fuzzy

with less than 2 weeks until we finally meet our beloved 2nd daughter, i am finding it hard to have an intelligent conversation with a friend, let alone put together a coherent sentence. this is not the kind of person who should be trying to finish up the redecorating the living room, bedroom and nursery... luckily i stumbled upon this amazing site for kids rooms... ohdeedoh.com love it... check out the pics!

liz romeka, master of the clutter!

Our home has been taken over by toys... and books, and clothes, and all sorts of clutter! It's amazing how, in two short years Em has gone from having practically no possessions, to having more than Dave and myself - combined! Needless to say, I've been searching for storage soloutions that aren't... well... ugly... and primary colors make me cringe. Martha to the rescue again... and of course a little elbow grease from my dear husband!

For all those books & toys:

So the new baby has room for her clothes:
and for all the clothes on the floor (although maybe I won't want to cover it up):

I promise to post some actual pictures once the room is complete!

again & again

I'll admit it, I love this print...maybe it's because it goes to the heart of my inner valley girl (yes, I really just admitted that - SFV!) It's been on 3 or 4 of the design blogs I follow and I've resisted the urge to buy it every time. I'm trying to get the house under control... my wandering ideas of what exactly is in good taste has resulted in a very *eclectic* look and I'd love for it to all just flow. The poster is ruining it for me... If I could find it in blue it would probably be too late already. Ahhhh if only home design came easily for me.

newest member of the family

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our little family. She came earlier than expected, and still doesn't have a name... she's a little loud but I couldn't love her more...

Okay, so it's not the new baby yet, but it's something I wanted for a long time. I didn't think we'd get one for awhile due to the $300 price tag, but surprise of all surprises, my mom gave us hers! It's a ROOMBA. A nifty little vacuuming robot that I can turn on when leaving the house and the carpet is all clean and beautiful when I return... every day! no more dragging out the giant vacuum 3x a week (and wishing to every other day), or carrying emma while i vacuum because she's so scared she starts shaking and sobbing uncontrollably at the sound. YAY!

Bride & Wolfe

So, after two bouts of the flu, a bike catastrophe (em's favorite toy in the world, her bike, got broken by a big kid), and an unusually crazy week... we're back! I'm still working on getting things together in our little apartment - after we've lived here for a year - and so I'll admit, I'm really into decorating. As I was perusing the internet from bed today, I found this fantastic company: Bride & Wolfe. They are an Australian company which specializes in wood cut silhouettes. I am in love with pretty much everything on their site


I particularly like the one in the middle, and the "climbing girl," bottom right. We're considering all of these for em's room... or maybe one for ours? Be sure to check out Bride & Wolfe... great for kids and their parents!

Stay tuned this week for a DIY (do it yourself) project any parent would love... and it makes a great gift! See you then!

big kids week

So I must have babies on the brain, because I haven't posted anything for older kids in quite some time... so here it is "Big Kids Week." Where we'll be featuring neat products for those kiddos who can speak in full sentences!

Monday's Pick: eeboo - eeboo is a company which produces, "beautiful, useful, and well made products for children." All their artwork has a vintage feel, and their products are all educational (and you'll love to look at them)
Their line includes counting cards, composition notebooks, growth charts, good manners cards, puzzles, flash cards, and even a line of products for the preschool set.

My personal favorite was actually featured in Parent's magazine recently : Story Telling cards!
$10/pack, these cards give prompts for telling a creative story of your very own. Take turns with the whole family for a real laugh! They also make the perfect birthday present...

talk about the obvious!

After scrolling through my recent posts, I just now noticed I left something out. All this talk about things going with your theme... and I didn't post any themes! First off, I don't think that a theme is necessary, but it can make things a lot easier. Even a unifying color can be a theme...


"wild" baby shower, polka dot theme, goodnight sleep(take pictures b/c this is the last time she'll see a good night's sleep for awhile!) shower, cherry theme, eclectic, retro

green tea party, lemon theme, "Sweetest Thing"- a perfect occasion for lots of desserts and candies!This last one is something new to me... but cool. It's called a "sprinkle shower" and it's for mom's who have other children, and most of the needed items, but still want to celebrate the occasion with friends and family - adorable!

Etsy Week

I came across a new blogging term... "stumbling". It's when you find a new blog or site through links on pages you frequent. Makes sense especially since some of my favorite places online are ones I've "stumbled."

This week I am going to feature a site I "stumbled" some time ago, and I'm sure many of you have heard of... ETSY! Etsy is the place for "all things handmade," and it's picking up steam. Each seller sets up their own "shop" which functions something like ebay with set prices instead of auctions. Shops feature everything from furniture to clothing, to office supplies. I'll admit I haven't been to every shop (there are tens of thousands), but I've made several purchases, and have been thrilled with how they have turned out. Now don't misunderstand, I love ebay, but etsy is not only an online store - you can support individually owned, small businesses, scout out innovative designs not found at your local Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrell, and get a generally unique experience.


Because our focus is "cool stuff for kids," each day this week, a different kid-friendly etsy shop will be featured. Today's pick is "Flying Star Toys." Flying Star toys are incredibly artistic and imaginative stuffed animals (and a few other things). They are beautiful to look at, which is great, because when you child gets a hold of one, it will become an istant favorite!


Flying Star was created by Florence Forrest, an Australian designer. She says about her toys, "The soul of a toy is the most important ingredient, my art is just this. The little beings should look gently at you as if they had always existed and you have just happened upon them. I've had the pleasure of making toys and practising embroidery since childhood so for me quality as an indispensible part of my work as an artist and toy designer."

Have you stumbled any sites worth sharing? Leave a comment and share with others!

fabric of our lives...

I'm a sucker for funky geometric prints... as well as for anything that makes Em look even cuter than she already is. The people over at Smafolk have stolen my heart (and my wallet).
A Scandanavian company, Smafolk is famous for it's apple prints, but stocks a hearty supply of tractor, animal, and truck prints as well. The colors and prints make any outfit "pop", and because of the geometric design they can be mixed for a more funky look. Sizes range from newborn "cotton suits (rompers)" all the way up to sweatshirts for adults! The best place I've found to purchase Smafolk, is from Ittikid, although I'm sure there are other online retailers. Having returned from a recent trip to IKEA, I'm beginning to wonder what great things don't come from Scandanavia?

One last bit... Smafolk also features a list of authentic Scandanavian recipes on their site, including "Shrovetide Buns," "Elderberry Soup," and Danish doughnuts. Yum!

onward and upward

I've decided to refocus this blog on something I know a bit about. Cool stuff for kids. If you've been to my house recently you know we have, perhaps, too much cool stuff for our kid (read: just way too much stuff).

There has been an thought rattling around in my head for some time now. Although I'm not ready to put it into action yet, I feel like scouting out, and posting some of the trendy accessories/gear for your little one will help me get there. A list of recently featured websites will appear (as if by magic) on your right to allow easy access to these delicious treats.

ps. don't worry mom, we'll still be posting the latest and greatest family happenings... afterall, I really can't resist posting pictures of the little one!

First on the list is Chickprint which i stumbled accross on etsy. Located in New York City, chickprint is a stationary company started by Madeley. She uses vintage inspired prints to bring a modern yet child friendly look to any card. I am in love with all of her designs, but particularly the sillouette stationary. Custom made, simply send in a profile of your little one and voila! A gorgeous way to correspond with anyone (grandparents in particular love to recieve these in the mail). With a little one on the way we'll be ordering announcements from Madeley... just as soon as I can decide which I love the most