Recycled Globe Pendant

I've been carrying around this globe for at least a year and a half now (much to my husband's chagrin), waiting for the inspiration to re-purpose it in our new house. Last week I was fortunate to see a fantastic recycled object segment on the TODAY show while at the gym with designer Danny from the Daily Danny blog.


And voila! He cut his thrift store globe in two, split at the equator, and added a simple and cheap cord from IKEA. I'm still pondering whether or not I want to do this to mine, but I love Danny's out of the box creativity.

2011 Calendars

Like most people these days, I tend to keep a detailed calendar on an electronic device - whether computer, PDA, etc. However I still LOVE receiving (or buying) an annual calendar to provide a more aesthetically pleasing view of the months.

I was overwhelmed during a recent trip to a local Paper Source at the amount of gorgeous 2011 calendars displayed:

Paper Source Wall Art

Mini Desk Calendar"Critters" Birch desk calendar



Ilee Papergoods:

Stunning letterpress calendars and other products - first ran across her 5 years ago during an Art Walk in our old neighborhood. It was two years after my own wedding and I sure wish I'd found her products prior to it for the invitations. Just breathtaking!

This is her 2007 calendar that a dear friend bought for me, and I still have it tucked away in a craft box for some future inspiration.




2011 Desk Calendar



Of course, "my" adored Snow & Graham products:


How on earth will I decide on one (or even two)????

Retail Therapy

Every now and then a dose of retail therapy really does the trick. We've been in a three week cycle of sick that is getting kind of old... and so little victories like scoring on the below items can give me a temporary lift from the drippy noses:

See Kai Run "Jennifer Lee" shoes for the two year old
Retails @ $40, purchased for $10



Le Petit Cakestand from Rosanna (one of my favorite designers) in mint
Retails @ $17, purchased for $5


And the piece de resistance! A full place setting of my Vera Wang Champagne Duchesse china
Retails for +/- $120, purchased for $9.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond in the clearance section

Ten on Ten - 10/10/10

I've been dying to participate in the Ten on Ten Photography project started by Rebekah of Orange Poppy. Finally, I put it on the calendar, sent myself some reminders, and placed a camera next to my bed. Waking up with a headache, drippy nose and aching body almost derailed this attempt, but thankfully it came together, more or less.

Think about joining Rebekah and others next month with this project!

Oh, fudge

Two days ago the small fry and I went to our local store to pick up the obligatory pumpkins tat will greet our guests as they approach our front door. The four of various shape and size that we picked up are your standard bright orange color - nothing exciting, though certainly thrilling enough for the four and under set.

This is the first year, however, that I've noticed the wide variety of pumpkins that are available from the "fairytale" pumpkins at Trader Joes:


Mini-Tigers:

to the wild curves and colors of the Turban pumpkin:


Thinking about pumpkins made me also remember one of the best candies I've ever had. 5 years ago I was introduced to pumpkin fudge at the venerable Dairy Fresh Candies located in Boston's North End while visiting friends from college. Very old school in appearances, Dairy Fresh was a charming surprise for me and I brought home a box of the fudge for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to share with family (and comforted by the fact that I could order more online).

Today I Googled Dairy Fresh and found out that they are no longer, having closed the shutters on their store two years ago. :( Now my new quest is to find either a great source of already made fudge or, better yet, the fool-proof (and hopefully easy) recipe. Recommendations are always appreciated!

Seasons

I often forget that things occur in life for a season and then we move on to something new, different, or perhaps something very challenging. This is especially so in the life of a toddler. My son recently stopped napping and along with it, I've had to figure out how to alter my life and schedule to work with this lack of "me time".

One thing that has suffered is my chance to work on projects. The list grows and so does my anxiousness to start or complete some.

So, in light of this, I'm posting pictures of a centerpiece project I worked on for a mom's group at my church that I did a few years back. The theme was focused on getting recharged and encouraged from this community of amazing moms so that we can go back to our homes and bless our families, and in turn, our neighborhoods and communities.

These centerpieces represent neighborhoods around the greater Seattle area:

Magnolia



The University District



West Seattle


Ballard



Fremont


Queen Anne







* missing ones for Lake Union & Greenlake

Too nice?

After dodging rain and fog in the weather forecast, we were blessed with one of the nicest days we've had this year: 81 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, happy kids, etc.

However, I think that we got more than we bargained for since the typical Seattle overcast can produce great lighting and we had some harsh sun and shadows on Saturday. We may have to go for a do-over with the great Fiona photo-shoot of 2010.