better on the board then on the sofa

Why are pens so exciting to kids? And why do they always have to use them for evil, rather then good? Maybe that's just in our house...?

We have a pen thief budding artist among us, so I picked up this Crayola Dual-Sided Dry Erase Board the other day. It's white on one side, black on the other and it appears the crayons actually do wash out of clothing.

Highly recommended - plus I thought it would be great to travel with to help keep him occupied :)

interiors: cute alphabet idea for kids room

Oh Dee Doh

Not to fear, we managed to survive the "hurricane" here over the weekend. I think it rained for roughly 20 minutes? Maybe even less? We were lucky, but I hope everyone in locations that did not fare as well are staying safe!

During some of our "hurricane" down-time, I was blog browsing and happened upon this cute baby nursery on Oh Dee Doh. I especially like the assortment of letters above the crib and love how they used the entire alphabet, rather then spelling out a name or single word.

If you'd like to see more of the room, click here.

currently loving: native kids shoes

I am in love with C's new shoes! I can't get over the cuteness factor and also how functional they are - which I've discovered is surprisingly hard to find in kids shoes.

I've tried about a million pairs of Crocs on C-man over the past year or so and every time they just slipped right off his feet. I thought now that his feet were a bit bigger, they would finally fit better, but no dice. Since we live in a beachy area I really wanted a pair of easy to wear {and easy to clean} shoes for the warmer weather. Enter Native Kids shoes, which are the PERFECT alternative to Crocs.

C has the Jefferson style in Torch Red and we absolutely looooove them! They come in a few other styles and fun colors and not only fit well, but are easy to wash off and he can even put them on himself. Just be warned that they run in combo sizes {4/5, 6/7 etc} and the fit leans toward the larger of the two combined sizes. C is 17 months and is a size 5 so I ordered a 4/5 at first and couldn't even get them on his feet. I sent them back and ordered a 6/7 and they are definitely on the big size, but stay on his feet and seem comfortable on him. Plus, you can wear then with or without socks, so he'll be able to wear them into the fall, too.

Highly recommended!

first kiss

I know he's growing up but ??????

We went to a baptism for baby Gabriel yesterday and C and Eve {an older lady!} became fast friends.

At what point should I start locking him in his room and screening his calls?! 

mama icon: jane birkin

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I've been thinking about starting a series of post about mothers who are style icons - in fashion, design, art, etc. simply because I'm interested in this kind of thing and maybe some of you are too? Personally, after turning 30 this year and becoming a mama, I feel like my style has completely changed. I'm less interested in having an excess number of items and would rather have a few great pieces that I supplement with fun accessories, shoes, etc. For the everyday, I've also found myself dressing for function, which I suppose I didn't need to do as much before I was a mom. I NEVER used to wear shorts {I just simply didn't like them on me}, but this summer I've pretty much worn a pair of shorts every day. If I'm going to the park, or Gymboree class, or to sit on the floor at story time, a skirt just isn't going to cut it.

Anyway, I have a few of these mama style icons in mind, but thought I'd being with one of my personal favorites....

Jane Birkin was famously known as a style icon and mama in the 60's and 70's but her name lives on today as the namesake for the quintessential Hermes Birkin Bag, which is notoriously difficult to obtain and um...pay for? At $10,000+ it isn't an item I'll have anytime soon....or ever.

While I was doing a bit of research about her, I came across a number of images that showed her carrying a straw basket. It turns out she was more interested in carrying a basket then the expensive bag, which was named for her. Interesting, huh?

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And how cute are those bangs and jeans? I have a love/hate relationship with bangs and always want them, but rarely can maintain them for more then one haircut cycle. And the little bohemian in me will always prefer a great pair of wide leg, bell bottom jeans. Always.

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Jane has three daughters - Kate Barry, Lou Doillon and Charlotte Gainsborough - Kate is a photographer while Lou and Charlotte are both style icons in their own right

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Like mother, like daughter, no?

And by the way, if anyone would be so generous to buy me a Birkin bag, unlike Jane I would happily carry it everywhere with me :)

currently loving: schylling red piano

I saw this Schylling mini red piano the other day and can not get over how cute it is! What budding musician wouldn't love to bang on those keys?!

photos from the weekend {a few days late}

It might look like he's trying to eat the flowers, but really he's smelling them. I always say "pretty flowers" and the majority of the time he just looks and doesn't touch, but now that he's learned to sniff and smell, it's a whole new ballgame. Every time we pass a flower, he's all over it.

We had a fairly busy weekend - birthday party, a baby shower for Kelly and Tim, a beach day and then dinner with friends. Here are some photos... 

Kelly's sister hosted the shower, but we supplied the favors. Kyle even helped cut out all the circles :)

The theme of the shower was various children's books and the invitations were really cure and based on Dr. Seuss's book, Oh, the Places You'll Go, so we thought old fashioned whirly lollipops would be a great way to tie into the theme. I designed and printed funny labels and we cut them out and glued them onto the wrapper.

And Sunday was absolutely the most perfect beach weather I've seen in Charleston in a loooooong, long time....

After the extreme heat, it reminded me why I love summer so much :)

laugh and laugh

Someone looooves to have their belly tickled!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more pics from the weekend. In the meantime, a glass of wine and some Bravo are calling my name. Well as soon as I convince someone else to let me switch back and forth between that and Monday Night Football.

baby girl bloomers

Rikshaw Design Darjeeling Bloomer

I have a few friends who are having {or recently had} baby girls. Since I obviously had a baby boy, baby girl clothes are a whole new world to me. Every time I go into a store to buy a present or just browse, I am constantly amazed at just how cute all the baby girl and little girl clothes are. Not to say that boy clothes aren't cute, too, but the little dresses, shoes and tights always get a little "awwww!" from me. Honestly, sometimes the little outfits are so darn cute I've even considered buying a few and keeping them on hand {just in case} for the future. I haven't gone to those lengths quite yet, but I have had to talk myself out of more then one purchase.

The one item that always catches my eye are little bloomers. I mean, how CUUUUTE are some of these??!! The little sailor bloomers shown below were the ones that almost made it out of the store with me....they matched with a little sailor dress, of course

Gymboree Stripe Ribbon Bloomer 

And these little blue polka dot ones are adorable, too

Petit Pan

Petit Pan

These Cutey Booty bloomers are made locally here in Charleston - they even have boxers and britches for boys....so adorable I can hardly stand it!

Cutey Booty Bloomers

Cutey Booty Britches

Cutey Booty Boxers

A big thanks to all my dear friends who are having girls so I have an excuse to buy pretty presents for all of  C's new lady friends :)

new projects + inspiration

I mentioned something a few weeks ago about posting photos of new projects I've been working on recently. I'm kind of driving myself nuts because I work on them a little every day, but I'm still not done! Guess that's just life with a toddler! Or at least that's what I'm telling myself....

Anyway, I have a small teaser photo of one section of a project in the dining room project. It's kinda blurry and the reflection is horrible, but I quickly snapped it before I made sure C wasn't going to topple off the chair.

I also moved a few things around in the living room and we now have a big, blank space on the first wall  you see when you walk into the room. So, I've been brainstorming about what I want to put there. Something abstract? A giant blown up photo? A painting? A print? A photo gallery wall? The choices are endless, and I haven't completely decided yet, but here are a few inspiration photos that have caught my eye....

Mollyloot

LuluDK from Lonny

Karen Smidth

Nicole Cohen

unknown?

Caitlin Wilson Design

unknown?

Design Sponge

Sally King Benedict 

Clearly I'm all over the map....going to need to give it some time to see what feels right. Now, back to work for me! Nap time is a-wasting!

children's museum

Milk, bananas and oranges. Someone knows how to stock up!

We went to the Lowcountry Children's Museum yesterday and C-man had an absolute blast. The last time we were there he wasn't walking yet, so all the activities were way over his head. Fast forward about four months and this little man was busy, busy, BUSY!

The supermarket was by far is favorite area, though he was pretty into the water area and the raceways, too. He took one look at the mini-size cart and was off. I had my hand on it at one point to help him steer and he quickly brushed it off and made it clear he was fine on his own.

Checkout took awhile because he kept running back to load up on more oranges, but luckily our check-out girl was very patient....

and then it was off to the water area....

and then to the raceways....

and then to the art room....note to self: C-man likes to eat paint, so lets stick to crayons and drawing for awhile....

he passed out in the car on the way home, with blue hands and a golf ball from the raceways area stored away in his pocket.