Chic.

The navy dress, the giant flower pin, the slim brown belt and the little leather clutch are all part of the EmersonMade clothing and accessories collection.  I’m loving the chic cropped tweed blazers, flared jeans and pocket skirts for Fall.  Now if only rolling around on the living room floor with a 7 month old were an appropriate place to wear these fashions, I’d be stocking my closets with them.

Dessert.

I’m really wishing I could be in SF this weekend for the art show “Let Them Eat Cake” featuring small paintings by artist Paul Ferney.  This event will showcase Paul’s cake paintings with his wife Jordan from Oh Happy Day! art directing and cutting slices of real cake.  It sounds so fun and I really wish I could attend! If there are any paintings leftover they will be offered online the Monday after the show.  If you are in the Bay Area this Labor Day weekend be sure to visit the show at Paul and Jordan’s studio and help support your local artists! More info here.

Wedding Gift.

My friend Hong is getting married this October and she used Little Willow to find a present for her maid of honor.  She’s going with a dainty necklace from Moss Mills.  This got me thinking about what I would do if I were getting married again which led me back to my latest obsession, monogramming.   Monogram Market has some really special items that would make great gifts for a wedding party.  I especially love the embroidered linen napkins and linen tray for bridesmaids and the engraved cutting board would make a unique gift for the groomsmen. Come to think of it, one of these might make a nice wedding gift for Hong and Chris!

Delicate.

I have been fantasizing about these filigree lanterns since I spotted them at the shop Mercado in Silverlake last year.  I love their scale and shape and the hand hammered lacy patterns.  They would look so amazing outdoors under one of these Moroccan style Soul Pads.  You can find them online through Terrain a fantastic garden center and cafe out of Glen Mills, PA.

C.U.T.E.

This just might be the cutest thing ever…The Babyseal blanket from Birkiland. It fits children age 0-2 and is great for keeping your babyseal warm while in a stroller or a carseat.  Poor Grady, I can easily see this being the start of many humiliating outfits I will dress him in throughout his childhood.

Preppy.

This pretty preppy link pattern on Jill Rosenwald’s pottery is making me want to put on some Lilly Pulitzer and have all of my linens monogrammed!  Seriously though, this summer I have been having a love affair with all things preppy. My enthusiasm for all that is pink and green was inspired by the release of True Prep, the follow-up book to The Official Preppy Handbook, which I already own.  I bought some preppy flops from Vineyard Vines, the official clothing brand of Martha’s Vineyard and purchased some monogrammed melamine plates from La Plates.  Now it looks like I’ll need one of these vases to complete my induction into preppy-land.

Yarggh!

I’m officially declaring Pirates out and Vikings in! Pirates plunder and steal and Vikings are known as heroic explorers, well ok they aren’t exactly known as peaceful warriors either.  I’d much rather have Grady want to grow up to be a badass Viking than a Pirate.  Plus hot Eric Northman from True Blood was once a Viking!

These lovable handmade Vikings by artist Sandra Monat are exactly the kind of original toy I want Grady to be exposed to.  You’ll have to keep checking her website to see when these cuties become available since they are hot sellers.

Can’t decide what to do with that blank wall in your living room? One of my favorite ideas is using interesting plates to jazz up your space.  I’ve seen some awesome examples of this idea lately that I wanted to share with you.

This first image is from Living Etc. magazine and definitely doesn’t fit under the heading “affordable options” as they are Hermes plates but I love it still:

Now this one is much more affordable and comes from Perch in New Orleans. They grouped a series of French Bull melamine plates together to create this kaleidoscope of patterns and colors.

Check out these rehabilitated plates from Brooklyn designer Sarah Cihat to create your own bold design.

It bag.

Anthropologie cross-body bags

The It bag this Summer has got to be the cross-body mini bag. It’s the perfect accessory for concerts and summer festivals.  The hubs and I are going to see Phish at the Greek in Berkeley next weekend and even though I’m a Mom now I still want to look like I know what’s hip. I’ve been scouring the internet for some options and these are my favorites.

Marc Jacobs Petal to the Metal Pouchette, available at Shopbop $228; Rebecca Minkoff Alligator Impression BF Pouch, available at Shopbop $165; Gorjana Greenwich Cross Body Bag, available at Shopbop $161.

J.Crew Exhibitor Pouchette, $198 at J.Crew; Top Shop Carved Pattern Leather Satchel, $100 at Top Shop; Fossil Turquoise Fron Pocket Leather Bag, $64.90 at Nordstrom; Madewell Red Canyon Messenger Bag, $128 at Madewell

Good stuff.

You may remember my love letter to Plover Organic awhile back? Well now they’ve given me even more reason to be a Plover lover.  I just got word that Plover Organic is gearing up for a HUGE Online SALE! On August 4th, 5th and 6th all non-sale items will be 50% off! That means you can find fantastic deals on their block-printed, vintage inspired bedding, throw pillows, fabric and table-top accessories.  If that isn’t good enough news already, they will also give 1% of the proceeds to the National Wildlife Federation to help clean up the tragic oil spill in the Gulf.  You better check it out before I snatch up all the good stuff!

Shackled.

I was already feeling shackled to the indoors because of the blazing heat outside and then jewelry designer Sarah Swell has to go and send me a link to her gorgeous jewelry inspired by the organic shapes found on the beach and in the ocean.  I’m really impressed that she can take inspiration from items that I usually associate with being hard and coarse like fish scales, barnacles and coral and make them into such delicate creations.  Of course now in addition to wanting the “flotsam and jetsam” necklace below all I can think about is refreshing breezes and lying on a boat anchored out at sea! Shop for Sarah’s jewelry here.

I love it when folks I’ve blogged about in the past contact me to let me know about their latest work or newest ventures.  Last week Sarah Snyder of Maxsui belt fame contacted me to let me know that she is tying up the belt biz and hopping into the interior design biz. Her newest venture called Little Bunny is focused on interior design for wee people.   Personally I love this idea and I wish I still lived in the Bay Area so I could utilize her services.  Nurseries and playrooms are such great spaces to let your creativity fly but if you’re like me sometimes it can be difficult to corral all of those fun ideas.  Thankfully there are talented people like Sarah who can help you pull it all together. Check out her website for more information on how to contact her if you live in or around San Francisco.

Petals.

Is there a rule on how long you should live with the same dinnerware before replacing it?  We’ve been rocking the PB Sausalito dinnerware since we got married eight years ago and it’s beginning to look a bit tired and dated.  This gorgeous Oyyo Petal Series hand-painted porcelain dinnerware by Maria Lintott for Teroforma is on my radar as a potential replacement. I’m sure if I looked hard enough I would find that eight years is the perfect time to replace your dinnerware, right?

Birth Day.

Now that Grady is sleeping from 7pmish to 7amish, I finally feel like a normal, productive human who can accomplish more than just changing diapers and washing loads of spit-up off of my shirt everyday. I’ve been meaning to share his birth announcement with you for months…so here it is!

I worked with local Salt Lake City designer Elpitha Tsoutsounakis who has a letterpress studio here called Print In Cursive.  Because of the cost I wasn’t able to do these in letterpress but Elpitha helped me to create something amazing anyway.  I gave her swatches of the Sister Parish fabric that I used in Grady’s nursery and let her run with it. My favorite part is how she took the Wilco quote we loved and incorporated it into the flow of the design.  For more on Elpitha check out her website and read the post about her on Design Sponge.

Tied.

Our first Father’s Day has come and gone and the hubs is now the proud new owner of some Super Dad pajama’s. But I’m guessing he would have much rather received one of these studly ties from Pierpont Hicks.