Win A $50k Grant For Your Child’s School

Sep 24

Power A Bright Future School Grant Program by Clorox

What could your school do with $50k? With so many schools strapped for cash these days, it doesn’t take much to get a pas­sion­ate response to that ques­tion. The sit­u­a­tion is espe­cially dire for after school pro­grams and activ­i­ties, which are often the first things to get cut.

Here’s your chance to do some­thing about it. Nom­i­nate your favorite school pro­gram in the Power A Bright Future school grant pro­gram by Clorox and your school could win a $50k grand prize or one of three $20k grants.

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Way To Go, Big Murph!

Sep 17

Murphy Jensen and Venus Williams

Murphy Jensen Washington Kastles

Last night, my awe­some brother and uncle extra­or­di­naire Mur­phy Jensen won his 2nd straight World Team Ten­nis title as coach for the Wash­ing­ton Kas­tles. My two old­est boys, Jonah (10) and Mur­phy (7, his name­sake), were there with him to cel­e­brate the big moment.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Venus Williams was on his team :)

Rock on, Big Murph!

(images via wash­ing­ton post)

Embroidery Inspired By Nature

Aug 07

Embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi

My jaw lit­er­ally hit the floor when I came across this col­lec­tion of embroi­dery on the Mis­ako Mimoko blog. These artists are lit­er­ally recre­at­ing nature, one stitch at a time. It’s so inspir­ing to find such amaz­ing talent!

Embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi

Embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi

I’m totally smit­ten by Yumiko Higuchi’s embroi­dery art. These mini pouches are to die for! It comes as no sur­prise that her shop is com­pletely sold out.

Embroidered Leaves by iseebi

Embroidered Leaves by iseebi

It doesn’t get any more del­i­cate than these embroi­dered mag­no­lia leaves and insect exoskele­tons by Iseebi. I’ve actu­ally tried embroi­der­ing leaves before, it’s prac­ti­cally impossible.

Misako Mimoko Embroidery

Eva Mon­león brings her own unmis­tak­able style to the art of embroi­dered nature. So fun!

Weekend Pinterest Love: Misako Mimoko

Jul 21

cute food for kids

I Found Fish Bones In The Egg
visit cute food for kids for more info

My kids would totally freak if I served up a round of these for break­fast. So fun!

baggu leather zip pouch

Baggu Small Leather Zip Pouch
avail­able for $35 at crea­tures of comfort

Crea­tures of Com­fort is one of my all-time favorite shops. These hand-painted Baggu leather pouches are super sweet.

acorn necklace

Glassy Acorn Neck­lace
avail­able for $40 at lazy jane

These glass bead acorns are absolutely lovely.

housebuilding for children

House­build­ing For Chil­dren
avail­able for $12 at amazon.com

One of the coolest books I’ve ever come across. Already picked up a copy of my own!

Fol­low Mis­ako Mimoko’s boards on Pin­ter­est for more great inspiration!

The Payoffs of Discovery

Jul 18

murphy with insect

I’ve always been a firm believer in giv­ing chil­dren time to explore and dis­cover on their own. Lately it’s been pay­ing off. Just the other day my two old­est boys (Jonah, 9, and Mur­phy, 7) came across a bird’s nest just as the eggs were hatch­ing. They came back thrilled and couldn’t wait to tell me about the lit­tle beaks pok­ing from the shells. The fol­low­ing day, they came across a box tur­tle and watched as it dug a hole, laid its’ eggs and cov­ered them back with dirt. What are the odds?

I sup­pose they could’ve read about this in a text­book, but it cer­tainly wouldn’t have been as inspiring.

Pic­tured above: Mur­phy, my 7-year-old, proudly dis­play­ing one of his finds.

Pinterest Love: Present & Correct

Jun 11

present & correct pinterest

If you’re not already famil­iar with Present & Cor­rect, you need to be. The UK-based online shop is a designer’s dream, filled with orig­i­nal hand­made items and truly excep­tional vin­tage finds. They are def­i­nitely at the top of my list of favorite online shops.

present & correct pinterest

There’s no bet­ter way to expe­ri­ence Present & Correct’s uncanny knack for find­ing lost trea­sures than by vis­it­ing their boards on Pin­ter­est.

present & correct

Be sure to visit the Present & Cor­rect blog for more of their amaz­ing finds!

We Heart Design Mom

Jun 03

gabrielle blair of design mom

I’d like to re-introduce you to Design Mom. Yes, re-introduce because every­one knows and loves Design Mom–Time Mag­a­zine, New York Times, Martha Stew­art… the list goes on and on. But I’d like to share my per­sonal expe­ri­ence with the queen of all bloggers.

gabrielle blair of design mom

Gabrielle Blair has been amaz­ing men­tor to me. She would always take my call and answer my cryp­tic emails while I was try­ing to fig­ure out how to han­dle the tran­si­tion from “stay-at-home mom” to “60 hours per-week work­ing mom.” Gabby is an open book–or maybe a bet­ter way to put it would be an open ency­clo­pe­dia. The advice and infor­ma­tion she shares is price­less. She truly wants to help people.

design mom and handmade charlotte on pinterest

I’m totally psy­ched to announce that I will be pin­ning along­side Gabby on her Pin­ter­est boards this month. We’ll be shar­ing yummy recipes, DIY projects, inte­ri­ors, ultra-hip mom style, and more. Click here to visit Gabby’s Pin­ter­est boards–press fol­low all and pin the love!

Thanks Gabby, for all you do and the love you share!