the alone time is all you get). More often than not if I buy something it stinks. Not trying to knock drugstore makeup but usually my attempts to try a new product are a total bust. During the summer I decided I wanted a sheer red lip and saw the Revlon Creme Gloss in Cherry Tart so I picked it up.

Let me tell you guys, I'm obsessed with it, I wear it 6 days out of 7. It's in my quick car makeup repertoire. Which is powder, concealer, blush, mascara and this glorious gloss. I love that I feel polished and done when I wear it and it's my little secret that it was all done at stoplights. If you want a pretty red kisser without the heavier matte look give it a try, you'll heart it.

It's the hat again

This is Joana, the latest cool chick that the Sartorialist is blogging and tweeting about. She's from Rio can't you just tell?

Here she is in a Panama hat, love it. Now I really must get it.

J Crew Panama Hat

This isn't just any old hat, this is the hat that must adorn my head all summer long. I tried it on it the store and was busy fantasizing about where I might wear such a bad a*& hat and I think patio cocktails and lunch would be the perfect place.

I know it's winter in a lot of places but it's almost 70 here and beautiful, so it would definitely get a lot of good use. Hmmm....and while we're on the subject of J Crack I think these might have to join my summer wardrobe too. Take a look, too preppy?

Make it :: Salted Brown Butter Krispy Treats

Mmmm, Salted Brown Butter Krispy Treats? Smitten Kitchen you're a smart cookie because these sound like the shiz.

Plans for the weekend?

It's Friday, I love the anticipation of what's to come for the weekend. I don't really have anything planned except for dinner out tonight with my husband's family. So tell me what's going on with you, I'm dying to hear all about it.

{image via vi.sualize}

Cleaning...how much time?

Ever since I posted the Fresh Start collage I've been wondering how much time people actually spend doing their housework. Do you consider yourself an obsessive neat-freak or are you a little more lackadaisical when it comes to your home? If you dish be truthful about the time you spend because I'm really curious. I'm dying to know the tidy/time ratio of everyone.

I at least spend a couple of hours a day doing laundry and cleaning but there's still usually toys everywhere. I think for that one I'll just have to wait a few more years. I have to have everything clean I'm just horrible at organization. I'm pile girl. There are piles in a few spots one in particular I affectionately call the sh*t corner. Every so often I go through the piles and keep and toss. Then sometimes what gets kept gets put in another pile usually in a drawer until I go through again and re-sort. It's a lot of work being this disorganized but sometimes I'm just not ready to part with children's artwork or inspiration magazine tear out.

So I'll live with my irritable habit and hope that someday I'll have an epiphany and become Miss Non-Pile. No worries I'm not going to regale you with my resolutions of neatness because there is no way that's going to happen. But I do love to hear your tales of what you do well and things you need to work on, makes me feel good that I'm not the only one.

{images from Miss Perfect}

How are you feeling today?

I wanna feel glamorous today but alas I'm headed to Big's school for centers and then recess/lunch duty. Nothing too glam in that I'm afraid.

{images from vi.sualize, Desire to Inspire, vi.sualize and House Beautiful}

Make It :: Croque Monsieur

I know by now you've all probably seen It's Complicated and fawned over it's gorgeous sets on all of the design blogs.

And laughed (a lot) at the hilarious Meryl and Alec.

But now let's get down to something super important. Seriously, how yummy did all of the food look in that flick? Her darling bakery with the all of the breakfast goodies, yum and gorge. But the the big moment for me came when she made the Croque Monsieur and served it with a frisee salad. I was ready to run out of the movies and make one myself.

I haven't done it yet but it's on the books to try.

Croque Monsieur

{recipe via Epicurious}

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf
4 slices firm white sandwich bread
4 ounces thinly sliced Black Forest ham
4 ounces sliced Gruyère cheese
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Add nutmeg and bay leaf. Increase heat to medium-high and boil until sauce thickens, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat broiler. Place 2 bread slices on work surface. Top each with half of ham and sliced Gruyère. Top with remaining bread. Heat heavy large skillet over low heat. Brush sandwiches with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Add to skillet and cook until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to small baking sheet. Spoon sauce, then grated cheese over sandwiches. Broil until cheese begins to brown, about 2 minutes.

{images from Traditional Home, Greige and Sugar and Spice by Celeste}

Happy Monday!

Morning lovelies, wouldn't this be the perfect spot to enjoy your morning coffee?

{room by Michael Partentio via Desire to Inpsire}

Fresh Start

I know I can't be the only one dreaming of classic clean white sneakers and fresh cleaning supplies. There's something about the beginning of a new year that begs us to give our lives a clean sweep.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Did you get that perfect smooch last night?

{image via Chic and Charming}