eager little mind

From the latest American Girl catalog:

AHHHHHHHH!!!!! This is almost exactly like the bike I had as a little girl. But I had a sparkly blue seat and no red, white and blue things on the wheels. Oh, and I think the wheels were blue too. But the main bike color and basket are the same. If I had a ton of money to throw around on frivolous things I’d buy this $80 doll bike and put it on a shelf in my craft room some day. So cute!

A few years ago, I started to collect vintage jewelry, mainly enamel flower pins and earrings from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. I’m always on the lookout for a new piece. I just love retro. So, I wear some of the jewelry, want to incorporate a few of them into necklaces (Right after I take up jewelry making. I so don’t need another hobby.), and plan on putting the rest in a shadow box. I love them. Unfortunately, I misplaced them during our move. It killed me to watch Emma on Glee and see her amazing vintage jewelry collection (or as Sue Sylvester would say “creepy brooches like the kind my nana was buried in!” LOL!) and know that I wasn’t able to find mine. Luckily, we found them a few weeks ago while we were moving things in our storage unit. Aren’t they fun?

They make me smile! And something else that’s making me smile… my stationery from Pink Loves Brown.

I had a $25 gift certificate to spend and the second I laid eyes on the stationery with eyeglasses (!) it was all over. Now I just need a pen pal.

And then there’s this shoe. Don’t own them, yet… but at least they are definitely cheaper than the Fluevogs I’ve been lusting over. I need a colorful ballet flat for spring/summer.

I can’t forget this one, a Matryoshka mini zip pouch from Cut Out and Collect. It’s my new change pouch. So cute!

I think that’s enough for now. What are you loving lately???

Christmas card photo shoot #1 of probably about 10 (or until we start crying and give up). Extremely upset at me because she thinks she hears the ice cream truck and I won’t let her run down the street. Would not stop crying. Hated the tights, hated the shoes, hated me messing with her hair. I don’t know, maybe our Christmas card will be of Daphne in her Dora pjs.

But the skirt is pretty cute, right?

Way too many amazing things on Etsy lately. I need more money in my Paypal account. Ha!

Here are my recent faves:

What are you loving on Etsy, lately? Comment with a link.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a shoe person. Really, I’m not. I have the bare minimum… black strappy heels, black business appropriate shoes, white tennis shoes, a few different colors of flip flops, brown flats, and black and brown boots, and maybe two other pairs just for fun. That’s it.

Occasionally, I see a pair of shoes and think, ” I must have those!” and since that feeling is so rare, I usually try to indulge myself. Like this pair of shoes:

Sandi Henderson blogged about these shoes, and I immediately had to track down a pair. I had Chris drive me to a really dodgy area of Birmingham in search of a certain store, just to buy these. An area that one of my friends (who years ago lived in the projects) warned me about not driving through. That’s how bad I wanted these shoes. But they are pretty cute, right?

Now Sandi has blogged about another pair of cute shoes. She’s my shoe twin. Unfortunately, since these cost about 10 times more that the last pair of shoes, it will be a while before I can get them. But aren’t they to die for?

Any John Fluevog shoe fans out there?

So, a pair of Fluevog Fiorenzas and some Frye boots and I will be good for a few more years. Now I just have to justify spending $600 on two pairs of shoes. Yeah, that will never happen.

No, not that Wolverine. Although I do like Hugh Jackman. A lot. Anyway… I’m talking about Red Dawn. Remember that (really crappy) movie? My brother went through a Red Dawn phase and I think we watched that movie every day for an entire summer. Did anyone else do that with your siblings? We had our Star Wars phase too. So guess what my brother is getting for his birthday.

He can wear it to the new Red Dawn movie. Did you hear it was being remade? Instead of the Soviets and Cubans, this time it’s the Chinese. Hmmm… pass.

Last year I bought some Hanna Andersson Halloween playdresses and shirts/tights on clearance. I think the playdresses were $15 (usually $36 or $38?) and the tops were on sale for $10. Awesome sale. Especially since Hanna Andersson stuff is so well made. Really. The pieces I have for Daphne wash and wear so well and last multiple seasons/years. Anyway, by the time the orange playdresses went on sale, they didn’t have the orange and black striped tights in stock. So for the last few months I’ve been looking for toddler sized orange/black tights that would match the playdress, since I didn’t feel like paying a fortune for the HA tights on Ebay.

Enter welovecolors.com. They have over 50 shades of tights, all available in a black stripe. Yippee!! So then I just had to decide which shade of orange would be a match. On a whim, I followed them on Twitter and got the following DM “Thanks for Following We Love Colors! Now offering 50+ Colors!For Inquiries and Sample Request email welovepress@welovecolors.com, We Look forward seeing your tweets! www.welovecolors.com” Hmmmm.. sample request?! So I sent them an email and they offered to send me swatches of neon orange and orange. Score. They mailed them the next day and I had them within 2 days. Awesome. Turns out, the orange matched perfectly. And when I placed my order, I had them in hand the third day after my order. Woo hoo!! They aren’t the thick wide stripe of the Hanna Andersson tights, but that is OK. And they are generous enough in size that she’ll be able to wear them next year with the other orange playdress I got last year (size 90).

And just for the heck of it. Here’s Daphne in the same dress last year, with plain black leggings and with the sleeves down where they are supposed to be. I had to push the sleeves up for our recent photo shoot since it was 90 degrees outside. She’s gotten so big!!

And here’s the other set I got from last year. The Hanna Andersson tights are so lovely. And they should be since the retail price is $22.50. Ack!! I think I paid $8 for these. And again, she’ll be able to wear this top/tights combo next year, since it’s big on her now. This fashion show brought to you by Disney Princess gummy bites and a toy Elmo camera. Gotta have a bribe these days:

So, if you need an odd color or size of tights, check out welovecolors.com!!

All of Emma’s necklaces on Glee. I’m a sucker for any retro/enameled flower type jewelry.

This print from Etsy seller Tascha. I had a tuxedo cat named Jackie and she was the best cat ever. This was before we realized I was allergic to cats. Tascha also has some great Frida Kahlo prints.

Fabric leaves from Etsy seller JaneJoss. Love, love, love these.

And this is hilarious.. stroller covers/Halloween costumes for little ones. From Etsy seller mapletree2000.

Plus any and all toddler boots. Riding boots, suede, cowboy, ankle, patent… unfortunately all of Daphne’s fall/winter shoes can’t be boots.

What are your favorite things right now?

Even though we are only a few blocks from the neighborhood pool, we decided to get Daphne a plastic pool for the backyard. Today, she got to test it out. She loves playing in the water and I expect we will be spending lots of time in the pool this summer.

So, I have a question for you cloth diapering mamas out there… What kind of swim diaper do you use? Luckily, Daphne still fits in her Bummis Swimmi from last year, but it’s a size Medium (15-22 lbs) and I expect she will grow out of it before the summer is up. I think (maybe?) that I prefer a snap or velcro closure, as opposed to a pull on style. And before I go get lost in the confusing world of cloth diapering forums I thought I’d see if anyone had one they could recommend.

And here’s the little bathing beauty now, having so much fun.

I have approximately 2 months to find the perfect play kitchen for Daphne’s birthday. I say 2 months, instead of 3, because that gives me time to have it shipped here, and con someone into putting it together. Here are the two frontrunners:

KidKraft Vintage Kitchen, $139 at Costco (which includes shipping)

and the retro Kitchenette, $199 plus shipping from Land of Nod (doesn’t include the fridge too)

Both are wood. And I like the retro and red. In fact, the second kitchen looks a lot like my kitchen in B’ham, white cabinets with red accents. I realize that Pottery Barn kids has a retro red set, but I just can’t spend $500 for a play kitchen.

Any advice from play kitchen owners out there? What features do you prefer? How long did your kids play with the set.

I also need to get started on my felt food. Any favorite patterns?