Thanks to Kate's recommendation, it looks like life list item #6 ("learn to sew a piece of clothing, i.e., something that doesn't only involve right angles") is within my grasp:
I never really got on the Martha Stewart bandwagon so I didn't suffer disappointment about the whole tax-evasion/time-in-prison thing. When I decided to take up sewing last year, however, a favorite blog led me to an announcement about Martha's new compendium on fabric arts, so I decided to give her a try. And wow, was I ever impressed.Thanks to Kate's recommendation, it looks like life list item #6 ("learn to sew a piece of clothing, i.e., something that doesn't only involve right angles") is within my grasp:
I never really got on the Martha Stewart bandwagon so I didn't suffer disappointment about the whole tax-evasion/time-in-prison thing. When I decided to take up sewing last year, however, a favorite blog led me to an announcement about Martha's new compendium on fabric arts, so I decided to give her a try. And wow, was I ever impressed.
On Thursday's episode of Life.Style I interviewed Tracey Clark, founder of Shutter Sisters and editor of the amazing book Expressive Photography: The Shutter Sisters' Guide to Shooting from the Heart. The publishers of Expressive Photography sent me a copy of the book to peruse in advance of the show and I cannot recommend it enough, whether as a gift to yourself or a loved one. Whether you're a novice, amateur, or professional photographer, Expressive Photography is replete with inspiring imagery and practical tips and tricks on approach, perspective, composition, lighting, details, and processing for different types of photos (e.g., landscape, portraits, still life, etc.). When I created my life list last month, #5 was "Remember to take photos of my family on the first day of each month." This book is providing immense inspiration to move forward with this project.
I've been meaning to post for a while now about some utterly lovely pottery we've been enjoying. During a hunt for unique Korean style pottery, I discovered Grace Lee's Vancouver-based studio eikcam via Etsy. Lee creates beautiful pottery, jewelry, and photography, and her ceramics are lovingly handcrafted and styled with a vintage and earthy aesthetic using antique molds and distinctive glazes. And from a customer service perspective, Lee is wonderful; she was patient and cheerful while I waffled absurdly about color options before settling on this pretty little pair of turquoise dasik tea tumblers. I adore the (by American standards) petite size and styling of these tumblers (about 8 ounces); they're dishwasher and microwave safe (though I prefer to hand wash them) and I'm pretty sure that at some point I ought to get the matching tea pot.
Though in general I advocate for less of the unnecessary, every now and then something material catches my eye and refuses to budge from my periphery. Such was the case last weekend when Laurel and I were in Porter Square, picking up some Japanese pastries and browsing Tokai. I circled away from these ridiculously cute Japanese panda mugs (note the adorable tail blob on the back of the mug) about five times, trying to convince myself out of buying them. Which of course meant I needed to buy them.
As I mentioned last week week, Laurel wanted a unicorn party for her sixth birthday. It suits me perfectly that she prefers small gatherings at home; we hosted a super fun unicorn party that was pretty low maintenance while still being utterly unicorn-tastic. Below is the how-to for pulling the party together. And thematically, you could swap elements to tailor the party to your child's interests (e.g., horses, dinosaurs, fairies, etc.). Enjoy!
Last weekend Laurel and I had a fantastic time at the Down:2:Earth sustainable living expo. Laurel loved the face painting, games, snacks, and garden displays, and I was especially thrilled to see many green companies I have featured (Boston Organics, Bum Boosa, Diaper Lab, Go GaGa, Sakura Bloom, Seventh Generation, snackTAXI, Stonyfield) present, and also to discover new ones, such as Acero Studio. Mom-owned and based out of New Bedford, artist Anne Wolfe creates lovely vintage-styled graphics then hand prints them onto a delicious array of microwave and dishwasher safe ceramics and porcelain jewelry.
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from @papaproducts via Twitter:
Hey @bostonmamas do you have ideas for places to go out to Easter brunch/dinner with little kids? Have you seen a roundup of spots anywhere? Thanks!
Today, Heather shares a fabulous idea that simplifies gift wrapping and makes the holidays accessible for pre-readers:
“I love Christmas and all that comes with it: the music, decorating, baking, shopping, and -- my favorite part -- watching the excitement and anticipation of my four children. The one thing I do not love is gift wrapping, possibly because I come from a family where gift wrapping is considered an art form. The busier my life gets, the more stressful I find this task. Though I love the look of artfully wrapped gifts, my practical side always wonders if it is worth spending so much time on gift wrap that will be ripped off in a few seconds.
I adore Gabrielle Blair; I first met her at the inaugural Disney mom bloggers mixer where we bonded over our shared passion for design, and I have since admired and enjoyed all of the artful ideas and stories she shares via her blog Design Mom, as well as the social media smartness that stems from her work as a co-founder of Kirtsy. Gabrielle projects such grace and generosity and kindness and creativity. And for the fifteenth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, I’m thrilled to share Gabrielle’s three super fast, surefire ways to create instant holiday mojo at home.
For the last several years my less is more mantra has never rang truer than during the holidays, and this mantra has proven particularly practical since becoming a parent. My Simplifying the Holidays guest bloggers have shared so many fantastic ideas; now here's what my family and I do during the holiday season to keep “random stuff creep” to a minimum and encourage creativity and mindfulness in giving within our family and community. Also excellent, many of these ideas can involve your kids -- this is great for bonding and saves you from spending precious alone time on errands and holiday preparation.
Stephanie Precourt projects remarkable light, positivity, and gratitude; qualities -- along with her lovely writing style and beautiful photography -- that make her blog Adventures in Babywearing so wonderful to visit (even for those of us who are beyond babywearing). I first met Stephanie at the inaugural Disney mom bloggers mixer, during which time she was pregnant with her daughter Ivy; since then, it’s been a joy to be connected with this kind and thoughtful friend. For the fourteenth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, enjoy Stephanie’s reflections on the nothing and everything of the holidays.
My respect, admiration, and affection for Liz Gumbinner and Kristen Chase of Cool Mom Picks is multidimensional. I met them for the first time in real life at BlogHer Chicago in July, but I have “e-known” them since the early CMP days, followed their hilarious personal blogs (Mom-101 and Motherhood Uncensored, respectively), and interfaced with Kristen through Parent Bloggers Network and also via Kristen motivating me to become one of the original wave of Shredheads. Liz and Kristen are such talented, generous, and funny women, and for the thirteenth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, I’m thrilled to share their savvy shopping tips to help you survive the last minute holiday shopping crunch.
I feel as if I've known Kristin Brandt and Erin Kane of Manic Mommies forever; in reality, I’ve known Kristin since college (well, that kind of feels like forever ago…) and Erin since the Disney mom bloggers mixer. They both are smart, hilarious, and impressive in their juggling of work and home; whenever we meet up there's a lot of laughter and also serious parsing of all things social media and family life. For the twelfth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, I’m thrilled to welcome Kristin; read on to learn about the important lesson she learned from her mom, plus a series of holiday tips that have served Kristin well as a full-time working mom.
Pursuant to last week’s local and indie awesomeness post, if you want to shop local and support artists and crafters this weekend, there will be plenty of crafty awesomeness to be had at the SoWa Holiday Market in the South End, CraftBoston at the Cyclorama, and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education Holly Fair in Harvard Square. Enjoy!
Image credit: Made in Lowell, showing at SoWa Holiday Market
I met Amie Adams of Mamma Loves… at the Brand About Town inaugural advisory board retreat in October, during which time I was struck not only by Amie's warmth, humor, and smarts, but by her photography skills. You could almost see the wheels turning when something would attract her eye and she’d pause briefly, capture the perfect image, then resume conversation. It seemed natural and effortless; clearly a part of her creative flow. So I’m thrilled that today, for the tenth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, Amie shares easy and fabulous tips for capturing gorgeous photos this holiday season.
Today, parent educator Hetti Wohlgemuth of Alphabet Soup 4 Parents shares tips for bringing back your holiday mojo:
“Many of us have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. For example, I love spending time with my family, playing board games and cards fireside, finding a special gift for each of my girls, attending Christmas Eve services, winter walks, and more. Then there’s the stuff I hate: the excess, the stress, and sometimes my memories of Christmases past. Here are some classic holiday related struggles and how to cope with them.
One of the great things about BlogHer Boston was that it gave me the opportunity to emerge out of my blogging cave and meet fabulous local bloggers in real life. And one of those bloggers was Roxanna of Miguelina. Roxanna is a lovely person; smart, kind, and funny, and mysteriously, she always manages to look perfectly assembled despite tweets that might otherwise suggest she’s unraveling (to her credit, she’s allowed some unraveling…she just delivered her third son in October). Perhaps that’s why she’s so adept at blogging beauty. I’m thrilled that today, for the ninth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, Roxanna shares a wicked easy makeup routine so you can spend less time fussing in the bathroom and more time enjoying time with family and friends.
From our very first e-mail -- back when I was just starting out and she was very much established already -- Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks has always amazed me with her warmth and openness. Asha is funny and smart and clever and I just adore her; I only regret that neither of our scheduled in real life event meet ups this year have worked out. The good news is that Asha is so effective at translating her warmth and smarts online, which is what makes Parent Hacks so great (and gives me my Asha fix in absentia). I’m thrilled that today, for the eighth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, Asha shares her favorite holiday hacks; a useful mantra plus tips for maintaining your merry and bright this holiday season.