One of the most beautiful things about the online space is how incredibly nimble people can be to make awesome things happen. In October when I traveled to Ethiopia as part of the ONE Moms delegation, our team created such an online stir about fashionABLE that they were able to create three new jobs. This past winter, fellow Ethiopia companion and dear friend Gabrielle Blair, of Design Mom and Alt Summit, worked with ONE and fashionABLE to challenge the Alt community to design an exclusive ONE/fashionABLE Mother's Day scarf. And today the beautiful Genet scarf is available for purchase (with free shipping today and tomorrow).One of the most beautiful things about the online space is how incredibly nimble people can be to make awesome things happen. In October when I traveled to Ethiopia as part of the ONE Moms delegation, our team created such an online stir about fashionABLE that they were able to create three new jobs. This past winter, fellow Ethiopia companion and dear friend Gabrielle Blair, of Design Mom and Alt Summit, worked with ONE and fashionABLE to challenge the Alt community to design an exclusive ONE/fashionABLE Mother's Day scarf. And today the beautiful Genet scarf is available for purchase (with free shipping today and tomorrow).
I love sending and receiving holiday cards. And since becoming a parent, I have fully embraced that it doesn't really matter when you send them -- the point is to reconnect in a way that matters to you whenever you have the chance to do it. (For example, one year we sent our holiday greetings in March...we had many people tell us they loved receiving cards off peak season!) As has become the norm, my holiday cards did not make it out before Christmas (the last batch is going out in the mail today), and it was so delightful to create them and even hand write the addresses. And Pinhole Press made the process absurdly easy.
I'm so proud to work with the American Cancer Society and it was super fun to put together A Healthier Holiday Table, a crowd-sourced repository of recipes to help inspire people to eat well. Come share a recipe! Today, I'm sharing a colorful vegetarian lasagna I recently made; it's great if you have a vegetarian in the house (as we do with Laurel) or want to take a break from meat (as Jon and I periodically do); I bump up the protein by adding tofu. Also, it's fast, easy, and kids can help (Laurel chopped the vegetables and did all the layering). And since I'm obsessed with crockpots, I'm thinking about tossing this whole thing in there next time!
Today, Jules shares four recipes to put a fresh spin on traditional Thanksgiving vegetables:
As our household chef, every year for Thanksgiving I love cooking my family's favorite classic dishes, and I also love getting creative with traditional ingredients. Here are four side dishes that I've whipped up, all using classic vegetables, but with a fresh presentation. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Our final site visit in Ethiopia represented the awesome and the ironic. Muya (which means talent) is a woman-owned, fair trade business that has "made it" in many ways. In contrast to the primitive yet productive trappings of fashionABLE, Muya is situated in Addis Ababa on a rather restorative feeling compound -- a series of modern buildings (vs. wood and tin roofed huts) nestled between plenty of foliage. They make a gorgeous array of home and fashion products and produce scarves for Lemlem (which distributes to clients such as J. Crew). Yet despite their successes, they still struggle to gain footing with sellers; largely, it seems, due to outsider stereotypes of Ethiopia.
A few weeks ago I arrived home from Mighty Summit with my heart full of admiration for the talented women I connected with on the trip, and my head and notebook full of inspiration resulting from conversation and reflection time. I also returned with lovely accessories -- some of which I've been wearing, well, pretty much constantly. I wanted to share them here because they are awesome and I think you will love them too.
I have developed a deep appreciation for many things in the six years since I started this blog, and two of those things are photography and daily reflections of gratitude. So when my talented friend Tracey Clark told me she was writing a photography book called Elevate the Everyday, I thought, this sounds divine. And the book is just as delightful and artful as I imagined it would be, given Tracey's general thoughtfulness about life and her experience with publishing (among her publications is the lovely Expressive Photography).
Today, Debbie (also of Two Adopt Two) shares ideas for handling emotional challenges around Mother's Day:
Mother's Day seems easy, celebrating what our moms do for us. But it's not easy for every child. My children, for instance, are adopted. They don't remember their birthmother, but they do miss their foster mother from time to time. They have several friends for whom Mother's Day is sometimes challenging as well. Some have two mothers, one has two fathers, and a few have parents who divorced and remarried. Creative, loving intervention can help everyone enjoy the day. Here are some suggestions to handle Mother's Day challenges.
I love photography and have approximately a bajillion digital photos sitting on my hard drive, but I definitely struggle with helping these images see the light of day (it wasn't until just before Violet's first birthday that I finally got a photo of her on the wall...doh). So I'm always intrigued to learn about easy ways to turn photos into gifts and art, particularly since Laurel and Violet's grandparents love photo gifts. Today, Lindsey (also of A Design So Vast) shares her experience testing out (for the second time, actually) Pinhole Press. Read on for Lindsey's report, as well as to learn how to win a $100 gift certificate to Pinhole Press!
Today, Sheri offers ideas for celebrating and learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. at home (and if you're looking to get out of the house, there are several MLK activities included here):
Monday, January 16, is a holiday for our school-aged children. It's important for kids to understand why they have the day off and why we celebrate the birthday of one of America's most influential people. Kids can learn the history behind the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the event surrounding a man who changed history through a variety of activities that can be fun, inspiring, creative, and educational. Below is a sampling of ideas; if you have others, feel free to share in the comments!
Today's Dear Boston Mamas question comes from Janelle via Twitter. Janelle asked me for some ideas for unique baby shower gifts. Having enjoyed a baby shower for Violet earlier this year and given my minimalist tendencies, my preference definitely leans towards practical, but sometimes practical also equals unique! Here are some of my favorite ideas -- spanning practical and pretty.
Since the sad passing of friend and Boston Mamas contributing writer Sarah Feather last month, I've been mulling how best to honor her spirit. Ultimately, I decided to use my graphic design skills to celebrate Sarah's impeccable style while raising funds for ovarian cancer research -- the result being these chic, cheerful, and eco-friendly Hello, Gorgeous greeting cards. You can read the full story behind the development of the cards here. I hope you'll consider purchasing some cards, both to support ovarian cancer research and stay in touch with loved ones.
I met Joslyn Taylor of Simple Lovely last year in New York City at an event to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and was thrilled to reconnect with her awesomeness at Altitude Design Summit this year. Joslyn is so elegant and has wonderful (seemingly effortless!) style, so for today's four favorites guest post, I asked Joslyn to share four pretty and lovely things to help moms forget the giant mess that home has turned into (when I asked Joslyn to guest post I envisioned being surrounded by soiled burp cloths, breast pump supplies, and take out containers...).
I love gifting photo calendars. Yes, it takes a bit of effort to collect the photos (and, if you're like me, neurotically arrange them so that the photos are seasonally in line with the months), but they're always a hit, particularly with Laurel's grandparents, who not only love the photos, but also favor paper date keeping. And last month I was thrilled to discover Minted's pretty photo calendars. Read on to learn more about them, as well as how to be one of three winners to receive a $200 gift certificate to Minted!
Last week on Life.Style, as I discussed inspiration points for easy and inexpensive gift wrap, I shared a link with photos of lovely recycled paper garlands. I decided to craft these garlands the other night and it was so easy (3 steps!) and they came out beautifully; I love that you don't have to be too precise with the measurements and they still look so geometric and festive. My friend Christie asked for the how-to since a tutorial isn't available at the original inspiration link. Here's how to make them:
If you didn't have a chance to watch episode 5 of Life.Style live on Thursday, I highly recommend you check it out! It was a fantastic eco and budget friendly episode, in which Marie LeBaron of Make and Takes shared ideas for turning trash into craft treasure as well as nature inspired projects, and Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant offered awesome how-to's on home beauty remedies using five ingredients or less. I also shared some terrific video submissions showcasing clever ideas for inexpensive gift wrapping, as well as a few of my own inspiration points. Check out the segment to see additional images, video, and inspiration, but as promised, for easy reference below I link up leads shared by me and my guests. Enjoy!
Last week I had the pleasure of being in on a joint blogger interview with the talented (and adorable) Nate Berkus. I met Nate in NYC this past summer and he is gracious, down to earth, and truly inspiring in his passions. Nate is doing a series of "Nate's Crate" shows (through which he delivers surprises) that I want to check out, and it was fun to glean some of his wisdom last week -- we covered everything from simple holiday solutions to affordable décor ideas to paying it forward. I'm now super inspired as Jon and I march forward on some interior design plans (both because of the baby and because it's simply taken us a long time to get around to settling since moving into our home over two years ago). Here were some of my favorite tips/takeaways from the interview: