Hair New Era

To all the moms out there (you know, my two friends who have babies), here's one for you: Have you heard of the website called another lunch? It's written by a mother of four who strives to make nutritious and visually appealing lunches for her kids, specifically focusing on using bento boxes to cut down on packaging and waste. The result is a slew of cheery eye candy that made me want to whip up some fun lunches - until I realized that B might not appreciate the colorful boxes and fruit cut-outs as much as a toddler might. Ah well...

If you actually have children (and not just large children in mens' bodies) in your life, here are a few of her delish preschool to elementary school appropriate lunches:



In case you're wondering, the contents of the above lunch include (from top left, clockwise): applesauce with some sprinkles on top and mini Saltines with a slice of cheddar cheese, grapes and cucumber, a PB&J sandwich (the beak is made from cheese), sliced hard-boiled egg, raspberries, organic yogurt-covered raisins. Sounds pretty good to me!


However, I'm pretty sure you're thinking "what effing mom has time for this?" (except since you're a mom you probably didn't insert the "eff" in there like I do. Oops!). Anyway, I don't even have kids and I'm already doubting whether I could muster up the energy/time to cut a duck out of cheese.

But, not all of the bentos shown on another lunch are complicated. In fact, most of them look pretty simple. This one is basically whatever was in the fridge, tossed into a container in a cute way:


Plus, these could work for grown-ups pretty easily too. Here are two workday lunches that made my stomach growl:



Looks pretty healthy to boot...

I'm not running out to buy these BPA-free bento boxes and mini-containers any time soon, but if I have kiddos in the near future, I'll certainly consider it. In the meantime, Cov, I'm looking at you - this is right up your (green, organic) alley and I'm pretty sure little Finn would be super psyched to find a mini shark made out of organic cheese or an Ezekiel bread sandwich cut into a fish shape in his lunchbox. ;) Perhaps I'll give making one of these for Finn a go when I come down to visit in November... Yay for loaner kids! (ha ha)

People. I am shirking afternoon posts today. I'm sorry, but I have very important business - I'm hanging with a lovely gal pal and this adorable face:

Can you blame me for skipping out a bit early? :)

I'm totally about to out myself here.

No, no, I'm not about to tell you all about some secret lovechild or a trashy tattoo or even an obsession with crap TV (okay, that last one was true). No, really I'm kicking myself for sharing this amazing find because I was planning to buy it for all my friends who are getting married in the near future (ahem, first up: Sara and Dan) and now they'll all know about this. Boo. Oh well, they'll still like it, right? (Or maybe someone will buy one for me some day...)

What I'm blathering on about is this adorable custom wedding dress hanger:

The print above is not only adorable, but also charitable. Children Inspire Design has created this super-cute signed, limited addition print, with 50 percent of the proceeds going to the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. Bonus: along with your purchase of the print, you not only get to feel good about helping the sad situation in the Gulf, but you also get a $10 gift certificate to ChildrenInspireDesign.com. Score!

I love the friendly whale - I think he'd make the perfect gift for anyone with kids (too bad your birthday's not 'til Dec, Cov and Finn's not 'til March!).

I also happen to know that Children Inspire Design is a great company since I bought this little print as a kids gift for the holidays:

Though I'm not sure if the recipient liked it or hung it up... but I thought it was cute, so that's what matters, right? ;)

If you're in the mood for some fanciful art, or just to help out with the Gulf restoration while getting something fun, definitely go check out this adorbs whale print for 30 bucks well-spent.

Originally spotted here.

TGIF: Thank goodness for....fashion? Well this morning that's what I'm taking it to mean. But I may be pushing it with the "fashion" label, since what I want to talk about is not necessarily fashionable to some.

What I've got on the brain this morning is....clogs. That's right, clogs. You know, makes you think boy of a with his finger in the dam, tulips and the paint can. All that Dutch stuff you think of when you think of wooden clogs (or is that just me?). But these are actually Swedish. (Go figure.)

Swedish Hasbeens to be exact. And look who's rocking them:

Pay no attention to the ginger sitting next to SJP...don't want to scare you on a Friday morn, now do I?

And another view:


But SJP doesn't stop there. No! She's got multiple colors, of course! More:


Oh, and not just with capris. Here's a fall ensemble (complete with baby):

On a side note, her kids are pretty cute. Anyway, back to the clog at hand...

People have been suggesting I buy clogs for years - they're the only shoes that won't hurt your back, they say - but I've been resisting because I either picture little girls picking tulips and clog dancing or my mom disco dancing in the 70s. Woah.

But if they're good enough for SJP, American fashion royalty...I might be swayed...

Oh wait, I forgot to mention something about these clogs - made by Swedish Hasbeen and shown here in the Peeptoe Super High style (shown above in "Nature" or "Olive"), in case you were wondering. Here's the thing: I thought to myself, "Fine, fine. Clogs. They'll help with my backaches and at least they'll be reasonably priced." Wrong.

These mammers are $202! Well, they're $154 (converted from Euro) plus $48 shipping from across the pond. Them's some pricey wood-soled shoes man! But are they worth it?

What do you think? Are they too hein? Or kinda cool? Do tell on this Friday morn! (What do you have to lose? Tell me what you really think... As if you're hard at work...) ;)

Photo credits: 1&3- ShopRobertson, 2&4- CoolSpotters, 5- Swedish Hasbeens. Shoes originally spotted on A Diary of Lovely.

Did I really just see this on TV??

An ad for denim....wait for it....diapers. Whaa?! You read that correctly. Huggies has indeed created limited edition jeans diapers. And they're not kidding.

The commercial starts with a Euro voiceover of "My diaper is full -- full of chic." and ends with the tagline, "The coolest you'll look pooping your pants." Oh and don't forget the middle bits: "When it's a number two, I look like number one." and "I poo in blue." That's copywriting gold, y'all.

But don't just read about it, see for yourself:

(In case you can't view embedded videos, click here.)

Wow. I'm kind of freaked out by the fact that they're sexualizing a male baby in the ad, but then again, I also think the whole thing is kind of totally hysterical (and gross at the same time...). See? Flip. Flop. Any ad that makes you unsure of whether you love it or hate it must be pretty good. I'm definitely weirded out by the whole thing, but I'm also pretty amused, so kudos, ad agency.

Though I heard they turn your baby's legs blue... Oops.

Oh, and Sarah: Take a look below - this could be soon-to-be-born-at-any-minute baby Caroline in just a few short months. Huzzah! ;)

Photo by Amber Porter

Oops! Did I just ruin the surprise of what I'm getting little Caroline for an arrival gift? Darn. (ha ha)

So what do you think? Heinous or hysterical? Would you buy these for your baby?

I'll be honest, I'm struggling a bit today. I'm in a fine mood, but I just have so much to get done that I don't feel very creative or inspired. Could be this gray weather and a very busy schedule. But, I promised to blog it out, so here are three things that caught my eye today - plus I happened to notice a commonality: texture. So hope you enjoy this pieced-together post. ;)

3 variations on pretty texture:

1.

This Vera Wang gown is absolutely amazing in an over-the-top frou-frou sort of way, no? I really hate full-length gloves (in black especially) normally, but these just add to the drama. Gorgeous.

Spotted on This is Glamorous.

2.

These are infant mattresses. Yes. So very cool. The Pebble mattress by Nook costs a gazillion dollars, but supposedly they have "a unique air layer that fosters oxygen flow inside the mattress .... superior softness of all-natural eucalyptus fibers [and a] unique pebbled surface that promotes air circulation." Luxury for your baby. Sheesh, even my mattress isn't this nice.

Spotted on Swiss Miss.

3.

Isn't this door mat adorbs? Simple, classic, but kinda fun (and very nautical, obviously). Best part? It's only 19 bucks from Pottery Barn. Wut.

Spotted on Armelle.

So there you have it: three textured sussies from me, for you, today. Enjoy!

I talked about Sharon Montrose's adorable baby animal photos here before (one of my friends even bought a few of the prints for her baby's nursery after seeing them!), but her newest photo shoot seriously tops the charts in terms of cuteness. She got to photograph this guy: Stanley, a three-month-old giraffe.

Isn't he so sweet? Here's an awesome video behind the scenes at the shoot. You can also buy a small size print of Stanley - or the other animals she's photographed - here.

Spotted on A Cup of Jo.

I don't have kids yet for whom to plan birthday parties, yet I still feel oddly compelled to buy all of these amazing cupcake kits immediately.

These gorgeous mermaids are perfectly at home here on Sea*Life*Style.

I can think of a certain little boy (Finny Finn Finn) whose mom is going to snap up these pirate toppers immediately...

A cute gender-neutral option:


This one's girly all the way:


Perhaps I'll host a tweet-up and serve cupcakes adorned with these (grasping at straws here, looking for a reason to buy one of these kits!):


I can honestly see some dog-obsessed grown-ups buying these for their dog's birthday party (I still think it's hysterical [cough *weird* cough] that people do that):


Maybe I'll get these for the next friend of mine who has a baby shower:

I die with the cuteness.

p.s. Most of the cupcake themes also have coordinating party supplies, from invites to paper plates and napkins, etc. Check out the full selection here. So cute!

Spotted on Oh Happy Day!

The lovely Nicole of Making It Lovely featured this Boon Grass Countertop Drying Rack (shown here in her own kitchen) the other day, and I think it's totally adorable. I don't think it's quite my style yet - it's maybe more appropriate to hold baby bottles than wine bottles - but it's awesome nonetheless.

It's available on Amazon here and for only 25 bucks. Pretty good deal for a fun and functional counter-topper, eh?

Doesn't this candy-shop inspired wedding look like it was a blast? Then again, all of the designs/ideas could just as easily be applied to a birthday party, baby shower, etc. I love the colors, the details and the whimsy!

(And note how mustaches make an appearance again!)

All photos by Red Ribbon Studio; for more photos, go to Style Me Pretty here, here and here.

Photo from Martha Stewart Weddings

The obsession continues. I know, I know, silhouettes - along with cupcakes, mustaches, owls and mushrooms - are sooo 2009. Whatever, I still love them.

I just can't stop talking about silhouettes (here, here and here previously, if you're curious). Plus it's not my fault if people keep doing such cute stuff like this:

A family tree (and a pregnancy announcement) of silhouettes from the amazing Brooke Reynolds of Inchmark:


The little pink bow on her baby's head totally makes these for me:

From Caitlin Wilson Designs.

See? They're hard to resist, admit it! I'm going to try and practice some self-control for a while though, I promise...

Amazing cake found on frangipane

Aahh, Friday. I'm looking forward to a relatively mellow weekend after last weekend's awesome-but-debaucherous activities. We still have tons of dessert left over - an incredible ice cream cake from my birthday party, an untimely delivery of Girl Scout cookies, cupcakes (from my baking experiment) and some other sweets that just need to get out of this house stat! Perhaps we'll invite a few friends over for an impromptu dessert party and see if we can polish it all off. Sunday I'm going to a friend's baby shower so that too will no doubt be filled with sweets galore. I'm really going to have to get my butt in gear after this week is over...

What about you? Any big plans this weekend? Are you still in a sugar coma from Valentine's Day? Hope you have a mellow or fun weekend (depending on which you're craving) and see you back here Monday!

Now that we've discussed pulling your own baby out of yourself (ouch & weird), we can move on to the much cuter side of having a baby: baby parties! Or in this case, a first birthday party. Sara, your biological clock is going to start ticking so loudly after this (sorry, Dan).

First off, the setting:
(click on photos for larger image)

I loooove that poster and the balloon arrangements are adorable too.

The plush stuffed animals on wheat grass in fun giraffe-print boxes are brilliant centerpieces - cheap, easy to put together and super-cute!

I honestly think my favorite thing about this party is the party hat design. Aren't they lovely? I love the mix of papers - but of course all kept within the color scheme - plus the piece de resistance: the pom-pom toppers! Custom "E" (for Evan) tote bags for favors aren't too shabby either.

Aunt Sandy's cake pops look delicious, as does that tower of mini-cuppies. But the best food offerings at the event (in my opinion) were probably this amazing combo:

1. Kogi BBQ (I'm dying to try this LA landmark. It's a traveling truck that serves up Korean Mexican tacos and BBQ, day and night, and tweets its location out to its 50,000 followers. And it's supposed to be amazing. Yum!)
AND
2. The Fry Girl's mini donuts - hot mini donuts, made on the spot for guests while they watched. Mmm.

And let's not forget the cutest guest in attendance, the birthday boy:

I'm not usually one for putting kids in suits, but this little guy is rockin' it (that and the mini Chuck high-tops are pretty amazing too).

All photos by Youkeun Oh Photography, found via The City Sage.

Okay, don't judge me for A) having seen this and for B) actually blogging about this, but I was so freaked out I had to share.

After reading a tweet from @thelilbee that said "Kourtney Kardashian pulled her own baby out of her in delivery. I just watched it on DVR. CRAZY!" I knew I had to see it for myself. (Thank goodness for tv shows being online these days.)

In case you also have a strange urge to watch this weirdness too, here's the video clip from "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" on E! (skip to 26 seconds if you just want to see the weird self-birthing part):


Click here for the link (in case you can't watch the embedded video).

I mean, WTF?!? Do people just pull out their babies from their own vajayjays these days? Does anyone else think this is weird? And she seemed so calm - no sweating, crying, swearing, nothing - she just reached down and pulled the kid out. So. Weird.

Installation by Ingo Maurer, photograph by Jesús Manuel Nieto Bobadilla, as found on Oh Brooke

I think I've become used to the bright sunny days we've been having as a result of the light bouncing off all the mounds of snow, because in comparison, today feels kind of gray. Thankfully, I came across this umbrella-laden photo and its cheery colors and composition are really brightening my afternoon.

The best part of this pic is that it's available to download - for free. Aren't the colors pretty? Wouldn't it be great in a kids' room? Or a bathroom? Or entryway? Anywhere, really. It's so fun and ethereal.

You can get it here, at 11x14 size, or you can download an edited version of the image (which is available bigger - and still free!) from Oh Brooke (who framed and matted it for her baby's room).

Print this baby out on your color printer and pop it in an Ikea frame and you have great, cheery art on the cheap. And who doesn't love almost-free art?