spotted

Have you been on the look-out for the perfect Sunday shoe for your little boy? If you're like me you want something other than the typical chunky soled black lace-up.

Well, today is your day!  These babies are on sale for $19.99. And you have one more day to use discount code JRKPGJMRWYQK 

for an additional $5 off. That puts this $36 pair of suede boots down to $14.99

A BIG thanks to Design Mom for the heads up on the Gap sale.

pretty

I hope you had a fantastic Valentines Day. And in case you did not you now have my permission to buy yourself this:

Doesn't it sing?

You put on a gorgious ring like this an you are ready to hit the town ladies!

Found on Pretty Mommy Blog.

hot bagels

Have you ever made your own bagels? It's really much easier than you might think, and they taste like no bagel you have ever had before. We are talking bagels so warm and so fresh they will make you think twice before putting that $3.50 bag of Sara Lee's in your cart. It only takes about 20 minutes to make and they are all done in about 1 hour.  Here is how:

1.5 cup water

1.5 TBSP yeast

3 TBSP sugar

1/2 TBSP salt

4 C. flour

Put yeast and sugar in water and let grow. Add salt and flour; mix well. Let set for 15 minutes. Pinch off 10 to 12 balls. Poke thumb through center. Let rise 20 minutes. Biol in water with 2 tablespoons sugar or honey for 2 minutes. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 400 F.

You can experiment with different kinds of flour (wheat, oat, spelt) or throw in some flax, pumpkin seeds or wheat germ. Or you could go the other direction and dip the tops in cinnamon & sugar. Either way you can't go wrong with these babies.

Spread a little bit of that strawberry freezer jam you made in the spring and you won't believe how amazing your cooking skills are. Make them on a cold day like today and they'll be your new best friend.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day

Do you love cleaning? Me neither. It's one of those necessary evils, like weeding and eating. Mrs Meyers doesn't love cleaning either, but as a mother of 9 (yes, she is a real person) she figures why not at least enjoy the smell while you're cleaning.

The Lavender is my new favorite scent. It has me looking for surfaces to clean. And because there are no harsh chemicals you can be rest assured they are safe to use.

Enjoy!

wood

 birch bark cuff found here

 

What is better than wood? Why wearing wood of course!

potatoe stamp throw pillow

Are you wanting to add a little refresh to your room? I have a little project for you that only takes a couple hours.

 You only need a few supplies

• fabric
• pillow stuffing
• potates
• acrylic paint & textile medium

 Measure and cut your fabric to be 1.5 inches longer & wider than your pillow (allowing for 3/4' seam allowance)

 Mix two parts paint with one part textile medium (this makes the paint soft and flexible)

Lay your fabric out on a flat surface with paper shopping bags underneath.  Dip potatoes into paint and stamp away. I used three different sizes of potato.

 You can even section off the area you want to stamp with masking tape.

 Dry the paint with a blow dryer until it is completely dry.

 For a quick and easy solution use an overlapping flap on the back (overlap the fabric about 4"). You can even use glue-tape for the flap seams instead of sewing them (it has a more minimal look)

 sew your edges and.....

you're finished! Wasn't that so easy. 

Now you'll be wandering around your house to see what rooms could use a refresh with some fun throw pillows.

prepared

winding clock : no batteries necessary.

 

given the choice, i would much rather use this radio in an emergency than an ugly black one. 

find it on sale on moma

moleskine

do you find yourself coming up with a brilliant idea and then lose that brilliant idea to mind numbing distractions like your 2 year old that insists on wearing his big brother's shoes that make him trip, fall & cry? well here is a little secret my husband taught me.....

write it down

the moleskine is so small that you can keep it in your purse at all times. or you can even use it to announce a birthday present to a loved one.

this is changing my life

i know this is a very bold statement, "this is changing my life." but i have been using teuxdeux.com (to-do list app) for a whole 23 minutes and I am getting so excited to make my list and check things off.

I first heard about this from Suann at Alt Summit, and then later that day from the designer herself, the Swiss Miss.

heart cake tutorial via Swiss Miss

the user interface is amazingly simple and intuitive.

watch a couple of their videos and then start making your list.....its even FREE!

you can thank me later!

airport jammas

 last week when Ben arrived home from his trip I we headed to the airport in our jammas. "We" as in the three boys, not me.

 and to throw in another element of fun they each wore their rain boots.

 i think it made for an added element of adventure.

hookey

we decided to play hookey on saturday. rather than wait around for walker's basketball fame at 11am we packed in the car and headed 1 hour north to the ape caves on st. helens.

a good adventure always breathes new life in me.

summit summary

Altitude Design Summit was like going to college again, only this time I LOVED every one of my classes!

(Jaime of Design Milk, Kelly of Design Crush, Me, Suann of Simple Song, and Kirsten of Simply Grove)

 

 These ladies had great advice on balancing work and life. My main takeaway was to have a schedule and to use post-its! They also had some website that can help with organizing your life so I will be sharing those later.

 There was a wealth of knowledge amongst the group and they were all so willing to share their own experiences. And of course it was fun to meet all these fantastic people that I have only known through the world wide web.

 Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom fame was such a fantastic host. She made me feel so welcome and introduced me to some fantastic people. I am so excited for her BIG move to France.

I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes from the conference.

(and please excuse my blurry discolored pictures. But thanks to the great instruction of Blue Lily Photography they should only get better from this point on)

Seth Aaron and Mondo, both of "Project Runway" fame were the speakers at lunch one day. They shared something that Michael Kors had said once, "When listening to criticism, take 20% and hang onto it. Throw the other 80% away. Know who you are and your voice and stay true to it."

When asked about up and coming trends, Mondo said, "Don't listen to or follow trends. If you like it wear it!"  (I fully agree Mondo.)

 Wendy and Danny were some of the first ladies I met at the conference. Danny introduced me to wabi-sabi, the art of the imperfect. I LOVE this philosophy.

 Sara Jane is just as adorable in real life. We have a lot of mutual friends so it was great to meet in real life.

 I loved DJ Spooky. He was just a wealth of knowledge and it was fascinating to see his creative process.

 Jeanette of storenvy.com fame.

 The Grand America was so fancy, they even had fabric on the walls.

 The Girls With Glasses teamed up with Kate Spade for this party.

 Some of the lovely ladies I met at the conference.  Be on the look out for some beautiful AND functional diaper bags from Crystal (on the right). Her company is called "Ness" which means miracle in Hebrew.

That's it for now. I will fill you in later on the websites and iPhone apps that some of the speakers suggested.

Cheers!

+Katie