Easter is nearly here!

Well, what a surprise! Easter is nearly here. It's hard to credit as it is a bit early... very challengingly early for this Mother, as the house is torn up (unseasonable flooding, indoors!) and it's Spring Break which means chaos around here anyway. I don't even have my bunnies out yet!

So, Easter baskets. What fun! I use a pretty white basket that we've used since baby was a baby, I sewed little felt flowers to decorate the basket but they're a bit worn now.  

So, what will be in a basket this year for an almost six-year-old? What is wonderful for him now, wonderful enough for this last year of belief (probably)? I can't think!

Pretty Waste Baskets

Pretty waste baskets are not easy to find in normal ways; hence the Internet. I am very very tired of tossing empty envelopes onto the floor when I do the mail. Then I gather them all up and shove them into the always already full kitchen recycling.

So as I am a fully grown adult I have decided that I am going to get a nice waste paper basket.

Leather or floral? Wild or elegant?
This is found at Marye-Kelley, and I'm very delighted to have found this site. Lovely things abound! Delightfully these are sometimes available with tissue boxes and other nice things, including monograms!

http://www.marye-kelley.com/floral_wastepaper_baskets.aspx?page=3

OR if I end up with a blue and white office, maybe this one?

Scully and Scully also consistenly has wonderful baskets. 

 would be fun to do one of these florals in the bedroom and a more classic office look in the home office thanks to the delightful Scully and Scully. 

Back to Fall means Back to Backpacks

It has been a long time since my large maroon Jansport with the leather trimmings finally died, but it was a long time after I graduated from college so it did its job. Even though I would look ridiculous with a backpack, I can't help checking them out at this time of year! Luckily I have a child who lets me dress him (for now). So, now I get to shop through him.

Of course, his cute little Skip Hop backpack (a zebra) is still in great shape. So this is sort of double-window shopping. On the days he needs to drag more stuff on the bus, we have tons of random backpacks that we have gathered over the years.

That said, I do love window shopping.

How did I miss Hersel? I'm loving it now that I've seen their gorgeous catalog, so sumptuous. They have great backpacks. I noticed a stylish middle-schooler (which in my day was an oxymoron) with a great backpack from Hersel getting on the school bus today.  I think that the products are nice while also being much more reasonable than the unaccountably expensive but glorious Filson.

My favorite elementary student's backpack this year is by FjallRaven, which has been making great backpacks for school children in Sweden since the 1970s. It is cute, light, nicely colored, and simple enough to grow with the kids.

If you really love patterns, Pottery Barn has some fun ones that you can have monogrammed, which is great if all of the kids have the same backpack but otherwise seems a little OCD, of which I obviously totally approve. Bring on the initials! We are a super-hero-free family (for now, by some miracle of luck, not some weird parental ban), but I must admit that the Superman backpack with cape is pretty adorable.

For adult women who can get away with it (not me) or for girls, Vera Bradley has some very nice backpacks, both plain and floral. For a recent trip I was able to score a nice Vera Bradley that had great colors like my travel capsule wardrobe and it weighed about an once--so great not to have a pile of leather depending from my shoulder.

Naturally the best of all is a Randoseru, the lovely leather backpacks that Japanese children carry. I love these things but I am 100 percent sure I would not be able to convince even a well-mannered five year old to carry such an object.

I'm back!

The time between preschool and kindergarten was an amazing whirlwind, but now that my little boy had headed off to kindergarten I find that I have EIGHT HOURS OF TIME I find that I am excited to restart my vicarious shopping life! 

Post idea: William Morris

Strawberry Thief
National Trust houses

Mad for marzipan

I found the most wonderful place for elegant treats. Wendy Cromer sells lovely marzipan fruit, dogwood blossoms, and ferns for cakes. Utterly elegant, hand-painted and hand-shaped.That made me remember the world's most delicious treats, Mozart Kugels (or as most people call them, Mozart balls.) Quite expensive here in the States but everywhere in lovely Austria. I found these online at the Vermont Country Store, one of my favorite websites for odd sundries like Lanz nightgowns and hand-loomed table cloths. Of course the very best marzipan covers the very best cake in the world, the Princess Torte, which is made many places but is best from Woullets, a local bakery in Minneapolis. 

Sweaty Bands... so cute!

Well, Sweaty Bands sound terrible. The name is so... yuck. But I love them. I was trying these on at the Running Store today and thought that their selection was a little weak. Now I am spoiled for choice! These are adorable. So many pretty ribbons. What are these? Pretty ribbon headbands that apparently won't pop off my enormous melon head and also absorb sweat (when the summer weather was here, I literally looked like a raccoon from my mascara getting melted. If I buy a sweaty band...

Cottage by the Sea

Obviously I need to go to Hawaii. At this shop, they sell vintage one-of-a-kind furniture and, so sweet, message jewelry!

Artful life

What a wonderful discovery this webpage is! I found my high-craft dreams online at last. Artist websites tend to be half-hearted efforts at best, but this is a lovely storefront for the kind of elegant woodcraft and gorgeous art glass that I love. I won't post images but please do visit!

Smocking!

I love spring outfits for babies. Now Baby will be two this spring so I need to get him in cute baby clothes while I can! There seems to have been an explosion in cute smocked clothes online since I last looked. Shrimp and Grits is adorable. The Peter Rabbit outfit at left is adorable! And Jolly Rompers is so sweet too. 

I'm going to a Flapper theme party on Saturday night and I'm already feeling jealous of the great costumes other people will, I'm sure, be wearing! But it's fun to browse online to pretend that I'm about to buy vintage costumes.
Or there is the Halloween costume angle! 
But I will wear a lovely dress from my wardrobe, a Banana Republic collection dress in ivory silk that falls in wide pleats to above the knee, and see if I can add a sash of some kind! 

Sailor theme

Baby's room is full of sweet little lambs, but now that he is a busy toddler, I wonder if he wants some more boyish things in his room. Row Your Boat Nursery Bedding at Potter Barn kids is incredibly sweet and adds navy elements to the overall beige theme. Maybe navy curtains? Hmm! 

Organizing

If you could see the sponge that I started with this morning, you wouldn't believe it. It's a rag. The house is so clean that I am in awe!
However it makes me think of organizing systems. I like the Pottery Barn charging station. All these cords all over the place make me annoyed. Everywhere cords! The trouble is that as soon as I buy something like this, there will be a magic upgrade that means cords are obsolete. What to do? 

Christmas shopping

What is more fun that looking for Christmas stockings. Nothing is a better heirloom. I ordered one for each of us from Land's End. (LL Bean was sold out, but they offer great ones, too.) Happily, I got them for $10 each! Great sales. They are now back up to $25 again, but who knows, they might drop again before Christmas. The needlepoint is so classic and the patterns are fun. 

Missing Paris

I'm missing Paris. Thank goodness that Land of Nod is helping me remember it! 

The Wooden Wagon

One of the best toy sites that I've found in a long time is the Wooden Wagon. Gorgeous tops, a splendid Noah's Arc, and gorgeous music boxes. I love the selection of toys--I bought one for baby's Christmas Present, but I don't dare post that item. I will say that it is the best toy on the whole site! 

Garrett Wade: great gifts for boys!

What is more fun than planning for Christmas? I found a wonderful site. They sell terrific old-fashioned board games, including one about navigating a map of Britain. It's called Touring England. There is also a great steam-powered locomotive engine. I also love the Anti-Pirate Potato Cannon Book... like the Dangerous Book for Boys but for "young mariners." I used to wish that I had a girl to shop for, but I am loving finding stuff for Baby. 

Shelf paper

I suppose, after a month in Europe, I should post about that--but I did a "big clean" of my kitchen the other day and I thought I'd order some nice shelf paper along with a few other things from Williams Sonoma. Well it turns out that only the cork kind is left. Ugh. I have plenty of that and I hate it. It's crumbly and annoying. I want the nice plastic kind. But it is tough to find! Who knew.
Chic shelf paper has cute ones, but it is puzzling to figure out how to order it. I want a roll. I don't want to get it cut it to measure. I don't know.
The Container Store has ugly ones. Ugh. 

Neve... marvelous!

I love Neve's gorgeous sweaters. They are of a great, tight knit and expensive, but made to last. The colors are intense, vivid, and fresh. I am so excited to see that they have the ski patterns back this year, but I think that I will need to splurge on a simple black, white, and red pullover for our upcoming European adventures! You can find a painfully small collection at REI (and probably elsewhere, though I don't know where) to try for size, then go to the website to drool over the glory. 

Lovely dresses

I am loving Thurley, an Australian design shop that I just discovered. Fantasias of tulle and silk in champagne and ivory.

New perfume!

I love the idea behind this marvelous perfume... Boise 1920. The "history" section is lovely. I found it because I am getting low on my beautiful fragrance Gucci Flora, and I think that my new one will be Cartier's La Luna... but now I may need to go sniff the bottles at Neiman Marcus to find if they have this Bois 1920 brand...

If you like retro tennies...

J. Crew has done it again! They are featuring a great pair of tennies.  New Balance has put out a few pairs of terrific retro court shoes. 

Polo is so cute for baby boys

I am going crazy trying to resist the incredibly cute baby outfits for little boys from Polo. Wow! Love it!

Vintage Nike! (But not pre-worn!)

Like Jerry Seinfeld I tend to consider "vintage" clothing as "nastywear." However, I also like the look and admire the style. So I am happy when companies come out with great reminders of previous style.
For example, J. Crew is for some unknown random reason selling remakes of ancient 80s-era sneakers. They look amazing! I want a pair. Ladies order 1.5 sizes down--easy peasey, lemon squeezy!

Folding chairs? Who knew!

Anthropologie has taken me my surprise. The Terai Folding Chairs are amazing! Gorgeous patterns of upholstered folding chairs--would these work in my house? I hate to order them and hate them. But what lovely objects! Naturally I would go for the white--I tend toward the cottage style--but the dark with the African patterns would fit our current abode beautifully. 

Turn on the waterworks!

I am so thrilled to find that Bloomingdales is selling Waterworks, such a great brand of towels. I have two new bathmats now and with luck they will stand up to the rough use that these items get as well as the facecloth I have by Waterworks! This brand is usually sold to trade only, at International Market Square and so forth...

I love summer

Summer fun is just so much fun. We bound out of bed at 7 and are so happy to start the day, nothing like dreary winter when I just want so sleep. Baby is now 13 months old and go, go, go is his motto. Today we are off to the beach which makes me think, what does the well-dressed baby take with him? 

A pottery barn mini towel embroidered with his name on it is one good idea. I just wish that the patterns for boys were less dangerous-beast and more adorable-beast. Just me, but come on, why does a baby towel for boys have to be covered with alligators or sharks? Can't he at least have a friendly starfish?
Baby will personally be using a hand towel that got stained, because we're just not that fancy. I will also bring a pretty Indian-print cotton sari that Ann Taylor sold at some point in the '90s for us to sit on.
Baby will wear a sun hat from Hanna Anderson--or more realistically he will pull off a sun hat from Hanna Anderson--and I will be in a hideous swimsuit from Macy's. Ah, summer! Off we go!

Lilly+Toms=Dream come true

I would love to see a collaboration between TOMS espadrilles and Lilly Pulitzer. Wouldn't it be fun to have bright pink or turquoise wedges to wear with my Lilly dresses for the summer? My skirt in dark and stormy--above--is so gorgeous and bright. I want matching shoes! 

I love my TOMS wedges in ash They are so comfortable and get compliments wherever I go. I also love my pretty orange and turquoise silky espadrilles from Neiman Marcus... They are just gorgeous and so comfy. But nothing really goes with them except for my sailor-button style dark denim shorts and a white cami. I do slouch around in them and wore them with a cute bright outfit that didn't coordinate. Nothing that would get my outfit spotted by the Sartorialist... The ash wedges are easier but even so, I could see a lot of use for a brighter pair. 

It's worth noting that TOMS gives a pair of shoes to someone in need whenever you buy a pair of his adorable and inexpensive shoes. They are comfy even for a stumpy-footed person like myself.

Cute baby t-shirts

I am loving Snugfits! They have adorable and sassy baby t-shirts for sale that I would love to buy, but at $20 a hit they seem pretty spendy. Still, Beastie Baby? Fabulous!

Spring has sprung, but...

It's cold and gloomy out! For some reason this makes me think about shopping for new cute pillows for the chairs outside. My lovely little tile-top table was left outdoors all winter after a surprise blizzard buried for six months, so the top is chipped. I solved this problem by covering it with a pretty tablecloth that I have been saving for years, despite the fact that I didn't have a round table for years. But that didn't stop me from browsing at a lot of great online sites for new tables. I will post about this someday soon!
Now, though, I am in a quandary. The tile-top table is blue and white, so crisp and bright, and Pottery Barn has an outdoor pillow that would match it exactly. But the tablecloths I have are floral and pastel, from my days as a single girl indulging in Shabby Chic style.

So maybe I should think about one of these cute pillows, like this lovely one with the flowers on it? Ugh! So hard! Oh, well, now my problem is solved, because I just found the prettiest one of all and it is on sale with free shipping! I may actually make an online purchase, for once! The photo doesn't want to go where want it to, so it is above, but you will note the pretty pears. Thank you Pottery Barn for once again anticipating my taste.

Cute needlepoint belts

Check out these cute needlepoint belts. They're expensive but classic--a good investment as you'd wear it forever.

Cool iphone case

I love this iPhone case. So romantic!

Glorious beads

I was browsing Etsy tonight and I found gorgeous beads sold by a beadmaker in Istanbul. Isn't the Internet amazing? I love it sometimes when it unites buyers and sellers.

Cheerful bright baby stuff

I just found Kalencom, a cute design shop based in New Orleans. They sell really adorable baby layettes and other outfits, so bright and cheerful.

My gorgeous new bike!

The Raleigh retroglide 7... what a looker! She rides like a dream, even on our miserable sidewalks, and she looks great. The seat and fenders have fancy art on them and the chain cover features a pretty flapper. We bought the bike at Erik's bike shop, a great place if you're looking.

It rides like a cruiser but shifts beautifully, smoothly and seamlessly even going up hill. It is large and elegant, like a Victorian aristocrat's penny farthing (bicycle of the past, if you're wondering.

Mine has a babyseat by bobike with an incredibly adorable little baby in it, wearing a ducky helmet. We rode for an hour this evening (past bedtime) and baby loved it! So did I. The bobike was the result of ardurous online shopping that lasted for weeks (and took up valuable blogging time!), but the details are too dull to post right now. I just love my new bike!

So disappointed in Fine Stationery

I ordered incredibly cute invitations for my son's birthday party, but after hours of hassle, it appears that Fine Stationery has let me down completely. Not only are the invitations not here yet, with the party on Saturday, but I didn't find out until Friday night that I would not get them until Tuesday! That meant I needed to run out on the day before Easter and buy new invitations, quite the hassle I was hosting Easter and naturally wanted a clean house... And I had to get random invitations that are not part of the theme.
Finally I ended up laboriously handwriting out a few dozen and dropping them in the mail, so I hope that most guests receive them by Tuesday. What a shame. If they had been honest from the start about the delay, I could have at least mailed out the replacement invites last Thursday! It is so tack to send invites out so late.
After hours on instant messaging with the company, I learned that I will need to ship back the materials to receive a refund. What a colossal waste of time and energy--and it means that I don't even get to have one for my son's baby book, after all of that effort! Not only that, but the customer service agent seemed really uninformed and was unable to provide contact information for the CEO, which is unacceptable, of course!
I have been a passionate advocate for this company, and now I have to say--don't use them! What a shame.

Summer island style

I love the site Calypso with its breezy summer looks. It makes me want to go to Playa Del Carmen and stay at La Lunata on Fifth Avenue, hang out at beach bars and shop for colorful lanterns...The whole vibe of the Calypso site, with its fun graphics, evoke an early-days-of-Banana vibe.

These linen pants and cute striped pullover would be so great for avoiding the sun while staying cool on a long day at the beach, and underneath a cute bikini...
O summer, will you ever come?

Pretty dresses

I found a few very pretty dresses for Spring and Easter. Modcloth has a pretty cake artist dress--not sure why it is called this. It has a great neckline, just like the one at White House Black Market, which I tried on the other day and ADORE. It is so incredibly sweet and pretty. I ended up getting one with straps because with baby, I am always up and down and don't want him getting ideas. But I keep thinking about it...

This is going to be about bicycles for a while

Yes, it's time to think about a new bike! I have a sleek mountain bike (that I rarely trailride on, but that's beside the point) that isn't going to be great for wedging a baby seat onto. So I started to think about a new bike. My ideal is $200 or less, but is that feasible these days, unless I get a Huffy or Schwinn that weighs a ton? I do need a light bike for hefting up into our rack and because Baby & his seat will add some weight to it!
So, just dreaming, I found this one. Ooooo, what a cool way to drop $850...
Though this will not happen...

Suspenders (braces) for baby

Baby is so skinny that he crawls right out of his little trews. So cute but I think that maybe he needs some suspenders. 

I started my hunt and found the hilariously specific company, British Braces, which sells all kinds of suspenders but seems very dodgy due to the large flashing pounds signs. And there is an American version called the Suspender Store. This store has a large photo of the nerdiest kids I have ever seen grinning like maniacs with large suspenders that contrast with their turtlenecks, just waiting to be beaten up on the playground. They do sell really cute baby suspenders, with rainbows and duckies and such. 

But again the website seems kind of strange. I mean, leather suspenders for cowboys? Hmm. 

More adorable elfin gardens

Spring is here! A long walk with baby revealed crocuses blooming, scilla covering lawns with blue flowers, so many green things making a valiant effort to come to life. The sun was bright and oh, it was wonderful. I arranged the lawn furniture and moved baby's little walker out to the patio. I also started to dream about my yard, which is currently dead and horrible.

I don't have any elves in my garden, but I can't help but feel that they might be moving in sometime soon. If your garden isn't cute enough, then maybe you want to fill it with more elf houses. I had no idea that there were so many places to buy this kind of thing, but apparently, it's not hard to find really cute elfin tchotchkes. After you finish playing with your elves, you can have tea at the toadstool table. 

Gorgeous prints

How on earth did I just discover Amy Butler tonight? Her gorgeous patterns adorn bags, quilts, and more. I'm a huge fan. The bag at left is available at Endless.com

Wonderful dolls from Petitcollin

Petitcollin is a marvelous dollmaker. France's last surviving doll-factory is 150 years old and still producing lovely dolls to cherish, like Colin. He has a blue sailor suit, too. So charming! I had a boy doll who has more or less survived. This was Peter, Heidi's friend, and made by Effanbee. So far this doll has not been reissued, which is practically a first for my childhood toys. Fisher Price, for instance, has even reissued the original rotary dial phone I used to play with. We don't even have a home phone, so that's pure pandering to people like me (of course baby has one, which he adores). However, little Colin here would be a lovely replacement. 

Garden Accessories

What do we do now that Smith & Hawkin is gone?

Let your little helpers start to cultivate their green thumbs by giving them this cute watering can. And if you need new tools, you might want to look into this cute wicker carrier, which comes with tools (maybe low quality? The whole package is only 30-some bucks).
 Protect your manicure with super-cool gardening gloves that come in many colors and sizes are available at Gardener's Supply, a charmless but useful resource. They also sell handsome and colorful plastic tubs.
Pretty gloves can be found at Little's Good Gloves. And, if your patio or garden is so hot (and secluded) that you have entirely given up on fashion, you could wear one of these weird neckties that are full of supposedly cooling crystals. It comes in stylish colors like "dinosaur."

.

Lovely nightlights

There is nothing more comforting to a child than a friendly nightlight. In baby's room, the nightlight is a little toadstool painted with flowers, animals, and a few little woodland sprites. Light shines from windows in the stem and in the cheerful red cap. It is possibly the sweetest lamp that I have ever seen, and it was designed by White Rabbit. (What a great name for a company).
I love that kids rooms can be so whimsical, and it's great that there are such easy, pretty ways to make a small space charming.

This light--known officially as the Bramble--can also be found with a blue cap, though mushrooms look best with red ones (I think), or in a pink version called the Dewdrop.White Rabbit is best known for its award-winning and utterly adorable white rabbit night light. There is also a charming owl, and cute little china cups.  I don't know of any U.S. brick-and-mortar stores that sell this, but I would not be at all surprised if Target or some other major retailer stumbled across these lights one day soon. For now, this is internet shopping at its best.
For a more grown-up space that needs some subtle illumination, a store named Unique Decor Online has some terrific items made of glass, metal, and other objects. They seem to be the kind of nightlight that you stick in a socket.

Sleep Sacks for Baby

Baby is outgrowing his cozy sleepsacks so I am on the hunt. He is a tosser-and-turner, often ending up lengthwise or turning to face the foot of the bed. That means blankets end up far away from him, all bunched up in a pile. (At 11 months, he's not likely to smother in his bed, which is the fear that leads lots of people to put infants in the sacks).

The softest ones are the Swaddle Designs zzZipMe Sack, a dooming kind of name. The fleece on Baby's has stayed incredibly soft and comfy for more than six months. They have double zippers, so you can go up or down, which is handier than it sounds for getting baby bundled into the sack at night. They also have pretty, soft colors and matching swaddle blankets. Sadly they don't come in sizes above 6-12 months.


I am impressed with the Smart-Dream sleep sacks, which are 100 percent percale cotton (like nice sheets), and they come in sizes up to 18 months. They also have subtle but cute decoration, like the cute little sheep at left.
Baby DeeDee sells sacks that look adorable and comfy and warm. But too warm for summer? It's hard to tell. These are available at Amazon (where else?) and at Baby Deedee.com.

Halo Sleepsacks pretty much own the market, and we have a nice big one with applique farm animals that Baby stares at in fascination. The polarfleece doesn't do a great job in the wash: like most polarfleece, it gets kind of clumpy. However, they have hilarious versions for big kids whose feet stick out the bottom. They look like mushroom costumes.

Dwell Studios have interesting graphic prints. I also have towels and washcloths from Dwell and they are very absorbant. But I think that the graphics are a little bland and the colors slightly odd. Very stylish but not quite my style.

Aden and Anais has marvelous soft muslin bags. I already have these washcloths and they are fabulously soft. They have a single-layer version for summer but, though it is April, it is barely above freezing. My only issue is that the patterns are a trifle banal for such lovely material and I hear rumors that they are less than sturdy. Yet this is what I ordered--suckered in by softness--and so time will tell!