Currently 03

Seeing / Friday morning I went down to "drop off some cards" to display with my work down at West Elm Portland (really I went to see my pillows and notecards all on display and take some photos of it). And I have to say a couple things about it: First, I think it's awesome that West Elm not only features local designers, but is so supportive, not only in inviting me to be a vendor, but then encouraging me to drop off promotion materials. Second, I think my products look pretty awesome in their store! Probably one of my prouder moments in this journey with my business. 

Fighting / I finally caught one of the 800 colds my Tiger and Allday Everyday have brought home since starting Kindergarten this year. My head has been so congested the last few days I can hardly recall the weekend. 

Embarrassing / Last night I was looking for my phone only to find it deep in the corner of my house nestled in Tigers sticky little hands. After pulling it away I discovered he had just sent a text with exactly 54 emoji's to my small business class Professor. Thirteen of them were the little devil-head ones. (He didn't respond to my apology text. I'll know how he felt about that when I get my grades.)

Buying / After many years I finally found my mid-century danish lounger. The only compromise is I will need to sand it and re-stain it. But the price was right, the aesthetic was right, and the size was perfect.  The fabric may have swayed me a little bit too. 

Wanting / Blame it on that darn Vivian Maier documentary but I can't get my mind off wanting to get a twin lens camera. I almost pulled the plug on one this weekend, but impulse buys just aren't my forte. I am still thinking on it though, and hoping if a wave of impulsiveness strikes me this week, it will still be there.

Watching / The oscars of course. I think I was happiest to see Ida win best foreign film and Patricia Arquette for best supporting actress in Boyhood.

Wondering / Watching the oscars also lead me to wondering what is going on in red carpet fashion. There was not one look that wowed me and maybe only about three that I really liked. But while I wasn't impressed with the red carpet I was impressed with a few of the speeches this year. My favorite speeches were far and away this one by Graham Moore and, again, Patricia Arquette with this acceptance speech (love her), and this one by John Legend. (sean penn no longer exists to me. what a . . .)

Parisian Eclectic | House Tour |

One of the things I would love to have someday is a blue velvet sofa. And an apartment in Paris of course. Though I've watched house hunters international and I don't think I could even afford one of those ones that is about 100 square feet with a hot plate and a 12 inch high loft. Though, if I were going to daydream about a Paris apartment, I think it would look a lot like this. It satisfies all of my never-been-to-paris imaginings. Traditionally ornate, contemporarily chic, and infused with a wide array of art. 

But back to life in Portland which has slowed down for us here just the tiniest of bits. I had a stroke of luck with getting some big things done right as we got the long weekend and the spring-like weather we've been having this week. It's been glorious and reminds me that I am, in general, a much happier and productive person when I'm not chilled to the bone. We even have some cherry blossoms blooming and crocuses springing up from the ground now.

And thank you for all your lovely and supportive comments on my last post. Milo's long hair is still blowing in the wind. We spent some time talking about what makes us all special and how everybody is different in one way or another. And then we did a little image googling of men with long hair, you know Native American warriors, ancient Germanic warriors, and 1990's Brad Pitt. 

Images by Montse Garriga for Elle Decor España

Currently 02

I am not sure if this upcoming three day weekend is going to have any actual impact on my life but I am enjoying the psychological affect of knowing it's a three day weekend. The last couple weeks have been extra busy around here. And I do know that once this weekend is over a few of my bigger projects will officially be checked off my list, surely to be quickly replaced, but I should have a good couple days of procrastination to look forward to before I dive in again. Ah, sweet procrastination, I miss you!

Looking Forward To / I finished my order for West Elm Portland store and will be delivering it this weekend! While it wasn't a huge order by any means, the pressure has certainly been on to get it done in time, and make sure I felt zen enough while doing it that I wouldn't find myself crying and ripping seams. The best part will certainly be my return visit to see my work displayed in the store. Looking forward to that moment. 

Reading / 10 reasons why losing your sh*t will make your life come together. Yes.

Finding / These amazing mid-century danish chairs (pictured) that I made a quick u-turn to recover from a dumpster near my house. I saw one sticking out and once I pulled it out of the bin I stood on it to see if there were more. Much to my delight I ended up with a set of four. I am hoping a good power washing will bring them new life. My grandparents had these chairs when I was little and I still remember the sweaty pattern they'd leave on my legs each summer day. They have long haunted me as something I didn't take when they passed away and I've been keeping my eyes peeled for some for years. Recently I saw a set on craigslist, but at over sixty dollars a chair I had to ruefully pass them up. So I am sure you can imagine I didn't second guess piling half of my body into that dumpster. 

Working / I have to admit that I can attribute much of the successful moments I have had in my shop to Etsy in one way or another (even if I still despise their new front page). Awhile back they asked me to send them a print for their spring/summer lookbook that they send out promotionally to media outlets. Of course I was honored to be asked for one of my products to be a representative to the Etsy marketplace(!) so, while not holding my breath, I sent my Joie de Vivre print off to the Etsy headquarters to be photographed and maybe included in the lookbook. Just this week I got an email that they did, in fact, include my print! You can see the online version here. 

Mothering / This week at school the teacher told me Milo was crying in music class and she couldn't figure out why (he's never cried at school before so she was pretty concerned). Once we got home, Luca, was helpful enough to let me know all about it: Milo was being teased for being a 'pretty girl.' And then my heart just broke when I asked Milo if this was true and he said "Yeah, and I want to cut my hair." I found my first reaction was to say "okay, we can cut your hair." However, upon saying this I immediately wanted to take it back. Milo loves his long golden hair. His favorite color is pink. He loves my little pony. Elsa is his idol. Every make-over girl/kitty/pony/doggy app decorates his ipad. He also loves minecraft and spiderman and batman and wrestling and being a boy. Luca loves these things too, though not as fiercely. Milo is a gorgeous boy (his words. true words). In six short years that boy has made me love pink. A color I never liked, I now love it almost as much as him. The emotional range of pink is vast. I see that now. He's also someone I look at and think of as an inspiration. His confidence and sense of self is intoxicating. So as you can imagine to see this shattered also shattered my little heart. 

In the end, after I asked him: do you want short hair because you like it or because you don't want people to call you a girl? And he responded with the latter. I said we'd wait a week. I realized then that the lesson I don't want to teach him is to change yourself to please other people. It's the last lesson I want pass on to him. It's a lesson once learned is so difficult to unlearn (I am still trying to unlearn this). And, truly, what makes him great, what makes all kids so wonderful at these tender and innocent ages is that they can be however they want, they can find joy and beauty in themselves, they are full of 'look what i can do!'s. We should honor that in others and in ourselves well into kindergarten and throughout our whole lives. And with that I think we will be spending much  of this week nurturing that in ourselves and each other. While I am not sure he can understand at 6, that he has been such a mentor to me well past 6, I hope someday he knows this. I hope he continues being exactly who he is. And with that said, when a weeks time approaches. . . well, I am open to suggestions!

hope you all have a happy weekend! did i mention it's in the 60's and full of sunshine here? yeah, that helps. 

Portrait of a House

I know last time I was here I said that my posts moving forward would likely be simple 'currently' updates as I embrace my blogging break. Part of taking a break from blogging was to not be spending copious amounts of time looking for blogging material when I should be task-mastering at this busy time. But I also realized spending copious amounts of time looking for blogging material can sometimes serve as a break to all the other things I am, er, should be doing. The likes of which I discovered this week as my full plate was dripping with my to-do's and they quietly fell to the wayside as I found myself indulging in one of my favorite pastimes - looking at beautiful spaces. So this week I am forgoing updates to share this gem I found on the wonderful world wide web. (and in all honesty, although 7 days have gone by, unless you want to hear the minutia of child-rearing, order-filling, and homework-doing, i've got nothing for you). 

When I came upon these images my jaw dropped. To me it is a perfect marriage of exquisite design and breathtaking photography. Some of these photos almost look like they could be realistic paintings. The Portrait of a House is a collaboration between two architects who came upon a derelict manor and restored it to its full potential. 

True to the past they adapted the house to its specific needs re-interpreting the old rather than bringing in the new. And again the house has found a new coherency - as if nothing has changed. --www.frederikvercruysse.com