Me in Melange

WWYW?

It is RAINING here in the pacific northwest... and although it always starts raining (and continues to rain for the next 6 months) this time of year, I'm never really prepared for it.  No umbrella, no rain jacket... nothing.  They say it's a sign that you're a native here in Oregon, if you do without such things, but I'm not a native, I have a baby now and I feel that it's time to get some protection from the elements.  The base of the outfit is taken care of... straight leg jeans tucked into boots (wish I had these cuties that LV scored, the yellow is just the right amount of color for a dreary day like today) a Michael Stars or Rag Doll tee layered under a cute hoodie such as this.  But it's the umbrella that I'm on the hunt for... I love the style of this one

but considering I will inevitably loose or destroy it, it may be a little too pricey.  I've always thought these were super cute...

 

ever since SJP had one in sex & the city.  But, I have my doubts about being able to juggle baby and not-so-broad umbrella and still stay dry.  So I think I will have to go with something like this...

 

very classic (albeit a little boring) and affordable gem.  'What would you wear' in a wintery-rainforest-like environment??  signed, me {CA}

homework...

Friday is my first official day of 'working from home'... Lila is 4 and a half months now, and although she has been a trooper tagging along with me to work everyday, it is time for her (and momma) to slow down a bit. I set up my at-home-office, which makes me laugh a little, since Ryan and I refuse to move out of our very small but very awesome apartment... the 'office' is between the kitchen and the living room, which really is just one big room. But it's perfect, I can watch Lila on her playmat, she likes to bat at the wooden arch- it's one of her favorite games right now... and I can still be in touch with with everyone at the shop and get my work done.  I consider myself one super lucky gal!!  And I think it's going to make my roly-poly babygirl happy too.  Isn't she the sweetest...

I am a little worried about clothing-withdrawl though... that may be a problem.  ;)  signed, me {CA}

Glamour Rodents

When I tell my friends that I bought the kids two gerbils, the first response I usually get is, "what were you smokin'?"  No one, and I mean no one, has said "hey, that is so cool, I can't wait to meet them!"  Kind of sad for the little critters.

That is right,  gerbils are pretty low on the totem pole of pets.  BUT...they are small, don't smell that bad, and don't bite (unlike their brothers the hamsters).   The girls wanted a puppy, but since that involves considerably more of my energy, gerbils it was. 

The real clincher however, was that when I went to scope them out at the pet store, they had a pretty pink cage.  That is right, a totally pink cage complete with pink paper for their bedding.  Cool right?  I had to get them when I saw that...I mean, they MATCH the playroom, how cute is that?  Signed, {lv}

Meet Rascal and Sneaker....

Best Jeans Ever!!

 So I was washing my jeans this morning, and I hung them all up to dry in the living room and it looked like some underground, corner dry cleaner shop, because you know, being a clothes horse, I have a few pairs! And I realized as I looked around that I have like ten pair of denim that really don't fit me at all. I mean, the back pockets kind of hung down below my behind, and the fabric gathered under my belt strap because they were too big, and you get that bubble in the back where it gathers. Yup, generally just not attractive at all! Insert unhappy icon here.

Well, I guess I just got used to never finding the perfect pair, and I stopped dreaming about feeling like a million dollars in just my jeans. Until... I found the AG Angel Jean-10 Yr Wash  bootcut jeans. They are the most flattering pants I have ever had on! In fact, I love them so much, today I bought my second pair of the exact same wash, same style, and I am going to go home tonight and give those saggy old jeans to the Goodwill and wear my new pair to Portland this weekend! There is a God!

-BAG

   

Biting off more than I could chew...

We are getting ready to change the decor in the store to prepare for the festive holidays ahead.  This year we decided to do something a bit "non-traditional".  We ordered red and white parasols which we are going to hang upside down from the ceiling with lights trailed down the handles.  So we also thought it would be really pretty to hang origami cranes from the ceiling in a "mobile" sort of pattern near each of the parasols.  So, as we are talking this out (Cara & I), I'm thinking to myself...."o.k., got to figure out how to fold a crane, and then I've got to do it quickly because we are going to need a lot of them...." within moments in my brain I had figured out when I could fit it in, and how they were going to look.  Never mind that I have no time, and in my free time the last thing I feel like doing is folding origamil.  So, a couple of days later I decide to "test run" folding an origami crane.  Turns out it isn't that easy (well, that coupled with the fact that I'm a little dim and it was pretty late at night and post-glass of wine).  30 minutes after watching the video on YouTube, I still didn't have the crane completed.

Then I get a wild hair to just check and make sure that I can't somehow buy these little cranes and save myself hours and hours of frustration and paper cuts.  Turns out you CAN buy them, and for $15 I got 100 perfectly folded cranes.  How is that even possible?  And to think, I almost sat up night after night trying to do it all myself.  Moral of the story...SEEK HELP whenever possible! :-)  Don't be a chronic "biter of more than you can chew."

If anyone out there ever needs to buy an abundance of origami cranes I highly recommend this Ebay seller (Avanatgarde789).  Besides being very, VERY affordable, she was the sweetest woman, and even sent a baggy of extra cranes in a variety of beautiful colors (which my girls absolutely LOVE).   I haven't figured out when else I'll need cranes (maybe if someone has a wedding I'll buy 1000 of them for good luck which I think is the tradition right?...at least i won't try to make them)  Signed, ME {lv}

Coolest good fortune!

I recently used a website called GoodFortuneCookies.Com.   I ordered fortune cookies for a promotion we are doing in the store, AND I ordered fortune cookies for my sister's wedding reception.  They let you personalize the fortune cookies (up to 17 different fortunes).  I did 17 different "love" quotes for my sister, and they turned out ADORABLE.  But get this...for 300 fortune cookies, it was $40 (plus $15 shipping).  So for $55, they sent me 300 fortune cookies, within a WEEK (honestly, they really did ship 24 hours after I ordered, I was absolutely amazed).  The cookies tasted great, and they are individually wrapped in clear plastic so they are easy to pack up for gifts or to hand out etc. 

Today I re-ordered because we didn't order enough for the store, and the man who answered the phone remembered my order, was super helpful, and said he'd ship them out tomorrow.  Seriously, this place is amazing.   He explained that they make the cookies there,  and that is why they can do it so quickly, and so inexpensively.   Anyway, thought I would pass this on to you all, because it is a great site, and a super cute idea (I've been thinking about all the cute ways you could use this...party favor for a birthday,  a cool Chinese dinner party, corporate event, or even just to have a fun cookie at home that -my kids get a huge kick out of them....).  Signed, ME {lv}

I'm just saying....

For the last two weeks or so I've reintroduced myself to my A.L.G. Healing Necklace .  I've gotten SO many compliments on it I can't believe it....and that is before I tell people the cool thing about the necklace, and then they love it even more.  This necklace is a Nepalese healing mellos.  It is commonly worn by women in Nepal to heal their children.  It is a very tactile necklace, the backside of it is super smooth and domed, so you want to touch it constantly.  The women in Nepal physically rub it on their children to heal them when they are sick.  Here is the thing....I haven't been sick since I put it on despite being exposed to the flu everywhere (and I mean everywhere).  I am not sure, but I'm just saying....it could be the necklace :-).  Signed, ME {lv} 

So when am I going to need a winter coat?

I don't know how it has been everywhere else, but fall in the Northwest has been really mild....this past week I haven't need anything more than a cardigan in the morning to keep warm, and most days the sun has peaked out by late afternoon and it is quite lovely.  I've enjoyed getting cozy the few chilly mornings we've had--but I'm sort of wondering what is going to happen...is it actually going to get COLD?  I just selfishly am ready to wear my cozy sweaters and warm jackets. 

So...I was doing a little internet surfing this morning and came across this site, which seemed to have some credible weather predictions. . The upshot is yes, it is going to get cold, especially some places (might be a little milder and dryer here in the Pacific Northwest though).  So I should shut up and enjoy the last few days of mild :-).  GregSimmonsWeatherBlog  Signed, ME {lv} 

Passing down my quirky style!

This past spring, In efforts to teach Ava how to tie her shoes, I took her to "shoe tying class" (which she passed) and promptly bought her some new kicks.  Brand new "tie" tennis shoes.  She wore them once, and then wouldn't look at them again for months, wouldn't even try them on again.  Meanwhile, summer came and went, and school shopping landed her 3 pairs of shoes, including new tennis shoes.  School started....and guess what she decided to become obsessed with? That is right, her tie tennis shoes from the spring.  When I say obsessed....I mean, wear everyday, can't get enough, won't leave the house without them, obsessed.  Hasn't even touched her other shoes (should have just bought myself shoes instead). 

So as I'm pondering this the other day after my request that she branch out and wear something else were denied...I realized with a gasp, ugh...I'm the SAME EXACT WAY.  Eee-gads, it is true.  I love to get obsessed with an article of clothing and it often defies logic and isn't something that is even new.  I'm currently obsessed with this pale pink cashmere sweater from Beth Bowley from FIVE YEARS AGO!!  I also wore my Adriano Goldschmied boyfriend cropped jeans everyday for almost two weeks (and I only exaggerate a little).    

Makes me wonder what other annoying habits I'm passing on to her. :-)  Signed, ME {lv}

Remember to purge!

This past weekend we started a huge house project that involved switching bedrooms around upstairs and basically completely uprooting the top floor of our house.  In the process, I did a massive purge of the childrens' rooms, my room, the attic....everything.  I hauled so much stuff to the trash, and SO much stuff to charity.  The most difficult thing I parted with:  handmade wool cable knit pull-over sweaters that my husband and I bought 14 years ago on our honeymoon in Ireland.  We wore them for maybe one year...and then realized that they were HUGE (why we bough them so big, I'll never know), and I packed them up into a nice tupperware container that housed them for the next 13 years.  13 YEARS!!  Every so often I would pull them out and wonder for a split second if maybe we'd wear them again, then I'd quickly come to the conclusion that we'd look like idiots and NO, we weren't going to wear them.  I kept them for purely sentimenal reasons.  Well, this year I pulled them out, my husband by my side.  We confirmed that we must have looked really silly wearing those XL sweaters (I'm sure I looked like a marshmellow on a stick).  Then we decided that there was some homeless man, who was cold and considerably larger than either of us, who would love that sweater to death.  And so we purged.

It is hard to part with things...even things you don't use and don't like.  We all have a part of us that hoards for all sorts of reasons....guilt in letting it go, tribute to the past, fear of not having something in the future.  The list goes on.

What I can say though, is that it felt GREAT to get rid of all the "stuff" we had accumulated.  It felt great to give something to someone who really needed it, instead of letting it just take up space in my attic.  I love to purge, but even for me it is a struggle sometimes to let go of things.   But think about it, the moment you let space into your life, there is more space for what you really need, and really want! 

Signed, ME {lv}