"Patches! We don't need to stinkin' patches!"

title post- Troop Beverly Hills 1989 (P.S. and where the hell is Shelly Long nowadays?)

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word!

Danja, Summer Spirited, originally uploaded by Mareen Fischinger.

Breaking News: The CPSIA Mandatory Testing & Certification Proposed 1 Year Suspension
Long Live Little Alouette!
xo Happy Weekend

"Nothing harder than being given your chance. At least, that's what I hear."

Me is Sad, originally uploaded by {CarLee}.

This stinks.
First Domino magazine folds and today I hear that Wondertime is bust.
The particularly crappy part to the latter is my article won't run in 2009 now.
I was pretty excited about being in Wondertime- remember?
What a bummer for me.
What a bummer for all of us as it was a gorgeous and lush mag.
Sad heart today.
Will I ever be a writer?

title post- great Expectations 1998

It's FRIDAY I'm in LOVE/ Inspire Me Series #9

Follow the Bliss...

OK so I love this woman. Jessica Okui from Zakka Life is a rockstar. I first found her when I was searching for a craft to do and soon discovered she is one of the most creative and unique crafters out there. She has such passion for her site and it shows! She has awesome tutorials weekly for her readers!!!
I asked her to share a bit with us today.

What Inspires Me
I’ve always loved crafting for the sheer joy it brings me. There’s something very gratifying about placing my time into a craft and having something tangible to show for it. So, here are three things that inspire me to create.

Cover of a Japanese Craft Book

Japanese Craft Books
A few years back I discovered Japanese Craft Books. In many ways they are similar to American craft books yet they have a more fresh delicate style. Every page is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Even the pattern pages are lovely to look at. When I look at these books, I can’t help but be swept away by their humble beauty.

Hair Scrunchies.
Something you might see in a Japanese craft book.

Anthropologie window display



Good Merchandising
I’m constantly inspired by good merchandising and window displays in stores. I love the concept of telling a story through what is basically a large diorama. Every time I look at a window I’m flooded with ideas. I like to dissect the image and look at each piece, the use, and how the pieces come together. Styling by Frieda Maria

Other Artists
Every so often I’ll stumble upon an amazing artist that will just make me want to run to my art supplies and start creating. My most recent favorite would be Frieda Maria. When I look at her work I’m amazed with her unique, delicate style that appears to be so effortless. I feel challenged to be a better crafter/artist when I see work like this.

I love these sites:
Craftzine Blog

Maya Made

La Fuji Mama

La Vie Est Belle

8tokyo

Thank you so much Jessica!!! You inspire me to head to the art store and make more!
I love yr site and I know my readers will too!
***I am just waiting for Martha to snatch her right up and place her on my TV!
Go to her blog today! You will love it!!! xo

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Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

There is something splendid about the memories we attach to music.
I am especially emotionally attached to the music that marks the journey of my parenthood.
Much like the music that defined Amy & Joe there is now a whole musical canon that means Finn and Blaise to me.
A cue is given and I am thrown down a rabbit hole of raw memories. I can hear a song like this one and almost instantly I feel my body heavy and and my mind keen and sharp like madness. It played on constant loop those first weeks Finn was home and I was terrified and in love. It can stop me in a tavern or mall with prickly skin. I cut my sharp motherhood fangs on the lyrics. I soothed my inadequacies on the melody.
Never something I could hide
When I see we made it through another day

There are other songs too- we all have our own. There are songs that we share with our children, kinda like wedding songs burned into brains.
Often we lead our children to this music, like a pied piper.
How cool is it really that we get to open up the world and share it?
We get to sit down and watch someone listen to Dylan for the first time and watch the room buzz with electric? We assign meaning to these songs we sing together.
Songs like Blackbird that Finn loved immediately and came to in an honest fashion, hearing the Sarah Mclaughlin cover playing in our old living room... (and I immediately schooled him in the Beatles) He sang it sweetly with me two years ago and even now will hum it when sleepy or forlorn. It means comfort to him. And me.



blackbird finn from Amy Turn Sharp on Vimeo.


title post- High Fidelity 2000

GO Here TODAY AND USE YR GORGEOUS VOICES!



IT IS ALL HERE: THE ACTION KIT

We sat with a reporter the other night and talked about our business and I realized as I sat there and talked about Little Alouette that I love this little cottage industry so much. I love Little Alouette like my family because it is our family. And yes, I cry a lot lately bc I may not have a business in a couple weeks.
The business that was created to make safe toys is going to be put out of business due to this poorly written law.
SAVE HANDMADE

"A group of people who miss the same imaginary place. "

If you get snow where you live make sure you do this- (It's called my mom is so frickin cool in July)

My Mom is So Frickin Cool in July:

1. Collect snowballs in ziplock bags and freeze em
2. Take em out in July

It rocks.






title post- Garden State 2004

""OK wait. If you guys are really us, what number are we thinking of? "

aug1107 008, originally uploaded by the.h.is.silent.

I embarrass myself at how nostalgic I am. I shrink in horror at the way most anything can elicit wistful feelings in me. I think I was just born this way. I like sappy as much as I like cool. I like that feeling that washes over me when I turn the corner in my mind and go back. And lately going back has made it ever so important to go forward. I have been writing in my mind for weeks, stringing sentences together for my novel right there behind my eyes.
It is time to touch the drain and kick some ass.
Another woefully sentimental movie that I love (na na na boo boo I don't care if it makes me a sap) is "Stealing Home". Jodi Foster and the main character dive into a pool to touch the drain. It is kinda scary to touch the drain in a pool. At least for me. But it is really a good way to wakeyrself up. A good way to prove to yrself that everything is right there really...if you only reach yr hand out a bit more and go those few seconds past yr comfort zone.
Because really, is there anything better than breaking the surface of the water?
Do you have a drain to touch today?

title post-title post- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 1989

"Love actually is all around us."

Dude. I have a two year old and a four year old.
How did this happen? It seems like just a blink ago I was a free spirit traveling the world searching for something big. I have found it but it is like my big toe tripped some sort of freaky fast forward button on the current of life or something. Time is fast.
We had Blaise a small family birthday party yesterday.
Pancakes and Disco.
It was Finn's idea. Well, truth be told no one even ate any pancakes although my mother brought an amazing array of syrups and such. The weather was a bit wonky right before the party and we were worried family would not be able to come. (snow snow snow)
But everyone made it in time for cake and the Bee Gees.
There is something really relaxing about having a low key family party. I love having big parties and being with all my friends, but it was really special yesterday inside our house. There was mad cousin love and everyone was smiling and everyone danced. It was so warm and comfortable inside and looking out the window at the miserable weather made it even cozier. It was like the house glowed with happiness I am sure to any passerby.

But for the record- if you ask Blaise if he is a big boy or a baby he will still reply "bebe".
And I hope he is still for a little bit.

some more pics on flickr

title post- Love Actually 2003

""I'm gonna treat you so good, you're never gonna let me go"

Tim Walker makes me happy. I saw his portfolio over on Icing and melted.
I don't even like horses and yet I am dreamy with this one.
And don't even get me started on some new short bangs in my future and a trip to MAC for some red lipstick. I love her look.

Also. Blaise found my cold coffee this morning and drank a bunch of it and now is running around the house yelling more more more. Lordy!

Wish me luck on creating a Disco and Pancake birthday party. I think I am set with props thanks to beautiful Rush Creek girls. But, I am hoping I can get Joe to wear tight pants and dance. My heart thumps.

title post- Pretty Woman 1990

It's FRIDAY I'm in LOVE/ Inspire Me Series #8

Follow The Bliss:



I love Bex. She inspires me. I like the way she plays. I like her style. She rocks.
I know you will love her too. I asked her to talk about inspiration:

Wow! A request to write about inspiration from someone that inspires us!

We love Amy, & her hubby at 'little alouette'. So much so that they inspired my husband to stab his hand with a box cutter. Pah! Hahahahaha…

I think the first time Amy & I met was over at flickr.

We had both entered a contest about motherhood. She commented on my entry & we've been following each other around pretty much ever since.

(Her photo was awesome by the way. The pirate one I think. Ya know?)

Anyhoo "Inspiration"...

Phew! That's a BIG question isn't it? What inspires us?

We were asked this question in year 10 design, (OH SO many years ago!) & back then, for me it was a matter of anything that was bleak, ornate, dark & macabre.

Approximately 20ish years on, the reverse is true.

I find myself attracted to the pretty, the "plain", the simple.

I think 10 years in Japan has contributed to this enormously, a chance to scratch the surface of life's 'wa'.

The girls of course are a huge part of this need for simplicity, we still want to be surrounded by beautiful things, but now I find the small & seemingly insignificant details can make the simple come alive…& quickly.

I suppose it's all about cutting back, sorting out & slowing down.

OK, that said, let's get on with the good stuff.

If you look at my link & 'blogs I follow' lists you'll come across the people that inspire me everyday.

The first blog I ever read was 'Soule Mama' about 4 years ago when I was pregnant with Pops.

I was googling info about water births & there she was in all her Mama glory.

It's amazing to go right back to the beginning of her posts, see the blurry pictures & read the hesitation & uncertainty in her "voice".

She would be my pick for the "Mumma In The Xtreme" awards…

Fashion wise I droooool over 'uniform studio'.

Martha's designs are just bliss & have me swinging from "could I make that?" to "Nup, what's the exchange rate like this week?" Lurrrrrrrve her!

Environmentally? 'Going Crunchy' without a doubt.

Shan has taken the dormant activist that lay quietly inside me & brought her to the fore front of my daily life.

My great friend Lachy can lay claim to that as well. Our lives are a lot greener thanks to them.

People that get me, like my friend Bea. Totally teasing me about my obsession with linen, sticks & string.

Always showing up at my place with a bag of crafty goodies for the girls.

All colour & movement that one. Brilliant.

Play for girls is usually based in the Waldorf/Steiner philosophy & everything about Steiner's view on the world interests me.

Gawd.

Have I waffled on enough? Just go check out the blog. It's all there in the sidebar & the posts.

In the end though, it comes down to family.

They are the reason I get up everyday & the reason behind everything I do.

Two pretty little girls & a tall drink-o-water, hand stabbin' hubby.

Inspirational bliss…XXxx

Thanks Bex! I am so glad you were here today! Bex is a doll! Don't hesitate to chat with her and please go visit her blog! xo

"I really do have love to give; I just don't know where to put it."

365 Day 254: Belly Button Lint, originally uploaded by Stone and Oil.

Finn freaks me out. So I know a lot of children find pleasure in creating small shrines of junk in their rooms. I know collecting is king and all, but yesterday I was mortified to discover that Finn is collecting the "belly button" fluff of his father in a small vessel on his dresser.
Finn and Joe hang out for man's hour in the bathroom each night. They smoke pipes and chat. No, seriously- Joe draws a hot bath and relaxes and Finnian sits on this old wooden stool and they talk. It is sweet really. I can hear the mumbled slices of their communication in the kitchen downstairs as I tidy up dinner. I always hear laughter. When I want to be nosy I linger near the staircase and hear the barrage of questions Finn poses. When will my voice be deep? What is plastic? What is this door knob made out of? What is electricity? When will Blaise be big? Can old granny take her teeth out? and so on. I hear Joe so patient in the tub, he deserves an award. He is soaking his body that hurts from physical work but he won't zone out and fully relax- he will always stay above the surface- right there for Finn.
So back to the gross. Joe has told Finn the belly button fluff (as he calls it) is powerful. Finn has fallen right in. So each night if Joe has any belly button lint he will give it to Finn. There is no hope. Second generation odd is here.

title post- Magnolia 1999

"Old Spice. Phil says it's a timeless classic."

Blaise will be two in a few days and I went and took his yearly click today.
The same date as last year. (how sweet is he?)


I am taking a photograph each birthday with a prop so I will be able to watch them grow and to give them some cool photos in their adult life.
Finnian wears his dad's shirt in his yearly click and Blaise wears an amber necklace.
I wrote about birthday traditions and ideas last year here.
I did not make this idea up as I recall reading about a woman who dressed her baby girl in a vintage Pucci shift and took photos. She hung them on the staircase. It was gorgeous seeing her grow into the dress.
So you should do it too!
And don't fret if yr kid is a bit older and yr just starting.
Just think of collections.
Many of one thing is always cool.
No matter how many.

The Yearly Click:

1. Choose a prop that the child can grow into or outgrow for drama.
(like a dress or a shirt of an adult in child's life or a piece of jewelry or something fun like a clown nose even!)

2. Commit to keeping the prop in a safe place and taking a yearly shot on the child's birthday or birthday time frame.

3. Write the age and date on back of print! yes PRINT it out! My mother and grandmother told me to write the dates on everything and I laughed! Now I am screwed with several photos and it has only been 4.5 years with Finn! Seriously we do not remember all that we think we always will.
6 months old and 8 months old look the fricking same to me now!

4. Display them! (staircase/wall/nursery)

5. Have fun and guess what? Yr creating amazing memories for the future! Yr an archiver of lovely.

title post- My Girl 1991

"We are here because of the music, we inspire the music. We are Band Aids"

Stencil Girl, originally uploaded by lovethiscity.

Like most things I am a few beats behind.

I had no idea until last year that you could "gift" songs to others via itunes.
How fancy.
My friend John sent me Flashlight by Parliament when I had trouble remembering what song he was talking about.
Duh. My ass is still shaking.
I sent him one back (my 2008 song)
and today I am thinking if I have few spare bucks this month
there are a few people I would love to send tracks to.
It is a 99 cent thrill.
It is affordable in the nightmare of today.
title post-Almost Famous 2000

Feeling Good, Nina Simone
Uploaded by mrfnk

"I guess you could say it's extremely vulgar, I like it a lot."

Oh to be there. And like about 6 years old again?
Or when do we start to get loose teeth?
When we can't keep our tongue from touching them and we still believe no one will ever die?
That is the best age right there. Straddling time.
This place is going on my list. Like now.


Merry-Go-Round from Doug Beatty on Vimeo.



title post- Metropolitan 1990

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We went to our local MLK Jr. program today and it was very inspiring. The boys loved it and we were able to gather with community neighbors, friends, and elders for a luncheon. I felt a swell in that church. I felt a movement of powerful hope.
How can you serve today? What dialogue will you have with yr family?
How can the spirit of the day continue all year long?
Happy Birthday Dr. King. Thank you.






photo via cacv.org

"Jimmy, what color are my eyes? "

I love Schmutzie. She is doing this cool series called Grace in Small Things here.
I wanted to join her but I feel so stretched and busy that I did not want to commit to something that I would perhaps not be able to fulfill. But I keep going back to her sweet premise. (She says- "I will post a list of five things that have graced my life, either on that day or at any time in my life. ")
I love this.
So on Sundays and probably not a ton of them- but on certain Sundays while the family naps I may share some Grace in Small Things here. I find music to be quite inspiring to me and I need inspiration daily. I love it when certain lyrics snarl me in and capture me. Like these ones. Like these ones.

title post- Thelma and Louise 1991
Matt Bauer singing - swoon

"By all means move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me. "

boys should always wear ruffled tux shirts, originally uploaded by flybutter.

I am looking for a tuxedo shirt like this one.
I have a tux style shirt and I wear it out, but I want like a man's old school vintage one to rock.
Like Tony Clifton would wear.
I want a flower on it like in the picture and I want to wear it open and show a little skin.
It is my hunt. I think the thrift shop is where I will start. I would like it in a ridiculous color too. I thought it would be simple to find photos of sexy ladies sporting these old vintage shirts for dress up nights. You know for inspiration...
I searched flickr and really didn't find too much.
I shall start the trend. Just like I started the trend of cutting off my Chuck Taylor's before they even made low styles. Yeah and I did.
In Logan, Ohio.

title post- The Devil Wears Prada 2006

"Bite your teeth into the ass of life."

I was a big slacker at Christmas and did not make that one thing he wanted. Mincemeat pie.
I really do not even know what it is right. Is it meat or is it like nasty fruitcake? Dunno.

Anyhoo. I got this book out of the library yesterday to try and make amends for my craptastic wifey ways. I thought I would start now and perhaps by December be able to create the pie. (I have learned that often proper British foods take weeks to prepare and involve ingredients sitting around in tins and such so I really made an effort you see.)

So this book, "Great British Cooking" by Jane Garmey looks pretty good and I bring it home and the first thing I notice while flipping through it is that someone had really strong feelings about the crumpets on page 210. I swear to God there is post it note on page 211 describing in detail the authors mistake. I swear to God that the post it note has been typed.
This is freaking serious crumpet love.
have you ever seen something so mad?!
I may start leaving love notes in library books...
Today.


title post- Big Night 1996

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"It's FRIDAY I'm in LOVE/Inspire Me Series #7

Follow the Bliss...

I don't know how I found her. I am just glad that I have. Stephmodo is really inspiring to me.
I love her blog and the various topics she blogs about.
I love her style and her ideas.
I love blogs who elevate the home to this domestic gorgeous art form.
I am not a domestic goddess.
BUT- I love reading and looking at those who are- love it.
Plus she is as sweet as sugar.
Here are some things she had to say about inspiration.

1. Epicurious. It's the ultimate in food websites. Because everything is rated, you know exactly what you are getting into beforehand. A huge pet peeve of mine is putting forth effort into making something that looks delicious, but then it isn't. I've found that if you only make recipes with an 88% approval rating or higher, you're guaranteed to love what you make. If you want to make something with a particular ingredient, type it in and then sort the results by rating. Just writing about it is making me hungry...



2. Mrs. Meyers anything in Lavender. I love the fresh scent...it's totally unlike other artificial-smelling cleaners. To date my favorites are the hand soap and counter top spray. For whatever reason, that splash of lavender adds a little somethin' somethin' to my day.

3. France. Luscious food, amazing style, vast collections of art, beautiful scenery, a lot of history....what's not to love? It's a wonderful place to visit and to feel inspired. I can't get enough and find that despite my inclinations to travel all over the world, I always come back to wanting to visit France.


Stephanie's Top 5 Fav Blogs:

Oh Happy Day
Black Eiffel
Design Mom
Simple Lovely
Sugar City Journal

Fav shops on the web...(note: I don't do a lot of shopping on the internet so this is pretty basic)

Banana Republic
Piperlime
Etsy, Etsy and more Etsy

Go check her out! She will make yr day! xo

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"I am the last barman poet."

Message to..., originally uploaded by Telenous.

Things to Think

Think in ways you've never thought before
If the phone rings, think of it as carrying a message
Larger than anything you've ever heard,
Vaster than a hundred lines of Yeats.

Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,
Maybe wounded and deranged; or think that a moose
Has risen out of the lake, and he's carrying in his antlers
A child of your own whom you've never seen.

When someone knocks on the door, think that he's about
To give you something large: tell you you're forgiven,
Or that it's not necessary to work all the time, or that it's
Been decided that if you lie down no one will die.

-Robert Bly


title post- Cocktail 1988

"What we have here is a dreamer. Someone completely out of touch with reality. "

I try and keep this space more about me lately and not so much my business, but dude!
We are in Daily Candy today!

Check it out. LIKE RIGHT HERE VERN.

I am so happy yet at the same time in a bittersweet mood as you all must have heard by now of the SAVE HANDMADE nightmare going around the country.
My gorgeous teethers and toys may soon be ILLEGAL.
Read this and catch up.
I urge you to go tell Obama that the CPSIA is not the change want!!!!
Vote today to Save Small Business from the CPSIA HERE:
We need your vote by January 15th (no later than 5pm EST)! NOW NOW NOW.
I promise to stumble yr words, drink with you at Blogher, tell you stories that make you pee yrself, vote for any assortment of contests, and even buy Girl Scout cookies- just help me!
Help the small guy. That's me.
Help yrself. That's you.
You love more than Mattel.
You love thrifting.
It could really all end.
Word.




title quote- The Virgin Suicides 1999

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"I just happened to be nowhere near your neighborhood."

I am loving that one of the teachers at Finnian's school asked me today if we were from Europe. I said no and reminded her that it was Joe who was from the UK.
She kept talking and said:
"Well you all have this flair about you. I just thought you were from Europe."

I laughed and realized wearing the minibar key I found in my handbag as a necklace probably would give me personal interactions as such in any Presbyterian church preschool.

I was thinking about the drink today when I made this little talisman. I actually made it for my friend. My alcoholic friend. The same friend I have written about numerous times on this space because writing it down sometimes makes it shape shift and change into a sad reality I can see and deal with. I would give it to her to wear as she walks the world, a kind of friendship powered Antabuse.

I have not seen her since two days before Christmas when I told her I would not see her anymore if she is drinking. She has left her apartment and her son is with her parents and my gut tells me bad things. We are all fragile. It starts with the wide anterior fontanel and when that closes a small part of our chest wall must open and let our back heart peek out a bit.
I know what a heart is.
It is the muscular rhythmic organ that keeps us here, but it also has a back part to it I am sure.
A part way behind the chambers that holds our pain and our passion.Why else would it hurt so much inside of there?

I pretend sometimes that she must be experiencing a fugue state. It makes more sense to me. Perhaps I am the one experiencing the fugue as I close my eyes and see us 18 again and clear eyed. I see us on the precipice of everything our heart desires. I see us whole.
I am the one dissociating because years later the fucking truth is so by the grace of God go us all. There is no rhythmic order to this disease that is slowly killing my friend.

And my back heart is bleeding.


title post- Singles 1992

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" Yeah but bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good."

I want to read this book.
It seems perfect in these sluggish economic times.
I feel kinda drawn to this writer.
She seemed kinda fierce.

"Probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken."
M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992)

title post- Pulp Fiction 1994

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