baby girl's room: pretty things

for baby girl's room, i plan to design a much more feminine space. it will still be based on color, with the hope that the pieces we collect and create could be used later when lulu and baby girl share a girls room.

a few resources: ohdeedoh, cb2, anthropologie;
a few of the items: miffy, eames rocker, heather ross fabric

design inspiration: orchard

back when i was putting together the nursery for lulu and g, i experimented with ideas for themes. in the end i decided to go with color as a central design element, which worked well for many reasons: 1. the space was for a toddler girl and a baby boy, and 2. the things we got or made can grow with them more. fewer limits is always good, in my book.
i am still drawn to one of my theme ideas--orchard. trees, fruit, birds, to name a few of the charming elements of this theme. here are a few items i found.

nesting: baby girl's room color inspiration

designing the kids' rooms is both exciting and intimidating. i have had a lot of fun the past few days combing through the images i've collected of rooms and colors and objects i love, and now comes the work-part--making decisions and creating the spaces. one things that helps me out: i tend to come back to the same colors and styles over and over, and when i see them in one place, i can see exactly what i want to try. here are some of the inspiring spaces for baby girl's room:

white, yellow, red, pink, and light blue--the colors i come back to a lot recently. not quite primary, not quite pastel.

love the white furniture on the blue wall--it feels very clean. red, yellow, and lime bits add some warmth without feeling like a circus.

i love the simplicity and light of this space, as well as the white space.

here they are again, though it's a dark pink instead of red, and more green than the others. it doesn't hurt a bit to see two eames pieces in the same space, either.

How do you design your spaces? How do you choose colors? Do you have any rooms in the works?

a day of pretty things

We have some good friends who moved to Ballard about a year ago, and this last weekend I was able to escape for a day and have a girls day out.

We had book club in the morning at her lovely apartment, and enjoyed a late breakfast of multigrain waffles with blueberries, peaches, cream, homemade blackberry jam as toppings. We were set washing it down with some Simply Orange juice.

When the crowd dispersed, my friend and I set off to check out a fabric store I've been wanting to visit for months. I may have found the perfect fabric for baby girl's quilt.

My mother-in-law, an amazing seamstress, has planned to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren, and has been gracious enough to let me choose the fabric. Her quilts are darling and beloved and make great centerpieces in our nursery. I love everything about them. I would not have guessed a fish print would be a favorite option, but these lovelies are so charming I can't resist. Heather Ross's designs have that affect on me.

Next, both being pregnant, we were ready to find a place for lunch. We decided to try a new cafe near her apartment. Thinking alike again, we both ordered the turkey panini with lettuce, tomato, and tomato pesto. We enjoyed the Peruvian influences throughout, from the plantain chips that came with our sandwiches to the big screen tv playing a football match.

On we went to explore more shops in the streets of Ballard. I definitely found some new fun shops that I will want to go back to.

Anni's Art & Frame. full of fun posters and gifts, I would have been lured in by the window display alone. Babar posters, Alphabeasties book and flashcards on display (they would be so cute in a nursery), DCi gifts, Seattle neighborhood map poster, and national park travel posters/postcards were highlights.

Cookies. small in square footage, large in selection. I picked up a couple of cookie cutters. Don't tell the kids--they're each getting one in their easter basket: a butterfly for Lulu, a dragonfly for G.

Mon Petit Shoe. A fun kids boutique and shoe store. I found something made from fabric I love--why can't I just find the fabric?

Cupcake Royale. I had to give the vanilla lavender a try. My cupcake aficionado friend recommends the chocolate lavender, but they didn't have it. The cake reminded me of angel food in its lightness, and worked well with the lightly-perfumed lavender buttercream. Next time I will return to my roots and try the Triple Threat (chocolate chocolate chocolate).

Space Oddity. We had to stop in this thrift store. The owner has a great eye for all things mid-century modern/scandinavian/cool.

Clover. This was a really great specialty toy store. My friend has wanted to go in for a while, and we were so glad we did. I was reminded of my love for all things Tea Collection, Plan, and Haba. They had great books and toys and dress ups and puzzles. I think looking at specialty toy shops like this bring back fond memories of my childhood--we always stopped in stores like this. I also found some satiation for my new love of red toadstools and woodland themed things and fun dresses for little girls and beautiful knits for boys.

A couple home/gift stores also on Ballard. I love paper goods, and both stores had a lot to look at. I was especially fond of the second store, and had a hard time getting past the glittered vintage postcards/stationery decorations in the front of the store. I might have to recreate something like them for Lulu this year, thanks to the art at this site.

We raced back to my friend's apartment to meet up with our other halves, and ended up staying together and sharing some Indian food from another great restaurant within walking distance of their place. India Bistro. Mmm. It was just what we needed.

A day of great company, delicious food, and pretty things. What more could a girl ask for?

another poem to share

In theory I will share some of my own work on here at some point. For now, here is another poem via the Writers Almanac. The poet sums it up so well. Pregnancy is an interesting experience. I definitely felt the foreignness of the experience more the first time around, and now that feeling has ceased. I have never ceased to feel a sense of wonder at the whole process, though, and may be more in awe now than I was the first time. Anyway, a poem. I love the old black and white ultrasounds, by the way: the new 3-D ones kind of freak me out. That could definitely just be me.


The Alien
by Greg Delanty

I'm back again scrutinizing the Milky Way
of your ultrasound, scanning the dark
matter, the nothingness, that now the heads say
is chockablock with quarks & squarks,
gravitons & gravitini, photons & photinos. Our sprout,

who art there inside the spacecraft
of your ma, the time capsule of this printout,
hurling & whirling towards us, it's all daft
on this earth. Our alien who art in the heavens,
our Martian, our little green man, we're anxious

to make contact, to ask questions
about the heavendom you hail from, to discuss
the whole shebang of the beginning & end,
the pre–big bang untime before you forget the why
and lie of thy first place. And, our friend,

to say Welcome, that we mean no harm, we'd die
for you even, that we pray you're not here
to subdue us, that we'd put away
our ray guns, missiles, attitude and share
our world with you, little big head, if only you stay.

"The Alien" by Greg Delanty, from The Ship of Birth.

Film of the Week: The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge)

Keeping with our March theme of flights of fancy, our next film flies in from France. It is the classic beauty The Red Balloon.

The Red Balloon follows the friendship that develops between a young boy and a magical red balloon. Little is said, and the film gives a glimpse into an old French neighborhood in the 1960s. Lulu enjoys this film as a 4-year-old, though she does find part of the ending a bit concerning. Overall, The Red Balloon has everything I love about French films--a quiet soundtrack, visual beauty, and a touch of whimsy.

these people make me want to sew

I sewed a windsock when I was in seventh grade. My nimble friend helped me make a pair of pants when I was 16 (I think I wore them once). This has been the extent of my sewing experience.
Last year I fell in love with this fabric and decided to make a duvet cover for lulu. I had help from another very talented seamstress friend and felt pretty good about how it came out. I love the beautiful quilts my mother-in-law makes for each grandchild and will treasure the blankets brad's grandma made when lulu was born--especially the crocheted blessing blanket. My husband hand sewed new covers for some couch pillows, and really, I can sew on a button. Surrounded by all these--and more--talented sewing friends, I didn't ever feel the need or inclination to learn to sew myself.
Until I saw these.
The images below have inspired me to learn to sew. It does help to have a little Lulu around who loves pretty things as much as I do, but I think sewing is also just one of those things that comes with a domestic kind of life. I guess it was bound to hit me sooner or later.
I will be unleashing my sewing ambitions on the world--for better or worse. I'm hoping to work through my feelings of "me versus the sewing machine" & "me versus loading the bobbin" & "me vs fabric in general." haha.





images via purlbee.



images via inchmark.



images via katiedid.

image via howaboutorange.

Film of the Week: Mary Poppins

Let's go Fly a kite/up to the highest height/let's go fly a kite/and send it soaring...
Mary Poppins is one of the films from my childhood that I remember very clearly. So I was very excited to share the musical adventure of two rascally children and their proper nanny with my dear Lulu.
Watching Mary Poppins again was surprising. It has become one of my all-time favorite family films. I feel like it has such important messages for children and for parents. I could probably write a book about parenting based on the rules of the regal nanny, and the lessons that Jane, Michael, and their parents learn in their brief time with Mary Poppins. And better yet, it's a musical! With the dazzling music of the Sherman brothers (I could probably write a book about them, too) and real, show-stopping dance numbers.
The music is great, the effects hold up well, Julie Andrews is superb, and Dick Van Dyke speaks with a cockney accent. Mary Poppins is a fantastic film indeed. Lulu likes it at the age of 4, though she doesn't quite make it through. But that's the beauty of watching movies at home.