Everyday Obsessions {12} - Shayna Roosevelt, The Cabin House

The credit for having my garden planted a full month ahead of time lies solely with Shayna Roosevelt...after following a delicious cookie recipe (via Raising Foodies of course) over to The Cabin House, I was completely absorbed by her 3 year renovation of her lovely home and garden in the Bay area...I spent naptime reading it from start to finish and then promptly walked out into my backyard and got to work...so Thank you Shayna for all the inspiration and your wonderful Everyday Obsessions! Go check out her gorgeous blog and see if you aren't digging up your yard by the weekend :)

In My Closet:
tee - usually gap or old navy
jeans - J Brand Blue Label are my new favorite jeans, ever. I had never found a perfect flattering pair until I randomly tried these on (at the best local "seconds" store).
on my feet - during the week: jack purcells or Frye Campus boots (they were my first "expensive" shoe purchase when I landed my first job after college. I've had them for 10 years now and they only get better and more comfortable with age.
on the weekends: Blundstones for garden/construction work
accessory - scarf and vintage ray ban aviators (a gift from my husband)
jewelry - crystal necklace, my wedding rings on one hand, my great-grandmother's and my mother's wedding bands stacked on my other hand (clarification: mom updated to a different ring a while back, parents are still married and pretty smitten with each other),

Beauty Secrets:
Skin - Boscia and Dr. Hauschka
makeup - Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, Benetint, Blinc Mascara
scent - At the Beach 1966 or Monyette Paris

In My Kitchen:
cookbook - Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc, The New Gourmet Cookbook and websites, SmittenKitchen, Epicurious, 101cookbooks, Orangette
gadget - Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and the ice cream attachment
15 min easy recipe - poached egg over spaghetti and kale (or trader joe's frozen pizza and a salad)
can't live w/o ingredient - olive oil, butter, salt

Home:
walls - Benjamin Moore paints
bedding - not too picky here, something soft...we have Target flannel right now, a chanukah gift from my parents.
flowers - currently, Ranunculas and Daisies
favorite design source - Elle Decoration UK, Inside/Out, Living, Etc and too many blogs to name

Pop Culture Extra Credit:
on my nightstand - MFK Fisher, The Gastronomical Me and Bon Appetit (still trying since my Gourmet was replaced by B.A but not really liking it so much...)
on my tivo - no tivo or cable, only Netflix. We just finished the Wire and haven't been able to move on yet.
in my ipod - Patti Smith and I can't stop listening to The Dirty Projectors "Stillness is the Move" on repeat. Oh, and the audiobook of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Buy me Some Peanuts and Crackerjacks...

It's Twins fever at our house...the new ballpark is up and running and they won their home opener...my husband has a stack of tickets THIS high and he hasn't left for work without some touch of navy blue, red and white...here are a few things to get me through the season...

Pigtails a la Bardot are a classic, I covet pretty much the entire Built by Wendy collection, this APC Madras scarf, and some frayed denim tennis shoes at the Gap...

Let's Play Ball!
ps - I really loathe my legs so I don't actually wear shorts except for some long cutoffs (a la Dirty Dancing) but if I did these are awfully cute!

Monday Mom - Techno Guilt

Is guilt a modern mommy phenomenon?  If you watch Mad Men (yes, I know, pure FICTION) it's hard to imagine the Betty Draper generation ever worrying about their mothering skills...they smoke, drank while pregnant, let their kids put plastic drycleaning bags over their heads and went to therapy for suburban ennui...
but talk to any mom these days and guilt is probably foremost on their minds...did I eat right when I was pregnant, breastfeed, go back to work, co-sleep, are they napping enough, getting the proper amount of organic, local veggies in their diet, am I "being present", are they watching too much TV, blah, blah, blah...so my new mom guilt is about all the time I sneak peeks at my Blackberry during the day and spend "just a few minutes, honey" answering some quick emails...as a stay at home but work at home mom with no really boundaries between the two I find it hard to concentrate on either...would I be better off hiding my cell and having a babysitter one day a week to work? Confine my emailing to naptime?  How do you navigate your "screentime"?

PS - Carina, who is my favorite source of mommy wisdom, has a great post on sunscreen...so go read it and ditch all those nasty chemical ones lurking in the back of your medicine cabinet - one less thing to feel guilty about, eh?

Current Crushes...

a cute new flower shop in my hood...

pointelle leggings and espadrilles from Stella...

Coral, Chartreuse, and pink (via Neo-Traditionalist)

Pretty Rock Posters: the small stakes and andrio abero

and this album...especially this song...which makes me feel all giddy inside

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

Over the Moon

Having you been checking out the Sartorialist's photo contest? This has been my favorite so far...

April Showers...

Bodkin Cumulus Dress...

Much Loved...

My current rotation...a little sparkly, a little pretty, a little dirty, a little rock'n'roll

Hope your weekend is all of the above!

xoxo

A Little Brassy

Katie has some cute things going on in her shop...

E-I-E-I-O...

Last Thursday Chris took the day off and we hit the road with Lila and nieces in tow to Gale Woods Farm...as luck would have it we hit their Farmyard Fun Days and got to cuddle with some week old lambs, spy on some baby pigs, cluck with the chickens, felt some wool, and climb some trees...an excellent time was had by all! (I highly recommend if you live in the twin cities...and think farmyard visits are one the best mommy perks out there)

Hanging around all that hay got me to thinking on this new overall trend that seems to be creeping up...mind you, overalls might be one of my few fashion nevers, but I have to admit these all look mighty tempting, no?
Even so, during the Guess overall craze of 1986 I stayed firmly in my black acid wash with zippers...

Clockwise: Ralph Lauren, 2 cute street photos by Ms Jackman of course, and J Crew...

What say you girls? Will you be citifying your gardening gear?

More Leopard Love...

I got sucked in when the new Barneys Co-op catalog arrived this week and ordered this APC Leopard Print Dress,  I'll keep it simple adding just a Wooden Bead necklace | Spartan, and these Toms Yellow Newport Cordones (okay - just got my first pair of Toms - yes, totally behind the curve on that - and I loooove them!! so super comfy!)

Boat & Tote

Loving all these preppy canvas and leather totes...a little upgrade from my farmer's market bags...

Clockwise from top left:  Rag & Bone, Ally Capellino - Timothy, Ally Capellino - Brigette, Steven Alan, Jas M.B., Fleabags - enter SPRING at checkout for 20% off!

Everyday Obsessions {11} - Judy Aldridge, Atlantis Home

I had the best time searching the archives of Atlantis Home for images to use for this week's Everyday Obsessions...Judy Aldridge, Texas fashion blogger extraordinaire, has possibly the best collection of accessories I've ever seen and shares a love of shoes with daughter Jane (of Sea of Shoes fame) that is unrivaled. Take a peek at Judy's style and then head over to her blog to pore over her lovely interior inspirations as well...Thanks Judy!

In My Closet:

tee - J. Crew

jeans - Madewell

on my feet - I have a lot of shoes

accessory - vintage belts

jewelry - 80's statement necklaces and cuffs

Beauty Secrets:

Skin - I love Patricia Wexler's pink stuff (you can purchase it at bath and body works--it's really good!!)

makeup - serge lutens

scent - five o'clock-serge lutens

Home:

walls - grey

bedding - soft

flowers - tulips

favorite design source - Vogue Living Australia

top and bottom collages - images from Atlantis Home

Anniversary Song...

Have you ever had the pleasure of watching

a quiet winter's snow slowly gathering

like simple moments adding up?

Have you ever satisfied a gut feeling

to follow a dry dirt road that's beckoning you

to the heart of a shimmering summer's day?

Well I have known all these things
and the joys that they can bring

And I'll share them all for a cup of coffee

and to wear your ring -

anniversary song, cowboy junkies

ps - it's our 8th anniversary today which traditionally means a gift of pottery...don't you think it's time I replaced our mismatched coffee mugs with these from Heath?

Monday Mom - F minus...

My Monday was so bad that I'm just going to post this picture from Jak & Jil and pretend our day went this well...sigh...Are your children especially naughty on Mondays?  We had a no nap day...which turns me into Mean Mommy...you really can't force a 2.5 yr old to nap, can you?

ps - I'm never really mean per se but I did actually yell "LILA, GO TO SLEEP!" (a few times) which, had the exact opposite effect and then I felt like %$@...

If These Walls Could Talk...

I've been on a little art binge lately...here are some things that are waiting to be hung, and waiting to be purchased...okay - home decor-o-philes...I guess you're rubbing off on me...

from top corner clockwise:  wayne pate, christian chaize, the wild unknown (via design*sponge), jane mount, sharon montrose (via wit & delight)

Of course lots of pinks, lovely watercolors, a little whimsy...

Castle (via design*sponge), Serena Mitnik-Miller, CD Ryan

and illustrations - my favorite!

Caroline Rogers, Caroline at tenoversix, perla anne (via simple lovely), hugo guinness, perla anne

What are on your walls these days?

Oh! and I can't believe I almost forgot these from Banquet...blue for my bath and if the bear was any color but red it would be mine as well...

Excuse me while I hyperventilate...

Sorry...gasp...must..get..some..air...

Okay, whew...this is JCrew's preview for Fall...I mean come on ...Jenna Lyons is freakin out of control!!! Which means, oh leopard hat of my dreams, cape of my fantasies, patent brogues, and sequin bubble skirts you can all be mine....

(remember that crazy post where I declared I was over JCrew...let's just call that a mommy brain moment shall we?)

Found via the ever so wonderful blog The Neo-Traditionalist via the lovely Habitually Chic...

Simple Lovely Picks and a Giveaway!

Head on over to Simple Lovely for a Pretty Mommy giveaway today...and check out her picks from the shop on yesterday's post...sigh - isn't Joslyn the coolest!

ps - Did you see the Lizzie Fotunato tuxedo collar necklace in this month's Bazaar?  You can buy it here...

Easter Parade...

A Basket, A Bunny, A Book, A Bonnet

decorate, delicious, devour....

p.s. if it just isn't Easter without peeps Lucia's and Sugar Sugar in Minneapolis have homemade, hfcs free versions - yum!!