November 17, 2011
Hello there. I haven’t been the best blogger as of late, have I? Maybe this will help. Emersonmade is in the Pop-Up Shop for one day only… and unless you live under a rock, or don’t read any blogs, you’re most likely familiar with them… yes? They are after all, the young(ish) internet’s favorite brand!
Select pieces of their current collection are up to 50% off until 6PM Pacific today! Major restraint being practiced over here. Though I doubt I’ll make it through the day without at least buying a bag of tees.
Check it out!
labels: ready to wear
November 9, 2011
We’re big readers around these parts. And Dashiell definitely has his favorites… most of which involve trucks, naturally! Here are a few that we’ve been reading non-stop and are loved equally by parent and child.
Everything Goes on Land, by Brian Biggs. Brian actually sent this one to us when he read here that Dashiell was a big fan of Richard Scarry. His hope was to “combine the sensibility of Richard Scarry with the Where’s Waldo and I Spy books” to give kiddos something to spend hours pouring over. Such fantastic inspiration and I’m so glad he found us! Dashiell loves the bright colors and modern illustration. And for a boy who loves anything that “goes”, this book is perfect. An entire page of trains! A whole spread of motorcycles! Plus there’s cats and birds and people and all sorts of city life. It’s almost too exciting.
A House is a House for Me, by Mary Ann Hoberman. Oh how I love this book. My friend Staci gave it to us for Dashiell’s first birthday and we’re finally to a point where he will sit still to actually hear the words. It so clever and creative and the illustrations are intricate and fabulous and I love reading long rhyming stories out loud. It’s like the perfect 70′s children’s book, that coincidentally was first published the year I was born. Awwww.
Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, by Sherri Duskey Rinker. So as I’ve mentioned, we are very into trucks these days. You think, my son will not be into trucks because we do not have many trucks around the house. And we are not into trucks, after all. But listen, mamas, you cannot stop a little boy from loving trucks. Garbage trucks, UPS trucks, FedEx trucks, Arrowhead Water trucks, buses, moving vans, pick up trucks… they are EVERYWHERE. And I swear little boys have a special radar for them. My mom brought this book up for her number one grandson last time my parents came to visit and it’s been a wild success around here. It’s super sweet and rhymes, of course, and we love reading it over and over.
Where the Wild Things Are by, well, YOU KNOW. We’ve also just gotten into this book (finally making the transition away from board books!) and it really is one of the best. Dashiell has learned to stomp and howl and “rumpus” with the best of them. We like to start the wild rumpus around here at least a few times a day.
Do you guys have any fave books right now? We’re always on the lookout for good recommendations.
(Side note: On the non-children reading list, just finished Boys Adrift. It’s sooooo fascinating. Kind of in the Freakonomics or Nurture Shock way, (two other faves). Parents of boys, I would definitely recommend giving it a read!)
labels: baby + kids
November 8, 2011
We entered our first rainy season with a toddler over the weekend. It coincided nicely with daylight savings time, which meant that by 9 am we’d already been up for hours and hours and had virtually exhausted our minimal resources for entertainment in the living room. But it actually ended up being a fantastic day.
We decided to pay visit to Noah’s Ark at the Skirball. You guys, if you’re in or near LA, you need to check it out. It’s really amazing.
The entire exhibit is full of animals made from found objects. They are amazing! And lots of them are interactive and can be powered by little hands. (See more photos on the Skirball site here.)
The lighting is all very soft and moody, which is sooo much nicer than bright and fluorescent. (Pay no attention to the fact that my child is wearing long underwear in public. It was a rain day!)
Loading the animals into the Ark!
Lots of small wood toys to play with, in addition to the big installations. And there’s tons of pretend play too! You can cook a meal and eat it at the table and even sweep up the camel poop. I’m telling you, it’s fantastic for little explorers.
Plus they have story time and musicians that stroll the galleries and and arts and crafts room. It’s really really fantastic.
If you’re planning to go, you should know that entry is timed and subject to availability. But you can reserve your slot online ahead of time! Definitely recommend it for a weekend. Especially a rainy day. See admission policies and tips here.
So much fun for little ones.
labels: baby + kids, only in LA
November 7, 2011
As mentioned multiple times on this blog, I do not need more Heath. Certainly not another large shallow serving bowl, of which I have two.
BUT. Look at this beauty, hand detailed by Alabama Chanin. Makes me think I might be wrong?
A small beautiful collection is available now. Desperately trying to rationalize buying at least the salad plate, but I’m having difficulties.
labels: house + home
November 3, 2011
A week late, but hey. That’s how things are going around these parts at the moment. We had a super time, as always. The Parker is such a great place to stay as a family, (even though it might not seem to be). The grounds are huge and they have a great pool, and we always stay in a big room with two bathrooms so Dashiell can sleep in one, and we can keep the lights on in our room after he goes to bed. It’s ideal.
A few photos from the weekend. Desert light is always so beautiful.
Somebody REALLY likes swimming. Can you tell? Also, we’ve found that a Fuzzi Bunz cover (without the liner) makes a great swim diaper/bathing suit. Just in case you were wondering.
Our one complaint about Palm Springs is that the food just kind of sucks. The “nice” places are all soooo expensive for meh food, which is a major pet peeve of mine. But there’s always Cheeky’s for breakfast or lunch, which is excellent. AND new to us, next door, a pizza and salad spot (by the same owners) called Birba. We went for dinner on Saturday night and it was pretty darn delicious. Hallelujah! Highly recommend it next time you’re out that way.
labels: every trip is a honeymoon, our family
November 1, 2011
My little farmer last night. His first trip around the neighborhood, eating his loot as he goes.
The most genius thing: houses that have little kid appropriate treat options! So thankful for those people. Goldfish were dinner last night, I’m a little ashamed to say. But we had lots of fun seeing all the other people dressed up, so totally worth it.
Look how much he’s grown in a year.
labels: holidays + celebrations, our family
October 20, 2011
I love the little navajo leggings I bought Dashiell last year from Thief & Bandit. And guess what? Amie has launched a new kids shop! Hello! So much cuteness in there just for kiddos.
(omg, he’s such a little guy in this picture!)
We’re going to need a new pair of leggings for sure. Probably a sweet tank top for next summer and maybe this rad snake shirt too. Dash is very into snakes right now… or SNAH, as he calls them.
And for a super extra surprise, Thief & Bandit is offering Lovely Morning readers a 30% for the next week! Hooray! Just use the code LOVELY2011 when you check out. All of you need sweet snakeskin leggings for your babies!
I hope someone buys this amazing quilt.
(PS. The discount code is good through next Thursday.)
(PPS. I might need this tank for myself.)
labels: baby + kids, buy handmade, ready to wear
October 19, 2011
Hi-dee-ho! We haven’t had a Pop-Up Shop post in a while, have we? I like the philosophy behind 31 Bits and their jewelry is pretty cute too.
Thought some of you might be interested in making a discount purchase, ya? Head over to the Pop-Up Shop for some shopping if you like.
labels: buy handmade, pretty products, ready to wear
October 18, 2011
Jamie emailed me ages ago suggesting that there might be some interest in a post about the real deal with backyard chickens. I thought it was a fabulous idea and then waited months before actually getting it together to do the post. Shocker!
But today is the day. Should you get chickens? Do I like having chickens? Are they a lot of work? It will all be revealed. Maybe.
Having chickens is in general great. I love having fresh eggs, (especially considering how dirty eggs from the supermarket have been proven to be), I love that they eat our kitchen scraps and mulch our garden, and provide hours of entertainment for Dashiell. But they’re farm animals. And they do require some work. And they are loud sometimes, particularly in the morning.
Pros:
Eggs – one cannot get tired of having fresh eggs! And considering organic eggs at the farmer’s market are like $5.00/dozen it’s pretty satisfying to get them for free. Or “free”, I guess. Since clearly they aren’t really free.
Compost – they’re little composting machines!
Fertilizer – for the veggie garden. We have a nice little ecosystem in our backyard.
Entertainment – They are so super great for kids. And if you get them when they’re little, they can be really tame and tolerate infinite amounts of chasing and poking and picking up.
Education – When our kid(s) are older it will be so amazing for them to grow up knowing that food comes from SOMEWHERE, not just the store. Our neighbors asked their son where eggs came from a few years ago when we’d just gotten our first flock, and he said “the store”. I think he knew that they came from a chicken in theory, but in practice they came from the dairy section. And there’s totally nothing wrong with this, but I love that Dashiell already knows that eggs come from our chickens.
Cons:
They are loud – This is my number one gripe. We’re usually up anyway, and it’s a little better now that the sun is coming up later, but just because you don’t have a rooster doesn’t mean your chickens won’t announce to the world that morning has come. Every. Morning.
They are messy – If you let them free range, they will scratch everything out of your planters and leave poop all over the backyard. We let them free range all day every day so there’s a lot of cleaning up to do. BUT we’re in the process of building a fence so they’re confined to the back part of the yard where it’s all wild and messy anyway.
You have to clean the coop – Occasionally. The first time we had chickens I cleaned the coop once a week. ONCE A WEEK! What was I thinking??? Because we have an Eglu, the entire thing comes apart so you can really clean it (vs. just being able to rake it out). Which is nice because it doesn’t smell as much. But I’ve become lazy and now clean it once a quarter.
Chicken sitters – When you travel, you have to find someone to feed and water them if you’re gone for more than a weekend or so.
Misc. issues – Like any animals under your care, chickens occasionally have things that come up that need tending to. You might have one that’s mercilessly pecked and has no feathers left on her back. (Been there!). They might get mites. They might get worms. A predator might get into the coop if it’s not secure. Or an eagle might grab one out of the backyard. The list goes on. I’m a fan of the “let nature take it’s course” attitude most of the time, but still it IS one more thing you have to deal with from time to time.
We have a relatively big backyard for LA standards, but it still feels a wee bit too small for chickens, in an ideal world. I mean it’s FINE, but it would be great to have the coop down the hill from the house or something. So you didn’t hear them quite so often.
This is turning out to be kind of an anti-chicken post. I’m so not anti chicken! In general I think they are very low maintenance, and that the benefits totally outweigh the extra work. I’d much rather have chickens than a dog, for example. (Sorry dog people!) You can completely ignore them for days at a time, which is my kind of pet.
If any of you have specific questions, I’d be so happy to answer them. And if you have chickens, I know there are plenty of you out there who do, what are your thoughts?
labels: urban farming
October 11, 2011
Some things I like in the magazines lying around my house:
Giant pumpkins from Martha. Aren’t the colors beautiful?
Fried roots, in Sunset.
Heather Taylor‘s house, also in Sunset.
Flavored butters, in Bon Appetit.
Flavored madelines, in Martha.
I always get so excited when I look through them, dog-earring the pages and everything, and then rarely return to actually DO anything with the things I like.
Anyone have a good system for actually making use of all the great ideas out there? They always seem to slip away from me, or the next month’s stack arrives and I move on.
labels: house + home, recipes + food
