How cute is...

it that we don't have a Friday Feature for this week!? As much as we love our customers, y'all are slacking on getting us the pictures. If I wasn't trying to get out of town today (the beach..yay!) I would be knocking on some doors, camera in hand :) If you have frames, please send your pictures in! I may be forced to feature my mom again (since I have yet to post her entire collection). On that note - I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and in honor of our beach trip I'll leave you with a few pictures from last year's beach trip and a few Friday Feature's worth re-visiting.

here
here
here

post by kristen

don't miss it

Hello Blogland,

Oh, how I have been missing you! I am posting this from my blackberry - so length is not going to one of its strong suits.
Last night as I was (trying to) unwind(ing) I read the following and it made me sad and it made me smile. It was disappointing to think we, as adults - which I keep hearing we actually are - miss more and more of the parts of this life that make it worth living. Then I smiled as I realized (yet again) that it's not too late! We can start acknowledging the beauty in the every day at any point - I say now looks like a good time!

Enjoy this...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

 Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

xx

Post by arre

stray dog(ma)

i think i was in high school the first time i saw a stray dog lamp. actually, make that the Summer between high school and college. my friend got one for her dorm (or hopefully it was at least the duplex she got to move into her second year...). how stinking cool was she?! at the time, i had no idea what it was, except for the coolest lamp i had ever seen. ha! this is the lamp. how much do i love that they still make it?! makes college seem not so long ago ;)

flash forward a couple of years to find me working in (hint: i still have it... er, more accurately, i have it again) an interior design studio with a store front carrying some very cool, vaguely familiar ... stuff. at the time i didn't make the connection. but it didn't take long. this cool stuff was by stray dog designs!

since realizing all of this as well as the greatness that is stray dog designs i have regarded them as not only one of the most creative entities in the design industry but just cool people. they creating some of the most fun items available in the line of home accessories and they are doing so by hand using recycled materials and providing fair wages for laborers in Mexico (i think. i could be mistaken on the where), where the whole idea was birthed (i do know that's at least where it started). check out the whole story (and why the name) here.

oh yeh, and they're a.DORable! total family crush - those kids!

last year - or was it the year before? - i had the opportunity to step foot into (one of?) their showroom(s). i literally had to sit down (on the cutest black settee outfitted in white cording, i might add. *sigh*). my heart was racing. i could hardly speak (it should be noted this seldom happens), much less make sense. i could not catch my breath. (it felt like) the room was spinning - my state of mind was only a mere contributor. my trippy surroundings were also to blame. i was inundated by sheer genius, literally mesmerized. can you imagine?! technicolor papier mache antelope mounted on the walls, wildly framed mirrors and adorably hip lamps all around. i wanted to live there! i pity the people who were working their room - they probably thought they had a real head case on their hands. fortunately - for them - i was not alone and was dragged out of their in a close-enough-to-appropriate amount of time (not before placing a (hefty) order though. for the shop, of course).

america's mart was no place to stay, but at least i can sprinkle bits of their happiness into my life along the way... wherever i am.

seeing these lamps only in the catalog made a believer out of me. they were styled perfectly. and i'm a total sucker for that sort of thing. luckily they're awesome in real life too.

full disclosure - this (ONE, only one personal purchase) actually was the result of that fateful day at market.

i know it seems as though one of these ridiculously adorable birds would have sufficed. but it looked so lonely. so i got three more.

selecting the lamp to adorn this wonderfully special chest was a process. i think this was the perfect choice.

and apparently my niece has as good of taste as me;)

AND they have a blog. in case i didn't already like them enough.


post by arre

Before I had children...

I never would have done this....

While MJ and i were making these

I heard a really loud squeal as she pointed to a trail of ants coming from here

(should I be embarrassed there is a hole in my kitchen floor?!)

This was step 1 of my solution (this is where the "never would have done" comes in):

This was step 2 of my (temporary) solution:
i knew this cook book was good for something

Before kids, i never ever would kill an ant, roach, mosquito.. I just couldn't do it. but now I tell them to "stay away from my baby" while i vacuum them up?! (or worse - have my child vacuum them up). I was so happy to learn (as i took the dust buster outside to empty) that it did not kill them, just contained them. Granted, I still don't kill the roaches, i just trap them under a cup until Jim gets home but they are trapped for a time being and that's not enormously nice either.

In case you were wondering, the ants are gone (thanks to Jim when he got home). I hope everyone has a wonderful, ant-free memorial day weekend!

UGH!

earlier today i was lamenting to Shanna about how idiotic i feel when i make a blogging blunder for fear that anyone who MIGHT (possibly?) have us in reader gets the same - though ever so slightly altered - post over and over again.

fast forward to about seven minutes ago. i, for some reason, was viewing a few old posts and realized NONE (yes, as in zero) of the links included in two (at least) of them worked.

i've now remedied at least the discovered problems. please re-visit (or visit for the first time if you've not already) this, this and this! and in the future if ever a link is broken please leave me a comment saying so! thank you kindly!

xx

post by arre

things i can't live without round 1

There are many things that make my life easier, sweeter, happier, and just plain good. here are a few of my favorite things....

this fisher-price swing is the reason i'm able to sit down and create a post! love it (and so does Mills apparently)

in the morning (this goes in the category of can't live without)

i know you're thinking, we all can't live without water... but I can't live without twist open top water bottles that i throw in the dishwasher, refill, and place on a low shelf in the fridge for the little ones to help themselves!

this is for the end of the day. while i do love Fat Bastard chard...most any brand will do..but Fat Bastard is yummy AND comes in a large bottle. This is convenient to avoid an embaressing mid-week trip to the liquour store with 3 kids under 4 in tow.

love love love this prima pappa high chair. It reclines (as it is set to now) so you can place a newborn in it and feed her with a bottle with one hand while shoveling food down your throat as quick as you can with the other. (it also adjusts to your table height and comes with a tray that i have removed for now)

i, unfortunately, just learned of this Dr. Brown formula mixing pitcher. My sister told me about it and i knew i had to get one. I'm a plan ahead kinda girl and i love having premixed bottles ready to go in the fridge. You can mix up to 40 ounces at once and it takes less than a minute! i love time savers!!

and apparently, i can't live without these since i have 29 in my house

And of course, while they may not make my life easier, these three little ones make it worth living a hundred times over!

post by kristen

where it all happens

Ever wonder where Arre and I come up with all of our great frame designs, ideas, and gather show/store info?! No?!! Well, i'm going to tell you anyway. Stop by Starbucks on any given Wednesday and chances (and your chances are good because we are there for at least 3 hours) are you will run into us. Sometimes we have paper (usually just a napkin), a pen, ideas that have gathered for the past week or two, and most recently - Mills. While she doesn't have much to offer just yet, she is fun to have along (for Arre mostly).

Just to give you a snapshot into our meetings, this is how a typical conversation goes...

k: ok - so what dates work for the show for you? a: umm... june is kinda busy look at Mills, she opened her eyes... i think that means she wants me to hold her (picks her up and conversation goes on and on about who she looks like, how she's sleeping, etc.) k: ok back to frames.... how many 4x6 do we need, oh that reminds me do y'all want to go eat Friday night..we have a sitter. a: yes... let's go (wherever).. I am going to email (someone) about this store that I think will be interested in our frames in (somewhere) k: great! and the meeting continues like this for hours...

it is fun (and usually productive) to have your sister-in-law meet you at starbucks on a wednesday morning :)
post by kristen

can we do it over again?!

i'm speaking of this weekend! I want a do-over. Not to change it, but to relive it.. it was a good one for many reasons:

1- right this second 2/3 of my children are sleeping and the remaining 1 is "resting" very quietly. this is nice (and really rare). I should be cleaning up this....

but it's so hard to do. I'd rather be reliving the weekend :)

2-Remember this post? Well, that was picture day for the our very first of many recitals (which was on Saturday) to come. it was hilarious... Molly actually performed. Granted, she went on the stage and off the stage I think a total of 3 times. But she did it and felt good about herself..that's what matters. (MJ's is in 2 weeks so at least we get to relive it in that way!)

molly is 2nd from the right

3-Mills SLEPT. she really slept. We had a 3 hour (2 in a row!) stretch and i feel refreshed!
4-We celebrated a good friend's birthday with good food and (one too many glasses of) good wine.

well, i guess that's it.. but number 3 really makes my year. It means that there is hope that we will survive and sleep one day. It also reminded me that Mills is growing too fast and what if she's my last?! I can't go there, or i will cry. But it definitely wrapped up our weekend well to get some sleep. I hear a baby stirring so I better go... hope everyone has a lovely week!
post by kristen

lyon AND lamb?

not that fashionista's entire interview (part one / part two) with the incredible (and gorgeous, as evidenced above) Jenna Lyons isn't fascinating but i must say her look - those lips! - is my favorite part.

getting to peek into the everyday life of such an intriguing and dynamic (she has wowed 'em at J.Crew for almost 20 years (could that be right?!) and seems to have an enviable home life (and home) to boot) woman, who is responsible, in part at least, for this, this and this is pretty fun i must admit. do it again here!


post by arre

how cute AM

i?!

So after Sarah took so many great pictures of the girls... i just HAD to add 2 more frames to my house, making it 29...yes, 29 frames. You can see them all over my house here, here, and here. and now for my latest and favorite addition.....

post by kristen

elle vs anthro?!

a few weeks ago i found myself breathless as i poured over the stunning images elle so daringly featured of the lovely drew barrymore.

i've looked at them countless times since (and even read the article, which you can do here. it's lovely too).

full disclosure: the worrier in me outweighed the artist. all of those fabulous clothes! ruined.

this one is so her to me - that expression! - even under water

then, i think it was the very next week, i received in the mail the newest anthropologie catalog. the similarities: staggering.

how could it be that two photo shoots published at essentially the same time both be so dramatically different from the norm yet so much the same as each other??

it baffles me!


anthropologie's version of underwater photography is gorgeous as well...

but if they are trying to actually sell clothes, i am thinking they should leave this sort of thing to the magazine industry.

i love seeing such daring and beautiful images but in the end have no idea what any of the clothes really look like...

post by arre (who again, does not have a scanner so yes, the images of the anthro catalog were photographed. by me, arre.)