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I am not a bracelet person. I’m not even really a necklace person. I’m kinda into earrings but usually wear the same ones all the times. I do love rings, but only wear my wedding ring set. I became a bracelet person when I saw what Mary had to offer over at Christian Bling. Really truly OOOOH loooooove this one and this one and especially this one. So when she sent it to me, I squealed. I let out a little piggie sound from my mouth to the surprise of my attending children. Mary and I chatted a few months back at the Edel Gathering and her unique jewelry company is a blog sponsor! Read our interview here. She’s so kind and loves affording ladies the opportunity to do home sales of quality christian jewelry pieces. My morning starts with nursing the baby in bed as he falls in & out of sleep, followed by having SuperBoy bound into our room with great enthusiasm at 7:01am, and watching the two of them love it up. SweetPea generally joins the mix closer to 8 and when the hunger pangs start, it’s oatmeal hot off the stove. I may get dressed before breakfast and not slum it in my bathrobe. When I do get dressed (don’t get too excited, it’s a nursing tank) and throw up my hair (just freshly colored::oh!myvanity!), I have tried putting on a little jewelry. It makes me feel like a lady. Nay, when I pop on this bracelet that…
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Kelly. This sweet girlfriend of mine. We were roommates at The Hundred Event this summer. I was so delighted to get to know her over the weekend–including a really hilarious trip to Whole Foods that involved buying a pair (my first!) of TOMS shoes. But the best part was talking about our kids and the life of small children and artisan work. I felt a real kinship with her and was so tickled when she agreed to run a giveaway to credit for her shoppe. Oh, did I not tell you about Of Thistle & Thyme yet? Let’s talk about her shoppe. She and her husband hand craft botanical all hangings–wood burnt into high quality wood!! It starts with an inspiring illustration from early botanists. True vintage artwork. Then from her imagination, these take form in their woodshop where they cut, sand, draw, wood burn, and finish with teak oil–each piece by hand. So she literally draws out these vintage botany prints onto her wood panels. And then burns them into the wood. And then puts a stain//or not and then the oil. Talk about a labor of love!! Some are the natural pine stain, others are deeper in tone. I asked Kelly to help me create a deep rich feel for our sitting room. Our house is 100 years old this year (hbd, house) and was featured on Design Mom earlier this year. It’s all gorgeous hand carved woodwork. Naturally, her work fits right in around here. Her description…
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Lily Jade. Did your heart just make an audible quivering gasp? It’s the bag. THE bag, people. The prettiest (diaper) bag in the world. Landon and Meggan were generous enough to send me the Madeline in Red Canvas to share about with you all. Should I go on and on and tell you how the quality of leather and stitching is truly of the highest caliber? Should I tell you that I’m putting my hand-me-down Alma in blue monogram Louis Vuitton in the closet and using this instead? Should I tell you it holds everything like Mary Poppins’ bag? Maybe part of that is the organizer that sneaks inside. No more lost anything. You will not believe how many more things you can squeeze into your purse with the help of this “baby bag.” Should I tell you you can hold it like I am here, or with a single shoulder strap, or like a backpack? Should I tell you I now feel like part of a secret club whose members can joyfully wink at one another and give a head nod? I’m just going to let the pics say it all. Go shop their store. Now. This model is on sale for a limited time. $40 off! We bought my mom this one. Because grandmas need stylish purse bags too! And because they’re so super sweet, they’re running a giveaway of THREE of my bandit bibs on their instagram account. Run to it! Oh, look, I got dressed! (Don’t worry, it was momentary.)…
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Oh how I love nice baby clothes! And organic cotton? Whew. Over the top. Giving away two items this week || scroll to the bottom to skip me talking and talking. I’ve been in purge-declutter-natural-fabrics-only mode on the kids’ wardrobes. My girlfriend Jenna has it all about the capsule wardrobe and my girlfriend Carolyn has a great post on minimal maternity wardrobing it so they inspired me. The kids’ clothes. Dread and terror fill my heart when it’s time to switch sizes. I do have them sorted by size in huge bins in the attic. But I have to a) crawl under beams to get to them and b) haul them all out and stuff the old too-small clothing in. See how unpleasant this sounds? Enter my sister Molly and her organic skin care products & my sudden pang of awareness about natural fibers she’s brought into my life. Now I’m not gonna go crazy on you and say you can never ever shouldn’t bad parenting ever have a little polyester here and there. My minky blankets in my etsy shop are backed with them. But in general, I would really prefer my kids’ skin to be able to breathe. Both older kids are prone to eczema and the winter is only going to make things worse around here. So I purged out of our hand-me-downs and consignment sale clothings almost all the fake stuff. If it was cotton or wool or predominately one or the other, it stayed. Otherwise,…
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It’s been overwhelming. Life. The speed of my children’s growth. My intense desire for sugar (#nosugar30 attempting here). The sewing machine’s clicking and my knitting needles clacking. All the amazing products I’m able to giveaway to you, lovely and gentle readers. Indian takeout for dinner and BabyLoves sleeping in the sling. Crazy. So here’s my brain binge so you know everything that I know: 1) Mary. Courtney. Mother loving her dying daughter. Do you know about this beautiful family whose daughter has suffered from a severe epilepsy disorder for her whole life? And now she is slowly going back to God. I can’t type that without crying. I cannot imagine my daughter in hospice care. It’s too much to bear emotionally. But Mary is a staunch mother, believer, and lover of her child. Their blog is called Passionate Perseverance and it can be found here. Facebook. Instagram. Okay; you’re in the loop now. Their family has been humbly opening up about how they could use our help not only in prayer, but in medical costs & funerary expenses. Can you give? And if you want to give in a special way, buy one of my 5 skirts I have in the shoppe right now. ALL of your payment (shipping aside) will go to them. Buy a little girl skirt for Courtney? Link here. 2) Ginny over at Small Things is kindly running a giveaway of a gift set from my shoppe too! And a coupon code. You can enter the…
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Shhhh . . . POLARN O. PYRET. Did your heart just skip a beat? This store is the Swedish clothing store for kids. Especially outdoor wear. I mean, you know how the Swedish have long recess times outside even in the winter? This store is why. It’s outdoor wear heaven. And when you live in the land of the frozen tundra, you need gear. GEAR. gear. This store in the Galleria Shopping Center in Edina is their only location in the Midwest. I think they thought we’d get it. And we do. I contacted them after a long-time crush on their wool numbers and organic cottons, and that signature stripe you just can’t deny love for, and was happily surprised to hear back. They kindly offered for my brood to come and courtesy shop and then share the goods with my readers. Low. Down. I want everything in their store!!!!! It went like this: And eventually he got lost in the train set–what a clever thing to have in your store! Keeps the kids happy while parents peruse the lovely offerings. And Diane & I got to chat. She gave me a very thorough and very helpful tour of the store, with an emphasis on kids’ outwear. Because, #seeabove, it’s autumn and you know what that means. The stripes! the stripes! (Don’t worry–scroll to the bottom & you can win one of your own!) Organic cotton. Oh, yes, please! SweetPea wanted the socks. She wanted all the socks. It was…
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